Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional ltr to IEP team modifying (feedback appreciated!)

Okay new revised letter incorporating petunia's good advice (thanks Petunia):

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It was a pleasure meeting with all of you on Friday. DH and I are so impressed with the amazing and dedicated group of professionals we have at [Elementary School]and in the [School District]! We feel so very fortunate to have such a dedicated team working with DS.

As I mentioned at the meeting, however, we are uncomfortable with the way just a few of the accommodations are worded presently. Specifically, the accommodation listed under the section titled "Participation in State and Local Assessments" on page 13 in the IEP. This accommodation currently reads as follows:

"Student will participate in local assessments with the following accommodations: - Schedule extended time, provide opportunities for breaks and movement, chunk into smaller segments, monitor the need for a scribe, consider alternate forms of assessment such as oral response, consider reducing the number of responses required."

While we certainly see the positives of leaving some flexibility in the document, DH and I would like the accommodations to be more specific. While we realize that this is the first time we are drafting an IEP for DS and, consequently, we are all trying to figure out his needs as well as finding that “balance” about which you spoke at the meeting, state/local standardized testing time is not the time to experiment with finding a balance. Rather, it is about allowing DS, while using appropriate accommodations, to demonstrate his knowledge and true abilities without the interference from his disabilities.

Therefore, we propose modifying said accommodation to read as follows:

"Student will participate in local assessments with the following accommodations:
- Schedule extended time (at least time and a half), provide opportunities for breaks and movement, chunk into smaller segments, use test formats with reduced written output formats (e.g. multiple choice, matching, etc.) to accommodate for slow writing fluency, provide a scribe or provide oral response as an alternate forms of assessment for any assessment that may require written answers of more than five words, and consider reducing the number of responses required."

Additionally, we think similar modifications would be beneficial in similarly vaguely worded accommodations contained in the “Modifications and SDI” sections of the IEP. Under the SDI section, on page 16 of the IEP, it reads, “Allow additional time to complete written work.” We propose modifying that accommodation to read, “Allow additional time (at least time and half) to complete written work.” And modify the accommodation “Monitor the need for a scribe” to read, “Provide a scribe for written assignments of more than two sentences.” On page 18, we would to modify the accommodation that currently reads, “Consider oral forms of response when assessing math-fact fluency” to “Provide oral response as an alternate form of assessment when assessing math-fact fluency.” Additionally, on page 19, we would like to change the accommodation that says, “Schedule extended time” to “Schedule extended time (at least time and half) for assessments.” We would also like to modify the accommodation that reads, “Consider alternate forms of assessment such as oral response” to “Use test formats with reduced written output formats (e.g. multiple choice, matching, etc.) to accommodate for slow writing fluency.”

Finally, we would like to go ahead and get an evaluation by Dr. S--- and pursue getting DS’s vision therapy through the school district. What do we have to do to put those wheels in motion? Do we need to put this in the IEP? I know that you mentioned that Dr. S---- needs to be ‘re-certified’ by your board – do DH and I need to formally request that be done? I assume the doctor’s certification needs to be valid before we schedule the evaluation.

Thank you so much for everything you are doing to help us in this process. It is very clear to us that you are very committed to DS’s success and we deeply appreciate that.
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How's that? Better?