Owning That IEP Meeting

Sometimes I felt like my kid was the only one who made reading gains over the summer. But sure enough, every summer, my son made some incremental growth. Most kids in early grades lose a little bit over the summer, but even with sometimes inconsistent tutoring, he made gains over the summer. I think it was because he got a consistent message and a consistent curriculum.

Of course, by this time, the teachers at school were no longer trying to tell him to guess based on the picture or the first letter of the word - because he was already supposed to be a reader, so they don't even bother trying to break things down for the kids who are struggling. But, this actually helped. No more inconsistent messaging!

We moved our IEP meeting up to October so it was closer to the beginning of school as our son entered 5th grade. And I was READY.

Remember those links from the last installment of our story? Here's a refresher: IEP Binder, Slow-Processing Speed Accommodations, Classroom Accommodations for Dyslexia

1. I pulled together a slick binder with everything I needed

2. I wrote down all of the questions that I wanted answered

3. I - and not everyone can do this - brought the teacher's edition, student book, and workbook of Corrective Reading B2, which is what our son was working on at the Academic Achievement Center.

Sidebar: Now, I could do this because I worked at a Reading Clinic that had an entire library full of Direct Instruction programs that we were not using. The Clinic had made a full transition - scaling down services to only K, 1, 2 students with an emphasis on first graders using the Enhanced Core Reading Instruction (ECRI) program that was developed at CTL. So, we had all of these materials that were going unused for the most part. I borrowed a copy and took it to the IEP meeting.

Thankfully, we had the same SPED Teacher for 5th grade and she had been bumped up to full time, so she could breathe a little easier and as it turned out, was spending 30 minutes a day with our son, one-on-one. But they weren't using a program. She was really just assisting with classroom work. So, I said that our son was using Corrective Reading in his after-school tutoring, and wouldn't it make the most sense if he was receiving that instruction at school too? Her response was that she didn't have access to that program. BOOM! I pulled it out of my bag and set it on the table. I said, here you go! And as had become my habit, I told her not to hesitate to reach out to me if she needed something. I was willing to fund the entire SPED program at our elementary school if it would get my son the help he needed.

Sidebar: I am coming at this whole problem from an incredible place of privilege. We are a white family, we own our home, we live comfortably, and we have a very strong family network that is close by. So, this is my story which includes a lot of privilege. But that's why I wanted to start this blog, why I wanted to have a place for people to go. Because even from my place of privilege, this has been a herculean effort to get this kid reading. I can't even fathom what it would be like to try and get services for my child if I wasn't coming from this place of privilege. It would seem insurmountable.

About a week later the teacher sent me an email asking for some additional resources that went with the program, which I provided, and we were sailing pretty smoothly again.

To recap, we are winding up 5th grade. He's getting ready to go to middle school! I was worried about changing schools and not knowing the teachers and wondering what to do. I think he was reading between 40 and 50 words per minute at this point.

Here's a sidebar because I can't remember if this happened in 4th or 5th grade. Our son only did state testing one year. Parents can opt their kids out of state testing in Oregon (if you didn't already know that). I had always opted our son out because...well, for obvious reasons. But in either 4th or 5th grade - and I think it was 5th grade - we decided that he was going to need at least some practice taking a state test. We've always assumed that he'll go on to college and need to take standardized tests and as we all know, a lot of taking a standardized test is just knowing how to do it. So, we decided he would do it with accommodations for time. It took him nearly 80 hours to complete that testing. Which I didn't find out until later. That's 80 hours of instructional time lost. But they were so proud that he benchmarked on whichever part was the reading part. I don't even know and I don't care - because it turns out that if it takes you 80 hours, it doesn't really matter if you passed. And why does any of it matter at all anyway? No one is using that data to inform our son's instruction. So far, that's the only state test he's ever taken.

Next up: No Need for Another Evaluation...Really?