QUICK GUIDE to CRITICAL SCHOOL STAFF and GETTING THE “BEST” PROGRAM
Parents of children with a disability have been handed both a challenge and an opportunity.
If you haven’t already, you will need to acquaint yourself with the language of special education. There’s a learning curve and it can be frustrating.
However, you’ll likely be even more involved than parents of students in general education. This means that watching your child grasp concepts, develop confidence, and grow into an independent young person will be highly rewarding.
Language of Special Education: First Things First
If your child has been identified to or by the Child Study Team, you may be wondering, Who are these people?
Child Study Team
Every public school district in New Jersey has a child study team (CST). The CST is a group of specially trained multidisciplinary staff who evaluate students to determine whether they are eligible for special education and related services.
The core CST members are the school psychologist, the learning disabilities teacher/consultant (LDT-C), and the school social worker.
School Psychologist
School psychologists are specially trained professionals with advanced graduate degrees in assessing students in the areas of intelligence, mental health, learning, and behavior. This is the CST member who will test your child’s intelligence to determine their cognitive functioning, usually with the latest version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (“WISC”). This can help identify your child’s ability.
LDT-C
The LDT-C is a teacher and consultant with an advanced graduate degree who helps identify and diagnose perceptual and learning disabilities in students and who helps develop and deliver appropriate and effective educational services and programs. The LDT-C will perform appropriate assessments to determine your child’s achievement.
School Social Worker
The school social worker is a mental health professional with an advanced graduate degree who will perform a psychosocial evaluation to pinpoint any developmental, medical, familial, emotional or psychological issues your child has experienced or is experiencing.
Case Manager
A case manager (“CM”) is usually a member of the CST, either the school psychologist, the school social worker, or the LDT-C. Your child’s CM must coordinate all notifications, meetings, testing, IEP development, IEP monitoring, and communication with parents or guardians.
Each CST member will assess your child, then meet with you to determine eligibility, and then, if the child is eligible, to develop an IEP.
>Whew! < All set, right?
Guess again. This is just the beginning.
After the IEP is in place, the real work starts. Your child’s individual program and progress must be monitored carefully to determine whether s/he is making appropriate educational progress.
Making the Most of Your Child’s Program
The law does not require your school district to give your child the “best” possible program.
The law does require the program to be gauged to your child’s ability and to enable your child to make meaningful educational progress.
How do you actually get that? Let’s count the ways:
- Identify key players in your child’s school: teachers, paraprofessionals, maybe your CM.
- Communicate with them, but not too much.
- Establish a positive relationship.
- Put yourself in their shoes and try to understand their position and their challenges.
- Provide them with positive feedback.
- Ask them outright if there is any way that you can support them.
- Keep a log of important interactions, including the date, time, contact person, and the subject. The school staff do this, and you should, too. It may become critical.
- Keep track of your child’s progress against the goals and objectives of his/her IEP.
- When you have questions, ask them. Emails are great because school staff can answer at their convenience, and you’ll have a written record of your questions, concerns, and the school’s responses.
Taking these steps will require an investment of time, but as with most investments, it will yield its reward in time.
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