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The boy who did not pass the regents wanted to retake it in August. The first day of summer school he sought out people he thought would help him. Two were deep in conversation, probably discussing the best place to get a drink and did not even acknowledge his existence. Another looked at the young man and exclaimed "You don't know anything. Mrs. Fish, your ninth grade teachers is awful and you never learned any algebra."   The boy left.   His future is uncertain. He has no clue as to whether he can take the test or not. No one wanted to be bothered. You see, the boy has an IEP and the administrators only want him to disappear.

To Junk Or Not To Junk

Photo from
My husband is a saver. He saves screws, nails, pieces of wood, old computer parts and lots of other stuff I usually consider useless. And, as much as I would like, I never throw these things away. They are not mine so I have no right to do so. Besides, more often than not, one of these tidbits solves a major problem.

Many kids treat their IEP accommodations like the junk in my basement. They just refuse to use them. Unfortunately, the powers that be don't give these accommodations the same respect I give the junk, although these accommodations are not junk and should not be treated as such. The powers that be use their authority to throw the accommodations away, to strip the kids of a service and a right they one day might need. Kids with IEPs that say they need readers should always have a reader available, whether they choose to use them or not. They might not see the need for the reader now, like I don't see the need for the two old computer monitors laying around, but they might be useful one day. (My husband recently fixed a friend's computer and he had to hook up the monitor in the basement to do it.)

Let's face it. Kids don't always make the best decisions and it is up to us, as educators to help them along. Sometimes parents will make wrong decisions too, based on incorrect information they are given. It doesn't hurt a child to have the reader accommodation on the IEP. Taking it away could do major damage and this should not be done on a whim.

Oh Well

I'm really attempting to be IEP good and IEP supportive so when I got an e-mail telling me one of my students was being evaluated and my input was needed, I immediately went to my mail box to retrieve the form. Surprise, surprise, it was not there, although the e-mail I got said it had been delivered. Really trying to do the right thing, I fired off an e-mail about the missing paper. A week passed and the form did not show up. I saw the person in charge and asked for the form. I was told it had not been done yet. I said I would need a few days to get it ready and asked that it be delivered soon. S/he shrugged her/his shoulders and said nothing.

I'm still waiting for the form.

BTW, I saw mom on parent teacher day and she knew nothing about this evaluation. I'm new to this IEP stuff but I always thought the parents were supposed to be involved.

Rant Of All Rants

Okay boys and girls, sit tight and get ready for one of the biggest rants I have let loose in a long time, or skip this post. I've been trying to be good and post stuff like this on Packemin HS but this needs to come out here. If I try to contain it, I will explode.

I broke a cardinal rule today by attending an IEP conference. I hate those things. The few I went to years ago just wanted the general ed teacher to sit there quietly and sign. Since I am no ones rubber stamp, I opened my mouth, argued when necessary and eventually no one asked me to attend anymore, which was good.

My inclusion boy had his conference today and he, along with his mom asked me to be there. They even arranged the conference around my schedule so I could attend. The conference began with introductions and Ms. Inclusion Teacher (forever more to be known as Ms IT) reading from the IEP and announcing several changes she wanted to implement. When she announced removing the reader from his exams, I spoke up. Inclusion Boy doesn't need the reader for everything, but, when some of his exams are read to him, he does better. Leaving the reader in place on the IEP will give him options. His mom agreed. His sister pointed out that since he will be going to college eventually, it was better to leave the IEP as it stood. Ms. Inclusion teacher had to change what she wrote. Already, she was unhappy.

Next we got to Inclusion Boy's schedule for next year. Ms IT didn't see any need for him to take trigonometry but once again, I butted in and backed by the sister, won. Then we got to science. Chemistry was an option. Ms. IT didn't even know if Inclusion Boy needed another lab science or not but after some discussion, it was decided he didn't. She wanted to put him in a general science class and once again, I objected. Those general classes are full of kids with behavioral problems and not the right environment for a child like him. I suggested forensics. Mom and sister agreed. Inclusion Boy agreed. Ms IT tried to shoot it down but was once again unsuccessful.

I brought up the fact that inclusion students are not included on my ARIS class list, something I have been asking for since the beginning of the year. Once again, excuses were made, others were blamed, even Principal Hula was blamed for the over sight although I know for a fact he has no control over this program and he did attempt to get those kids on ARIS. Instead of trying to fix the problem, I was told I am the only teacher who has a problem with this, so the problem must be me, not them. Not wanting to let this rest, I spoke to a few other teachers of inclusion kids and hopefully they will start making waves about this problem as well.

I asked if Inclusion Boy's teachers were hand picked, because they should be. Not every teacher has the temperament to work with a child like him and some I know would chew him up and spit him out. Of course Ms IT said this was impossible. When she left the room, I told mom and sis that if Inclusion Boy had a problem, he could always find him. I tend to be just annoying enough to get my way and in the past I have been able to get kids into classes that no one else can get them in to. Ms Condescending Guidance Counselor did not like that at all. She made a big point of trying to make it look like I thought I was the only one who cared. Luckily mom and sis knew how wrong she was and how right I was and defended me. I just got up and walked out, came home and wrote the mom a long e-mail apologizing for abruptly leaving the meeting and not saying goodbye.

On my way home today, I ran into another one of Inclusion Boy's teachers. This teacher adores him as much as I do and also goes out of her way to do everything possible to help him and make sure he is becoming all that he can. She was sorry she did not know about he meeting because she too would have attended and brought up many of the same issues I did.

Inclusion Boy has come a long way in the short time he has been at Packemin. When he first started doing well, instead of praising him, Ms Condescending and Ms IT questioned the integrity of his teachers.

I am sure Ms IT and Ms Condescending have nothing against this child. In fact, I am willing to bet they like him as much or even more than I do. But, when it comes to going to extra mile to give him the help he needs, they are out of gas. The jealousy they felt and showed when they saw how the family felt about my concern for him was unreal.

Educating kids like Inclusion Boy properly is not an easy thing to do. I don't have all the answers. In fact, I have very few of the answers. I went to the conference to try to learn some but no information was forthcoming. I heard the same crap over and over again. "Most of the kids are not gen ed kids like this one. The teacher that was here a few years ago dealt with a different population. Why are you the only one making an issue out of this? We have four kids to take care of."

One thing I learned from all of this is that I still want to avoid IEP conferences. As far as inclusion goes, it will probably be a cold day in hell before Ms. IT puts one in any of my classes again.

Legal Question

A teacher I know discovered an ISS student sitting in his mainstream class with an IEP that clearly did not include any main steam classes. The teacher investigated the situation, found out the child was misplaced and insisted the child be removed. The school complied by altering the IEP to allow mainstreaming in this particular area. Is this legal? And, more importantly, is it morally correct to place a student in a class she is not prepared to pass and quite possibly incapable of understanding? Who is allowed to make these decisions?

No Excuse, Right...

Some of my students have IEPs that say they should have test questions read out loud to them. I know my students would benefit by having this test modification enforced. They are great verbally but there is a short circuit between their brains and the hands that hold the pencil.

I spoke to resource room teachers about the need to read to these kids. the answer I got was "We don't have the time or personnel to do this. It would be nice if we did."

What is the point of having IEPs if the things written on them are not taken seriously?

I Would Have Gone

Joe's IEP conference is today and as much as I hate going to these things, I would love to go to this one. Joe is a great kid but totally out of his league in mainstream classes. His reading and math levels are below that of a fourth grader. Even with this, he managed to pass English and History (which make me wonder about the level these classes are being taught on.) Joe's resource room teacher asked me to attend, only I can't. I teach the period the conference is taking place.

I asked the resource room teacher to have the parent stop by and see me before he leaves. I want to tell him about Joe's frustration in my class, the conflicting information I found on the IEP and the fact that I never even saw the IEP until December 7. I want to ask him if Joe's other teachers have the IEP (I only got it because I persistently asked for it.) I want to ask him if there really is an individual plan in place to help Joe succeed.

Now I Know Why They Don't Want Us Reading IEPs

On December 8th, I got an IEP for a student who has been in my class since the beginning of September. I've asked for it many times and I heard the parent has been coming down hard on the ISS department to do things right for this boy. So much for no excuses, plenty were given to explain this.

Today I got a chance to read my student's IEP. I found out that Joe needs medication to stay focused. His math fluency is ranked just below third grade and his reading fluency is just slightly higher. His annual goals for math include a basic knowledge of number facts and number concepts for problem solving. His short term goals include internalizing basic number facts, ability to estimate and self correct in computations and number problems and to be able to work with whole numbers, decimals and fractions.

Joe is in my algebra class. No wonder this poor kid is failing.

I usually hate going to IEP conferences, but Joe's conference is one I would like to attend. How can any school, in good conscious, subject a kid with third grade levels to high school material? If this kid can learn at a high school level, why not teach high school material to all third graders? We could graduate them by the time they are 10 or 12 years old. Think of the money the city will save.

There is no excuse for no IEPs or the level of education this child is being subjected to.

Excuses Continue

One of my geometry students has problems focusing and doing work. Verbally he is great, but he can't seem to connect on paper so I went to speak to his resource room teacher. The conversation led to an IEP discussion and she told me his IEP is incomplete. It seems he transferred from another school and the complete IEP did not come with him. When I used the word violation, she suggested that I should go and get it. Of course, that is not my job or hers, but she was shifting responsibility when the problem was brought to her attention. I finally got her to admit it was an administrators responsibility. Meanwhile, the child has an incomplete IEP, he is failing more than one subject and no one seems to be doing anything about it.

(And of course the vicious little secretary tried making excuses again.)

Oh Where Oh Where Can My Missing IEPs Be?

The UFT Liaison Office of Special Education School Improvement will be in our school next week. I know lots of us have plenty of questions for her, especially about missing IEPs, inconsistent and incorrect information on them. Ijust finished rereading the IEPs I was given so I can be prepared and I am glad that I can be at the meetings for two periods. That way, all my questions can be answered.

For more one IEP stuff go here and here.

More On ISS

For some great thoughts on ISS students go over to Under Assault. She says everything I've been saying much better than I ever will.

Message To My Attacker

I'm a button pusher. My whole life I've pushed the buttons of family members, colleagues, friends, enemies and even my cats. I can't help it. I love finding the little things that irritate (like the here link I often use) and then do whatever it takes (as long as it is harmless) to get them going. That is one of the things this blog lets me do. I might have started writing about special education issues for this reason, but that is not why I am continuing to write. I taught special education at Packemin HS for my first three years here. I loved working with that population and only left to teach math when the ISS AP decided to do a department cleansing and had all the mainstream teachers (there were 4 of us in various licenses) removed and sent to our own departments.

Under Assault has a great post on why schools are depriving kids of their IEP rights. It all boils down to one thing--MONEY!!!! Mainstreaming and violating IEPs is saving the schools money. As teachers, we need to be aware of our students needs to try to stop this from happening. Maybe I didn't care before, but these violations never were so rampant before. (At least not at Packemin.)

I'll admit that I never had much use for IEPs in the past. The information I have garnered from the ones I have received this term just confirms their useless. Yet, suddenly I am obsessed with reading them. As much as I fought against data and ARIS and all that other stuff I thought was nonsense, I can't stop trying to use it to find ways to help my students. (s is the first time I have had 14 IEP kids in my class.) Anyone who has really been reading this blog knows that I am in this for the kids, period. They also know that when I take on a job, I take it very seriously and do whatever I can to insure it is well done.

This whole IEP discussion that I started has really got me thinking and wondering about the anonymous commenter who keeps attacking me. The commenter is right. I love having an issue. I love fighting for the unpopular cause and for the underdog. And, the commenter is also right in saying that if it wasn't such a big issue now, I might never have taken it up. But, it is a big issue now. The UFT is fighting for the kids. Isn't that what everyone outside of teaching has been saying is wrong with the union for years? Haven't they complained that the union only cared about teachers, not about students? Shouldn't the commenter be happy that I jumped on the bandwagon and am no championing an issue that is student oriented? Should my motivation really matter much? Except for a few, this blog is anonymous. It contains no advertising and I gain nothing except stress relief and enjoyment from writing it and from knowing that it is read by quite a few people. Wouldn't it be better if the commenter stopped attacking me and starting attacking the people that are messing up, the people that are making excuses? Wouldn't it be better if the commenter stopped making excuses and started doing what was necessary to protect the rights of the student?

By the way commenter you aren't the only one attacking me. This week, during a meeting of the executive board of the union, I was attacked by a vicious little secretary when I mentioned the IEPs were e-mailed without any statement of the confidentiality of the plan. She claimed she did me a favor by e-mailing them to me. The date of the e-mail was 11/2, almost two months after school started, but, she did me a favor, imagine that! She told me I was wrong and if I really wanted to see them I could have made the trip to her office. As of today, I am still missing a few IEPs. One student is supposedly decertified and no longer entitled to special modifications yet no one in that department is willing to put this in writing. My D-75 student still arrives without a para or has a para he shares with a student in different room. I am told that he doesn't need one although the UFT special complaint person tells me he does.

Commenter, I am willing to bet you are an administrator, a school psychologist or even the vicious little secretary. (Actually, I think I know who you are.) I'll admit to jumping on the bandwagon now and making this my issue for whatever self serving reasons you want to assign to me. You on the other hand are still making excuses for not doing your job. It is not my job to chase after you for these things. It is your job to get these documents to me. I have 120 students in addition to my 14 IEPs kids. You might not be a mathematician but do the math anyway. I don't have time or energy to do your work. And, if this blog ruffles your feathers, so be it. A few ruffled feathers might actually help the students.

Got Some IEPs

So now we have been given IEPs on a CD. I guess the people in charge don't think we are smart enough to open up the ones that were e-mailed to us. (I don't know why they think we will be smart enought open the ones on a CD.) These came with instructions about confidentiality, the e-mailed ones had this instruction missing. Too bad the CD is still missing IEPs from a few of my students. (At least that is what ARIS and a parent told me. I even spoke to the resource room teacher of one of my students. He has no clue as to why the IEPs are missing.)

Blog Accomplishment

I'm not sure if this blog had anything to do with it, but, the ISS supervisor just sent out an e-mail explaining IEPs, especially the confidentiality portion which was missing with the IEPs.

It feels good to know that my bitching may actually be helping our students.

BTW, the boy I was confused about here still has his resource room and special test accommodations. Maybe asking for confirmation in writing did something to help him or maybe no one got around to changing him yet. Only time will tell.

It Takes Time, We're Working On It

I took the advice of some of the commenters and questioned the ISS supervisor about IEPS, particularly my concerns about not being given needed information and being given incorrect information. And she said, "We're working on it." We have over 300 IEPs. It takes time."

Can I tell the admins I have over 130 students and it takes time to do grades and attendance? Can I tell parents I am working on lessons, it takes time? Can my students tell me they have 7 other classes besides mine, it takes time to do their assignments, but they are working on it?

It is already November 3. She promises an IEP PD in December, that is four months after the start of school, four months of services students are being deprived of. But, it takes time, the solution is being worked on.

CYA

Someone important must be reading this blog because I received IEPs in today's e-mail. I find it interesting that they came the first school day after my blog post about not having them. Before I even opened the first one up, I noticed that four were missing. I have 14 students who have IEPs (or maybe extended time but no one ever bothers to explain the difference to the mere teacher) but I only received 9 IEPs. I know for a fact at least three of these kids do have IEPs.

Since I did bitch about not having them, I thought it was only right for me to open them up and read them. All I can say is, what a waste of time. They give absolutely no useful information, nothing NADA!!!! I know more about these kids from talking to them and their parents than from this document.

One of my students clearly has a resource room on his IEP but he wasn't given one until the social studies teacher and I opened our mouths to find out why. We each have 5 classes with 34 kids each, yet we had to find the problem, not the guidance counselor, not the ISS supervisor, not anyone else. I also found an IEP that said the mother speaks Spanish at home but does not need an interpreter in school. I found this strange since I have spoken to the mother twice, both times using my limited Spanish because her English is even more limited. She is coming to school to meet with me on Wednesday and requested an interpreter, which I arranged for. So, here is an IEP that is totally wrong.

I never mind doing extra work if it helps my students but reading these IEPs was the biggest waste of time ever. An even bigger waste was all the time spent writing them and then e-mailing them out. The ISS department seems more worried about covering their rears and being in compliance with the law (which they still aren't) than actually creating plans that work.

I'm sorry I opened my mouth about these documents.

Wrong About IEPS

Last night a parent a parent asked me what time her son's class met. The boy has ADD and takes a medication in the morning that wears off by late afternoon. Then she looked at me and said, "But of course you know this, it is right on his IEP." Mom was shocked when I said , "No, main stream teachers have no access to these documents." I told her I knew he had extended time and that was being taken care of, but that was all I knew. No one gave me any other information about this boy. In fact, I only knew he was entitled to extra time by talking to him. The ISS department missed notifying his teachers about his accommodations until the second test was well over. (I got an e-mail giving me a "heads up" about the oversight.)

I still have been given no information about my inclusion student. I know his needs are more extreme than the regular ISS kids but I don't know what these needs are. I don't even know what makes this young man different from the other kids. So far, he is great but, I feel there are things I should know. His mom didn't make it in for parent teacher conferences but he did tell me she wants to meet with me at some point. I'm guessing she will not react to positively to my lack of information. Oh well, I guess his special ed teacher will be catching some heat for this one.

I always said I wouldn't read IEPs but I was wrong. The more ISS kids I teach, the more I realize I have to learn to be able to help them. If these documents were accessible, I would definitely check them out.

I Did It

I know I said I never would, but curiosity got the better of me and I looked at one of the IEPs that I received in an e-mail. I have to say I was not surprised at what I found.

The first thing I looked for was a date. Since the document is supposed to be renewed annually I thought it was important to know when it was last updated. Maybe the date was there, but I couldn't find it and I have no clue as to whether the document is actually up to date or not.

I then looked for special accommodations. This particular girl has trouble deciphering material and always does much better when someone sits with her and makes sure she is reading the questions correctly and answering what is being asked. After a long search, I discovered she was not entitled to this help. I don't know who evaluated her, but it is hard to believe anyone missed this modification.

I did find lots of goals for her. Patti will learn to decipher words. Patti will master geometric concepts. Patti will graduate high school with a regents diploma. Patti will go on to college. Patti will live independently. Patti will earn a living. All interesting, all totally irrelevant to Patti's daily academic needs. One of the regular IEP writers sat at our last faculty conference bragging about her (and her department's) ability to write goals and how the department can help the rest of the staff learn to write goals for our students. I think I could write better goals on my own.

I have IEPs for many other students in that same e-mail. I think I'll pass on reading those. I'll spend my time working with the kids, doing what I know needs to be done to get them to pass.

Pouring Out Useless Information

IEP teacher dots all his i's and crosses all his t's when he writes up one of these things. He uses all the appropriate catch phrases "Johnny will finish 50% of his assigned tasks on time." "Gloria will raise her math level by 5 points."

IEP teacher sits in the classroom and does a crossword puzzle or searches the Internet while Gloria and Johnny are left on their own to complete their homework or do whatever else they feel like doing.

Main Stream teacher does not read IEPs. Instead, Main Stream gives up many a prep and lunch period to sit with Gloria and Johnny in resource room to bring them up to level and help them compete. Main Stream teacher has made flash cards to help Gloria and Johnny better remember what has been taught. Main Stream teacher has spent time getting to know Gloria and Johnny on a real level and has figured out a way that might possibly help.

In an ideal world Main Stream teacher would have time to read IEPs and help students. In an ideal world the IEPs would have useful information on them. NYC schools are not Utopias. Being a part of the system means you cannot have it all.

Now we can check IEPs online. Too bad my school does not hae computers easily available for teacher use. Too bad the IEPs are filled with useless information. Parents of IEP students--you decide. If IEP teacher is right for you and your child is in my class, I will happy to oblige. I will be saving quite a bit of time by devoting myself to these useless documents.

I Still Don't See How They Will Help

We heard all about IEPs at today's faculty conference. From what I heard, there is nothing on them that I don't know already. I know about the test modifications. My students already get extended time and different locations, if desired. If they need a reader or a writer, the resource room teacher must provide them.

I still don't know how reading them will help my students.