Note: This is an extension of a previous story surrounding special education documents. To gain full context for this article, please read the previous story, “IEPs and 504s Help Students.”
The existence of individualized education programs (IEPs) and Section 504 plans is only as effective as the identification and qualification of students and the work of the IEP Team, which includes the student (in secondary settings), the parent(s), and school representatives. These documents need to and are constantly evolving and adapting to individual student needs and skills. When changes occur, the document is constantly discussed with the team and updated based on student progress.
The purpose of special education is to support students with identified disabilities that interfere with learning, whether related to emotional, learning support, or other area goals.
Sterner identifies that when issues arise with the implementation of 504s and IEPs, whether in terms of communication or understanding, students with said documentation deserve an IEP team who will take action in that student’s best interest.
“Our goal as a school, and more individually within IEP or 504 Plan teams, is to discuss supports, develop and edit plans and provide support to relevant stakeholders to support our students,” Sterner said. “Should there be a lapse in any aspect of this process, a student’s supports could be affected. That’s why it is a team that works to support the needs of our students, kind of like checks and balances, to ensure our students are set up for success.”
Several support systems are in place to assist when perceived issues are identified. Learning support teacher Christine Bosley is one staff member that students and parents of the high school may turn to first.
“…if the IEP is already in place, or the 504, and they feel like it is not being followed, then we would have an IEP team meeting to discuss,” Bosley said. “Sometimes it’s a matter of interpretation, that maybe a teacher understood something differently than a parent understood it to mean, just wording that maybe needs to be clarified to have everyone on the same page. Unfortunately, sometimes it is the case that either teachers forget to follow something or a mistake happens, and it isn’t followed, and then we can rectify that, working together as a team.”
Special education, or staff that are case managing, such as Bosley, are often the people who provide guidance to staff to support students through a common understanding of accommodations. A component to the case management role is continuing communication with all those holding a stake in a student’s education, depending on the specially designed instruction’s required implementation.
“Especially if I have a student who I’m concerned that staff may not fully understand something, sometimes we’ll do a team meeting right at the beginning of the school year where either parents could come in, parents and students to meet teachers ahead of time and talk through kind of what has worked in the past,” Bosley said. “Other times, I may pull together teachers by myself and just go over some that I think might be more confusing, for example, or just kind of those unique cases… There’s a lot of ongoing communication that also takes place.”
Special education staff are frequently in classrooms, and develop relationships with the students that receive special documentation. Due to this, support staff are often the first line that students and parents can and will go to if an issue arises.
“Over time, our students become more comfortable with the special education teacher, case manager, or the parents [become more comfortable] as well,” Bosley said. “At high school, we tend to work with the same students for their four years of high school to help develop that relationship with the student and the parent. We oftentimes become that initial contact… [if a parent feels] like that is not getting the result they need, then they usually reach out to the school counselor or one of our building administrators.”
If a parent or student feels as though there is an issue with the implementation of an IEP or 504 plan, the recommended course of action by Sterner and director Brendan Rogers is to call for a team meeting.
“You could still reach out to the director of special education,” Sterner said. “You could still also cite the document, and share it with whoever might have a concern with them.”
Director of special education Brendan Rogers could not be reached for comment. Select quotes by Susquehannock principal James Sterner in this article are from a prior interview done with Rogers for the first article.
