Guest lecture at MCPC December 5th!

MCPC Bridge K Info Night

Plus guest lecture by Theresa Lozach of

Beyond Quality Consultants

www.theresalozach.com

Wednesday, December 5^th, 7-9 PM

Do Not Miss this free talk on the decisions facing parents of children approaching kindergarten age!  Theresa offers guidance in understanding the choices.

“We strive to support all families in finding a ‘best fit’ to promote your child’s immediate success within their first—and most important—educational setting.”

More information about our programs at:

www.mcpckids.org

510-339-7213

5815 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA 94611

IEP Tips for Families

Part of what I do in my business is support families through the special education process - helping families through meetings with schools and districts to determine what is the best plan for their child with special needs. This can be a very stressful time for families, and I often give this advice to my clients before going into a meeting - and I thought I would pass it along to all of you. They are six simple things you can do to help your IEP go smoothly. 

Remember: 

• You are a full member of the IEP team. This is your child - and special education law is designed to give you a leading role in your child’s education. The district cannot make any changes or implement any plan without advance notice, and often, your written consent. DO NOT give your written consent unless you are sure that the plan is a good one and that it is documented in a clear way in the paperwork. 

• Listen deeply and ask questions. Try to understand people’s perspectives as much as possible by listening, taking notes, and asking questions. The more you understand their perspective, the more involved of a team member you can be. There is no stupid question and everything that is said by a professional should be explained in a way that you can understand. That is a part of their job. 

• Keep calm and expect the best. The vast majority of people who work in special education are there to support children and families. People often have the best intentions. If someone says something that you disagree with, take a deep breath and say, “That is interesting, because that is different than what I have noticed. Can you tell me more about that?” Clear communication often helps 95% of disagreements be resolved in a positive way. Yelling or name calling is the quickest way to destroy a relationship with people who work with your child - and that is not what you want to do if you can avoid it.

•  Make room for what is important to you. Be sure that if you have three questions - or have two things you would like to say - that you prepare them in advance and bring them with you to the meeting so you don’t lose track. Also, tell the IEP chair (generally the special education teacher or the program specialist) before the meeting that you have questions and ask them where on the agenda they would best fit. I often prepare a "suggested agenda" for the meeting to share with the IEP chair (before the meeting) to structure the meeting to address the client's primary concerns - which many people view as helpful because then they can come prepared to the meeting having thought about the questions and having complete answers.  No matter what you do, take an active role in asserting what you feel the team needs to understand about your child.

• Tape record the meeting. It is your right to tape record as long as you give the IEP chair 48 hours notice in advance that you are doing so. Tape recording allows you to have a word-for-word copy of what was said at the meeting to review if you are feeling confused or wanting more clarification - and can support your documentation down the road if needed. While tape recording can have the unintended effect of making people nervous or defensive, making a little joke about it as you are turning on the recorder about your bad memory always helps. 

• Get a copy of all paperwork (signed or unsigned), read it until you understand it, and organize it - always. In special education, the paperwork holds all the power. If the paperwork doesn’t reflect what was said in the meeting the district does not have to follow through with “understandings” at the meeting - even if they have the best intentions to do so. Staff and circumstances change - but paperwork doesn’t. If it is documented in the IEP, no matter who is in charge, they have to follow through.  Understand what you are signing (or not signing) and organize it as you go so you can access it whenever you need it - instead of rustling through a stack of papers whenever you have a question.

Do you have any IEP tips to pass on to readers? Comment below! 

The Public School Lottery - Setting Expectations

Expectation management is a term that is bandied about in my home quite a bit. When I have been gone all day and my husband has been caring for our daughter, in calling to check in he will say, "I just want to set your expectations about the cleanliness of the house right now...". If I have had a bad day, and he calls me up to say when he is coming home from work, I will say, "I would like to set your expectations about my mood right now. It isn't good."

Expectation management prepares us mentally.  Sometimes it is for an upcoming reality, like a dirty house or a bad mood. Sometimes it is just for a limitation, like not being able to complete a task when you thought you would. All people and systems have limitations - and it is good to know about them in advance. The advance preparation may allow us space to be our best selves - to react with kindness instead of frustration, to think instead of panic - and in doing so, it can give us the space to develop a solid plan B. We can shift around plans, put more people on the job, tell the client we aren't going to be ready on time - we can move forward.  However, without the notice, without a person saying, "This is what you can expect here," plan B becomes nonexistent, or thrown together at the last minute - in a way that may work, or it may not.

Since you all are a part of my internet family, I want to set your expectations about your local public school lottery.

These lotteries are actually one of the most heartbreaking aspects of my job as an educational consultant. And for me, most of this heartbreak could be eliminated (or lessened at least) if our school districts had the ability to set people's expectations about the limitations of their local school choice processes (also called lotteries, Options, transfers, etc.).  But they are kind of busy - being underfunded and all - so I am going to help them out.

To start, the term "lottery" has many reference points for many of us, so we make assumptions based on what we think a lottery means. Some of those assumptions are true, and some are false. For example:

• You can't win if you don't play - True. If you don't turn in a form and register for a space in your local public school district within appropriate time frames, you most likely won't get into the school of your choice. Deadlines are important - just like for the actual lottery - and if you turn in your forms late you move to the end of the line. 

• Anyone can play. False. You will need to show identification and proof(s) of residency before a school district will let you enroll through the typical school assignment system. You also need to already live in the neighborhood - it doesn't matter if you intend to move to an area - most lotteries are based on where you can prove you live at the time you turn in the paperwork. Your future home doesn't matter to them. (There is an alternative route, called an intradistrict transfer, but that is for another day.)

• The lottery rules are the same everywhere: Really False. Every district has their own rules, deadlines, and structure for placing students in schools. Research yours and know how the system works. 

• While the odds are high, everyone has an equal opportunity to win. False. Each school district (and their school board) has pre-determined the school choice priorities for their lottery. Those priorities are organized into database that all families are run through to determine placement. Those priorities determine who "wins" a seat at a given school in what priority. (See here for a simple explanation of OUSD's priorities as an example.) 

• There are a variety of factors that can impact this process including: 

1. Home school (or who lives in a certain attendance area)
2. Siblings (if an incoming child already has a sibling that attends that school - to keep families together)
3. Balancing ethnicity, linguistic diversity, socio-economic status, parent education levels at each school site
4. The needs of special programs like language immersion programs, special education, etc. at a given site. 
5. Whether a parent wants a given school or not
6. Impact of district enrollment levels on the process 
7. Impact of school closures on the process  

• Don't quit your day job. True. OK - maybe I am stretching the metaphor a little here, but most people don't quit their job before they know they have won the lottery. Waiting until you have the money in hand is the sane person's plan B. This is absolutely true for school lotteries as well. It is wonderful to have faith that you will get your top choice school - but it is also necessary to plan for a different outcome in case things don't go your way. And a solid Plan B is MUCH easier to formulate early in the school selection season than later. 

                    Your Plan B should include minimally:

• Knowledge of your district's system for being put on a wait list or their appeals process. Here is a good start article on what to ask district personnel by Great Schools. 

• Research on a few other schools in your area (charter, religious, private) that may also meet your family's needs and their application deadlines.

• You can't fix the lottery. True. This is one of the most common question I am asked as a consultant - do I know how to "play" the lottery to guarantee you your first choice school. No. I don't. Other people WAY smarter than me have tried to figure it out and there are too many variables at play. And - it is run by a computer. I swear to you. I have seen them. It doesn't matter who you bake brownies for - the computer doesn't care.

When asked, I always recommend to people (kindly) that instead of spending your precious time working the potential angles of the school lottery system to get your number one school, to spend your time figuring out what other schools in your district may meet your child's needs. Spend time formulating a solid Plan B instead. Even if you get your favorite school, you won't regret having more information about other schools in your area - and you will have greater peace of mind when you receive your placement letter.

I hope this helps a little going into public school enrollment season. What are your questions when it comes to the lottery? Post them below - we can help you find the answers!