Did I do the right things/questions about re-evaluation

[JustMe]

Dd's re-evaluation is due in Oct, but her IEP is in a few weeks. I know this well, as I have been very nervous about both. Most reading this will know that my struggle to get dd appropriate services has been awful. It took me 3 years to get her an IEP an over a year after that to get an IEP that was appropriate. I received a phone call today from the spec ed consultant (who I have never heard of, btw, even though we have had more than one meeting about dd) at her school stating that her re-eval is due. I said I thought it wasn't due until Oct. She agreed, but said they thought they would just combine it with the IEP. I said I wanted to wait, and she agreed no problem.

Did I do the right thing? It was very difficult to get my daughter qualified, as she is a complex kid and covers up her struggles--the testing the district does often does not illustrate her struggles (although by now it might)..and in the end it was outside evals that qualified her. I am not sure where her current case manager stands in terms of seeing dd's needs, but I will have a better idea of that after the IEP, I assume.

Any advice/info is appreciated. Also, anything I can do to prepare for the re-eval (which won't be until the Fall). I asked the agency who did her testing if they would do some more testing, but they said they didn't see the need for additional testing at this point. Thanks!

[annex]

My DS had a re-eval due Sept last year, and I think we all agreed the beginning of the year is so hard to get kids settled, that we didn't want him pulled out for extra testing then. So we opted to do it in the last few weeks of last May instead when things are winding down, learning wise. It also meant the staff that had worked with him all year got to do the eval vs. potentially new staff if there were changes over summer.

That said - my kid's eligibility is never going to be in question, so I wasn't worried about his scores being "too high" for him to continue on an IEP. If you are worried about this, you may find the fall testing after a summer off of school will give the best picture of the time when your kid most struggles? Just some random thoughts, hopefully those with more experience will chime in.

[JustMe]

Thanks, annex - good to know.

Has anyone ever had the district tell you it was time for the re-eval---8 months early? (She started the conversation by telling me it was due--I just knew that was not the case). I am wondering how typical this is. I will definitely ask other parents in my district as well.

[Pepper]

My 2 cents is that you did the right thing by asking them to wait. Depending on the breadth of evaluations that the school was planning to do, it could be hard for them to get everything done in just a few weeks. I forget - were the outside evals done recently? If the district was planning to do the re-eval based on teh outside info only, that might explain why they asked to combine the re-eval with the IEP.

If it's helpful, I can share with you the timeline that we had with DS1 this year. His 3-year re-eval/IEP were not due until March 2015. I handed in an outside neuropsych eval in Sept and the school asked me if I would would be willing to forgo the usual meeting within a 10-day window and instead move up his re-eval/IEP meeting. I agreed, in part because the school behaviorist was going out on maternity leave in January and i wanted to be sure that we had her data & reports for the meeting instead of the substitute. We had the meeting in early January, right after school started. So even though we got the process started in late Sept/early Oct, it still took a couple of months for the school to get all the testing scheduled and completed. (I remember them saying that a lot depended on the availability of the school psychologist, who books up).

[JustMe]

Thanks, Pepper. It is good to know your experience.

Our outside eval was done 3 years ago--so I know they are not planning to use that. Re-evals are every 3 years here. I may have done the right thing, but may have done it too soon--before I asked any questions. I have no idea what they would do for the re-eval. I was at work and waiting for a call about my cat who had surgery today. So, I have no idea how they planned to do a re-eval within a few weeks (The IEP is due by mid-Feb, and I know they are aware of this as the spec ed case manager e-mailed me the exact date we need to have the meeting by)...so, to me it is odd that they'd want to have a re-eval 8 months early and in a different school year! They have been routinely taking assessments in the spec ed classes, so I am betting they are planning on using some of those.

[Pepper]

I have no idea what they would do for the re-eval. .

I believe that they will send you a letter that you sign, giving permission for them to do testing for the re-eval. On that page it will list the different types of evaluation and they will check off what they are planning to do. (And if they don't check off something that you think they should do, you should be able to request it in writing).

I'm puzzled as to why the annual IEP is so far off from the date of the re-eval, though. Did they re-do your IEP after the outside eval? Is it possible for you to have the outside eval repeated, since it's been 3 years (I know that can be expensive...)?

[JustMe]

Us
I believe that they will send you a letter that you sign, giving permission for them to do testing for the re-eval. On that page it will list the different types of evaluation and they will check off what they are planning to do. (And if they don't check off something that you think they should do, you should be able to request it in writing).

I'm puzzled as to why the annual IEP is so far off from the date of the re-eval, though. Did they re-do your IEP after the outside eval? Is it possible for you to have the outside eval repeated, since it's been 3 years (I know that can be expensive...)?

Hmmn, not sure why the gap between the re-eval and IEP date. It was an awful sequence of events getting dd qualified and then getting the IEP...so not sure what led to what. You bring up a good point though. Maybe it is typical for the IEP and re-eval to fall more closely together, so they are just used to doing them together. Perhaps I am worrying needlessly. I hope so. Otoh, it is good for me to be reminded not to let my guard down with the district given the history.

As far as an outside re-eval, yes I am looking into that. I will see what the feeling is in the IEP first, though. I also do find it strange that she would call me just 2 weeks before the IEP meeting about the re-eval. How could they do any testing in that timeframe? Guess I lost my chance to know as I said right away that I did not want the re-eval so early, without even thinking to ask questions.

[Gena]

The gap between when the re-eval is due and when the IEP is due seems strange to me too. DS's re-evals and his IEP are both due next month (Feb 2015). Here's how our timeline has gone this time around:

Feb 2014 (1 year before re-val is due): IEP Team noted that re-eval needs to be done in the next 12 months. We discussed what areas to test/ what test to do. DH & I signed the planning document and consent to evaluate. We also discussed how to transition the re-eval and IEP team from the elementary school staff to the middle school staff (DS enters middle school in fall 2015).

October 2014: DH and I discuss with teacher what the schedule will be for re-evals. We request advance notice of days evaluations will be done, so we can keep changes to DS's schedule to a minimum. DH and I meet with the middle school's psychologist and special ed coordinator to discuss specific testing concerns.

November 2014: Speech & Language Eval was done. OT eval was done. DS met informally with middle school psychologist (get to know you session).

December 2014: Case Manager made a referral to the Regional Center to request a Functional Vision Assessment. MS psychologist sent home a bunch of paperwork for DH and I to complete (history forms, rating scales for behavior and adaptive skills). Gross Motor skill eval was done.

January 2015: DH and I returned all the forms. The MS psychologist did IQ and achievement testing. Case Manager is following up with the Regional Center.

February 2015: ETR (Eval Team Report) meeting is scheduled for early Feb. I reminded the team that I need copies of all reports at least 5 days before the meeting (draft copies acceptable) in order to have meaningful participation.

The IEP meeting is scheduled to directly follow the ETR meeting. In reality, we won't complete the IEP at that meeting. DH and I are still doing classroom observations and will not have a decision on DS's placement for middle school by the meeting date. Since the IEP due date isn't really an "expiration date" (although some districts like to pretend it is), we will just continue under the current IEP until a new one is complete.

Given that we spend a year planning and conducting re-evals, I have no idea how your DD's team plans to do it in just a couple of weeks. I guess if there is only one area that needs to be tested (some kids need just a speech/language test, for example), it might be possible. But it sounds like your DD"s case is more complex than that. So I think you were right to not rush the re-eval.

[JustMe]

Thanks. Hmmn, we'll given the responses I am feeling like there is some possibility their intent to do an early eval (before I asked them not to) May been because they are used to the due date coinciding more closely with the annual IEP. I don't know that this is the case, but at least it's a possibility. OTOH, not sure how they had planned to get the re-eval done so quickly. It is possible they have done a lot of testing in dd's special ed classes and felt they had enough. Oh how I wish I had asked some questions, but for now I will attend the IEP in early Feb. and get some idea of where they're at.