How to approach/what to ask prospective middle school principals

[JustMe]

So, its time to find a middle school for dd. With only one exception (which would be a long shot), all the schools I am considering would be public--although 2 are public charter schools. I remember once on here someone suggested asking questions about what can and cannot be done to the principal. I am having trouble knowing what to ask/how to do this for a few reasons

1) Dd does not have behavior issues--her issues are all with learning. What this means is that she does not bother anyone and this sometimes works against her in terms of services--she is easily overlooked (she also hates to call attention to herself so that makes it worse). Even the way her learning disabilities show themselves it can sometimes appear she is doing better than she does (although anyone who really bothers to look, will see). Long way to say, that dd has really been underserved even compared to some other special ed kids...how can I ask about this?

2) It seems like I would get a generic answer to most questions I would think of asking. for example
--How would services to dd be provided (individually, in group, in class). Answer--IEP team decides
--How will dd's issues with reading comp be addressed? Answer--same as above

3)I really want the principal to understand that dd needs these services, but at the same time I don't want to scare them. She is so easy to deal with on a daily basis, but she does need quality services in place to be successful.

Also, I will also talk to the spec ed teacher directly, but things are so influx in my district that I have no assurances that the same person will be there next year...only mentioning this in case for information purposes.

Another thing is that I can try to talk to parents, but am finding that is not as relevant either..The special ed parents I find tend to have kids who have very noticable special needs (not necessarily physical), so that creates different responses. Also children with autism (which is not dd's diagnosis) are eligible for special services that others are not and our district seems to be really knowledgeable about autism--so, that is another local group of parents who have a different experience than me.

[egoldber]

I am not sure how valid my experience is because my district is so much larger than yours. But we have a district special needs office that has outreach personnel. I met with one over the summer to ask about the types of resources that would be available to help my DD when she started MS this year. That was very helpful to me in knowing 1) who was the appropriate contact person, and 2) what was within the norm and what was not for types of services offered in MS vs. ES.

For us, the school counselor is the coordinator for almost all types of special services and IEPs/504s. I have to say that I feel incredibly lucky, because the counselor at older DD's MS is fantastic. I met with her early in the year and have talked to her on the phone several times. She is so on top of things and is able to reach out to all the core teachers on DD's "team". In MS, it is very common for kids to be on "teams" where the core academic teachers coordinate. So I would ask about how the core subjects are coordinated as well and who would be the go to person for any issues that your DD is having.

[Pepper]

Can you ask how many/what percentage of students at the school are SN? Or receive services for learning disabilities? To get an idea of how the school compares to others in the district. The charter school in our town is not very good about providing services and so I didn't even consider it for DS1 (currently in 2nd grade, in a K-8 school).

I'm also wondering where your DD is in the 3-year re-evaluation cycle. If she will not have a re-eval while she is at the school, then maybe school choice is less critical? If her current IEP addresses her needs (it sounds like you are happy with the services she's had to this point) and will stay in place, I mean. If she's going to be re-evaled you might ask who would do that, what is typically involved for her SN.

HTH

[JustMe]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Lets see, she was made eligible in Fall 2012, so I guess she would be re-evaled in Fall of 2015 which would be when she is still in middle school. That said, I think school choice is critical for her regardless. Services seem to vary widely here and no, I have not been happy with the services she has received. It is slightly better this year than last, but not good.

I don't know if it tells me as much to know how manyh kids are SN/receive services..for example, I think some kids have a lower number of kids and that means they dont have as many services available--otoh, I think sometimes the opposite is true and they individualize the services more since there are less kids that need them so no need to group kids (dont know if that makes sense). An example is that at dd's current school, they refuse to do any pull-out for math and she is served in her classroom. I know this is good sometimes, but it really doesnt meet my dd's needs...I know at the heart of this is that they just have too many spec ed students to be able to make that work (without thinking more outside the box anyway) and it makes more sense for *them* to serve the students in the reg ed classroom. Again, hope that makes sense.

With the charter schools, I agree, that in many cases they dont serve special needs kids (or at least those with learning disabilities) well. However, a friend's child just finished a charter school here that ends in middle school and there was a spec. ed teacher, not as many kids who qualified, so she got very individiualzed services..unfortunately, that teacher left this year, so dont know how it is now.

[hellbennt]

I'm a school counselor in an elem school- I think counselors, in general, are a good choice of a person, at a school site, with whom to sit down and to whom to reach out- counselors should be able to point you in the right direction(s) - if you can't get a hold of a counselor, then it might be time to ask about what counseling services there are at the school (charter schools might have less counselors? Or more! Not sure...)?


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[annex]

In terms of how services are provided, I know you said you would prefer pull-out, but do try to look very closely at the resource rooms they are using for pull-out. Some middle school parents I know were told that once their kid goes into a resource room for math, for example, they will likely be off diploma track. This is because the kids in the resource room are working so far behind that they will not be able to catch up in high school and complete the algebra credits required for graduation. A really good co-taught math class with a special ed teacher in the room actively offering the accommodations/modifications your DD needs would be preferable if you can find a school that offers that set-up.

I would also ask the principals at each school about what professional development they do for their gen ed and special ed teachers. Do they bring in experts on differentiation, doing modifications and accommodations, learning disabilities, etc. to keep all teachers updated on the latest research/best practice? Or they do leave teachers to figure it all out on their own? I think many will neglect the need to educate their gen ed staff about how to implement IEP students' plans in their classes and put that burden entirely on the special ed staff -- who probably have very little time to work with all their gen ed teachers and assist them in implementation.

How to find other parents of students with learning disabilities to ask for their advice is a tricky question. In many cases I think those parents don't go to district special ed meetings because they don't want their students "outed" as special ed. Parents of students with autism and/or physical disabilities tend to band together because their kids already stick out as different so they'd rather advocate openly for their needs than do it quietly behind the scenes. Does your district have a PAC? Many have mandated special ed parent advisory committees, you might get some private replies if you posted your questions about middle schools to their email list if they have one.

Good luck. I think you are on the right track by trying to speak to the principals themselves. Their attitude alone about being willing to answer any question you have will probably be a good measure for how well their staff work with students like your DD.

[JustMe]

Wow, great points! Thanks. As far as I know, we have nothing like a PAC--I will have to ask around to find out if there is anything like that but am pretty sure there is not.

In terms of how services are provided, I know you said you would prefer pull-out, but do try to look very closely at the resource rooms they are using for pull-out. Some middle school parents I know were told that once their kid goes into a resource room for math, for example, they will likely be off diploma track. This is because the kids in the resource room are working so far behind that they will not be able to catch up in high school and complete the algebra credits required for graduation. A really good co-taught math class with a special ed teacher in the room actively offering the accommodations/modifications your DD needs would be preferable if you can find a school that offers that set-up.

I would also ask the principals at each school about what professional development they do for their gen ed and special ed teachers. Do they bring in experts on differentiation, doing modifications and accommodations, learning disabilities, etc. to keep all teachers updated on the latest research/best practice? Or they do leave teachers to figure it all out on their own? I think many will neglect the need to educate their gen ed staff about how to implement IEP students' plans in their classes and put that burden entirely on the special ed staff -- who probably have very little time to work with all their gen ed teachers and assist them in implementation.

How to find other parents of students with learning disabilities to ask for their advice is a tricky question. In many cases I think those parents don't go to district special ed meetings because they don't want their students "outed" as special ed. Parents of students with autism and/or physical disabilities tend to band together because their kids already stick out as different so they'd rather advocate openly for their needs than do it quietly behind the scenes. Does your district have a PAC? Many have mandated special ed parent advisory committees, you might get some private replies if you posted your questions about middle schools to their email list if they have one.

Good luck. I think you are on the right track by trying to speak to the principals themselves. Their attitude alone about being willing to answer any question you have will probably be a good measure for how well their staff work with students like your DD.