I can't believe I've read this document 821 times and never realized the discrepancy between "one on one with special education staff" and then.. no one on one with special education staff. I'm certain she has never received this service since the IEP was implemented in May 2025. I have to imagine this provides me with more leverage toward modification. Are there compensatory measures I should expect of the district is/since four of her goals stated "1:1" but her support has been provided in small group and co-teaching only? I have the next document cued up but I'll hold it. Hopefully they just agree to modification and we can start from scratch.

This is such a helpful perspective for me, you're absolutely right. I'm going to spend time educating myself on Tier 3 supports vs specialized construction because the team has been talking about them as one in the same. The math goal: "math instruction outside of the gen ed classroom with spec ed teacher" is the small group T3 math.. I've never caught that the goal states 1:1 which isn't happening, she's in a small group. I've sent the follow-up email awaiting the PWN re: denying my request for modified curriculum. I don't know what to do with these crap goals because I feel the whole IEP is foundationally flawed due to not modifying the curriculum to meet her abilities. I don't want to tweak these goals because they're meant to have her working at the grade standard, which is inappropriate.. I want the whole thing wiped clean, agreeing to modify her curriculum to K-3rd grade in various areas, and build goals from there. In my head, order of operations is: 1) Wait for PWN 2) Dismantle PWN or go to mediation if needed 3) Advocate for building a whole new IEP, based on modified curriculum, which would eliminate all of these shitty goals Is that what you would do at this point? I am so appreciative of your time.

I'm a little confused about the math instruction. You call it Tier-3 math support in gen ed. This is NOT specialized instruction. Tier-3 is provided to gen ed students who qualify. Specialized instruction is provided to students who qualify for an IEP. It is a higher level of service/instruction. The IEP states that she is receiving the math instruction outside of the gen ed classroom with the spec ed teacher. If this is not occurring, you need to hold them to the IEP document. It is unbelievable and unacceptable that she has no minutes in the special education setting for all of her other deficits. As for the goals, they are also confusing (and very BAD, in my opinion). The math goal states she is to receive "one-on-one instruction with special education staff," yet the service is listed as "small group." As for reading, she only has a goal for comprehension, which is also supposed to be "one-on-one with special education staff," yet there are no one-on-one services minutes listed. They may be counting the co-taught minutes in the Language Arts class, but this is NOT one-on-one instruction. It's one-on-one SUPPORT. She needs instruction. Even though she only has a goal for reading comprehension, my guess is she is also low in both basic reading and reading fluency. Unfortunately, you don't show any data on these subcategories - only reading comprehension. I would ask for data on these very important underlying skills. Basic reading would include phonemic awareness and phonics. With the qualification that I haven't been in any meetings or reviewed any documents in full, this appears to be a very inadequate IEP.

These are her current goals.

She is currently in gen. ed. with Tier-3 math support so if I'm understanding everything correctly, math is the only class she is receiving specialized instruction. Her T3 math teacher, by the way, described in-detail that she is providing SO much "support" that any common person would call that spoon-feeding. She described how my daughter will simply point to a problem on the paper and nod when asked if she needs help. It's so far over her head that there isn't a specific 'part' of the problem or step that she needs help on.. it's the whole dang thing. Teacher will 'remind' her of the steps and then basically play a cat and mouse question game where I know my daughter is using the process of elimination to eventually land on an action or answer. And she has a 42% with THAT level of scaffolding.. All other deficits are being 'addressed' through accommodations only. In my opinion, they are acknowledging her deficits when grading / passing her rather than providing services to bridge those gaps.

I'm sorry the meeting did not go well. I would strongly urge you to bring an advocate to your next meeting. (I can't remember what state you're in, but advocates can attend IEP meetings virtually from anywhere in the country. If you cannot afford one, I would ask your state department of education for information on low-cost or pro bono advocacy services.) In lieu of or in addition to getting an advocate, I would request a mediation. Before addressing your draft, some questions. I'm confused as to what special education instruction and minutes she is receiving in the special education setting for reading, math, and written expression. The school stated they have no "Tier 3 ELA Classroom." You're spot on when you state lack of a program, etc., is not a reason to deny services needed. However, your daughter needs specialized instruction in the spec ed classroom, not Tier 3 interventions - she's way too far behind in reading for that. The school offered Math180 and Reading180 classes in the gen ed setting, but what is she receiving in terms of specialized instruction in the spec ed setting, which is what she actually needs?!? Speaking of special education minutes, those minutes are more important than what is considered by i-Ready to be a lesson and that's what you look to for enforcement of the IEP. How many minutes does the IEP state are to be spent on specialized instruction in reading? If she is not getting those full minutes (regardless of what instruction they use), it is a violation of the IEP (and something for which a state complaint could be filed). [Another thing you could ask for is a log of minutes for all specialized instruction received in the spec ed room over the course of the IEP year. Then match that up with what the IEP requires.] I personally don't like i-Ready as a form of instruction. I assume it's online and no one is with her as she completes the lessons? She needs individualized, intensive instruction, which i-Ready cannot provide. Now to address your draft. Here are my suggested revisions/additions: 1. CONCERNS NOT RESOLVED. For their "IQ score does not fall within the range required for modified curriculum" argument, ask them to show you where this is stated in school policy, state law, or federal law. And how being in the first percentile for IQ doesn't meet this criteria?? 2. FORMAL REQUESTS. Regarding your request for progress monitoring, I would ask for all raw data collection and screeners/assessments used to monitor progress. But I think the best way to handle this is to make sure the goals are written that she is to achieve them independently without accommodations or support. Regarding the i-Ready math data, again, I would not focus on i-Ready specifically, but rather what the IEP (goals) states. If she has goals for all the deficits you list above, she has to meet those regardless of whether a particular instruction allows her to "move on." If she doesn't have these as goals, ask that they be added. Lastly, regarding your request for a copy of this email to be placed inside the IEP, I would ask that a copy be placed in your daughter's educational file. With respect to the IEP, I would review what is currently in the "parent concerns" section and ask that to be replaced with something you draft that is similar to the email, but does not include requests for documents, etc., that would not be appropriate for a "parents concerns" statement.