Thank you!!! I will definitely check out the podcast:)!!

This might not address your specific issues, but there is a podcast called The Affirming Village Podcast with Lisa Baskin Wright and Dr. Destiny Huff, and their topic this week was Gaslighting at the IEP Table. If you find podcasts helpful, I highly recommend theirs - I always have takeaways and they're so relatable.

A student's essay on an assessment, any assessment, is not copyrighted - only the testing protocols. You absolutely have the right to see this. You can ask to view it during a meeting or schedule a time to come to the school to view it. Getting it included in the report could prove more difficult. When a school district does not use the appropriate tests, the next step is requesting an IEE. But you've already done that. You appear to be at an impasse with the school district which means due process. But as you correctly point out, I don't like your chances there. Have you gone up the chain of command to the director of special education? Have you called the state department of education for suggestions? Maybe others in PA will have some ideas.

Great advice for goal to be reached without accommodations!!!!! Thank you! Is a kiddos essay “Copyright Infringement”? My kiddos spontaneous writing sample from his TOWL4 assessment (subtest Essay Composition) was included in the IEE report, so it seems that the actual essay is not Cooyright Infringement. I do not know if this has to do specifically with the TOWL4 and that the WIAT 4 might have different Copyright Infringement interpretations? However, since the IEE psychologist included the TOWL4 essay sample in his report, if a district administers the TOWL 4, it seems they could also include essay sample in their report *Recently, our district wanted to administer the TOWL 4, but refused to confirm that they would administer the essay composition subtest. This was a huge red flag because it was ONLY the essay composition subtest that provided the results consistent with SLD written expression. Like many standardized tests, written expression doesn’t necessarily accurately reflect a kiddos writing ability in middle and high school. Districts WIAT4 showed “average” in the written composition Composite….because the composite is the average of a few subtest scores. District refused to look at separate subtests even though that is exactly what the independent evaluator did. Additionally, like AM, the district included a writing goal for this kiddo District would not provide the essay sample but did divulge that the scoring had strange rules in mechanics specifically with the use of commas. I am trying to drill down on this because in many tests, written expression is a composite score and it is the subtest of essay writing that clearly shows a student’s actual writing ability (in certain situations, of course). My kiddo was sending English assignments back to the teacher in 8th grade saying he didn’t learn this and needed help with grammar which was totally ignored. That was a year ago. We had the SLD in written expression documented with his actual essay in the report which we brought to PA when we arrived as they began their ER testing. At the same time, my son was self-advocating and asking for help in this area of need in writing on his assignments to his English teacher, and by June we had MAP scores with low growth and then the PSSA scores in ELA at the Basic level. *How do we get a district to provide real writing instruction in an SDI (that is more than just lip service) along with the one meager writing goal? *How can we make certain that the district is administering the proper subtests for written expression (for older students this should include the essay composition subtest) when they can choose to administer whichever subtests they want? I am really worried that about AM’s district using the TOWL4 “averaged” scores. This will create a paper trail where district listens to mom’s concerns but turns out student is scoring in the “average range” because district is not focusing on the area of need…the actual writing…but instead burying this important subtest. I have read many cases where hearing officers cite District’s “Average” scores by their qualified professionals.