They are now paying for IEEs… I needed that win. bullying happens at least weekly, often daily. Now one bully is hanging out with my kiddo and I don’t believe it is genuine. I am getting very worried about what is happening behind those walls. An administrator keeps approaching my kids about different things, which appears to be “fulfilling” some IEP jargon that I have no idea how it got there like, “student will have an opportunity to participate in a club..” and administrator pulls my kiddo from class and he spends 30 minutes with a group of kids which we learn was the Leadership club. Last week the administrator pulled him out of class to introduce him to the coach of sports team…neither I or my kiddo discussed this sport with the administrator so it feels a bit off…especially as he did not return my call 3 weeks ago. We faced horrific retaliation in Ca… it is hard to have an open mind and trust after that, especially when my gut starts talking to me. Parent Concerns letters…I followed Lisa’s advice and do write these. But district buried these in the IEPs…..and then they interjected throughout my letter with bullet pointed responses to each area, most of which was just false. They also placed an email I sent to the director in the IEP…not a parent concern letter, just an email. And they refuse to take it out. They have also forged my signature (electronic) without my permission. The list goes on. At least I am now recording the meetings (with their permission). I have proof of what is transpiring…there is just nothing I can do about it without a lawyer. This has gone on for years with my kiddos, and they are in 9th grade. I am sickened that I have been ineffective for so long…and my advocating just makes things worse for them. I asked for both to be administered the full IXL in math and ELA…that was a month ago. They just ignore me. I have no way of understanding what grade level my kids are on, that I’m aware of. So I asked for IXL… but they won’t do it, I’m sure. They just say their grades are great. I have so many concerns that I don’t know what to put in the letter…I welcome any advice on this. I can only email the director and LEA…and they do not pass on my questions to the teachers. I tried to email one teacher one time this year for one student…Director instructed teacher to not respond. I sent the email to the director to send to teacher…nothing. That was a month and a half ago. They also will not give me my kiddos work. Much of it only they can access on their Chromebooks. We cannot print their work from their Chromebooks…tech support told me i have to ask the teachers because only they can do that…Director determined at the IEP meetings that providing me with hard copy student work is not a provision of FAPE.

Thank you for responding! This is our first year in Pa…. I didn’t agree and didn’t sign (I now understand how Pa NOREPs work. District is not teaching at all. Just accommodating. They essentially ignore my concerns with the goals (which are meaningless)….at the last meeting instead of creating more ambitious and measurable goals, the director of special services brought in his own goals with no input from any team members. There was no time to discuss what he brought in (the hour was up), so the IEP I was presented with had “revised” goals…or disappearing goals. The toothless goals which my kiddo did not meet and made no progress disappeared into revised goals which have nothing to do with the unmet annual goal. I had never seen this, I went to the superintendent as I am done with the tricks. At that meeting I was advised to ask for an informal meeting since I did not understand the whole IEP as written. That was 6 days after the NOREP. I requested the informal meeting which took place 2 weeks later…but they had tricked me again…it went into effect on day 10…. I even asked both the director of special services and the LEA separately if I should bring goals that I think are appropriate to the meeting and they both said no. now I know why

How is the school accommodating her reading disability? It sounds like she's getting SDI to help her learn to decode but until she's at grade level, she needs accommodations. Audiobooks, extra time and speech to text devices are all things that can help her with access until her skill set makes her independent. (Extra time might be needed long term/indefinitely.) If she was getting these accommodations, what would her grades be? You don't want to hold her back because the IEP isn't accommodating all her needs. (IMO, the teacher is attempting to accommodate her not being on grade level but isn't taking an approach that uses the system in place to support students.)

Thank you. It's helpful to be reassured that my thinking was correct on this. I will get through our outside educational assessment tomorrow before crafting a Parent Concerns Letter on the topic. In speaking with other parents in my district, I assume they will push back on giving accurate grades to my child. In that case, I believe my next step would be to request a PWN justifying that decision.

You’re not off base at all. In fact, your instincts here are exactly what any evaluator, advocate, or data-driven teacher would say: if the grades aren’t accurate, the data can’t be used to make instructional decisions. A few points you can include in your reply to the teacher or in the IEP meeting: 1. It’s not about “passing vs failing”it’s about skill acquisition. A 65% and an 8% may both be technically failing, but they tell very different stories about your daughter’s decoding, comprehension, writing, task completion, and general access to the curriculum. Inflated grades erase the picture you need in order to support her. 2. This practice undermines IEP progress monitoring. IEP teams rely on accurate performance data to determine present levels, goal mastery, and whether accommodations and services are effective. If the numbers aren’t real, the team loses the ability to make informed decisions—and your outside evaluation won’t match the school data. 3. You can acknowledge the teacher’s intent while still correcting the issue. Most teachers who do this are trying to prevent a student from being crushed by a failing grade or are following a building-level practice they’ve been told is “helpful.” A script you can use: “I appreciate that you’re trying to support her emotionally and academically. My concern is that for IEP purposes esp with new evaluation results coming, we need accurate data so we can pinpoint where she’s struggling. Even if the grade is low, it helps us understand what level of support is actually needed.” 4. You can request a team discussion without making it personal. This is a data-collection and IEP-implementation issue, not a teacher-blaming issue. You can say: “Could we clarify as a team how grades should reflect actual performance? I want to make sure we’re collecting authentic data so we can align her services to her needs.” 5. What the teacher is doing isn’t best practice. Grade inflation for students with disabilities is incredibly common, but it’s also one of the top reasons students look “fine on paper” while falling further behind. If her real performance is an 8%, it’s a sign that the current IEP isn't addressing the gap, not a sign that her grades need softening. 6. The timing is actually ideal. You have an outside assessment ready to go. This discrepancy between “reported grades” and “actual ability” is exactly the kind of evidence that strengthens your case for stronger supports, services, and maybe even modified curriculum or more direct instruction. I have a ton more information about this-- https://adayinourshoes.com/goals-grades-iep-special-education/ https://adayinourshoes.com/adverse-educational-impact/ https://adayinourshoes.com/child-does-not-qualify-for-an-iep/

Reader question: My 6th grader has an established IEP that I'm not satisfied with. We've actually had an outside educational assessment completed and I meet for that feedback appointment this Friday. I've just realized that her ELA teacher is making a note of my daughter's actual grade (which is sometimes an 8%..) but the teacher is loading 65% as her grade. When I asked her about it, she shared, "The speech bubble is the actual grade she made on the assignments. I went back on Monday and changed her 60's and put them in as a 65 instead, because a 65 and 44 are both failing, but the 65 is easier to bring up. I don't mind doing this to help her since she is completing 6th grade level work, while her reading level is below grade level." I'm really uncomfortable with this because it is not accurate data collection. An 8% is very far away from a 65% in terms of us thinking about her understanding and level of support needed. Am I off base here? I want to maintain a good relationship with this teacher, who has attended my daughter's IEP meetings in the past. But I feel like putting in inaccurate scores is data collection 101..