Classroom observation

[Tamar]

My 7yo is on an IEP.  His private BCBA requested to do a school observation, to help us figure out how to best support him at home, as well as additional accommodations to request at school.   The school has stated she is only allowed to do a 20 min observation, and only with me and the principal present as well.   I work full time and cannot be there, plus if I'm there it has a significant chance of changing his behaviors in the classroom.   We are in CA.  Is there any regulations around classroom observations?  

[Carolyn Rowlett]

What is their reasoning for this?  If given a reason, ask for the written policy.  Can you compromise and have you and the principal outside the classroom unbeknownst to your son?

Did the school do an FBA?  Sound like even if they did, it was insufficient if you think additional accommodations are still needed.  Either way (now if they've done an FBA, later if they haven't and you need to request one) you could go the IEE route and the school would have to let the provider do the observation in the time and way that s/he sees fit.

[JSD24]

I found this which says that parents can observe - it's silent on a behavior specialist observing.  https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/education-code/edc-sect-49091-10/  I'm wondering if this is why the school is saying the parent needs to be there.  You might be able to get around this by granting the BCBA educational guardianship for the sole purpose of doing this observation of your child.  Ask the school if this would be OK per their rules.  There's probably a website where you can find out how to do this without getting a lawyer to draft the paperwork.

My school does have a policy on this and a professional is allowed to observe longer than a parent since observations are often required as part of a comprehensive educational evaluation.  The wording with my school is 40 minutes per quarter but it also says per subject (this is for parents).  This means a parent could come in one week and see math for 40 minutes and then come back and see science and PE and ELA and...

Did the BCBA say how long/how many times they would need to observe to have sufficient data to do the evaluation they are looking to do.  If they're looking to provide an FBA, 20 minutes isn't long enough to have sufficient data on which to do a private evaluation.  Also, it's not best practice to have a parent present when a professional is doing an FBA.  If the professional guidance on FBAs doesn't fit with the school's rules, I think you have a good case for the BCBA being able to observe more than 20 minutes.  This is something central admin would need to OK - in other words, you'd need to go over the principal's head.