Middle school Articulation meeting-trying to strip my child's IEP goals and pull outs

[stone]

We had our middle school articulation meeting as my child (ADHD & 2e, with poor executive function) is going into middle school next year. They said they will keep all my child's accommodations, but not the pull outs because the school "doesn't do that".  Is this legal? She has not met her most of her IEP goals. And has definitely the goals for spelling and executive function. She gets pulled out for spelling using Wilsons. Yet her spelling is below grade level and she can not write a 3 sentence paragraph independently on her own. I pointed out her spelling issues and they just replied they don't grade spelling in middle school, so it is not an issue. I disagreed and said that doesn't matter, she is not at grade level and can't write an essay on her own. They just repeat that they "don't do that" in middle school. What can I do to get her pull outs in middle school? Or do I need to advocate they pay for tutoring for spelling and writing skills? Or is there something else I can ask for here in CA? They don't offer up solutions.

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Many school districts want to stop pull out minutes in middle and high school.  Sometimes it is for good reasons, such as the student know longer wants to be seen by their peers as being pulled out for special education.  Sometimes it's for "bad" reasons such as they don't want to utilize resources for pull out minutes in middle and high school (not a valid reason if the student still needs pull out minutes).  But they usually at least offer "push in" minutes.  Did they do that here?  At a minimum, I would ask for those instead of just jumping from push in instruction to nothing, especially if she is not on grade level for writing.  If the data justifies it, ask for push in minutes to get help with writing.  This is not necessarily obvious to the rest of the class, as the person is often helping other students, as well.

Having said that, if the need is there for pull out minutes, you can definitely fight for that.  "We don't do that" is not a valid reason.  But you do need data.  It sounds like your daughter only has a goal for spelling within the "specialized instruction for writing" category.  This is a tough one to keep as it's not a well defined sub-category of written expression.  So you will have to show a need.  Does she spell well enough for spell check to know what she's trying to spell and does she have this accommodation?  If so, that may be all you can get.  However, if she is so poor at spelling that the accommodation is useless OR the teacher cannot understand what she is trying to say in a sentence/paragraph/essay, that is an argument for a spelling goal. due to her spelling deficit affecting her ability to access FAPE.  Moving forward make sure to have all written work sent home so that you can see her output and start collecting data to make your argument.

But it sounds like your daughter needs more than a spelling goal if she cannot write a 3 sentence paragraph on her own (start collecting the data on this, as well).  To get that you will need to ask for an evaluation in the area of academics, specifically, written expression.  If the evaluation comes back with low enough scores to find eligibility in written expression, there's the data you need to either get pull out or push in minutes.  If they still refuse, ask for an IEE.

Finally, is there any concern about dyslexia or dyslexic tendencies here?  With her being 2e, she may very well have been masking this throughout elementary school (by memorizing and figuring out words from context) and may present as reading on grade level.  If you have any concerns at all about this, also ask for an evaluation in the area of reading.  Make sure they do subtests that dig into phonological awareness and phonics (the very basics of reading foundation) because that's where these type of students usually slip through the cracks.  But not having the foundational skills in place usually catches up with them at some point.