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..

I want to address this: I was never in agreement with this as proposed on 2/21/25. If this was on the IEP and you didn't disagree on the NOREP, the IEP goes into effect. Your other post said you were in CA. CA has different rules where parents needs to actively agree with the IEP. PA is different. Ignore the NOREP & the IEP goes into effect in 10 days. I had similar issues with one of my twins and how they graded him in English. He'd not do the book report - a major part of the grade - and they'd act like it wasn't assigned when calculating the grade. If you don't feel a goal is appropriate, request an IEP meeting and convince the school to change it. What SDI is the school providing to teach him how to meet his goals? Is the SDI appropriate? If he's not making progress, the school might need to change-up their remedial approach. (Sorry for the delay in answering this. I meant to get back you you but couldn't find your post. I only can see the 10 most recent posts.)

My best advice is to write a parent concerns letter and ask for it to be copied into the IEP. https://adayinourshoes.com/parent-concerns-on-the-iep-parent-letter-of-attachment/ A 2nd eval with the same test within a year = invalid results. If the school is working on a reeval, you do need to wait for those results and then ask for an IEE - you cannot do an IEE and school eval at the same time because you cannot retest with the same test within a year. In the concerns letter mention about the school dropping the results of the old TOWL4 essay results. (Always remember: If it's not in writing, it didn't happen.) It's not bullying unless it happens more than once but things like name calling can be reported via Safe2Say. To exit from speech, they need a speech eval. Copies of evals need to be given to parents. (Did they email it & you had tech issues?) My child tested average too but she's gifted and could mask well enough to throw off the SLP. They really needed to do the optional extended part of the assessment (this was the TOPL). In PA, the parent has 10 days to disagree with the NOREP or the IEP goes into effect. Not sure what happens if it's sent electronically & you can't access it. (I had one mailed & USPS took 15 days to get it to me. I have a feeling it went into effect before I had a copy.) No meet revisions to IEPs are supposed to be for small things like you needing a paper copy of things because your tech can't access what the school sends electronically. This is where a call might be good so you can come to school & get paperwork rather than sending it home with your child or risking the USPS & a delay. In addition to the Consult Line, PEAL can help clarify things. https://pealcenter.org/ I'm surprised the assistant superintendent was aware enough of special ed to be willing to talk to you. In my district, this tends to be dealt with by the pupil services director. If you still have questions, post back.