Really bad report card

[momster]

Okay, my son got his first middle school report card. It was so bad, that I think it's almost good!! I expected Cs, but he got 3 Ds (and not in gym!! - English, Social studies and math). He has an IEP but I am not sure that academic lab is helping him (his issues are all organizational and attentional) and the accomodations are not consistently used (like providing extra time, modified assignments, or teachers signing off on his planner).

Any suggestions????

- momster

[PMM]

I would definitely ask for a meeting with your case manager and the teachers who gave him the D's. You also need to find out why he got the D's. One on my son's is in a similar situation butthe main reason his grades are so low is because he's been handing in most of his work late, some of it really late. If he had handed it in on time he'd probably be getting A's and B's.

One thing I'm going to do during my meeting is request that negotiated time extentions for projects/homework be added to his IEP. If your son's IEP is not being followed consistently that is a big problem and absolutley needs to be addressed. His success is a joint effort and if his teachers aren't aiding him a solution needs to be found. One of my son's went to each of his classes right after school to double check his agenda and make sure he had everything he needed, we've also used the aid in the class to be the one signing off on the agenda because that person had more time.

Hope this helps a bit.

Pat

[momster]

Thanks, Pat. I've been hoping to avoid an aide, b/c when you're 12, they are just sooooo uncool. The teachers are supposed to be signing off on his homework, but his teacher has said to me that HE has to remember to sdee her about it!!! The reason he's getting bad grades is not passing in work, or passing it in late - not only homework, but schoolwork too.

- momster

[PMM]

I literally just got off the phone with one of the class aides in my son's science class. He has 4 assignments/parts of assignments that he owes for the quarter that just ended. Worst part is I see him do the work at home so I can't figure out what he does with it between here and there. At our school most of the classes he's in have a class room aide, that helps all the classified kids, but will help any kid, so none of them feel singled out. He doesn't have his own aide.

I have my meeting tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. I've already told him that if he/we don't figure some way to help him this year he'll be taking a study skills course offered to freshmen instead of the elective that he wants to take. I just can't tell if he procrastinates because he has trouble doing the work ( I can see it takes him much longer than my other two) or that he is just being lazy. He says he's being lazy but I watch him work and it does take him a LONG time to get some things done. This one may have me shopping for wigs soon. LOL

Pat

[blackbelt1997]

I know students should be educated in the regular classroom. Have you considered small group or inclusion services to meet your children's needs? In small group classes we are supposed to teach the same content of the regular classroom. I am a special ed. teacher and I do what I am supposed to do. Unfortunately some special ed. teachers do not teach the regular curriculum in small group classes. Inclusion is where there are two special education support people. This may be an aide, or it may be a special education teacher. The general education teacher should have a copy of the students' accommodations, and should be providing these. As I have found with working with general ed. teachers is that they can provide the accommodations easily if they would change their classroom management arrangements. (e.g. It'd be easy to sign off on one student's homework if the teacher would walk around while grading homework, and it'd be easy to check if the student had written down assignments if the assignments were posted, and the teacher schedules 15 minutes in the afternoon for students to write down assignments, and to check specific students' assignment books).

[momster]

Thanks PMM and Blackbelt. I am pretty familiar with special ed, b/c my younger son needs more extensive services. I think my son really needs an aide, but I think it would be a big problem for him. At 12, he is so resentful of any help or anything that makes him stand out. He feels stupid b/c he has to go to the academic lab - an aide would be mucgh worse and I think he would totally revolt. One of my complaints about academic lab, ironically, is that I think they are working on the curriculum. They are supposed to be working on organizing him and how to organize his work, but I don't think they have the staff to work individually.

I'm going to call a team meeting, but of course the district contact person listed is in his old school!! I suppose I'll call the school vice principal to set it up. I don't know what good the meeting will do if the teachers don't follow the IEP.

Oh well.....

PMM - I'm sorry you're having these problems, too. A really interesting book to read is "the Myth of Laziness" by Mel Levine. It's an interesting look into learning disabilities and diagnoses.

momster

[PMM]

A friend loaned me A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine which I am finding quite helpful and when I spoke to my case manager about it she also recommended the book you suggested. I had my meeting and he's up for re-evaluation anyway so maybe that will help us pinpoint what's going on. He has buckled down a bit more and as far as I know has been getting his assignments in on time so far this quarter. Hopefully after the break I'll have the results of the retesting.

It's unfortunate that in some schools you really have to ride them about sticking to the IEP but if I've learned nothing else, the more you're involved in your kids school work the more likely they are to comply just because you are in their face all the time. Shouldn't be that way but it sometime is.

Pat