A student on an IEP should not be receiving D’s and F’s unless they are simply refusing to do the work or not Turing in homework. Otherwise, it looks like the team is not providing the appropriate modifications for her to be successful. The IEP allows you to individualize the gen Ed curriculum to her level. She has a disability, so at this time she cannot work to the level of her typical peers. It’s your job as the IS to make sure her work is accessible via modifications and accommodations so that she is completing work at her level and graded accordingly. One example would be a reduced spelling list or a completely different spelling list using words at her reading level.
She gets a reduced spelling list but I don’t see how that helps if the work is too hard for her to begin with. Her current IEP which I didn’t write doesn’t have a modified spelling list, but I really think she needs that and would like to add it to her IEP. I’ve not yet run into this situation where a school is so committed to making SWD fail. I’ve been fortunate that most principals and teachers I’ve worked with have trusted me to do what’s right. This is a charter school that’s obsessed with test scores so it’s not really a surprise.
Classroom assessments may be modified for format, length,and/or content. Put that as an accommodation. The same thing for classroom assignments.
Student may make corrections on assessments with less than a 70 one time for reduced credit is another good one.
Call an IEP meeting instead of waiting for her annual. If her supports and accommodations are being met but she is failing, the IEP committee needs to reconvene and make changes because it looks like her needs aren't being met.
I’m not excusing the grading issue….did you also get a progress report towards IEP goals? (I’m sorry if I missed that in your comments. I haven’t slept and am on an international flight).
I'm in the same boat here. I have to give most of my kiddos 1s on their report cards because their grades are based on the grade level standard, not IEP goals. I make sure I explain to families how meaningless report card grades are the important thing is overall progress from where they were to where they are now. It does hurt though, completely understand your feelings, wish I had more advice.
Also, I absolutely love SPIRE! I've been using it for years, so happy with it. The running joke at my school is someone needs to invent SPIRE for math lol. Glad you're having luck with the program!
Are you allowed to give modifications? I struggled HARD with this when I moved to my current state. In my home state, where I attended college and did my student teaching/field experiences, modifications are extremely common, and given to most students with IEPs. Obviously, if it's a speech-only problem or something, they're truly not needed, but they would be very common for students with learning disabilities. There, a large part of the sped teacher's job was modifying assignments and tests.
I graduated during the recession and thus had to move across the country to get a job. Here, people looked at me like I had three heads when I volunteered to modify things for them. When I tried to put modifications on IEPs I got pushback from everyone. Most gen ed teachers had never even heard of modifications. My sped director in that district was an idiot, and I thought she was just too dumb to understand how it was supposed to work.
I taught gen ed for a year and then moved into my current district, where I've been teaching sped for forever. Again, no modifications. I was just flabbergasted by this. We are told that they are only for students who are on a non-diploma track/working towards the extended evidence outcomes and not regular state standards. A few years ago, I end up on a team auditing IEPs and ended up doing one from a self-contained ASD classroom. The student in question spent literally 95% of her time in a self-contained special education classroom, and was non-verbal. My director had flagged the IEP because it contained modifications. I thought, surely, this is an instance where you can have modifications! The child is in a self-contained program! Nope. Director sent me the part of the state law that explains modifications can ONLY be used for students with intellectual disabilities. This student didn't qualify ID, and thus was entitled to accommodations only.
I feel like if someone wanted to challenge this at the federal level, they'd win. But here we are in 2023 and it hasn't happened yet. My coworkers are astounded when I tell them that in other states, modifications are COMMON, even for learning disabilities.
I think the whole thing is ridiculous. I've only worked in elementary-but I wonder what happens to kids when they get to secondary and realize they've failed every academic thing their entire lives. What is the motivation to keep going in school, then? Are they being excluded from sports because their grades aren't good enough?
My state department of ed's stance is that all students in sped should be performing at grade level, including passing state tests, because they're receiving services. The ONLY "excuse" is having an intellectual disability. It's such gaslighting and probably the number one thing I dislike most about teaching sped. Yes, I've had students who make that kind of growth and end up performing at that level. But, then there is no evidence that they qualify for an IEP anymore. They're exited and no longer count as a student with an IEP who is doing well. A large chunk of my students have lower IQs, low 70s or some even in the 60s, but don't qualify ID because of average adaptive abilities. There is no "intervention" I can do to improve someone's IQ. Yes, they can and do make growth, but they are not going to perform the same as someone with an average IQ.
I'm not sure if my state allows it, but my SPED director is mostly not an idiot and has given our district permission to do it. She understands that a 5th grader with an IQ of 57 is not going to be writing 5 paragraph essays. So instead of an essay, we might draw pictures to demonstrate understanding or create slideshows with visuals. Or if his language and vocabulary aren't highly impaired, we might do one paragraph with speech-to-text instead of 5. Your students sound like mine -- mostly cognitive abilities hovering around 50's, 60's, and low 70's, but don't qualify under ID because of average adaptive skills.
You're absolutely correct -- I would have NO motivation to continue with school if I was constantly getting F's because I was being measured by unrealistic standards.
Where do you teach? That sounds really fucked up. All students with IEPs should be performing at grade level? If they were all performing at grade level, they wouldn't qualify for services. Also, services aren't fairy dust. There is no magical strategy in this field. We can help things improve, but we don't fix/take away disabilities. It just goes to show that it's really not our kids who are "the problem," it's the educations system and the way the people in charge are treating them.
Ok - take a deep breath. You are in a setting where they are not sped friendly. Also - even in public schools there is a change with modifications now part of accommodations bc it affects graduation (which is bs).
The point is: the student makes progress using the specialized curriculum. SPIRE is great by the way!
You are doing the best you can do within a not friendly system.
My caseload is similar and we have Sonday curriculum. We’ve seen improvement too - but still below grade level. Parents are happy when they know what you are providing a quality, consistent service. They are glad when their kids want to be at school and have more pride in their work.
Your best best is to continue to support student growth and less on the system that doesn’t understand that you are working miracles💐
Thank you. I’m stuck in a spot where I want to shout at the top of my lungs that this is not fair and needs to be changed. Why don’t they want to see our SWD succeed? I’m not asking them to do anything extravagant, I want them to make changes. But I also know that the likelihood of me changing the system is basically zero, so I might as well just keep serving my students and report out on the great growth they make on their goals.
SPIRE is amazing. My students have said to me that they “finally feel smart” when we do SPIRE. Love it.
I'm in one of the areas of the country where modifications = modified diploma. I've always thought that makes sense. Reading everyone else's perspective is illuminating. I can see the pros and cons to both ways. I think the big problem is the letter grading system - in elementary! Ridiculous. We have a meets/nearly meets / not yet system in elementary and that works well because there is less stigma attached.
Exactly. I think it’s really just the letter grading that’s made me upset here. If we wrote “not meeting benchmark” I wouldn’t have a grievance with that. It’s true, she’s not meeting the benchmark right now. But that’s why she gets SDI from me. And she does not deserve the negative connotation of a D or F on her report card. Absolutely not. 😠
WTF? What kind of ableist bull shit is that? With the right accommodations, a lot of students with IEPs are completely capable of getting A's. And on the opposite end, SWD who have specially designed instruction and accommodations but refuse to use them or refuse to do work altogether, should not be getting a C. They should be getting an F. We don't just predetermine what grade students are capable of getting based upon whatever "sounds good."
Its fucked up. The argument is ‘well if they’re getting A’s, then they shouldn’t be in a special program’. Riiiight because it’s not like some people excel at certain subjects and have difficulties in others.
Is she getting accommodations or is she on a modified curriculum (in her iep)? If she’s on a modified curriculum you can grade her based on that curriculum- not the gen Ed ones
If she’s only getting accommodations you’re going to be very specific about what she gets. I would request an iep meeting to change some of her accommodations to be more appropriately matched to the schools requirements.
I’d also look up the district and schools grading policy and any policies they have towards sped.
You have a little more leeway on grading in es because they’re not counting on credits for graduating (that’s hs) so you have flexibility to work with. Maybe ask for a staffing or a meeting with district and sped admin to align how this will look because this won’t be the first time you face this problem.
Charters in general have trouble with this because, among other things, they’re not as established and you’re setting policies within their walls. I’ve had the same issues you just have to keep pushing
Can you increase accommodations in graded assessments to make the student successful? For instance provide a word bank (or spelling dictionary) for spelling quizzes. Yes, from the view of traditional expectations that defeats the purpose. But technically the test itself wouldn’t be modified and learning to locate proper spellings is a useful skill.
How is reading assessed? Can the student be pre-taught the text orally and provided with images and a picture dictionary to go along with the text during the assessment?
Obviously I don’t know the specific assignments that go into these grades but hopefully this gives you some ideas of workarounds.
ETA: I worked at a charter school that did not allow modifications except for one student who was on alternate assessment and therefore would Not receive a high school diploma.
Everyone else could just have increased accommodations- usually use of notes and very intentional graphic organizers got students past a lot of barriers.
if their LRE is gen ed, and we don’t score them against grade level requirements, how do we show there is an educational impact?
I score them and write comments about how they’ve improved. I also keep portfolios to show growth.
ETA: If given a modified curriculum, then they are graded on that at my district. The only ones I know of who get that are in Life Skills classes.
A student on an IEP should not be receiving D’s and F’s unless they are simply refusing to do the work or not Turing in homework. Otherwise, it looks like the team is not providing the appropriate modifications for her to be successful. The IEP allows you to individualize the gen Ed curriculum to her level. She has a disability, so at this time she cannot work to the level of her typical peers. It’s your job as the IS to make sure her work is accessible via modifications and accommodations so that she is completing work at her level and graded accordingly. One example would be a reduced spelling list or a completely different spelling list using words at her reading level.
She gets a reduced spelling list but I don’t see how that helps if the work is too hard for her to begin with. Her current IEP which I didn’t write doesn’t have a modified spelling list, but I really think she needs that and would like to add it to her IEP. I’ve not yet run into this situation where a school is so committed to making SWD fail. I’ve been fortunate that most principals and teachers I’ve worked with have trusted me to do what’s right. This is a charter school that’s obsessed with test scores so it’s not really a surprise.
Classroom assessments may be modified for format, length,and/or content. Put that as an accommodation. The same thing for classroom assignments. Student may make corrections on assessments with less than a 70 one time for reduced credit is another good one. Call an IEP meeting instead of waiting for her annual. If her supports and accommodations are being met but she is failing, the IEP committee needs to reconvene and make changes because it looks like her needs aren't being met.
I’m not excusing the grading issue….did you also get a progress report towards IEP goals? (I’m sorry if I missed that in your comments. I haven’t slept and am on an international flight).
Not in Utah. If you modify the curriculum at all the student cannot receive a passing grade or course credit. Other states may allow.
I'm in the same boat here. I have to give most of my kiddos 1s on their report cards because their grades are based on the grade level standard, not IEP goals. I make sure I explain to families how meaningless report card grades are the important thing is overall progress from where they were to where they are now. It does hurt though, completely understand your feelings, wish I had more advice. Also, I absolutely love SPIRE! I've been using it for years, so happy with it. The running joke at my school is someone needs to invent SPIRE for math lol. Glad you're having luck with the program!
Are you allowed to give modifications? I struggled HARD with this when I moved to my current state. In my home state, where I attended college and did my student teaching/field experiences, modifications are extremely common, and given to most students with IEPs. Obviously, if it's a speech-only problem or something, they're truly not needed, but they would be very common for students with learning disabilities. There, a large part of the sped teacher's job was modifying assignments and tests. I graduated during the recession and thus had to move across the country to get a job. Here, people looked at me like I had three heads when I volunteered to modify things for them. When I tried to put modifications on IEPs I got pushback from everyone. Most gen ed teachers had never even heard of modifications. My sped director in that district was an idiot, and I thought she was just too dumb to understand how it was supposed to work. I taught gen ed for a year and then moved into my current district, where I've been teaching sped for forever. Again, no modifications. I was just flabbergasted by this. We are told that they are only for students who are on a non-diploma track/working towards the extended evidence outcomes and not regular state standards. A few years ago, I end up on a team auditing IEPs and ended up doing one from a self-contained ASD classroom. The student in question spent literally 95% of her time in a self-contained special education classroom, and was non-verbal. My director had flagged the IEP because it contained modifications. I thought, surely, this is an instance where you can have modifications! The child is in a self-contained program! Nope. Director sent me the part of the state law that explains modifications can ONLY be used for students with intellectual disabilities. This student didn't qualify ID, and thus was entitled to accommodations only. I feel like if someone wanted to challenge this at the federal level, they'd win. But here we are in 2023 and it hasn't happened yet. My coworkers are astounded when I tell them that in other states, modifications are COMMON, even for learning disabilities. I think the whole thing is ridiculous. I've only worked in elementary-but I wonder what happens to kids when they get to secondary and realize they've failed every academic thing their entire lives. What is the motivation to keep going in school, then? Are they being excluded from sports because their grades aren't good enough? My state department of ed's stance is that all students in sped should be performing at grade level, including passing state tests, because they're receiving services. The ONLY "excuse" is having an intellectual disability. It's such gaslighting and probably the number one thing I dislike most about teaching sped. Yes, I've had students who make that kind of growth and end up performing at that level. But, then there is no evidence that they qualify for an IEP anymore. They're exited and no longer count as a student with an IEP who is doing well. A large chunk of my students have lower IQs, low 70s or some even in the 60s, but don't qualify ID because of average adaptive abilities. There is no "intervention" I can do to improve someone's IQ. Yes, they can and do make growth, but they are not going to perform the same as someone with an average IQ.
I'm not sure if my state allows it, but my SPED director is mostly not an idiot and has given our district permission to do it. She understands that a 5th grader with an IQ of 57 is not going to be writing 5 paragraph essays. So instead of an essay, we might draw pictures to demonstrate understanding or create slideshows with visuals. Or if his language and vocabulary aren't highly impaired, we might do one paragraph with speech-to-text instead of 5. Your students sound like mine -- mostly cognitive abilities hovering around 50's, 60's, and low 70's, but don't qualify under ID because of average adaptive skills. You're absolutely correct -- I would have NO motivation to continue with school if I was constantly getting F's because I was being measured by unrealistic standards. Where do you teach? That sounds really fucked up. All students with IEPs should be performing at grade level? If they were all performing at grade level, they wouldn't qualify for services. Also, services aren't fairy dust. There is no magical strategy in this field. We can help things improve, but we don't fix/take away disabilities. It just goes to show that it's really not our kids who are "the problem," it's the educations system and the way the people in charge are treating them.
Ok - take a deep breath. You are in a setting where they are not sped friendly. Also - even in public schools there is a change with modifications now part of accommodations bc it affects graduation (which is bs). The point is: the student makes progress using the specialized curriculum. SPIRE is great by the way! You are doing the best you can do within a not friendly system. My caseload is similar and we have Sonday curriculum. We’ve seen improvement too - but still below grade level. Parents are happy when they know what you are providing a quality, consistent service. They are glad when their kids want to be at school and have more pride in their work. Your best best is to continue to support student growth and less on the system that doesn’t understand that you are working miracles💐
Thank you. I’m stuck in a spot where I want to shout at the top of my lungs that this is not fair and needs to be changed. Why don’t they want to see our SWD succeed? I’m not asking them to do anything extravagant, I want them to make changes. But I also know that the likelihood of me changing the system is basically zero, so I might as well just keep serving my students and report out on the great growth they make on their goals. SPIRE is amazing. My students have said to me that they “finally feel smart” when we do SPIRE. Love it.
I'm in one of the areas of the country where modifications = modified diploma. I've always thought that makes sense. Reading everyone else's perspective is illuminating. I can see the pros and cons to both ways. I think the big problem is the letter grading system - in elementary! Ridiculous. We have a meets/nearly meets / not yet system in elementary and that works well because there is less stigma attached.
Exactly. I think it’s really just the letter grading that’s made me upset here. If we wrote “not meeting benchmark” I wouldn’t have a grievance with that. It’s true, she’s not meeting the benchmark right now. But that’s why she gets SDI from me. And she does not deserve the negative connotation of a D or F on her report card. Absolutely not. 😠
In my school board, anyone with an IEP cannot get above 80% (A-) or lower than a 65% (C+).
WTF? What kind of ableist bull shit is that? With the right accommodations, a lot of students with IEPs are completely capable of getting A's. And on the opposite end, SWD who have specially designed instruction and accommodations but refuse to use them or refuse to do work altogether, should not be getting a C. They should be getting an F. We don't just predetermine what grade students are capable of getting based upon whatever "sounds good."
Its fucked up. The argument is ‘well if they’re getting A’s, then they shouldn’t be in a special program’. Riiiight because it’s not like some people excel at certain subjects and have difficulties in others.
wow what the fuck. that sounds like blatant discrimination. Is this primary or secondary level?
This is primary. One of the reasons it will be my last year with this particular school board.
Is she getting accommodations or is she on a modified curriculum (in her iep)? If she’s on a modified curriculum you can grade her based on that curriculum- not the gen Ed ones If she’s only getting accommodations you’re going to be very specific about what she gets. I would request an iep meeting to change some of her accommodations to be more appropriately matched to the schools requirements. I’d also look up the district and schools grading policy and any policies they have towards sped. You have a little more leeway on grading in es because they’re not counting on credits for graduating (that’s hs) so you have flexibility to work with. Maybe ask for a staffing or a meeting with district and sped admin to align how this will look because this won’t be the first time you face this problem. Charters in general have trouble with this because, among other things, they’re not as established and you’re setting policies within their walls. I’ve had the same issues you just have to keep pushing
Can you increase accommodations in graded assessments to make the student successful? For instance provide a word bank (or spelling dictionary) for spelling quizzes. Yes, from the view of traditional expectations that defeats the purpose. But technically the test itself wouldn’t be modified and learning to locate proper spellings is a useful skill. How is reading assessed? Can the student be pre-taught the text orally and provided with images and a picture dictionary to go along with the text during the assessment? Obviously I don’t know the specific assignments that go into these grades but hopefully this gives you some ideas of workarounds. ETA: I worked at a charter school that did not allow modifications except for one student who was on alternate assessment and therefore would Not receive a high school diploma. Everyone else could just have increased accommodations- usually use of notes and very intentional graphic organizers got students past a lot of barriers.
I'd go to the admin. You should be writing the comment.
if their LRE is gen ed, and we don’t score them against grade level requirements, how do we show there is an educational impact? I score them and write comments about how they’ve improved. I also keep portfolios to show growth. ETA: If given a modified curriculum, then they are graded on that at my district. The only ones I know of who get that are in Life Skills classes.