The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is an important piece of American legislation that protects and defines the educational rights of students with disabilities. All children have the right to receive a quality education and IDEA seeks to preserve …
With high school commencement ceremonies underway, graduating seniors might be swept up in the proverbial pomp and circumstance of ending what has thus far been the most important chapter in their lives. For those matriculating to college, the beginning of …
The assumption is parents want the best possible education for their children. Getting this sometimes requires some insistence. Occasionally, a child will need something beyond what the curriculum and first tier of supports will provide. The school should notice this …
Spring brings senioritis, a phenomenon so real that Microsoft Word apparently recognizes it as a legitimate word. For graduating seniors, the anticipation has been building for months, if not years. As the weather gets warmer and the date can be …
Everyone has a story. When we fail to understand others’ stories, we fail to understand their experiences, their perspectives, and their struggles. We can’t truly know someone without knowing his or her narrative. Case in point: I tutored a student …
Student writing portfolios make sense as assessment tools in English language arts classes, but they have broader utility. Not only can teachers employ these across content areas as meaningful forms of assessment, they can help students build them to be …
With the majority of students with IEPs receiving instruction through the general education curriculum, IEP teams must establish how to fairly assess these students. Most students with IEPs will take the same formative and summative assessments students without IEPs take. …
Students with disabilities often have only vague notions about the content of their IEPs. Transition interviews too often reveal that many of these students have a weak understanding of the services they receive. Some don’t know why they have IEPs. …
As students with disabilities approach graduation from high school, IEP teams might wish to consider scaling back the accommodations in the IEP. This might seem like a way to undermine student success, making parents reluctant to agree to the idea. …
A previous post on iAchieveLearning.com detailed the value of Section 504 plans for incoming college freshmen with disabilities. This post will discuss some of the specific conditions for which a 504 plan could be written to address. Parents of students …