Help in with probleming dealing with retention in special education

DOREEN1779

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
I was hoping someone with experience in this area could help me. My son, Rory is currently in the 5th grade. Rory is in a self-contained class. Rory is non verbal and autistic. I have a long list of reasons of why retention is justified for my son but it seems that the powers at be are reluctant to hear me out and only are quoting data and eluding to the fact that I can't let go. If a teacher/ principal in a k-6 setting makes the recommendation for retention, ultimately it is the parents decision to retain. Why wouldn't the decision be the same for a parent requesting retention? Its discriminatory to apply a different standard to special education. Is there anyone out there that has had this situation arise? and if so can you give me some insight on why you did it and the reasons for retention.
 
assuming you are in the United States, blame "No Child Left Behind" law. if the district had too many at wrong grade they can have to pay for children to go else where. much less retention that in the past. was glad we were thru special ed when this was passed
 
Also, there is usually an age range assigned to each special education classroom. So, a 5th grade special ed class might have an age range of 10, 11 and 12 year olds only. If you retained your son and he fell out of that age range for the next school year, the school would have to write for a waiver to state ed, and often those requests are not granted. The only classrooms where age range can be greater than 3 years is when the students are in the upper grades of high school and will stay in school until age 21. So a classroom at that level might have 6 ages in it (16-21).
 
If the principal isn't recommending it, it's not applying different rules to the special ed classroom vs the regular rooms. That's the first step, and it doesn't sound like that's happened.

Are they telling you why they're unwilling to retain? Some kind of testing score? The age limit as listed above?
 
I had the opposite situation. Our dd was in first grade and her teacher recommended for retention. She also has autism, and a visual perceptual learning disorder. I googled retention to try to figure out how to best explain the situation to her. My Google exploded with data explaining why retention has basically fallen into disfavor. So I argued against it in our IEP meeting. She spent 2nd grade in a self-contained classroom setting for Math and Language Arts. Having said that, our situations are different. I guess I'd just ask them to be very detailed in their reasoning against what you're advocating for. You know your child better than anyone else. Go with your gut feeling.
 
I don't think it's a different standard or specific to special education. I know my local school rarely (if ever) retains based on parental suggestion if the school personnel hasn't agreed, regardless of classroom setting. Have they given their reason(s) to advancement, or responded to your specific concerns? Without knowing the situation it's hard for me to form an idea of what they might feel can be accommodated at the next level vs retention.
Good luck with your meetings and I hope you and the school can reach a resolution.
 
From your question I didn't get if you were trying to just "request" something of your school or go through the channels of the IEP process to get it. Is this something you requested at an IEP meeting or you went to due process and were turned down or you just had a conversation and someone said no?

Our situation: we held back our younger son in kindergarten because we felt he would catch up more with regular education if we kept him back. When we had his IEP meeting that year they had plans for pretty extensive services for the coming year (1st grade) and I asked if they would have the same plans if he didn't move on and they were like, "well we'd have to readjust all the goals because his same-grade peers would be coming into kindergarten with lower reading skills, etc" They were way more enthusiastic about piling on the special education services and keeping him out of the regular classroom more than the idea of holding a child back. They also told me that they felt he would need services long-term. I didn't agree. So we opted to hold back and see if we could give him more time to catch up and progress. They weren't really thrilled with it, but they agreed to it. Anyway, he made super strides in his second round of kindergarten.
He is just finishing 1st grade and went from a full-time all-day aide and something like 67% (don't remember exact percentage) and TONS of breaks ...it was basically 10 minutes work, 5 minutes break, 10 minutes work, etc. at the start of kindergarten to NO aide and 97% integration now.
One of the best educational decisions we've made for him yet.
 


My son only turned 11 so he will not exceed 12 years of age and will be within the guidelines for the self-contained classroom. The problem is what criteria is used to make the decision? Based on the fact that the principal has been assigned to make this decision and special services has stated they have nothing to do with it, wouldn't the same set of standards apply that are used in general education to make the decision? I'm not requesting additional services or additional transportation costs, so it really will not cost the district any more money. My son is nowhere close to his 5th grade peers and doesn't have the cognitive awareness to understand the difference between 5th grade and 6th grade so there would be no social stigmatism associated with retention. Academically he is three grade levels behind. I just don't get it.
 
If the principal isn't recommending it, it's not applying different rules to the special ed classroom vs the regular rooms. That's the first step, and it doesn't sound like that's happened.

Are they telling you why they're unwilling to retain? Some kind of testing score? The age limit as listed above?
But the principal wouldn't have recommended it because he was never involved in any aspect of my son's education. If there was an academic issue, I dealt with special services. If there was a behavioral issue, I dealt with special services. Never once have I received a phone call from the principal in regard to my son. All his tests are showing deficiency in all areas. Also, parents in general education have asked for retention without prompt from teacher or principal and as long as they showed deficiency, the request was approved based on deficiency not anything else
 
But the principal wouldn't have recommended it because he was never involved in any aspect of my son's education. If there was an academic issue, I dealt with special services. If there was a behavioral issue, I dealt with special services. Never once have I received a phone call from the principal in regard to my son. All his tests are showing deficiency in all areas.

Has the principal not been involved in IEP meetings? Doesn't he have to sign off on everything? While you work with spec ed, the principal oversees it all and reviews everything.

Are his deficiencies low enough for retention? Or are they just low end? What would be gained from a retention? Would he remain essentially in the same place after the added year?

What reasons are they telling you they don't want to retain?

The process is essentially the same for both spec ed and non spec ed in who approves and such, but the criteria won't be because you have an IEP. Example, the third grade guarantee doesn't apply to my daughter because of her IEP, but if I wanted to retain we would still have to go through the same channels as everyone else. It's not discriminatory. It actually works in your favor more often.
 
The only IEP meeting the principal was present to was the one I asked him to be at when I formally requested retention. The deficiencies are acute and would meet the standards. The only reason they want to move him forward is that he has a problem with change and they said he needs to adapt to new environments.
 
If that's the only reason they're giving, which doesn't make much sense, you should list out the benefits that outweigh their concern of needing to adapt.
 
If you had this disagreement about placement (self-contained classroom AT this particular school would fall under "placement" from what I can understand of the situation) AT the IEP meeting, can't you push it into not signing off on the IEP (if you are in that kind of state) and/or due process or mediation (if you are in a state where you don't get to sign off on the IEP -- states where parents don't put their signature on the IEP). I mean, can't you refuse to sign the IEP or take them to mediation over placement if you are not in agreement. I'm not saying you should just do that, but if you have iron-clad reasoning and you have documentation to support your reasoning, and no one is even giving you the time of day, it is an option.

ETA: and fyi, I don't know if this is nationally or just a state-thing, but parents do not get to choose placement where we live. The only way you can get in on the decision-making process in regards to placement is if you have problems with the IEP services and disagree on how those services can be provided in the placement they have picked (for example: explain WHY the self-contained classroom at this current school is THE ONLY PLACE the supports and services required by your child can be delivered....explain why they cannot be delivered in the setting of the other school they are suggesting, etc.)
 
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Also, I would argue that BECAUSE he has a problem with change, he should have consistency. Do you have any therapists or anything that can back you up? That always helps (well, sometimes it helps...sometimes the school ignores anything and everything that doesn't support what they want to do).
 
I'm not requesting additional services or additional transportation costs, so it really will not cost the district any more money.

Ah, but they are looking much further into the future than next year. Unless you already intend to keep him in school through age 21, he will be using an extra year of services/costs by repeating 5th grade. And if you do intend to keep him in school until 21, they may not feel there is reason to retain at this point as they'll continue working with him at his level regardless of which "grade" he's enrolled. I'm not saying any of that is adequate excuse for advancement, and they aren't legally allowed to use financial as a reason, but they most certainly are looking at it that way.

But the principal wouldn't have recommended it because he was never involved in any aspect of my son's education.

The principal is just the authority figure in such situations, the recommendation(s) likely come from your son's usual day-to-day teacher(s) or case manager. Or as more likely the case, his teachers haven't suggested retention, therefore by default the recommendation is advancement. Is there a district-level person you can appeal to? Here, I don't even attempt to deal with the school principal as any higher-up decisions are made by the district-wide Director of Special Education, who reports to the Superintendent.

Have they been working with your son on transition to 6th grade? Schools are so different that I can't tell from your post if that means a new school (different building) or a different classroom. If it's a big change and they know he struggles with change but they have not worked on transition, that should help support your request to retain. But I'd also make sure your request shows how retention will ultimately help your son -- will the extra year bring him closer to grade-level academically? What is the goal -- your goal -- with retention? If he is not performing at grade-level and isn't likely to catch-up to grade-level by repeating 5th grade, what are you hoping for him to gain? I honestly think with kids who fall so far behind their peers, and are on IEPs, advancement is less about the academic deficiencies and more about achieving the goals set forth in his IEP. If you can show they haven't been making forward progress towards those goals, you might have a stronger argument than test scores. And if he struggles with change, they really need to have transition goals written into his IEP to help him move to the next step (be that just the next grade, new building, different schedule, etc.).

Good luck!
 
I can only speak to my own experience as a special education teacher (in MA).
1) My principal is rarely at an IEP meeting; she will drop in from time to time but it is rare. The only time she is likely to be at one of my meetings is if I request her presence. The school psychologist is there for initial and reevaluation meetings, but for most annual reviews, I would be the one 'in charge' or the District Financial Designee.

2) I only know of one student who has been retained over the years and those parents had to fight tooth and nail for it to happen. There are many studies out there that show how ineffective retention is and why; this is particularly true after the early elementary years. (Not saying that there aren't exceptions.) These studies have been used as their reasons for not retaining students though there is a bigger reason - $. It costs the school system a lot of $ to retain and that cost goes up significantly if the child is special needs. I can't imagine the kind of trouble I would be in if I started suggesting that my students be retained.

OP - I wish you the best of luck.
 
My son only turned 11 so he will not exceed 12 years of age and will be within the guidelines for the self-contained classroom. The problem is what criteria is used to make the decision? Based on the fact that the principal has been assigned to make this decision and special services has stated they have nothing to do with it, wouldn't the same set of standards apply that are used in general education to make the decision? I'm not requesting additional services or additional transportation costs, so it really will not cost the district any more money. My son is nowhere close to his 5th grade peers and doesn't have the cognitive awareness to understand the difference between 5th grade and 6th grade so there would be no social stigmatism associated with retention. Academically he is three grade levels behind. I just don't get it.

This type of decision lies with the IEP team and what is best for the child and how to provide FAPE, so the district clearly does not fully understand IDEA. It is often a very complex discussion and process most often based around developmental not academic levels for children with the needs you describe.

I have argued cases both ways based on the specific situation and needs of the child, so you should be calling IEP meetings until this issue is fully vetted. If after that you disagree with the decision then it is on to due process if you feel strongly enough. As a volunteer advocate, I can tell you that letting the team know that you are willing to go this far up front if you are not convinced that the decision is in the best interest of your child will cause the discussion to be much more robust and "flexible".

Based on you description your child will age out of SPED not leave by grade count so there is no real financial advantage to the district either way.
 
OP, what is the difference next year between the 5th grade and 6th grade for your son? Is it a different school, different teacher, different group of students? What is the difference that you object to? Be able to state that at your next meeting, and you may get what you ask for.
 
I just wanted everyone to know that my retention request was approved. The principal, along with his retention team, made the decision. As scary as it sounds, special services had nothing to do with the decision. The only other person involved was his primary teacher.
 
Thanks for reporting back. I'm glad your son will be in the placement you feel is most appropriate -- regardless of how you got him there. Good luck with next school year and enjoy the summer break!
 

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