Embedded Files
Here are some resources intended to help parents better understand the various systems found in schools, like the special education process, as well as other helpful information and support ideas for many common areas of concern. Please feel free to check back with us often, as new information and resources will be added periodically.
Response to Intervention (RTI)/Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)/Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS; term that encompasses both RTI and PBIS)
You may have heard or read about these systems but what are they, really? The terms listed above refer to evidence based, multi-level prevention systems encompassing both academics and behavior and they include three levels of intensity. The primary prevention level (Tier I) includes high quality core instruction, including curriculum differentiation and interventions delivered within the classroom. The secondary level (Tier II) includes evidence-based intervention(s) of moderate intensity typically delivered in small groups of students. The third prevention level (Tier III) includes individualized intervention(s) of increased intensity for students who show minimal response to primary or secondary prevention.
At all levels, attention should be on fidelity of implementation, with consideration for cultural and linguistic responsiveness and recognition of student strengths. The Madison Elementary School District is currently engaged in the full implementation of the PBIS system at its schools, as school or district wide systems adoption done properly can take two to three years, realistically.
The implementation of a three tier system to provide academic interventions is currently in the early stages. The purpose of taking an RTI approach to service delivery in schools is to improve instruction and educational outcomes for all students. Response to Intervention is about providing high quality instruction to students and using reliable and valid data to make decisions about whether instruction is meeting students’ needs. At its foundation, RTI includes measuring the performance of all students and basing educational decisions regarding curriculum, instruction, and intervention intensity on student data. Though most educators have learned about RTI as a result of its inclusion in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004 reauthorization (IDEA 2004; PL 108-446), verifying students as eligible for special education is only a small part of RTI implementation that should not be undertaken unless successful implementation of a continuum of instructional supports for all students is achieved.
To that end, the vision for RTI's place in Madison is as an integral part of a general education pre-referral system of prevention where challenges are identified and evidence-based supports are provided. For more detailed information regarding Response to Intervention, visit either of these helpful resources:
Center on Response to Intervention at American Institutes for Research
Special Education Terms and Definitions
Special education is full of terms that people constantly use in writing and in conversation, and it’s important and very helpful to know what those terms mean. This is especially true for families that may be navigating any one of the many mandatory meetings involved in the special education process for the first time. In and of itself, "special education" is a broad term used by the federal law (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA) to describe modified, specially designed instruction that meets the unique needs of a child who has a disability. These services are provided by the public school system and are free of charge. Services can include instruction in the classroom, at home, in hospitals and institutions.
Within the IDEA there are fourteen categories of disability that could warrant special education services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). To learn more about these special education categories and other commonly used terms, visit any of these reputable and informative resources:
Center for Parent Information and Resources
Understanding Special Education
Arizona Office for Americans with Disabilities
Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) sets forth requirements for States and local educational agencies (school districts) in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities, ages 3 through 21. Part B emphasizes the importance of including parents in decisions regarding the education of their children. Before a school district proposes or refuses to take action regarding the educational program of a child with a disability, the district must provide a “prior written notice” to the parents. The district must also, at specified times, provide parents with a “procedural safeguards notice” which explains their rights under Part B of the IDEA. Full copies of both the English and Spanish parental procedural safeguards are below:
English procedural-safeguards.pdfSpanish procedural-safeguards-07-2015.pdfThe Special Education Process:
When a child is having trouble in school, it’s important to find out why. The child may have a disability. By law, schools must provide special help to eligible children with disabilities. This help is called special education and related services. Related services may include speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, adaptive physical education, etc.
There’s a lot to know about the process by which children are identified as having a disability and in need of special education and related services.
The brief overview provided here is an excellent place to start. Once you have the big picture of the process, it’s easier to understand the many details associated with each step.
There is a seemingly endless stream of acronyms and jargon within special education and it is easy to get lost in them, from AT to IEP to LRE. Here are a couple of very useful resources you can use to look any of them up.
Parent Resources by Common Areas of Interest
The following are some parent resources and information sources for consideration that deal with many common areas of concern. Please click on any of the links or peruse the live pages below.
Social Emotional Learning:
Youth Rising (formerly known as Workshops for Youth and Families) is a nonprofit organization. The Youth Rising program offers preventive educational programs and camps that build social and emotional competencies to enhance personality, resiliency, confidence and character. The workshops offered are geared towards pre-teens and teens and are NOT therapy. The goal of the workshops is to inspire and educate pre-teens and teens on dealing with the day to day issues that create stress in their personal lives. "Youth Rising is not some mystery or weird experience. We build a cool community of people who can speak their mind and emotions with limits."
Stress & Anxiety:
“Have you ever thought about all of the things your brain is in charge of? I mean, your brain is the control center for pretty much everything you think, feel, or do! That’s pretty amazing. Let’s list some things your brain controls.”
Anger Management:
"Many young children struggle with frustration tolerance. Anger and frustration are powerful emotions, and children’s reactions can be intense in the moment. As adults, we know when our anger buttons are pushed. We know what we need to do to work through something frustrating in an appropriate manner. Kids, however, don’t enter this world with a pocket full of frustration management skills."
Mindfulness:
"When children understand what’s happening in the brain, it can be the first step to having the power to make choices."
Child Mental Health:
"Developmental Psychologist David Elkind reports kids have lost more than 12 hours of free time per week in the last two decades meaning the opportunity for free play is scarce. Even preschools and kindergartens have become more intellectually-oriented."
The Importance of Play in Childhood Development:
"For more than 50 years now, we in the United States have been gradually reducing children’s opportunities to play, and the same is true in many other countries."
School Attendance:
"Your child’s daily, on-time attendance is critical to their success in school. And while some challenges to your child’s school attendance are unavoidable, it’s important to understand the impact of each absence."
Navigating AzMerit Results:
Attention, Motivation & Executive Functioning:
"If your child struggles with overwhelm, homework, motivation, focus, study skills, grades, time management, organization, avoidance & resistance, you need unconventional tools, not cookie-cutter approaches. Subscribe for free and get the Student Success Toolkit with 5 of the best tools I use to meet the unique needs of outside-the-box, atypical learners (any age)."
ADHD & Executive Functioning:
"When children have opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills, individuals and society experience lifelong benefits."
After-School Restraint Collapse:
"Your children’s teachers insists they are as lovely as can be during the school day—but that’s not what you’re experiencing when 3 o’clock rolls around."
Academic Practice Resources for Consideration:
Early Childhood Education:
The educational music videos made for children in the They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcasts are excellent for helping little ones to learn their ABCs, 123's and a number of other of topics! They Might Be Giants have released four critically acclaimed educational albums for children (No!; Here Come the ABCs; Here Come the 123s; and Here Comes Science)
Recommended Reading
In 1987, Magination Press® was created out of a desire to publish innovative books that would help children deal with the many challenges and problems they face as they grow up.
Written for ages 4 through 18, these books deal with topics ranging from the everyday — starting school, shyness, normal fears, and a new baby in the house — to more serious problems, such as divorce, attention deficit disorder, depression, serious injury or illness, autism, trauma, death, and much more.
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