tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post4891411630876528078..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Equitable Access Framework ExplainedMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-37376614279049244152014-01-19T21:44:57.793-08:002014-01-19T21:44:57.793-08:00Eden,
Thank you for picking up on this. I've...Eden,<br /><br />Thank you for picking up on this. I've been preaching about this exact problem for months now, ever since the Fairmont Park "program" was announced. Please continue to call attention to this issue, because it's going to take more than just a couple of us complaining to even get a serious response, let alone action.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the road ahead looks challenging, because I believe the district (or at least the couple people in charge of these decisions) truly do want to dissolve APP into blended and differentiation service models. In essence, they want to destroy APP, though they will never admit it.dwnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-70838494557195343852014-01-18T11:47:25.610-08:002014-01-18T11:47:25.610-08:00Thanks again Charlie for the post. This all has b...Thanks again Charlie for the post. This all has been driving me crazy especially when in a discussion about Advanced Learning.<br /><br />In that same vein, can we PLEASE stop conflating APP and AHG identified kids? The Accelerated Progress Program is not the same thing as where AHG kids are served. <br /><br />The Accelerate Progress Program (APP) is the program into which Academically Highly gifted (AHG) kids are guaranteed a spot. They can OPT OUT of APP by attending their neighborhood school or spectrum (which I keep hearing doesn't actually provide enough seats for all who qualify and is very different in each school, but that is another issue....)<br /><br />APP is currently a SELFCONTAINED classroom delivery model where kids are grouped by grade AND are AHG identified. <br /><br />However, next year there will be an "option APP" site in West Seattle that WILL NOT BE SELFCONTAINED classrooms. According to Ms. Heath, there will only be about 60 AHG kids that will possibly attend Fairmont park, so that means that there will not be enough kids for each grade. <br /><br />AHG kids in this school WILL NOT be in self-contained classrooms. <br />Therefore, in my mind, Fairmont park will not be an APP site.<br /><br />Yes, it's possible that AHG kids can be served by a "blended" model and a "walk to" model, but that simply isn't APP. APP is SELF CONTAINED classrooms.<br /><br />Should Fairmont Park offer some sort of delivery model that AHG kids will opt into? Why not? But it isn't APP, and continuing to call it APP is problematic. <br /><br />Why does this matter? Because this is the first step to all APP kids getting placed back into "blended classrooms" and provided "differentiation through walk to" services. <br /><br />Some AHG kids are served through Spectrum or ALO’s, which is great. However, if the district starts calling "blended classrooms" and "walk to" APP, then it is a very short distance for APP at Lincoln and APP at TM to become the same.<br /><br />It all sounds so nice to have an “APP” site in West Seattle, but that is not what is happening. It isn't APP if it's blended classrooms and "walk to". <br /><br />Eden<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-22844957366494221522014-01-17T13:53:26.940-08:002014-01-17T13:53:26.940-08:00There we go. Programs are delivery models for serv...There we go. Programs are delivery models for services. They aren't the only delivery models for those services, but that's what they are about. As long as people remember that the purpose of the program is to deliver the service, then the program won't be seen as the goal or the solution in itself.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-8802707945234505682014-01-17T09:33:12.658-08:002014-01-17T09:33:12.658-08:00There is a positive idea in the designating some t...There is a positive idea in the designating some things as "services". That is, you must provide the "services" a kid needs, as detailed on his/her IEP, regardless of whatever "program" the district has decided to put in place or not put in place. When staff are assigned to "programs" they often get the erroneous notion that they are exempt from providing certain services. Often, they think they don't have to provide "least restrictive environment" because they're a program. Or they think they don't have to provide academics at a needed level. Students are still entitled to have their needs met, in the least restrictive environment, with maximum access to non disabled peers. (Maximum access, not "as convenient for staff"). We families tend to like programs because there is staffing associated with programs. With services - well, we don't see people responsible for them. They are promises without teeth. That staffing, and those ratio's - are what people want to see. Services are what get delivered.<br /><br />-sped parentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-37617077312610142932014-01-16T12:38:10.287-08:002014-01-16T12:38:10.287-08:00Regardless of the law (there's an expression w...Regardless of the law (there's an expression we have to use a lot when we talk about SPS) the District creates Special Education programs. Whether the law precludes them from actually calling them "programs" or not, that's what they are.<br /><br />When the District says that the services required by your child's IEP cannot be provided at your attendance area school, but that they are provided at Lowell, along with similar services for all of the other students in need of that type of service in the Washington and McClure service areas, that's a program. They can choose not to call it a program if that would make it illegal, but it's a program. That's exactly what a program is.<br /><br />Changing the name of a thing doesn't change the thing.<br /><br />This is a well-used trick by SPS. The Board wrote a policy to govern advisory committees, so the district stopped having advisory committees and started having task forces instead. Task forces are no different from advisory committees, but since they are not called advisory committees, they operate outside the rules of the policy.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36029252995042917732014-01-16T09:34:23.724-08:002014-01-16T09:34:23.724-08:00Great thread Charlie and replyers. So glad to have...Great thread Charlie and replyers. So glad to have a better understanding of these distinctionscarmaighttp://www.linkedin.com/in/carmaignoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-18890263634216175362014-01-15T19:05:23.622-08:002014-01-15T19:05:23.622-08:00DHH laws allow for selection of method of communic...DHH laws allow for selection of method of communication (ie sign language versus oral). It doesn't allow for parental selection of sign modality (ASL v SEE). Seattle won that case in federal court a few years ago. <br /><br />-IMHOAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-79351661288051265022014-01-15T14:16:20.263-08:002014-01-15T14:16:20.263-08:00Lynn, I think you're going to see that reporti...Lynn, I think you're going to see that reporting change to reflect students who are receiving highly capable services through delivery models other than APP.<br /><br />I could be wrong, but we're seeing schools tht essentially make that promise right now.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-28651643852500501922014-01-15T11:11:50.323-08:002014-01-15T11:11:50.323-08:00APP actually is synonymous with highly capable ser...APP actually is synonymous with highly capable services in this district. The annual Highly Capable Grant Application reports the number of students receiving highly capable services - the only students included who are not enrolled in APP are kindergarteners.Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-21829961866746690302014-01-15T10:19:11.640-08:002014-01-15T10:19:11.640-08:00A few other misunderstandings. 1. As discussed, ...A few other misunderstandings. 1. As discussed, there is no "qualification" for a program or anything else, that students must demonstrate for placement, only benefit as determined by an IEP team which includes parents.<br />2. Enrollment handles special ed program placement. Wrong. It does not. The ever changing people working in the district's special ed central office, hand place all students in special ed "programs" (That is, those not handled by resource rooms.) Every year sped central staff does this hand placement. At every grade level. They like to say "enrollment handles" it. And yes families may have to submit paperwork to the "enrollment" office. The reality is that enrollment just sends it over to central office. In many/most cases, the sped central staff execute the activity as if it were the enrollment office, it simply can't be by the real enrollment because it must follow IEPs.<br /><br />3. Difference between Program or Service... none really. IDEA requires SERVICE. So the district is changing the name. The real point behind SERVICE is the obligation that teachers teach what's on IEPs in the Least Restrictive Environmnet, no matter what "program" a student is in. That is, they must provide "service". A program - well, it doesn't carry that obligation. Which is why the district is trying to get rid of the word "program". <br /><br />-sped parentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-87205509994987375422014-01-15T10:05:27.217-08:002014-01-15T10:05:27.217-08:00Charlie, DH/H are anomalous "programs" ...Charlie, DH/H are anomalous "programs" within the special education world. This is because there are special laws specifically for hearing impaired students. Most notably, the guaranteed right for families to select the sign language they prefer to use. The district then must provide "service" in that selected language. The DH/H really isn't different than anything else though. The district should (and does) provide a service: an appropriate signing environment - and then make it available to anybody who needs it. In this case, the students who need it are hearing impaired - a diagnosis category. You could imagine - a child with a disability other than hearing impairment, living with hearing impaired parents. In that case, the student may well need DH/H services without being hearing impaired. In fact, the district has such children, and is a reality. The district also has students with multiple disabilities - and then it tries to shunt them off to the most restrictive thing, also illegal. The district can not create a barrier to programs, any programs, based on disability or even intelligence. That is prohibited by IDEA. The "qualification" for any program or service of another name the district has, is the need as determined by their IEP team which includes parents, nothing more. The team must conclude that a student would receive "some benefit" from a placement. That's it!<br /><br />-sped parentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-86939366284328478622014-01-15T08:15:20.203-08:002014-01-15T08:15:20.203-08:00Charlie
sped parent knows her stuff. Our student...Charlie<br /><br />sped parent knows her stuff. Our students do not "qualify", nor do they access their appropriate placement via the student assignment process. They are placed on the basis of their needs, as spelled out in their IEP.mirmac1https://www.blogger.com/profile/10183460709639638172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-75666853885642026292014-01-15T04:09:38.536-08:002014-01-15T04:09:38.536-08:00Thank you, sped parent, for that information.
It ...Thank you, sped parent, for that information.<br /><br />It does not surprise me in the least to learn that Seattle Public Schools is in violation of IDEA.<br /><br />That said, there can be no question that the District forms programs to provide special education services to students grouped together by disability. We know, for an absolute fact, that there are deaf/hard of hearing "service models", medically fragile "service models" and transitional kindergarten "service models". They are listed in the District's matrix of linked schools for student services.<br /><br />These "service models" are, unquestionably programs because students must qualify for them (they don't have to opt-in) and they are accessed through the student assignment process.<br /><br />At middle and high school, students are also grouped into programs for service model 2, 3, and 4. These are also programs although they are not disability specific.Charlie Mashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17173903762962067277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-40968575829571321232014-01-14T21:36:05.003-08:002014-01-14T21:36:05.003-08:00You are wrong about what constitutes a special edu...You are wrong about what constitutes a special education program. You don't get to "opt in", you are given no choice. Courts have only recently affirmed a student's right to reject special education. In that case, if you don't want your kid's program, you have 1 choice, forgo special education completely. Some deal. <br /><br />Also, disability specific qualifications are illegal. Not to say SPS doesn't do have them. They crop up from time to time. Autism, etc, were all supposed to go away because of their tenuous legal standing. Then, several new administrators rolled in to town and they never heard of needs based programing. Before you knew anything, those disability specific programs appeared again. To stay legal, a disability specific program must not be limited to any particular disability.. nor must people with a particular disability be assigned a program based on their disability.<br /><br />The reality is... the district has been saying for a long while: we don't have special education programs at all - they're all services. That is the actual language of IDEA - special education is a service not a place. I guess that's why they've taken to calling programs, "services". To comply with IDEA directly.<br /><br />sped parentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-2722163626379860852014-01-14T21:21:16.564-08:002014-01-14T21:21:16.564-08:00Thank you Charlie!!!! That is very helpful and us...Thank you Charlie!!!! That is very helpful and useful information. <br /><br />Eden Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com