Learning To Help Kids In School (NAPSA)—There are smart ways parents can help their children make the grade at school— even if it seems their kids are struggling with academics. The Council for Exceptional Children offers the followingtips: * Meet with your child’s teacher and develop intervention strategies. Set up a two-to-fourweek timeline to see if the strategies are successful. Be sure to stay in touch with the teacher during this time. If the interventions are not successful, meet with the teacher and a special educator. The special educator may suggest alternatives. Ask that your child be assessed for special education services if he or she continues to have trouble. Multiple assessments will then be given to determine your child’s current level of functioning. The assessments may include overall achievement scores, as well as tests on mastery of specific academic skills. They may also evaluate processing deficits. For instance, a child may have perfect vision but still see words andletters incorrectly. * Meet with an education team to determine if additional information is needed about your child and to help determineif special education would be a good idea. Be prepared to provide developmental and functional information about your child. Work with the team to determineif your child has a particular category of a problem—such as a learning disability, mental retardation, behavior disorder, physical or Parents can meet with teachers and create strategies to help their kids learn. other disability. Also determine what services—educational, speech therapy or physical therapy—can help. Next Steps If it’s determined that your child could benefit from special education, you’ll meet with an Individualized Education Team (also referred to as an Admission, Review, or Dismissal Team). You and the team will develop a program for your child. It should include: 1.Goals and objectives for your child’s year. 2.An explanation of the extent—if any—to which your child will not participate in general education classes. 3.A statement of your child’s current level of functioning. 4. Any modifications to state- or districtwide assessments that your child needs. 5.A statement of how progress will be measured. You can learn more about teaching and raising a child with a disability at www.cec.sped.org.
