Tips for Parents regarding Special Education Services for ML students

As parents, we want what’s best for our children. We want to know that they are safe, well cared for, and prepared for the future ahead of them. When sending them to school, we trust that educators who are in the profession of nurturing, protecting, and seeking the academic advancement of children will also have these same desires. With this being the assumption, we value the input of the school with the utmost respect. If they say our children are succeeding academically, we trust and believe it and if they tell us our children are struggling academically, we trust and believe it, because in our hearts, our truest belief is that we share mutual goals. Although the school and parent working dynamic for the better of the child has shown to be effective, parents must know that they are the primary decision makers when it comes to their children. You, as the parent, know your child on a very personal and intimate level. Although you should be open and respectful to the input of the school, their opinions, suggestions and recommendations, are merely that. Not law. You, as the parent, after weighing all that the school presents, has the final say in regard to the decisions affecting your child, although when attending school meetings, it likely not be presented as such, especially when English is not your native language.  I hate to say it, but as an educator for 10 years, schools do not always have the better interest of your child at the forefront of their decisions. There are certain quotas that have to be met, staff members that need to be appeased, growth that needs to be shown for titles and mistakes that need to be covered when it comes to the world of public education. You might be wondering, or at least I hope you are; how can I best protect my child in this environment? The answer is simple! If you want to protect your child, you should learn how to become an advocate. Advocating for your child is essential to assuring your child doesn’t fall down the rabbit hole of ill-advised decisions that can impact them a lifetime. There are many areas where advocacy is necessary, but for this article, we will focus on advocating for your Second Language child, when the school makes  a Special Education Request.

First steps

1. Before a school can request your child for Special Education, they are usually gathering data, in order to prove that your child needs these services. The gathering of data can happen as early as two years prior to the parent receiving any notification of this request. In this process you might randomly get a call asking if you notice any delay with the student. If your answer is yes, this is gold, because they have your mutual consent that the student is behind. They will use this information to push the interventionist team along. If you reply no however, this greatly impacts the request and therefore they have to dig extra deep to prove that although the caretaker doesn’t see the delay, it’s there. If they can not get you to agree to developmental/intellectual delays,  it’s possible that they will continue to dig until they find an area where you do notice something. This can be procrastinating to do work, slow writer, slow reader, easily distracted, speech problems, introverted, etc. All of these things can impact any student, with or without a Special need, but when trying to prove the case for Special needs any admittance by the parent that there is delay, can be used and spun to fit the narrative of the school when they are seeking to make this request. Why? Because the parents’ words hold TONS of weight.
   • Point to take away-When the school wants the child to be in SPED, they are not concerned about the parent. All staff members have already conversed with one another. Data will be gathered to back and support their decision, and the parent is the “last point” of convincing.
2. They will show up to the meeting smiling with an interpreter, and starting off telling you how wonderful your child is. They will highlight everything great about the student to
   • Warm the heart of the parent, by showing, we value you, which is why we have someone here who speaks your language and is of your culture.  
   • Let the parent know they also love and adore their child and have a relationship with the student
   • And most importantly to butter you up, before breaking the news that your student is severely delayed and does not belong in the general education environment. 
     • Point to take away- The school wants your trust. They want you to believe, this is not personal. We are just as connected/concerned for this child as you are.
3. Ok, so the buttering has taken place, now they will tell you we’ve spoken with the ML Specialist and we can assure you,  this is not a language concern. Why is this necessary? Well, under Title 3 laws, you can not place a student within a Special Education environment based on language alone. Acquiring a second language takes time, and this law is there to protect students who were underserved in schools, due to language barriers. This barrier will more than not show delays academically, but with the PROPER use of accommodations, the learning gap will begin to close.
4. Once they’ve clarified that they have ruled out language, which is a must, they will present all data showing how “low” the child is. Each team member that works with the child will speak. Because you are the last on board, all of the team members will agree and give a similar report. This is to further convince you of the decision, that all are on board. If a team member was not on board, it’s not likely they will be present  in the meeting. If they are, things may seem tense, which is why if there is disagreement, the meeting will not likely make it to you.
   • Point to take away-They want you to see a team, that collectively, in different areas gathered the same information.
5. Finally, they will give their decision. They will likely minimize the placement of the student and present the new recommendation glamorously. They will close by asking you how you feel about the recommendation, and ultimately, if you agree.  If you agree, things will wrap up easily, if you have questions they will work with each other to convince you why their recommendation is the best.

Steps to advocating

1. Inquire about concerns/Be specific
   • When the school reaches out with questions regarding the developmental and/or intellectual cognizance of your child, make sure to inquire, what prompted the questions. This will give clarity to the direction of the teacher. 
   • When sharing delays or concerns, be VERY SPECIFIC. Vague responds are twisted and manipulated to the advantage of the school, but if you are specific you are able to recognize if your words are being used out of context in IEP meetings. 
   • Lastly, keep a log of concerns shared by teachers. Check in routinely to inquire about these concerns. If they share early on they are seeing delays, ask specific questions and how you can assess the skill in the home language at home. Compare what you are seeing in the home language,  with what is being shared by the teacher. 
2. Don’t flattery fool you-
   • I mentioned earlier that everyone is usually on board with each other right? Well, this doesn’t change for the interpreter. In many cases the interpreter is not a certified interpreter, but rather a staff member at the school who can speak your home language, who will present according to what they are told to say. They may or may not fully understand what is being proposed, but will explain to you the best they know how. At the beginning of the meeting, DO NOT shy away from asking about the qualification of the interpreter. For IEP meetings, because it is a legally binding agreement, a certified Interpreter, trained in the terminology of academia, should be interpreting to assure that you get the best understanding of the presented information.  
   • The interpreter is not a token of kindness on part of the school. It’s a federally mandated law that an interpreter who speaks the parent language is provided to inform the parent of the concerns regarding the student. Don’t see this as a form of kindness, but rather a requirement. 
   • Don’t let kind words about your child make you feel obligated to trust. Educators are trained to sandwich (compliment, provide negative information, and close with a compliment). If they find your child annoying, or in most situations for ML students, a lot of work, they aren’t going to tell you that. They want you to trust them, because they need your approval to not work with your kid. The reality is they don’t want to teach your child. They don’t know how to teach your child. Most times, they have 20 other students they are required to teach, the work your child requires, as a Second Language Learner can be overwhelming and exhausting. Your child being placed into SPED takes the pressure off of them, because now the child is classified.
3. Role of an ML Specialist in Public Schools-
   • The ML Specialist is one of those people who when hosting an IEP meeting for an ML is important, but also unimportant. If the ML specialist is in agreement with the team, (because he/she is fatigued by the delay of the student, as newcomers require hard work and/or pressured by administration to agree), then he/she will be invited to the meeting to support it’s not language. If the ML specialist disagrees however and believes that language is a concern, they will likely not be invited, as their input is not required to move forward in SPED placement. 
   • Your best way to advocate and inquire about your child’s language proficiency is to request to see ACCESS scores. ACCESS is graded by private institutions, so it will show the growth of your child’s language development overtime. Also, keep in mind that most ML classes are an average of 30 mins, twice a week. If ML students’ accommodations are not being honored in the classroom, ML services alone will not render the student true benefit for an extended period of time. 
   • Newcomers, students who speak no English range from 6 months-2 years to show language growth. If the student was enrolled after Kindergarten, it’s more likely to be toward the later end, as the classroom focuses more on academic vocabulary vs. communicative vocabulary. This does not mean the student has an intellectual delay, but rather still in the English development process. We calculate that newcomers will be between a 1yr-1.5 yrs behind academically, while they are learning English. If your student is SLIFE(student with interrupted/ limited or no formal education) they are considered Newcomers for 3yrs. It’s important for you to understand this when teachers, specialists, and administrators consistently tell you your child is behind and delayed. I’ve seen countless parents cry out of frustration, because they are truly trying, but not sure how to catch their child up. It’s essential that you understand what’s normal in your child’s English development.
4. Proof in the pudding-
   • When each team member presents their data, ask to see samples of the child’s work. 
   • Ask to see a copy of the students ILAP to see if the accommodations were used to teach the student. 
   • Ask to see the psychological evaluation that was done in the home language and make sure the evaluation was one that measures cognitive ability and not academic, as we know there will be academic delays. This is normal. 
5. Don’t feel rushed/Ask for clarifying questions-
   • After listening to the recommendations, ask them to be very clear as to what this means. 
     • Will the student still be on a diploma track or a certificate track
     • How much time will the student spend outside of the General Education Setting?
     • What are the terms of having a student removed from a particular program?
       • Is it up to the parent or based on data?
       • Self-contained programs allow parents to call meetings to discuss concerns, but if students do not meet the data goals, which are vague, and mostly out of reach, ML students typically never reach them and therefore never leave the program. 
     • Ask what are the dangers posed to my child in this program? Some programs, such as Self-contained, are with students who may have aggressive issues. They are not separated, but rather in the same environment. This can pose not only physical, but emotional damage to a student misplaced.
     • Lastly, don’t feel rushed to give a response. The pressure of the meeting will ask and want you to give a response immediately. You are not required to give an immediate response. Simply tell the team, I would like some time to think this over and weigh the pros and cons. When I have a clear decision, I will let you all know. 

This article is not to dissuade you from getting your child the support he or she needs if it’s necessary, but rather to inform you on how to make sure your child is valued, respected and served as they should be. Not tossed to the side and taken advantage of, simply because English is not their primary language nor that of their caretakers. Many ML students have unfortunately been placed in Special Education and Self-Contained classes unjustly, with their parents having little to no information as to what’s really going on. Title 3 laws were created for this reason; to protect the parent and the student.  Being your child’s advocate is a sure way to hold the public school system accountable and to make sure SPED recommendations are being carried out correctly. It doesn’t matter your native language, you indeed have a voice. Don’t ever be afraid to use it.