ADVOCATING 4 KIDS

Who do I find to help advocate my childs needs at a Virginia Beach IEP meeting. 

This is a transition and a IEP meeting.  Oct.15, 2009  My daughter is 17.9

Hello all
Dr. Charity is a friend of mine who is working on research project for special education. I ask that you support this effort by completing
the survey.
Thanks
CPoe

Greetings:

The National Tri-Caucus Board Development Association (NTCBDA) is requesting your assistance in survey completion for its exploratory analysis of special education identification and procurement
practices. The findings will be used to guide professional development in policy setting for school board members using a data- driven process.
As faculty and Director of Off-Campus Initiatives at Coppin State University, I am honored to support the NTCBDA as its Research Director assisting with instrument construction, data collection and data analysis. I will work to assure the integrity of the data collection process.

The NTCBDA is a 501C3 organization incorporated in the state of Delaware. The organization, comprised of a diverse group of school board members and others is guided by its mission statement, “to provide united and sustained support of policy initiatives by school board members and others, within and without the constituent cultural entities, (African American, Hispanics, and American Indian/Alaska Native) to ensure that all minority school children receive an equal educational opportunity for maximum high quality student achievement in the nation’s public schools.” With a salient focus on child- centeredness, its mission is intended to articulate where the organization is headed and what it expects to achieve.

In the spirit of its mission, the NTCBDA is launching this exploratory analysis using the Culturally Responsive Education Policies (CREP) online survey as its data collection protocol. The survey is intended to yield deeper understandings of current trends and provide insights to guide the development of culturally
responsive policy setting to achieve excellence for all students. NTCBDA members provided substantial input into its development. In addition, the CREP survey was reviewed by various national
organizations, university professors, personnel at the U.S Dept. of Education, policy analysts, and K-12 administrators.

Confidentiality will be protected as data obtained from the CREP survey will be shared only in aggregate form. In other words, there will be no sharing of data relative to specific districts. Data collected online will be password protected with one person having access to it.
The URL to access the CREP survey for online responses is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?
In planning for the survey launch, the NTCBDA board agreed that input from the superintendent would strengthen this exploratory analysis so you might consider sending this message to the superintendent in your district. Please know how much your participation in this process is appreciated. I remain available at (410) 951-3554 or cwelch@… to respond to questions, comments and suggestions.

Respectfully,
Charity R. Welch,
Ph.D.
Associate Professor and  NTCBDA Research Director

Most people would never dream of attempting to do their income tax without the help of a tax lawyer/accountant. People know there limitations and are intimidate by the constantly changing federal and state laws. Parents hire lawyers or advocates to attend IEP meetings because they are overwhelmed. An IEP is a legally binding document that is a blue print to a child’s educational needs. Most parents do excessive amount of research relating to their child’s disability and become experts on the disability. They know what steps need to be taken for the child to make progress and learn.
As a parent of a child with a disability, I know the pain parents go through in order to get the school to provide the help the child needs and is entitled to by the law. Most general education teachers are not familiar with disabilities or the laws of special education. They have not received training in that department. Special Education teachers have the training but are limited to the resources the schools provide. Special Education is costing more and more money each year and the figures are only going to rise. Schools are being held accountable to educate children unlike years ago when we would graduate children for just showing up and keeping their mouth shut in class. Parents, advocates, teachers and especially Special Education teachers should all be commended and supported. Local schools receive Federal funds to educate special needs children. Unfortunately, the schools only receive a fraction of what they are supposed to receive leaving the state and county has to make up the difference.