We’ve met parents who want their special needs student retained because they’re not progressing in school. We also occasionally encounter school districts that suggest retention for students with IEPs. We recently had a client whose student was in regular education with his twin sister (he had an IEP, she didn’t). Academically, he was not keeping up with his typical peers, so the district offered his parents the choice of either a County Special Day Class or retention.
There are multiple problems with this district’s offer. Placement is a team decision; Giving parents an ultimatum is not a team decision. A district may propose options, but this district did not mention any other alternatives, including intensive tutoring, adapted curriculum, etc.
Should parents consider retention?
In 1998, the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities wrote that, “The weight of the evidence of literally hundreds of studies shows that retaining children does not produce higher achievement.” They further state, “Rather than flunking students, schools should provide high quality instruction for children who find learning difficult.” Their report recommends daily periods of intensive tutoring. It finds intensive tutoring is far less costly than retention and that intensive tutoring consistently increases achievement.
The California Department of Education (CDE) concurs. Their website has a page addressing retention: “Students with disabilities may be retained; however, careful consideration in the development, implementation, and revision of the student’s individualized education program (IEP) should prevent student failure in most cases.
“Research indicates that neither grade retention nor social promotion (the practice of promoting students with their same age-peers although they have not mastered current grade level content) is likely to enhance a child’s learning. Research and common sense both indicate that simply having a child repeat a grade is unlikely to address the problems a child is experiencing.”
What options do you have?
If your student is not meeting the promotion standards in his/her IEP, the IEP team should meet and review both the student’s IEP and the following questions:
- Is the current IEP appropriate?
- Were the assessments appropriate?
- Are the IEP accommodations and modifications appropriate or adequate?
- Did the student receive all the services, supports, accommodations, and modifications in the IEP?
- Is the student’s promotion standard clearly written? Is it appropriate?
If the answer to all of these questions is yes and the student still does not meet the IEP promotion standards, the CDE recommends intensive supplemental instruction. It requires the IEP team to determine and list all supports and services that will be necessary for the student to progress.
What then? If the student progresses, great. When the team finds the student is not progressing, the CDE recommends meeting again to develop a plan to support the student’s progress.
If the answer to any of the above questions is no, then the IEP team needs to work together to figure out why the student did not receive the necessary supports, come up with a plan to provide them, craft an IEP amendment, and provide intensive supplemental instruction.
Talk to an advocate. Learn your rights.
As parents, we understand. As advocates, we can help.