MEMO ON RETENTION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

The Directors of Special Education at Designs for Learning, Inc. do not support the practice of grade retention for special education students. The practice of grade retention has potentially detrimental effects on special education services, including increasing the likelihood of dropouts, limiting the amount of time available for transition services, and reduced social and emotional functioning. The definition of special education is "specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability." 20 U.S.C. 1401(29). This specially designed instruction is supposed to help the student gain access to the general education curriculum. It would be difficult for a school to successfully argue at a due process hearing that they provided a program of "specially designed instruction . . . to meet the unique needs of a child," while also acknowledging that they did not teach the child the information he or she needs to know. If the special education program is not meeting the unique needs of the child, then the special education services need to be revised. The special education team is legally obligated to meet annually and review the Individual Education Program (IEP). In addition to this annual review, the special education team must report on progress made on all goals in the IEP as often as general education students receive progress reports on grades. During these times, the special education team should be tracking progress and revising goals and service minutes as necessary to ensure that the student is making progress. If the data shows that a special education student is not making progress toward their IEP goals, the team should consider these options: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Revising goals and objectives Adding additional minutes or services Extended School Year services Reducing the ratio of students to teacher Re-evaluating the student to determine current educational needs

Authored by Jen Fielder, M.A., Licensed School Psychologist & Director of Special Education Intern