I am concerned about the number of IEP students in my daughter's school.?

Question

Is it normal for there to be a lot of kids on IEP's in grade schools? It seems like there are an awful lot of kids with IEP's in this one school. Something seems "fishy" to me.

Answer 1

I read through the answers posted to now, and I agree with those who responded that your school may be a magnet school with a program that takes out-of-district students; the socio-economic area that your school is located is often a significant correlation to the number of IEP kids; and finally that IEP's are the legal document that guarantees a student his/her FAP (free and appropriate education). Another response that was on target is that more kids are being identified as needing services because of increased awareness of learning disabilities and other disabilities such as Autism.

However, I am very concerned about the expectations that our society is placing on our children. Our country wants to compete with other industrial countries in the educational arena, despite the VERY different societies found in these other countries.

Most states have adopted curriculum standards for their public schools...take a look at what a student is expected to KNOW by the end of kindergarten. The expectations are almost equivalent to first and second grade expectations from one generation back.

Pushing our students faster is not the answer to being able to compete with China, Japan and Germany these countries do not allow ALL children equal access to public education. Pushing our students faster has contributed to the increase in students identified as needing special services, and I believe maintained the dropout rate for high school students. Many students who are not able to keep up with the increasing expectations and do not meet the criteria for services in elementary schools get you know what LEFT BEHIND!!!

I see this all the time and it's only getting worse since NCLB the very thing that is supposed to prevent this from happening. To compete with China, Japan, Germany would require eliminating public school for ALL children.

Answer 2

Don't be concerned with the number of students at your daughters school with an IEP. I am one myself. I am a very educated person and one my way of finishing high school with a B average. School has been an uphill climb compared to everyone else, but I learn as fast as a normal student or even faster. Don't think kids with IEP are retarted. Kids with IEP have a serve weakness in an area of study or have a behavior problem. There is usually a teacher's aid who specializes in special education. They will help the student in a school subject or control them.
Some things about IEPs
1. Anyone can have them and they can vary in levels of severity
2. They have accommodations such as copies of teacher's notes, preferred seating, learning in a small group, and access to a word processor.
3. Students with an IEP are pulled out of the classroom to work on other work and aren't usually involved in the classroom in a subject they are weak in.
4. When you get to high school, the student with an IEP are in contained classrooms or normal classes. The ones who still have emotional problems will go to a separate school.

Don't be worried if their are a lot of kids with IEPs at your daughter's school, they all vary in serverity and a teacher with a degree in special education will help the students with problems in the classroom or subject. It will not effect your daughter's learning pace in grade school. Yes, there is normally a lot student under the program. But if it seems like half the school is under an IEP, then you can be sceptical

Answer 3

Another responder states that the school is raking in the federal dough by labeling children with special needs. However, new laws in many states are now penalizing school districts for having too many students labeled. Speech therapy also requires an IEP in most states even if the child only has articulation, fluency, or voice issues that do not require additional specially designed instruction.

Fortunately, for children who have IEPs their rights indicate that they can't be prohibited from receiving their education within the regular education setting. Also, special education does indicate the child's right to privacy. If another student has an IEP and is enrolled in your child's class it really is none of your business unless that child's presence is impeding your child's learning.
If that is the case then you need to call a meeting with the school's administration.

It might seem like a lot of kids have IEPs but it might not be the case if you looked at the region or adjoining school districts. Children can't be labeled without extensive testing and parent consent. IEPs can be offered for various cognitive, emotional, social, physical, or speech/language problems. It is completely normal and a part of FAPE (free and appropriate education).

It is also important to know that some schools have special education programs located in different schools. Some have autistic support programs, others have life-skills, learning-support, etc. These programs have children come from other schools within the district to receive the appropriate modifications. It is easier to house a program in one school rather than have multiple programs with only a few students (it's not financially sound). Also, some kids who were previously sent out to approved private schools are now being maintained within the school district due to changes in the Individuals with Disabilities Improved Education Act.

Answer 4

Remember, a child can be on an IEP for anything from simple speech therapy to serious learning disabilities and everything in between. ANything that requires special adpatation or allowances, such as sitting directly in front of the board or needing to be allowed additional time for certain tests is now ensconced in an IEP. Yes, it is often overdone, but there is a very good reason for it. One, an IEP is federal law and once a child has one, the school must follow it to the letter. This insures that children who need the additional services and help get it. AN IEP also protects the schools. By having exactly what they are required to provide a student with recorded in this written format, there is far less of a chance for parents to accuse the school of failing to support thier children's needs.

Yes, more and more children are going on IEPs than ever before and many for things that, in our time, would barely have warranted a blip on the educational radar. Better understanding of learning disabilities is one reason. Having to account and triple count where every dollar in the budget goes is another. And, most recently, the whole "No CHild Left Behind" has created a huge push. More and more children are having more and more problems as teachers are forced to try and get a class of 25-30 students all working on grade level when they take on of the many tests needed to track the school's progress at teaching. Many children simply don't test well or can't keep up with the increased learning pace required to cover the year's curriculum and do all the test prep needed. These kids are not all in need of an IEP, but putting them on one buys the school some time and a few test points when it comes to the final grade that will determine the school's funding for the next year. Putting some of these kids on an IEP is the only way to keep the system working at anything remotely resembling what a classroom and school should be.

FInally, as the parent of a child who most definitely needs and IEP, I encourage all parents I work with as a liason to get IEPs whenever possible. Very few children placed on an IEP in elemetary school will carry the IEP all through thier academic experience. IEP's are often temporary...there to help John to speak better or to help Sally to hold a pencil correctly. The children who need them should have them. This is no way affects your child's classroom experience. Relax and be glad that your are in a school that recognizes children often do not learn the same way at the same pace as the child sitting next to them.

Answer 5

Fishy is not what it is. Tragic is more like it. Not one single IEP parent wants to be involved in needing an IEP for their child. Given that, when a child with an IEP or with special needs reaches majority, it is absolutely essential that they lived through their school years with all the supports and special education possible. They deserve every single bit of attention they get and in the one school you are aware of, there probably is a reputation for extraordinary support skills for a certain type of special educational needs. Your daughter should learn tolerance for those less fortunate, not ridicule, and you can be sure she is learning to look down upon those who are imperfect. Discrimination is perpetuated when attitudes such as yours are spoken. And if you are aware of "a lot of kids on IEPs" something is very wrong in the school where absolute confidentiality is expected and required and lawful. Reading your question brings to mind pictures of children in Ireland and in southern US states walking toward a school and parents, adults, screaming hate at them because of their differences. What's wrong with this picture?

Answer 6

If a student qualifies for special education, then they are on an IEP. The amount of students on one has to do with a lot of factors. Statistically, the number of students in poorer schools, or school with a larger free and reduced lunch population will have a larger Special Ed population than schools with a higher income demographic. This does not mean that kids from rich families are smart or that kids from poorer families are dumb, it just means that there are more students who need significant help in one area over another.

Your school could also have a program for one certain type of special education. In larger districts, they will split up special education classrooms into different categories based on disability (Severe/Profound, Autistic, etc.) and place them in different schools so that all students that qualify under one category are in one classroom in one school. That will increase the number of sped students in a school.

Answer 7

Something seems "fishy" to me that you know there are a lot of kids on IEP's in your daughter's school. Teachers, administrators, assistants, aides, nurses, nor anyone else in a school system, has the privilege to divulge the number or names of students who have IEP's.

For you to know this information, you have to be one of the above. Be careful about sharing confidential student files. You could lose your job and/or be sued.

Answer 8

Yes, it is common for schools to have lots of IEP students. Not all students have the same problems, some may be in just one area where others may be in many areas. It can be a health related issue or a learning disability of some sort.

Answer 9

firstly something you do must be in writting. you preserve a replica and that they choose a replica. it relatively is okay to enable them to comprehend which you have a replica in case you elect to. that's significant that your daughter have an IEP assembly as quickly as a twelve months. in case you sense that the college isn't helping her or following her IEP i could visit the instructor first. make confident that there is a set of objectives that your daughter is assembly. Request a replica of final years IEP and the place she became into on the commencing up of the IEP and the place she is while she became into examined app. a twelve months later. evaluate this for your self. in case you nonetheless sense that the college isn't doing their interest, write to the instructor and enable her comprehend in a extreme-high quality way which you're feeling that your daughter needs greater help or notwithstanding. Why I save asserting to place in writing is that a minimum of in IL the colleges are requried to respond interior of i think of it relatively is thirty days to a written request. and that they do respond. If the instructor would not help such as you think of that she could then touch the counselor, primary, college board or whoever else you may think of of that could provide help to. save going to the right. Your daughter merits the terrific!! stable for you being a stable mom!!

Answer 10

Some schools have special programs designed for certain needs, and so the children will be bussed from out of district to attend that program. It artificially inflates the number of children in the area with a certain disability, but the school is prepared to handle those kids (ie our school created an autism program, and it was cheaper for the district to hire teachers and aides for one school and ship the kids there, than try to hire, train and stock one classroom in each school)

On the other hand, your school may be trying to rake in the federal dough, so to speak, by over-identifying children. It might make it easier for them to educate the kids who are different learners (remember, there are many types of learners, and school districts are notorious about purchasing one curriculum and training their teachers to only use that. So schools identify kids who can't learn with that curriculum and are able to hire more teachers or even purchase a better curriculum) Or there might be something in the water...I saw a movie about that once....rotfl.

Do you think it affects the quality of your child's education? Are you saying that you don't want it 'in your backyard'? Why is it a problem?