Topic of the Month

January 2021

Building a Transition Portfolio

Illinois students who receive special education services will leave the school system at least by the day before they turn 22.  They will enter the adult world with potential assistance needs in the areas of continued education, employment, training opportunities, and/or living options.  During high school, students are to be involved in their transition planning.  One way to do that is to assemble a portfolio.

For students who will be leaving the school system, a portfolio could include such items as:

• a copy of their birth certificate
• their social security number
• copy of their current IEP with transition goals
• assessment scores
• work evaluations
• work experiences
• volunteer experiences
• community involvement activities
• strengths / skills
• accommodation needs

This portfolio should be updated frequently and provided to those who can potentially support students.
Learn more about transition services at PACER. 

PACER information on Transition of Youth with Disabilities

December 2020

IDEA Turns 45 - We Have Come A Long Way

Until 1975 there was no law guaranteeing that American children with disabilities could access appropriate public education services with a full equality of opportunity.  On November 29, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) now known as IDEA – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  The latest reauthorization of this law took place in 2004.

To be eligible for services starting at age 3 (Part B services), children must fit into at least one eligibility category.  The categories in 1975 were:  Deaf, Deaf-Blind, Hard of Hearing, Mentally Retarded, Multihandicapped, Orthopedically impaired, Other Health Impaired, Seriously Emotionally Disturbed, Specific Learning Disability, Speech Impaired, or Visually Handicapped.  With notable language updates and the addition of new categories, today the categories are:  Autism Spectrum Disorder, Deaf-Blindness, Deafness, Developmental Delay, Emotional Disability, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Visual Impairment. 

The law initially was for children starting at age 3, but in 1986 the reauthorization of the law mandated that states also provide services to children with disabilities from the time they are born. 

In the 1990 reauthorization, Congress mandated that an Individual Transition Plan be developed for students as they go through a transition from school services to post-secondary life.  In the 1994-1995 school year, 63% of students with disabilities graduated with a regular diploma or certificate of completion.  In the 2017-2018 school year 72.7% exited school with a regular high school diploma. 

In the 1997 law amendment there was an increased emphasis on access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities.  Now, 95% of students with disabilities ages 6-21 are served in a regular classroom at least part of the day.  The 2004 reauthorization called for improved educational outcomes and the regulations developed in 2006 required schools to use research based interventions in the process of assisting students. 

In the 2018-2019 school year, 7,539,553 infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities from birth through age 21 were served under IDEA. 

November 2020

Priority Learning Standards for 2020-2021

The Illinois State Board of Education sets learning standards for Illinois students which are essential to student achievement. In August 2020, ISBE issued priority learning standards for the 2020-2021 school year. In the Introduction to these standards, ISBE states: "In light of the many ways students have been, and continue to be, impacted by the global pandemic, remote learning, and racial and social injustices that are being revealed during this moment in history, it is evident schools, teachers, and students will need to maximize learning during the 2020-2021 school year and beyond. Educators will need to contend with unfinished learning from spring 2020 and learning loss compounded by trauma as they begin instructional planning for fall."ISBE is wanting schools to deliver quality instruction that will work toward recovery rather than just remidation. ISBE is wanting schools to deliver quality instruction that will work toward recovery rather than just remediation.

ISBE has identified the most Priority Illinois Learning Standards. The full set of Illinois Learning Standards was reviewed and the standards which most effectively address learning loss, engage students deeply, and maximize learning were selected to prioritize. These prioritized standards are offered "to mitigate the added stress and pressure placed on educators and students and to support a focus on the standards that will have the greatest positive impact on learning."

Parents can review these prioritized standards in Social/Emotional Learning, Physical Education, Health, English/Language Arts, English Language Learning, Math, Science, Social Science, and Fine Arts to learn what the state feels is essential for children to learn this year.

Illinois Priority Learning Standards for the 2020-2021 School Year

October 2020

Becoming an Educational Advocate

As a Parent Training and Information Center, our most important service at Family Matters is to offer individualized assistance to parents of children with disabilities so that they understand their rights and responsibilities related to special education.  We help them review their child’s school records in order to better understand the individualized services their child is receiving and the data that supports those services.  With increased knowledge and ongoing support, many of the parents who work with us are able to communicate effectively with their schools and navigate through the special education process. 

Some parents also want to enlist assistance from an educational advocate.  An educational advocate assists parents as they work with school staff to plan, review, and assess the individualized education program for their child.  Some educational advocates are themselves parents of children with disabilities.  Some have backgrounds in the educational field.  Some assist parents at no cost and others offer assistance for a fee. 

Before choosing an advocate, we suggest reading Educational Advocates: A Guide for Parents from CADRE-The National Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education.

At Family Matters we offer an annual 33-hour course for volunteer educational advocates.  The course runs for 11 weeks on Thursday evenings and begins in January.  Check out our website in December to register at www.fmptic.org.  This is a free course that covers ESSA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, IDEA, evaluation, eligibility, IEPs, Least Restrictive Environment, Functional Behavior Assessment, Behavior Intervention Plans, discipline, assistive technology, Extended School Year, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, secondary transition, various disabilities, evidence-based interventions, procedural safeguards, cultural and linguistic diversity in families, and ways to impact legislative change. 

The Arc of Illinois also offers a curriculum of eight modules with the basic information needed to navigate the special education system, including early intervention services, IEPs, Section 504, and more. The Arc@School Advocacy Curriculum is offered for a small fee.  

September 2020

Return to School Preparation Guide

August 2020

Facilitated IEP Meetings

July 2020

Preparing for an IEP Meeting by Reviewing Records

June 2020

Breaks from Caregiving - Respite

May 2020

Remote Learning for Students with IEPs

April 2020

Special Education Cooperatives/Joint Agreements

School districts in Illinois provide special education and related services to the students with disabilities who reside in their district.  Districts may also enter into an agreement with a special education cooperative or joint agreement entity to create, provide, and support their services for students with special education needs ages 3-22.  These cooperatives can provide specialized instructional environments for students with severe or low incidence disabilities, provide consultative services, and/or provide more highly specialized staff to serve students. 

Directory of Special Education Cooperatives and the Districts/Counties They Serve

March 2020

Homebound Services

February 2020
Supported Decision-Making

January 2020

Community Residential Services Authority

December 2019
The Seclusion and Restraint of Students in Illinois

November 2019

Thinking Through the IEP Process

Reviewing this checklist can be helpful in remembering what an IEP meeting should involve.

IEP Meeting Checklist

            I received written notice of my child’s IEP meeting at least 10 days prior to the meeting date

            (unless I waived my right to notice) 

            I received a copy of any materials that were to be discussed at the meeting at least 3 school

            days prior to the meeting so that I could adequately review the information

In addition to me, and my child if appropriate, the IEP team attending my child’s meeting consists of:

            A general education teacher who is, or may be, responsible for implementing a portion of my

            child’s IEP

            A special education teacher or special education provider of my child (a speech and language

            pathologist fulfills this role if ONLY speech and language services are provided)

            A representative of the district with the authority to make commitments for the provision of

            resources and be able to ensure that the services set out in my child’s IEP will be implemented,

            and who is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction and

            has knowledge of the general education curriculum

            An individual who can interpret my child’s evaluation results

            Other individuals, invited by me or the district, who have knowledge or special expertise

            regarding my child (optional)

            An individual qualified to teach preschool children without identified disabilities (if my child is

            age 3-5)

            A qualified bilingual specialist (if appropriate)

            A person knowledgeable about positive behavior strategies (if my child has behaviors that

            impede his or her learning or the learning of others)

At meetings to create or revise my child’s IEP, the team addresses the following issues, in the following order:

            My child’s present levels of academic and functional performance – including social skills (a

            measurable level of how my child is doing in school, the results of recent evaluations and

            testing, etc.)

            Secondary transition services needed by my child in the areas of employment, education,

            training, and independent living skills – including needed courses of study (if my child is, or will

            be, 14 ½ or older during the time covered by this IEP)

            A need for, or the results of, a functional behavior assessment and the development of, or

            revision to, a positive behavior intervention plan to address behaviors (if needed)

            The progress my child made on previous goals

            The goals my child will work to achieve during the next 12 months and the objectives or

benchmarks for reaching the goals (measurable goals written in each area of deficit that are

tied to the general education curriculum and learning standards)

            A designation of the person or people who are directly responsible for implementation of each

            Goal

            A description of how my child’s progress towards meeting goals will be determined, who will

            assess this progress, and how I will be informed of progress or lack of progress

            A need for assistive technology devices and services (if needed in order to progress toward

            academic and functional goals)

            The aids, accommodations, and modifications needed by my child to make progress toward

            annual goals, to progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in

            extracurricular and other non-academic activities

            The supports or training needed by school personnel for my child to advance appropriately

            toward attaining the annual goals, participate in the general curriculum, and be educated and

            participate with other students in educational activities

            The assistance or training I need to help my child progress (instruction by staff or opportunities

            to attend trainings, conferences, in-service events, etc.)

            A description of how my child will access extra-curricular and non-academic activities

            A determination of the need for extended school year services due to the nature of the

            disability, the rate of progress on goals and objectives, emerging skills, behavior issues, and/or

            expected regression or delayed recoupment of skills

            A determination of the specially designed instruction (based on peer-reviewed research) my

            child will receive and a determination of when my child will be in general education with no

            supplementary aids; in general education with supplementary aids; in general education with

            special education and related services; or in special education classes outside of general

            education (placement is to be in the least restrictive environment)

            My parental concerns as noted in the IEP document

I receive:

            A copy of my child’s IEP at the end of the meeting