Submitted Questions:
Hi—My child has been evaluated, but the final results seem to be taking forever. The school psychologist keeps putting off setting the date for the follow-up PPT saying he’s really busy. What can I do? Mrs. P.T., New York
Dear P—In Connecticut, state law mandates that a follow-up PPT must be held within 45 days of the testing. If it’s been much longer than that in your school, I’d talk to the principal and insist, politely, that a date be set. Don’t let the conversation end unless you have a commitment for a date or at least a commitment that the date will be set within the next week.
Dear Christine—I’ve just learned from an outside source that
my 16 year old daughter is reading far below grade level—maybe
even below 7th grade! Why has my school never told me that she wasn’t
doing well?
(signed) Steaming in Florida
Dear Steaming—I’ve seen this before and it never ceases to amaze me. Often schools don’t want to face this issue themselves because they’d have to do something about it. It’s just easier to push the kids through grade after grade, year after year, especially in poorer districts and areas with low expectations. The administration and staff just say, “Oh, this is the best they can do.” They don’t look beyond their own limited ability for other options. The kids end up graduating with marginal reading ability, and your child has not received a free and appropriate education that’s guaranteed by federal law. The schools know it’s not likely that they’ll be sued and if they do they have legally defensible reasons for doing what they do. However they do not have moral or ethical justification.
My suggestion is that (if you have the time and energy) network with other parents and as a group make an issue of this. Politely demand individual testing results and then insist that the school make changes to address this problem. Your only hope lies in networking with other parents to insist on institutional change.
Your daughter will probably qualify for special education services at this point, but if the school doesn’t know that she’s that far behind, they probably won’t be able to help her get caught up, either.
