Lawmakers, parents, educators, and advocates look to improve education planning for students with disabilities

WILMINGTON – Senators Nicole Poore and David Lawson, Representatives Debra Heffernan, Joseph Miro, and Deborah Hudson, and Attorney General Matt Denn have announced legislation aimed to improve the education of students with special needs, making changes to their educational planning process and providing better resources for their families.

Senate Bill 33 implements the recommendations of the IEP Improvement Task Force, a group of educators, advocates and parents created by the General Assembly to study Delaware’s process for creating the individualized education programs to which these students are entitled by federal law and how to make the process less adversarial and intimidating for parents.

“One of the criticisms often levied against education policy is that bureaucrats approach everything from a one-size-fits-all mindset – that we don’t consider the individual needs of students or the individual talents of their teachers or paraprofessionals when we make laws. That we don’t listen to parents, said Senator Nicole Poore, the lead sponsor of SB 33. “This legislation answers all of those critiques. This brings schools to the table for a conversation about what’s right for a particular student, and it holds all our public schools, including charters, accountable for making that happen. The result of this legislation will be more informed parents, educators who are freer to make recommendations and observations during the IEP process and most importantly, children who get an educational experience that’s right for them.”

Task Force recommendations included in Senate Bill 33, introduced Jan. 29, are designed to:

1. Provide more detailed and helpful information to parents about their rights and resources in the IEP process;

2. Solicit the input of parents and children regarding the IEP process before IEP meetings occur;

3. Provide advance notice to parents and children of documents that will be discussed at IEP meetings;

4. Require the facilitation of parent councils to provide peer support for the parents of students with disabilities;

5. Ensure that teachers, staff, and contract employees do not suffer retaliation for offering their candid opinions during the IEP process;

6. Ensure that employment planning during the IEP process is consistent with Delaware’s employment first policy;

7. Require a robust annual survey of parents and children to ensure that school districts and charter schools are adhering to state and federal law with respect to the IEP process;

8. Ensure that charter schools are attentive to their responsibilities and available resources with respect to students with disabilities;

9. Require that the Department of Education report to the General Assembly on the status of and possible alternatives to the IEP Plus computer system, which has been an impediment to the preparation of IEPs by teachers, staff, and contractors.

“I’m happy to have been a member of the IEP Improvement Task Force,” said Rep. Debra Heffernan, D-Brandywine Hundred South. “Now the focus needs to shift to the more important task of IEP implementation with high expectations and improving outcomes for Delaware students with special needs. This bill will help move us in the right direction and ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed.”

“This is a bipartisan initiative,” House Minority Whip Deborah Hudson said. “Legislators from both parties and both chambers are working together to improve the IEP process because we all recognize the key role it can potentially play in improving student performance.”

“As a former educator, I know the challenges of addressing the needs of each individual student,” said bill co-sponsor, State Rep. Joe Miro. “These reforms will give the parents a more direct role and a louder voice in the IEP process, better ensuring that their children are receiving what they require.”

“I applaud the effort of the committee members who were all truly concerned about making the IEP process better,” said Senator David Lawson. “I think the biggest thing to come out of it is the need for standardization in the programs, getting everybody on the same page. And we need to make sure that parents are, at all times, kept aware of exactly what’s going on and that they’re not intimidated by the IEP process.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Attorney General Matt Denn and all of the representatives that were part of making sure that we were able to have our voices heard as parents,” said Diane Eastburn, a parent from Kent County who served on the Task Force. “To be able to be a part of a system that most people think is broken, and to actually be able to put pieces together and come up with a body of work that I think every parent who has a child with a special need will be able to sit back when this gets passed and say ‘my life is a little easier today.’”

“This legislation will improve the ability of parents and students to have input and assert themselves in the IEP process,” said Attorney General Matt Denn, who participated in the task force as Lieutenant Governor as part of his focus on children with disabilities. “Too many parents are unprepared to advocate effectively for their children; they need to know what their rights are, what services will benefit their child, and have the ability to include their own, and their child’s goals in the IEP.”

The final report of the task force, which includes recommendations beyond those to be accomplished through SB 33, can be found at http://ltgov.delaware.gov/taskforces/ieptf/IEP_Task_Force_Report_Final.pdf

WILMINGTON, Del. – Today, Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn was joined by disabilities advocates, legislative leaders, and educators to address the rights to reading interventions that students with disabilities gained under a new law passed in June. The new law requires that schools provide young students with dyslexia and decoding disabilities and other disabilities with early, intensive, evidence-based assistance in order to better help those students learn to read.

Senate Bill 229 requires that IEPs for any child with a disability – who is not beginning to read by the age of seven – document the evidence-based interventions the school is using to build the child’s ability to read or document why such interventions are inappropriate. The law also requires the school to provide the interventions through extended school year or summer services, regardless of whether the child would otherwise qualify for those services.

For children who have struggled to read – and their families – this new law presents an opportunity to ensure those students are receiving the instruction most likely to make them readers who are able to access many more opportunities for learning and growth. Because any intervention may deem itself “evidence-based,” the Lt. Governor has a guidance document, included at the end of this post, for parents on how they can determine that their child is receiving interventions in compliance with the law.

The purpose of today’s announcement was to inform parents of eligible children that their children are entitled to this assistance, so they can specifically ask their schools for it.

“Reading is the foundation of education,” said Lieutenant Governor Denn. “When children are exposed to best practices in reading instruction, learning becomes a more positive experience. These practices have the potential to improve lives by giving these kids paths to information and imagination.”

Lieutenant Governor Denn was joined at today’s press conference at the Bear Library by Sen. Nicole Poore, House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, and parent Kim Hamstead.

Sen. Poore noted that when children have difficulty reading, they may also develop social and emotional problems that can affect their learning and peer relationships. “A child who sees they are not meeting expectations – their own, their teacher’s, their family’s – are known to be more at risk for anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, and they don’t always have the language to relieve those feelings through appropriate self-expression.”

“The fact that support will be available throughout the year is a major step forward for these students,” Rep. Longhurst said. “A lot of kids lose some ground over the summer and if you’re already falling behind, it’s even harder to get caught up with everyone else without that extra time for learning and practice.”

“With help from my son’s school, I found a reading specialist that used a specific curriculum and teaching methods that had proven effective for children with reading challenges,” said Ms. Hamstead. “My son followed this program for over 2 years and now he is a very confident reader and likes to volunteer to read in front of his class. The key to his success was early intervention and following an evidence-based reading program.”

Reading Interventions FAQ for Parents

Task Force Is Seeking Three Parents to Complete Membership

WILMINGTON, Del.– Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn, chair of the state’s newly-formed IEP Improvement Task Force, announced today that the task force membership was near completion and that the state is seeking three more parents to serve on the task force.

The task force was created by the General Assembly (Senate Concurrent Resolution 63) at the end of June to make recommendations to improve the process by which the state creates Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students with disabilities. Lieutenant Governor Denn, who has authored legislation in prior years to address deficiencies in the IEP process, was appointed by Senate President Pro Tem Patricia Blevins to chair the task force.

The task force already has three parents with students on IEPs as members, all of whom were appointed by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Exceptional Citizens (the state council that represents the interests of children with disabilities in schools). However, the resolution creating the task force allows for three additional parents to be appointed to the task force. Those parents will be appointed by the four state legislators who are task force members.

Parents of students who are currently on IEPs – or parents of individuals who were on IEPs in the past – who are interested in serving on this task force can contact Michele Rush at the Department of Education at 302-735-4210 or michele.rush@doe.k12.de.us by Friday, August 1, 2014. The Department of Education will communicate the names of interested parents to the four legislators, who will in turn pick the three parent members.

The task force will meet once or twice a month beginning in August for a report that is due to Governor Markell and the General Assembly by January 1, 2015. Meetings will alternate between Dover and Wilmington with videoconferencing available at both sites. All meetings will be open to the public; audio and materials from all meetings will be posted on the Lt. Governor’s website.