CL855 Special Education Law

Assignment: Resolving Concerns about FAPE:

Shawna has ADHD. In the second grade, Shawna begins having difficulty completing assignments in class and is not getting along well with other students. Shawna can generally complete her assignments with extra time and help from the classroom aide, but Shawna does not seem to like the current classroom aide and is resistant to her efforts to provide help. The aide is also the aide for the whole class and is not always able to help Shawna who frequently interrupts class and bothers other students. Shawna has been subject to in-class discipline by the teacher on a number of occasions for these actions. Shawna also has problems reading grade level material.

At the teacher's request, the school calls a team meeting and the team agrees that Shawna should be evaluated for special education eligibility. The results of the evaluations confirm that Shawna has ADHD and has above average intelligence with an IQ of 128. Shawna scored in the average to above average range on most of the academic achievement tests administered by the school as part of the evaluation process in reading and math. Shawna's lowest scores were in the reading fluency, word identification, and reading comprehension tests where Shawna scored "low average."

Shawna received passing grades in first and second grades, though Shawna's parents feel that the grades are below what Shawna is capable of doing.

Assume Shawna is found eligible for special education services in the second grade and the team develops an IEP to address Shawna's unique needs. After two years of receiving special education and related services, Shawna's parents believe that their child is not making sufficient progress given Shawna's high IQ and ability.

The school performs a reevaluation to measure Shawna's progress, and these tests produce the following results as compared to his initial testing in second grade:

Subject Testing beginning of 2nd grade. Testing beginning of 4th grade. Reported in grade level scores Reported in grade level scores Math 2.0 3.7 Written language 1.8 3.2 Reading 1.9 2.6 comprehension Word Identification 1.5 2.2 Reading fluency K4 1.4 Spelling 1.7 3.2 Word Attack 1.6 3 Calculations 2 3.8