

- #Good social questions for children with special needs how to#
- #Good social questions for children with special needs professional#
Experts recommend being upfront and direct about what parts of an IEP or 504 plan cannot be met during distance learning. Make sure you can explain what your district has done to shore things up. Parents will certainly expect more this fall. That could well happen, but experts recommend focusing on what you can do for families, not what you cannot. With classes resuming, some special education administrators are fearful that a deluge of lawsuits from frustrated parents and disability rights advocates will overwhelm schools. Let those observations guide revisions to their IEPs-and your instruction plans, if possible. Document the observations and concerns of parents and other caregivers.

Some families reported severe learning loss and skill regression while schools were closed during spring and summer. Some schools are relying on multilingual staff to connect with English-learner and immigrant families.ĭuring the pandemic, Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs, the carefully constructed legal documents that determine what services students with disabilities are entitled to receive, became imprecise guides. That communication is key to student success and access. That means that more than a million are not.įind out what those home languages are and connect families with staff or volunteers from community agencies who can help you communicate. Roughly 75 percent of the nation’s roughly 5 million English-learners are native Spanish speakers. Some families will simply not feel comfortable advocating for their children or pushing back against requirements that will not work for them.įor English-learner families, that often means finding a way to overcome language barriers. That support becomes even more important when the schooling is happening away from school.ĭo not wait for families to ask for help. As schools work to determine what students need, they should continue to gather feedback from parents.Ĭhildren whose parents are involved in supporting their learning do better in school. Listen to familiesĭuring the school shutdowns, parents were likely to become even more attuned to the needs of their children. If that return is weeks or months away, here are some steps, developed by English-learner and special education advocacy groups, and state departments of education, school districts can take now to connect with their students doing distance learning: 1. Schools must also acknowledge that some students will need both English-learner and special education support services.Īfter the rocky rollout in the spring, states such as California and Oregon urged schools to prioritize in-person learning for children with disabilities and those learning English when classes resume.
#Good social questions for children with special needs professional#
Their teachers face a digital divide of their own: English-learner specialists undergo fewer hours of professional development with digital learning resources than traditional classroom teachers. Many English-learners don’t have dependable internet and technology at home, surveys show. Part 3: Tackling the Transportation Problem Part 1: The Socially Distanced School Day We present a broad spectrum of options endorsed by public health officials, explain strategies that some districts will adopt, and provide estimated costs.
#Good social questions for children with special needs how to#
Through eight installments, Education Week journalists explore the big challenges education leaders must address, including running a socially distanced school, rethinking how to get students to and from school, and making up for learning losses. District and school leaders are confronting difficult, high-stakes decisions as they plan for how to reopen schools amid a global pandemic.
