For Parents of Special Education Students
WELCOME
For a comprehensive Word document with important upcoming events
for 2009-10, click here.
For families new to Forest Edge and those returning, this will serve as a reminder: the Forest Edge PTA has a Special Education Committee. As Chair, I hope to provide resources to our parents who are new to the special education process, or who need additional support as you negotiate through the system. In addition, I would like to accomplish the following goals:
• Help parents of students receiving special education form working partnerships with the school staff.
• Provide opportunities for parents to become involved in ways that benefit Forest Edge as a whole.
• Ensure that our PTA provides value to all parents and students.
• Educate the parents of students in general education about special education and the advantages of inclusion of students with disabilities.
These goals cannot be achieved by a few. I encourage you to get involved and join me and the committee in building and strengthening our wonderful inclusive community at Forest Edge. There are a lot of upcoming events and workshops offered in the area so be on the lookout for more information to come. All events are free, unless otherwise noted, and open to all. Please email me if you’d like to be on the email distribution list, or call or email me with any questions. Have a terrific school year!
For more information, contact committee chair, Vera Conley at 571-275-2722 or FESpEd@gmail.com.
Resources
New Special Education Regulations released by VA Dept of Education (VDOE) in July 2009. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Sped/varegs.pdf or click here to download a .pdf file.
New Family Special Education Right Document (Aug 2009) VDOE has revised the Procedural Safeguards Document titled "Your Family's Special Education Rights, Virginia Procedural Safeguards Notice", the document parents receive at evaluations & annual IEPs. It is a very important document explaining a parent’s legal rights, as well as the child’s, according to the new VA special ed regs. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Sped/proc_safe.pdf The document will be available in the near future and posted to the VDOE website in the following languages: Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Urdu, Farsi, Korean and Vietnamese.
Procedural Support Liaison (PSL) position replaces the Pyramid Resource Specialist (PRS) position. The South Lakes Pyramid (Forest Edge) PSL is Kristina Roman. Her phone number is 571-423-4101.
The FCPS Parent Resource Center (PRC) has posted the “Back to School” resource packet. http://www.fcps.edu/cco/prc/documents/BACKTOSCHOOLResourcePacket.pdf
FCPS Special Education Handbook
The downloadable handbook below is intended to help the partners – students, parents, educators – work together and become more knowledgeable about helping students who require special education. IDEA was amended and signed into law on December 3, 2004. As the U.S. and Virginia Departments of Education, and FCPS develop new regulations in compliance with IDEA, the information in this handbook will be updated. Please be sure to check here: http://www.fcps.edu/ss/SpecialEd/Handbook/updates.htm for the latest handbook update information. Revised (05/07) handbook is now available for download.
http://www.fcps.edu/ss/SpecialEd/Handbook/SpecialEducationHandbook.pdf
Social Inclusion (Edition 2)
An excellent and practical article put forth by the Special Education Committee of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs.
http://www.fccpta.org/special_ed/vision_for_success.htm
Virginia Department of Education Annual School Report Card
The report card provides information on student achievement, accreditation, safety, and attendance for the state as a whole and for individual schools. As additional data are collected, the Virginia School Report Card will expand to allow further analysis of the progress of schools, school divisions, and the commonwealth in raising student achievement.
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/src
IEP Online Training
This free, online training program is offered by CalSTAT (California Services for Technical Assistance and Training). Participants will:
1) Understand IDEA as it relates to assessment, IEP and educational benefit.
2) Identify the components of a goal and objective/benchmark and use this knowledge in writing goals and objectives/benchmarks per IDEA requirements.
3) Understand the relationship between progress on goals and short-term objectives/benchmarks in the general education curriculum.
4) Write measurable annual goals and short-term instructional objectives tied to general education standards while remaining student focused.
5) Identify systems for collecting and measuring progress on goals and objectives that assure successful outcomes for students with disabilities.