Special Education Advocate

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What is ESY?
Extended School Year (ESY) services are special education and related services like speech therapy or occupational therapy that are provided beyond the usual school hours/year – often; but not only, during the summer. They are INDIVIDUALIZED services provided at no charge to families. How the services are delivered is an IEP team decision. ESY services are NOT summer school, credit recovery, or enrichment programs or determined only by the type of placement (Inclusion, Special Day Class, Nonpublic or residential school).

he team must consider if the student needs continued reinforcement to prevent the loss of important learning/skills (regression), and if the student is at significantly higher risk for difficulty with regaining skills lost over time (recouping). ESY services may be available for any student eligible for special education ages 3-22. The team must assess whether the lost skills and extra time to regain them is likely to create a significant barrier to progress toward meeting IEP goals and maintaining their progress. Evidence of a risk of these difficulties can include:

Demonstrated need for constant reinforcement over time, even during the regular instructional day/year
Problems remembering what they learn (assessments may show problems with with working memory, for example)
History from a previous year of losing skills and struggling to regain them after a long school break
Need for constant reinforcement of a behavior support/intervention program when a student is at risk of being moved to a more restrictive environment unless they can make substantial progress meeting behavior goals

Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful holiday season !

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Services - California IEP Advocate  Standardized rating scales In depth developmental history and record review Clinical mental status examination and interview Formal report and feedback session 

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How a disgraced method of diagnosing learning disabilities persists in our nation’s schools The “IQ-discrepancy model”—diagnosing students with dyslexia by determining if they have an “unexpected” gap between their IQ and their reading scores—has long been deemed an invalid way of screening for the disorder. Yet, it still persists in education, meaning many students are not get...

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Proposed Section 504 rule still being drafted The U.S. Department of Education missed the expected August release of the much anticipated regulations — the first major update for the law since 1977.

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Free webinar on Special Education Basics:
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Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Special Education: IEP Basics and Beyond. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Special Education: IEP Basics and Beyond. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

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Products - California IEP Advocate

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Age 10+

Friday, August 4, 4:00-5:15 pm
Friday, September 15, 4:30-5:45 pm

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Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)

Making the Most of the Summer Break
Summer is here, and it's easy to want to close the book on last year and move on. But, for students with disabilities, summer is also a great time to continue building skills and working on goals in new ways. Learning does not stop when school lets out, and neither does parenting, or the need to advocate for yourself or your child!

Here are some ideas about how to strengthen your advocacy in the summer:

Get Organized
Sort through paperwork and emails, and make sure you have your child's complete school file, including old IEPs and assessments, letters, reports from doctors, etc.

How to Organize Your Child's IEP Binder | Understood
If you are unsure whether your school file is complete, request a copy of your child's school records. Here is a sample Request for Educational Records letter you can use.

Review Last Year's Progress and Challenges
What worked? What didn't? Are there issues or problems that aren't worked out yet? You should have received a report card and a special education progress report at the end of the year. Make sure you review them and get more information if needed. Make a list of any concerns you have or action steps you want to take so you don't forget them. Don't forget to think about what worked well. You'll want to pass that on to the team, too.

Take Time to Process and Review the Past Year with the Student
Once a child or youth isn't under the day-to-day stress of school, they may have important ideas and thoughts to share. A child who is nonverbal can wiggle with delight when presented with a picture of a friend, teacher, or field trip. A child who struggled with behavior last year can think about how summer is different, and why. Ask your child to tell or show their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. If you are a youth, you can ask a trusted adult to help you write this down. What activities, subjects, and experiences did the student like most or least? What relationships were especially important? What kinds of support helped them and what was not helpful? Document specific skills and approaches that worked well so you can share these with new staff. Share your goals for next year. For example, does your child wish they had more friends? That's an important thing to let the team know about so the new teacher and staff can monitor social relationships and help the student make connections early. Are they worried about an upcoming transition to a new school or program? What might help them prepare and be less anxious?

Consider How to Translate Accommodations and Goals into Summer Activities
Review the IEP or 504 document and think about how to share this information with summer care providers, enrichment camps and family. While some goals are academic (reading, writing or math, for example), others are focused on communication, social skills, behavior, or functional skills. Share what strategies have helped make school more accessible (sensory breaks, visual schedules, communication devices, behavior support plans) and share this information with others working with your child in the summer.

Reinforcing your child's IEP goals over the summer | GreatSchools.org
Document How the Summer Goes
If a student goes to tutoring, camp, gets a job, or has other new or different experiences over the summer, try to get written reports, take photos of projects or activities, keep progress reports, or write down what staff tell you about how they are doing in this different setting. This can be very helpful when discussing student needs with school staff. For example, were there fewer behavior problems when the student could move around more freely? Was unstructured time a problem, showing that a highly structured program works best? Did the student learn new skills in a different kind of setting? Did the student go backward without their services (regress) or stop making progress? The IEP team needs this information – the student may need more support next summer.

K-12 school quality information and parenting resources We're an independent nonprofit that provides parenting resources and in-depth school quality information families can use to choose the right school and support their child's learning and development.

Free training

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Special Education: IEP Basics and Beyond. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Special Education: IEP Basics and Beyond. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

It’s summer time! Let’s start organizing your child’s binder !

How to Organize Your Child’s IEP Binder See how to make an IEP binder for your child. Watch this video to learn what documents you need and what order to put them in to help you track your child’s progress and prepare for IEP meetings.