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My professional perspective is that from a candidate principal of elementary education. This legal guide is intended to help parents navigate IDEA regulations and their rights. I chose this topic because I felt that many times parents are unaware of their student’s rights under IDEA. I had recently read several articles about parents being asked to sign waivers that declined much needed services for their child during the pandemic.  Since many parents are unaware of their rights I felt as a future principal its vital to be an advocate for families of special need students.

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I interviewed Lisa Lester,     Instructional Coordinator at Bowie Elementary. Lisa along with the counselor work to ensure that 504 plans and Individualized Education Plan regulations are adhered. Lisa is also in charge of ensure that parents are aware of their educational rights during academic meetings regarding the Individuals with Disabilities  Education Act. Every parent should understand the law so they can know their rights and what services their child qualifies to receive.

As a parent, you are an advocate for your child and a critical member of the IEP team. Parents have rights under the IDEA act that include the right to ask for an evaluation or re-evaluation of their child and the right to contribute to the team that decides what special education services their child will receive. Being aware of your rights under the IDEA act will help you be the expert your child needs as decisions are made about how they should be served and supported. It is also critical that while ensuring that parents know their rights, teachers, and staff the serve students are aware of the regulations and policies associated with IDEA. It is difficult to support families if teachers are an able to articulate the IEP or 504 plans. Currently districts are navigating how to comply with IDEA regulations during COVID-19. Teachers and administrators are currently tasked with how to accommodate IEP and 504 plans virtually. This has been difficult for parents to manage especially with multiple children (L. Lester, personal communication, July 14, 2020).

Best Practices:

·         Ensuring that IEP or 504 team members are properly trained in IDEA regulations. The team members meet monthly to ensure that proper protocols are in place in the classroom and how we can best ensure these procedures are done with fidelity (L. Lester, personal communication, July 14, 2020)

·         Parents must be given the opportunity to participate in some form with their students “identification, evaluation, educational placement, and the provision of a free appropriate public education (Patterson, 2001).

·         The principal must act as the chief advocate for parents and students with disabilities. It is necessary that principal is aware of all student disabilities and accommodations. Principals will work closely with parents to create an action team for the student (Bateman & Bateman, 2014).

References:

Bateman, D., & Bateman, C. F. (2014). A principal's guide to special education. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title 20 § 1414

L. Lester, personal communication, July 14, 2020

Patterson, J., Educational Research Service, A. V., & National Association of Elementary School Principals, A. V. (2001). School Leader’s Guide to Special Education. Essentials for Principals

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The National Association of Special Education Teachers posted an article and guide on how to discuss parents right regarding IDEA.

Link: https://www.naset.org/fileadmin/USER_UPLOADS_PROTECTED/HOW_TO_Series/May_2014_-_how_to_discuss_a_parent_s_rights.pdf
The National Association of Special Education Teachers (2014) discusses the importance of parents and teachers knowing the rights regarding IDEA. The articles details what important information, rights and policies should be covered with parents.

Reference:

The National Association of Special Education Teachers. (2020, July 15). How to series: How to discuss a parent's rights [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.naset.org/fileadmin/USER_UPLOADS_PROTECTED/HOW_TO_Series/May_2014_-_how_to_discuss_a_parent_s_rights.pdf

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Ujifusa (2020) describes the predicament parents and districts face in the wake of digital learning during COVID-19 and special education. The United States Department of Education reports:

·         No waivers will be provided to districts in regarding IDEA regulations

·         Parents have the right to file a grievance if they feel IEP and 504 Plans are not being implemented.

·         New financial flexibility would be implemented to help accommodate parents and teachers when meeting the needs of students.

Ujuifusa (2020) discuss the worries of districts and special education teachers regarding:

·         Concerns on regulations of how often IEP and 504 Plans are reviewed.

·         Violation of IDEA requirements during digital learning.

·         How to accommodate parents and students’ rights during COVID-19.

Link: https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2020/04/betsy-devos-special-education-no-reason-waive-core.html

Reference: Ujifusa, A. (2020, April 27). Betsy DeVos Sees 'No Reason' to Waive Core Elements of Special Education Law. Retrieved July 15, 2020, from https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2020/04/betsy-devos-special-education-no-reason-waive-core.html

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Congress should not grant flexibility from the federal special education law's key components in response to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has told federal lawmakers, but should consider granting some waivers on a few narrow administrative issues.

In a report to Congress released by the U.S. Department of Education, DeVos said that in spite of the challenge presented to schools by the novel coronavirus, there should be no waivers provided from the part of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act that guarantees a "free, appropriate public education," or FAPE, for students with disabilities, or the section that says students with special needs should be taught in the "least restrictive environment" in schools.

DeVos said in a statement announcing her recommendations, which she was required to submit to Congress under a recently adopted law focused on the coronavirus, that "there is no reason that a student's access to FAPE cannot continue online, through distance education or other alternative strategies."

"While the Department has provided extensive flexibility to help schools transition, there is no reason for Congress to waive any provision designed to keep students learning," DeVos said. "With ingenuity, innovation, and grit, I know this nation's educators and schools can continue to faithfully educate every one of its students."

DeVos did recommend a relatively narrow waiver that she said would extend the evaluation timeline for children making the transition from federal special education services for infants and toddlers (under Part C of IDEA) to those for school-age children (Part B). "Without this flexibility, a toddler with a disability will lose access to services once he or she turns 3 years old," the report states.

She also suggested another waiver to grant new financial flexibility for those training to work in special education.

By declining to recommend waivers from core tenets of the special education law, DeVos put weight behind her rhetorical stance throughout the coronavirus pandemic that schools should not abandon or minimize their obligations to educate all students, including those with disabilities.

You can read DeVos' recommendations on waivers here. The report from DeVos also covers her recommendations regarding flexibility for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in late March, gave DeVos 30 days to recommend whether she should be able to grant new waivers for schools under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The pandemic has upended traditional instruction and put new pressures on educating students with disabilities, many of whom rely on in-person attention and services.

Highly Anticipated Decision

DeVos' call on whether to recommend special education waivers became one of the most-anticipated decisions of her time as education secretary. Part of the tension around her decision stems from the controversy she caused during her 2017 confirmation hearing, when DeVos appeared not to know about IDEA in her response to a question from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. That exchange touched off a whirlwind of criticism and created deep concern among disability advocates about DeVos that has never fully dissipated.

During her public statements to educators during the pandemic, DeVos has rebuked some schools for-in her view-failing to provide services to all students during the pandemic over fears about providing equitable services to students in special education. She said that while distance learning must be made available to students with disabilities, there's a lot of freedom for school districts with respect to how they provide those services.

Ultimately, Congress-and not DeVos-has the power to decide whether to create new flexibility for schools under special education law. After the CARES Act became law, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, made a point of publicizing how she had successfully pushed to remove language from an earlier draft of the bill that would have given DeVos a "blank check" to waive IDEA.

Any attempt to include new waivers from special education law into a new round of federal coronavirus emergency aid, for example, would likely be met with stiff, vocal resistance in Congress and elsewhere.

Right now, the secretary of education has almost no power to waive IDEA. One notable exception is that she can grant waivers from a part of the law that requires states to maintain special education spending at certain levels in order to tap federal IDEA funds. DeVos can grant waivers if there is "a natural disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial resources of the State."

So it's possible that states will seek waivers from special education law through that avenue. If that happens, DeVos' decisions on these waivers would be closely scrutinized.

'History of Discrimination'

A fair amount of lobbying took place during the 30-day window DeVos had to create a recommendation on IDEA waivers under the CARES Act.

Earlier this month, two groups representing special education administrators pressed House and Senate education committee leaders to give schools some relief from certain IDEA requirements, such as how often Individualized Education Plans must be reviewed and when students are evaluated for special education services. The groups told lawmakers in a letter that, "In some situations, despite our best efforts, meeting these requirements in the middle of a pandemic is not possible."

And districts have worried that they'll get into legal trouble over how they handle special education during the pandemic. On April 25, the Huffington Post reported that some New Jersey schools were forcing parents to sign waivers, in which they pledged not to sue districts, before providing their children access to special education services, due to what a law firm that drew up the waivers called an "unprecedented time" for schools.

Yet representatives of special education students and parents say these children are already marginalized in many instances by school systems and must constantly fight to obtain what's rightfully theirs under the law; the pandemic, they say, should not exacerbate their struggles. They also stress that federal special education law already gives schools some leeway, and that schools can be and have been creative in helping students with disabilities during the pandemic.

"We're talking about waiving people's rights. These are rights that are in place because of the history of discrimination," Lindsey Jones, the executive director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, told us in March, referring to the possibility of districts getting pandemic-related flexibility from IDEA.
Photo: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, left, visits a school in Ohio with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, center, in 2017. (Cathie Rowand/The Journal Gazette) Don't miss another Politics K-12 post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. Follow us on Twitter And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa.

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Betsy DeVos Sees 'No Reason' to Waive Core Elements of Special Education Law

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Congress should not grant flexibility from the federal special education law's key components in response to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has told federal lawmakers, but should consider granting some waivers on a few narrow administrative issues. In a report to Congress released by the U.S.

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Cohen (2020) discusses the fears families of special needs students face amid COVID 19 regarding school services. Parents are concerned that:

·         Occupational and Physical therapy that are entitled under IDEA will be suspended.

·         Students with disabilities will receive meaningless work that does not accommodate their unique learning needs.

·         Some districts are encouraging parents to sign waivers that decline special education services related to their IEP or 504 plans.

·         Districts cannot ensure confidentiality or privacy using electronic communications for  sensitive services such as counseling and are being forced to decline virtual learning plans.

Link: https://www.propublica.org/article/families-of-special-needs-students-fear-theyll-lose-school-services-in-coronavirus-shutdown

Reference: Jodi S. Cohen, P. (2020, May 20). Families of Special Needs Students Fear They'll Lose School Services in Coronavirus Shutdown. Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://www.propublica.org/article/families-of-special-needs-students-fear-theyll-lose-school-services-in-coronavirus-shutdown

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In Sangamon County in central Illinois, a father whose 10-year-old receives occupational and vision therapy at school was already concerned about how remote learning would affect his son and other students with disabilities.

Then he got a letter from his son's school district that made him worry even more. The letter asked parents to either accept the remote learning being offered, which amounted to a scaled-down version of what was provided when children were at school, or decline and acknowledge that they were "voluntarily waiving" their rights to a "free appropriate public education" and the ability to seek services from the school later.

The father and other parents of special needs students said the letters have stoked fears that their children won't get the education and other services, such as speech therapy or counseling, they are entitled to under federal law while schools are shut down to stem the spread of COVID-19. And if their children lose those services now, they worry, they may not be able to make them up or get them back when schools reopen.

"It is inappropriate that they are asking everyone to sign these forms to take it or leave it, and if you decline, we will have you waive your rights," said the parent, whose son receives services through the Sangamon Area Special Education District and who asked to remain anonymous to keep his child's identity private. "There are going to be thousands of parents who have no idea they have other options, and they will be forced to waive their rights without realizing they didn't have to do it."

After ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune obtained copies of letters from the Sangamon district and two other school districts and asked the Illinois State Board of Education about them this month, the state agency told school districts to stop using such language. The federal law that governs special education, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, guarantees students access to school and services to help them learn.

"At no time shall a school district request that a parent voluntarily waive their child's right to a (free appropriate public education)" or FAPE, according to the new guidance, which said federal law does not permit such waivers.

Despite the state agency's intervention, some parents of special education students, who number about 317,500 in Illinois, remain concerned. Those families often rely on a team of experienced school workers to help their children, and they have had to advocate for the services they receive.

In Chicago, the struggle over how to serve students with special needs came to a head this week. The Chicago Teachers Union filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday over the handling of special education during the pandemic, alleging that Chicago Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Education have failed to provide adequate resources and guidance. A directive to rewrite tens of thousands of individualized learning plans, in particular, has created an "impossible burden," according to the lawsuit.

Students and their families also are facing a hardship, according to a group of Chicago advocates who appealed last week to city and state education officials to issue new, clear expectations for what remote learning should include for students with disabilities. The group, Special Education Advocacy Coalition of Chicago, wrote that it had "grave concern" that too many Chicago Public Schools students weren't receiving meaningful schoolwork or other assistance. The level of access to schoolwork varies from school to school, the coalition wrote, and some students don't have assistive technology to help them communicate.

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Emily Bolton, a Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman, said the district has not asked educators to rewrite students' entire learning plans but to "make basic accommodations and plans" to serve them. "Make no mistake: this lawsuit against the district is not about helping students - it's about avoiding the necessary steps to ensure our most vulnerable students are supported during this unprecedented crisis."

Department of Education spokeswoman Angela Morabito said: "This is nothing more than political posturing for a headline. It's sad to see the union making excuses for why they can't educate all students instead of figuring out a way to make it happen."

It doesn't appear that Chicago asked parents to sign the questionable waivers if they declined a remote learning plan. But an ISBE spokeswoman said she knew of three school districts that had sent letters including waiver language. It's unknown how many more districts might have sent them, but the agency's new guidance puts districts on notice that they shouldn't try to force parents to make such a decision.

An excerpt from a waiver sent to the family of a special education student in the Sangamon Area Special Education District. (Obtained by ProPublica Illinois/Chicago Tribune.)

ISBE also has told districts they should "communicate and collaborate creatively with parents" and determine with each student whether services will need to be made up when schools resume normal operations.

School officials and attorneys for the three districts said that parents and special education advocates misinterpreted the letters and that they had no intention of forcing parents to "take it or leave it." The option for parents to waive remote learning, they said, was intended for families who had decided they didn't want or need the distance-learning education and other services the district provided. If they didn't think the remote learning plans were sufficient, parents were allowed to request more or different services, district officials said.

The Department of Education reiterated last month that schools are obligated to educate students with disabilities during the coronavirus crisis. The Education Department's guidance came as schools in New Jersey drew attention for forcing parents of students with disabilities to sign waivers saying they wouldn't sue before the districts agreed to provide services online, according to HuffPost.

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Federal law requires schools and families to work together to design individualized plans that set specific academic goals for students and the number of minutes schools will devote to meet them. The plans also specify other services, such as social work or physical therapy, that will be provided to students.

Mark Strawn, director of special education for the Sangamon district, said his teachers and other workers have "been going above and beyond to meet the needs of our students."

"You have to realize that IDEA was not written and adopted with a pandemic in mind," Strawn wrote in an email.

Cassie Clark, director of the Kaskaskia Special Education District in southern Illinois, also sent parents a letter that required them to accept remote learning, through online or paper learning packets, or to decline services. Families who opted out were asked to acknowledge that they were not entitled to the education.

"We had a duty to inform parents of that, as other programs were indicating some parents were seeking to simply opt out of services during this period," Clark said. She said no parents of students at the district's Bridges Learning Center, which serves students with special needs, declined services.

Attorney Brandon Wright, whose firm represents the Sangamon and Kaskaskia special education districts, said the option to decline services was intended for the small number of families who decided not to finish the school year, not for families who disagreed with the services offered.

"Certainly there was never any attempt for it to be misconstrued," Wright said. "In special ed, there is never a final answer. A parent can opt out today and tomorrow change their mind."

Yet Laura Myers, whose son is enrolled at Bridges, was concerned when she got the letter. She declined some of the virtual learning because her 7-year-old son Gabriel, who has autism and is nonverbal, doesn't have the attention span to handle it. She opted instead to work with him on paper packets and on sign language skills. She signed the form accepting the remote learning but also wrote that she wasn't promising not to challenge it in the future.

"It's all new and we are all trying to do the best we can, and we don't need people trying to trick us," Myers said. "That's how it felt."

Gabriel practices writing the letter G with his mother, Laura Myers. Myers declined the virtual remote learning plan offered by her son's school. (Courtesy of Laura Myers)

Olga Pribyl, vice president of the special education clinic at the disability rights group Equip for Equality, said she was "alarmed" after learning of the letters and contacted ISBE. She commended the agency for taking "swift action to stop this illegal practice" and said any waivers signed by families should not be enforceable.

The group has advised parents to expect "some trial and error" during the pandemic and not to expect all services outlined in their child's individualized education plan. But it remains concerned that students with disabilities are getting "minimal" education and services.

"Now more than ever, it is critical that children and youth in special education get the supports and services they desperately need so they don't fall even further behind in school," Pribyl said.

Crystal Lake District 47, in Chicago's northwest suburbs, didn't request parents waive their rights but asked them to sign forms acknowledging that if they don't agree to the remote learning plan, they couldn't seek services later to make up for what they didn't receive.

Read More

An anonymous individual donated a dozen internet hotspots. A school district near Chicago is sending Chromebooks. And a superintendent in rural Illinois is stunned by the support to keep his students learning.

Under federal law, students who aren't given the services mandated in their individualized education plan can get those services later. But it's unclear how schools will manage that because learning has been disrupted for the country's tens of millions of students.

The parents of a fifth-grade student in the Crystal Lake district initially refused to sign off on their daughter's remote learning plan. While it included writing and math, it didn't have the occupational therapy or social work that help her with her ADHD.

The parents, who requested anonymity to protect their child's privacy, asked the district to reconsider the decision, but the district declined. In an email to the family, director of special education Kelli Catini said that COVID-19 was an unprecedented crisis and that "it is not reasonable to expect that your child will continue to receive the same type of special education instruction or related services that he/she would have received if schools remained open."

The parents eventually signed off on their daughter's remote learning plan in late April but added language saying they did not waive their right to seek makeup services.

"Parents most likely will sign it and be OK or be done with it. Parents are overwhelmed trying to meet the needs of their students," said the girl's mother, a social worker in another school district.

"As a social worker myself, this is not the time I would abandon my services."

Catini said some parents have opted out of remote learning because of various concerns, including that the district could not guarantee confidentiality or privacy using electronic communications for such sensitive services as counseling. She said parents can always change their mind later and can file a due process complaint, a formal means of settling disputes.

Attorney Darcy Kriha, whose firm represents about 100 school districts, including Crystal Lake, said districts are facing huge challenges, including sick staff members, and may face limitations in what they can do while the pandemic is still raging. "I feel like it is kinder to let parents know the consequences of their decisions. It doesn't mean they don't have further rights" to fight for more services, she said.

"A parent's right to challenge what a district does is sacrosanct," Kriha said. "Those rights need to be respected at all times."

Jodi S. Cohen
Jodi S. Cohen is a reporter for ProPublica Illinois, where she has revealed misconduct in a psychiatric research study at the University of Illinois at Chicago, exposed a college financial aid scam and uncovered flaws in the Chicago Police Department's disciplinary system. Previously, Jodi worked at the Chicago Tribune for 14 years, where she covered higher education and helped expose a secret admissions system at the University of Illinois, among other investigations. Contact Jodi by email and on Twitter.

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Families of Special Needs Students Fear They'll Lose School Services in Coronavirus Shutdown

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In Sangamon County in central Illinois, a father whose 10-year-old receives occupational and vision therapy at school was already concerned about how remote learning would affect his son and other students with disabilities. Then he got a letter from his son's school district that made him worry even more.

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1. Federal Statutory Law: The IDEA Act defines the Individualized Education Program as a written agreement for children with disabilities that is created, developed, and reviewed throughout the year. The IEP creates educational goals that help children make progress, be involved, and receive supplementary aids and services to accommodate their educational needs (20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A)).  Link to Law: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section1414&num=0&edition=prelim

Reference: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title 20 § 1414(d)(1)(A)

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State Statutory Law: According to the Texas Education Code parents have the right to request special education testing, aids, special services, and accommodations to students who qualify for special education or have a disability (Tex. Educ. Code § 26.0081). Link to Law: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.26.htm#26.0081

Reference: Right to Information Concerning Special Education or Students with Learning Difficulties, Tex. Educ. Code § 26.0081

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Judicial Law: In Endrew F. v Douglas County School District the family of Endrew F sued the school district to recoup costs of having to send their child to private school after the district failed to provide adequate services outlined in the students’ IEP and IDEA. Although it failed in administrative court, the supreme court eventually ruled in favor of Endew’s family citing the IDEA provided students with greater benefits when needed versus equal benefits. (Endrew F. vs. Douglas County School District, 2017). Link to Law: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-827_0pm1.pdf

Reference: Endrew F. v Douglas County School District, 137 S. Ct. 988 (2007).

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State Statutory Law: According to the Texas Education Code families of students with disabilities are guaranteed services under the funding of the special education program so that a free appropriate public education. The special education federal funding is used for delivery of instructional aids, service, and specialization related to special education students.

(Tex. Educ. Code § 29.01). Link to Law: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.26.htm#26.0081

Reference: Special Education or Students with Learning Difficulties, Tex. Educ. Code § 29.01

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Local Administrative Law: The Abilene ISD Parent Handbook states that after parent requests special education testing the student’s initial evaluation and evaluation should take place later than 45 school days from the day it receives a parent’s written consent to evaluate the student. The policy does state that if the student is absent evaluation period will be extended for everyday missed during the 45-day window (Abilene ISD, 2019). Link to Law:

https://www.abileneisd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Student-Parent-Handbook-2018-2019-2.pdf

Reference: Abilene ISD. 2019.School policies handbook for parents and students. Retrieved from https://www.abileneisd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Student-Parent-Handbook-2018-2019-2.pdf

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According to (G) Standard 1.7. of the Texas Administrative Code, the educator shall comply with state regulations, written local school board policies, and other state and federal laws. Virtual learning has caused some districts to be in violation of this standard as they are unable to provide the services indicated in students’ IEP and 504 plans. The Department of Education has stated that all serviced related to IDEA will not be waived due to COVID-19.

Link: https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=247&rl=2

Reference: Texas Administrative Code 19 § 247.2

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The Principals Guide to Special Education by Davide Bateman helps to navigate principals through IDEA laws and regulations. The book provides guidance for principals to help meet the need of the students and help families to meet IDEA regulations.

Link: http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/A-Principals-Guide-to-Special-Education-3rd-Edition.aspx
Reference: Bateman, D., & Bateman, C. F. (2014). A principal's guide to special education. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children

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David F. Bateman & C. Fred Bateman

Table of Contents (PDF)

About the Authors | Comments

About This Book

A Principal's Guide to Special Education- the essential handbook for school administrators seeking to meet the needs of students with disabilities-has been updated in collaboration with and endorsed by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

This comprehensive 3rd edition incorporates the perspectives of both teachers and principals and discusses current issues such as

teacher accountability and evaluation

instructional leadership

collaborative teaching and learning communities

discipline procedures

responding to students' special education needs within a standards-based environment

Whether you're a new or veteran principal, this book will help you confidently navigate your way through the issues typically involved in coordinating the education of children with disabilities.
Listen to author David Bateman talk about the third edition of A Principal's Guide to Special Education.
See the book's table of contents and read excerpts. (PDF)

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Aboutthe Authors

DAVID F. BATEMAN has a B.A. in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, aN M.Ed. in Special Education from the College of William & Mary and a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Kansas. He has been a classroom teacher of students with learning disabilities, behavior disorders, intellectual disability, and hearing impairments. He is a professor of special education at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in learning disabilities, special education law, and the introduction to special education. He was a due process hearing officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is Public Policy Committee Chair for CEC's Division for Learning Disabilities. His latest area of research has been on the role of principals in special education.

C. FRED BATEMAN has a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from the University of Richmond and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Virginia. He has been a classroom teacher, supervisor, principal, and superintendent. Following his retirement after serving for 15 years as Superintendent of Schools for the City of Chesapeake, Virginia, he joined the faculty of Old Dominion University as the Distinguished Educator in Residence and Director of the Principals' Center of Hampton Roads. He is the Executive Director of the Urban Superintendents Association of America. He has written two other books and numerous articles on education. His latest area of research has been on the role of principals in special education.

teaching

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A Principal's Guide to Special Education, 3rd Edition

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David F. Bateman & C. Fred Bateman Table of Contents (PDF) About the Authors | Comments A Principal's Guide to Special Education- the essential handbook for school administrators seeking to meet the needs of students with disabilities-has been updated in collaboration with and endorsed by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

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The following are best practices associated with compliance of IDEA regulations and parents’ rights.:

·         Educational Leaders need to attentive and current to policies and procedures regarding students with disabilities. (Holler & Zirkel, 2019)

·         Create easy to navigate handouts for parents regarding IDEA regulations and local policies (L. Lester, personal communication, July 14, 2020)

·         Be visible to parents and have positive level of communication.

·         Communicate with campus teachers the IDEA expectations regarding special education students in the classroom and parent rights.

·         Adhere to the local policies regarding IEP and 504 meetings.

·         Be supportive of parents and teachers

·         Be flexible (Help parents find a way to be involved in their students IEP or 504 meeting)

References:
Holler, R., & Zirkel, P. (2019). Legally Best Practices in Section 504 Plans. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=4926

L. Lester, personal communication, July 14, 2020