U.S. MILITARY H

• Report cards, including past and present grade reports.
• Teacher observations.
• Classroom and state assessments.
• Recommendations, data and observations from previous SST meetings.
• Data or observations relative to behavior supports and interventions.
• Attendance records, including notes from Student Attendance Review Team (SART) meetings.
• English as a Second Language (ESL) assessments, recommendations and interventions.

Although not necessarily a portal to special education testing, the SST does meet critical special education pre-referral requirements. Our nation’s special education law, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004), contains the Child Find subsection (Part B Sec. 300.111), which protects rights of ALL children and youth with special needs: 

• Protecting every child from birth to age 21. This includes protections for infants and toddlers through governmental early intervention programs. Additionally, children and youth in public school, homeschool or private school fall under the mandated protections through public-school identification or outreach.
• Having in place a process for identifying and evaluating children who may need special education and related services.
• Responsibility to seriously consider special education evaluation requests of teachers or parents.

TIP NO. 4

Military families move a lot! It is important that SST notes are on-hand for the next school. After the meeting, request copies of all paperwork. This will help any new team with understanding and decision making. If special education or other services are a recommendation and a move is coming up, parents can easily share information with the new teacher so they can keep things moving forward.

ON THE NOSE: Understanding the basics of various school meetings gives parents the ability to improve partnership and increase learning for their child.

The IEP Meeting: This joint effort involving the customization and design of the IEP falls within the domain of special education. Assessment data, strengths, concerns and present levels are part of 300.321 (a)] provides regulations about who is to be part of the meeting including:

• Parent or guardian.
• At least one of the student's general education teachers (if the student is or may be, participating in the general education environment). ✓At least one of the student's special educators.
• District representative, often the principal, who has the understanding and authority to approve services and resources.
• An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results, who may be a member of the team described above.
• Optional individuals possessing knowledge or expertise regarding the child, determined by parent or school team.
• Whenever appropriate, the child with a disability.

An array of IEP meetings is part of special education law. Any team member can make the request to schedule an IEP meeting, including parents. Parents are experts of their child, with insights that go beyond test results and classroom performance. Parents know their child's history and aspirations. They know what motivates them and what causes them to shut down. The team gets a fuller picture from parents, of the student's strengths, challenges and skills, to aid in developing and refining a plan tailored to the unique profile of the student. Therefore, whenever changes to the IEP are in the works, parents receive notification known as Prior