Spring Conference: What Now?

Spring conferences are here. For most schools they occur before spring break. Let's have a heart to heart talk here. If the tweaks or needed overhaul of your child's program has not happened yet this year, it's not going to happen. Ok, I'm not a optimist on this one. Experience in the advocating process has taught me that after spring break it's time to concentrate on NEXT YEAR.






By the time conferences happen and you have time to process the information, it's the middle of March. It's time to cut any losses for this year and use the time you have left before summer to advocate for the fall. If you have a yearly IEP or 504 meeting, this is a natural time to concentrate on next year. Even if you've had this meeting for the year, you can call the team together to address concerns or have another meeting. The "rules" for IEP teams and 504 meetings are different. I will do a post in the next few weeks on this.

Even if things have gone well this year, it is important to allow a forum so the teachers for next year can hear from the current ones. There are things that can be communicated in a gathering that just does not happen in the school hallways in the busyness of a school day. I will be writing a post on how to structure this exchange of information about your child. The great part of this kind of meeting is that you, the parent, may learn some valuable information.

During conferences, your classroom teacher may suggest that more supports are needed for your child. This could mean observations and evaluations by school personnel. I may also lead you to pursue some private testing by a therapist. Whatever you may choose to pursue, there is time to do this before the end of this school year. It is always helpful to have the results before the end of this year as the plan unfolds for next year. Again, an upcoming post will address this.

What if you feel your child is "flying under the radar" at school and you need to figure out how to advocate for her. I will also address this in this series.

Please join me over the next few weeks for the "many faces" of advocating before summer break.

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