Avoid the School to Prison Pipeline
Virginia Spencer, M. Ed.
Leveraging data to create the best team at work | Education Dispute Strategist
You may be shocked to know that it is very easy to get sucked into the school to prison pipeline if you have a child with a social/emotional or behavioral disorder in Special Education. It doesn't even matter if the primary disability is not a behavior disorder, your child just has to require a lot of resources from a school district to be a candidate for removal. In case you are unaware, our jails are full of inmates with Dyslexia because reading failure can result in indigence and mental health disorders. I often tell parents that a behavior which is considered quirky or even funny in Elementary School quickly becomes "undesirable" in Middle School. Overnight, expectations change based on the increased age of the school population. School staff think your child should act like a "more mature" student and apply this idea to your child whether or not his/her skills are grade-level. There's an assumption that your child has gained skills in line with non-disabled peers prior to arriving in 6th grade, but often there's no evidence that this is true. So, how do you protect your child when there is a new standard for behavior. What can you do if you think threatened punishment is out of proportion to his/her developmental stage?
1: Beef Up The IEP
Don't allow the IEP team to write an IEP that doesn't state how your child's disability impacts their behavior. Even if the impact seems minor. For example, if a child with ADHD blurts out in class once using offensive language this could result in an alternative placement. Usually alternative placements are for any child that breaks the Student Code of Conduct. They are not an ideal environment for a child that needs to learn appropriate behavior, or model peers that have socially acceptable skills. If an IEP team refuses to include why your child might act in an unexpected way, you will have to disagree with the IEP. Any statement of disagreement should be attached; make sure to write it.
2: Ask for a Functional Behavioral Assessment
Oh, but FBAs are for Autism, right? Not exactly. Find out if the school environment is contributing to the behavior. Is the classroom an unstructured setting? Is instruction not engaging your child? The IEP team needs to look at all factors that may result in your child blurting out and put interventions in place to prevent it. If this isn't done, then your child could be disciplined and the school will start to communicate in terms that indicate they want to remove your child. An FBA, done carefully, can identify problem behaviors and indicate how teachers need to act before behaviors- such as blurting out- occurs.
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3. Write Replacement Behavior Goals
Your child's behaviors are disruptive. Think about what behaviors ae acceptable instead? Shift the responsibility back to the school. If your child can't behave in a manner that is acceptable, what are they providing for support and instruction? Your child won't learn replacement behavior by osmosis. The IEP team should write goals that aim for an increase in the behavior they want to see, who is measuring it and who will provide rewards. If the new skills need reinforcement with rewards, they need to be specific to the child. Ask for the construction of a goal like this one: 'In 36 instructional weeks, Peter will gain the teacher's attention by XXX in 4/5 observable opportunities."
Discipline & Punishment
When all this is documented in the IEP. You can point to the supports that don't work when the IEP team proposes a Disciplinary Alternative Educational Placement (DAEP). It's on them to justify the use of strategies that don't provide a benefit.
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Education Specialist at Partners Resource Network
2 年It is important to note: that if a team denies a written request they need to respond with prior written notice of refusal; requests should include developing a behavior improvement plan (BIP), or revising a current one; monitoring that appropriate supports, & services are provided at the DAEP. It is always important to know state rules. In TX if a student is to be sent to a DAEP, & the school has never conducted a FBA, or the most recent one is more than one year old, the school must seek parental consent, within ten (10) school days of the change in placement, to conduct a FBA.?This will lead to the school either developing a new BIP or revising the existing BIP.
BCBA Clinical Supervisor
2 年This was my area of special education research in grad school. Thank you for sharing!?
Special Education Advocate ~ IEPs and Due Process Hearings | Public Speaker | Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
2 年So important is school to prison pipeline awareness and advocating on what we can do to help. Particularly hard for non-verbal kiddos like my son who can exhibit behaviors as a form of communication for times when they are unwell or anxious.