Landmark Supreme Court Decision Raises the Bar
How will the Endrew F. Supreme Court Decision help me prepare for my child’s next IEP?
The landmark case of Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District asked this question: “Do schools have to provide a meaningful education in which children with disabilities show significant progress and are given substantially equal opportunities as children without disabilities, or can schools provide an education that results in just some improvement?”
Some Key Findings from Endrew F.:
- “Education programs must be appropriately ambitious in light of (the child’s) circumstances.”
- “Every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives.”
- Schools must be held to a “markedly more demanding” standard than merely “more than de minimus” – meaning more than just minimal progress.
- “For a child fully integrated in a regular classroom, an IEP typically should be reasonably calculated to enable the child to achieve passing marks and advance from grade to grade.”
- School personnel need to have a “responsive explanation for their decisions that shows the IEP is reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress appropriate in light of his circumstances.”
- “School personnel will make decisions that are informed by their own expertise, the progress of the child, the child’s potential for growth, and the views of the child’s parents.”
How can YOU use those findings?
Prepare questions for your IEP meeting using the above key language:
- Are my child’s present levels of achievement, disability, and potential for growth being considered?
- Have we considered the following?
- What is my child’s previous rate of academic growth?
- Is my child on track to achieve or exceed grade-level proficiency?
- Are there any behaviors interfering with my child’s progress?
- Has parent/guardian information and input been included?
- Are the objectives sufficiently challenging?
- Are the goals ambitious enough?
- How is this IEP reasonably calculated to enable my child to pass and advance from grade to grade?
- Will the IEP enable my child to make appropriate progress in light of his/her circumstances?
Think more than twice about accepting an IEP with the same goals & objectives year to year! This indicates that your child has failed to make meaningful progress toward his or her goals and objectives. Call Matrix to talk about how the Endrew F decision may impact your child’s IEP.
For more detailed information:
United States Department of Education:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/qa-endrewcase-12-07-2017.pdf
Wrightslaw: http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/art/endrew.douglas.scotus.analysis.htm
Supreme Court: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-827_0pm1.pdf
Parent Center Hub: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/endrew-qa/
Click here to download pdf
A Spanish language version will soon be available!