IEP Day

OK - so each SPED teacher in our school is allowed 2 days each school year to spend working on IEPS (Individual Education Plans). As a newbie, I was not aware of this until after Christmas, so had not taken advantage of the 'perk'. Unfortunately, I was done with all my IEPS fairly soon after Christmas break, without the benefit of taking days to complete the paperwork required.

I have one student who does not take the normal SOL tests, mainly because of her cognitive ability and emotional problems. She is on an alternative assessment, which is due by May 3. Now, I don't teach her - don't even see her in the normal course of the day. I have to rely upon her teachers to provide me with work that proves she has made progress this year. Right.

To begin with - she's pregnant, due in June. She rarely comes to school, and when she does only stays for 3 class periods. The rest of her work is done with a homebound teacher. They are working on parenting and childcare skills (for obvious reasons). As a result, there is very little work that I can use to show progress for her assessment.

Two weeks ago, I put in for this IEP day (we have to put in for them 2 weeks in advance), thinking that surely I would have some work from her teachers so I could put this portfolio together. Not. I even sent work home with her so that her homebound teacher could help her complete some work for the assessment. Haven't gotten any of it back. She's been in school 3 days out of the last 10. So here I am, with a day put aside to work on this assessment portfolio, and no work to put in it. I even worked out with her math teacher that I could pull her during his class to work on a math assessment for me. She didn't come to school today. Grrr...

On the plus side: my desk is cleared off, and all my plans are done for next week. Good thing, because I have a feeling all my 'spare time' will be taken up with trying to complete this assessment portfolio by May 3.