ARD 101
All Texarkana SPED procedures including board policy, operating guidelines, legal citations, and state and federal commentary can be found here.
What is the Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process? (after entering the district's County-District number of 019907 at the Home page)
What are different ways parents can participate in an ARD meeting?
What is by telephone, in-person, or virtually. Or, they can give permission to hold the ARD without them.
Identify consensus members, establish an agenda, set all expectations, and listen to/document parents' issues.
What are things TO DO at the beginning of an ARD meeting?
Copies of this should be provided to the parent/guardian and each teacher and service provider after the ARD meeting.
What is the entire ARD document and any other relevant paperwork.
School 504 Specialist/Coordinator, grade level teachers, administrator, parent, counselor (if needed), resource teacher (if needed)
What is a campus 504 Team?
ADHD, anxiety, depression, mood disorder, dyslexia, diabetes, allergies, and migraine headaches are a few examples of
What are impairments that could qualify a student for the 504 program?
The team that initiates, articulates, deliberates, and determines the best instructional services for an English Learner.
What is the LPAC (Language Proficiency Assessment Committee)?
The form parents complete upon initial enrollment that initiates identification assessment for potential English Learners.
What is the Home Language Survey?
If an ARD member's area is being modified or discussed, he or she may be excused from the ARD if the parent gives written consent, and the member's input is submitted in _______ and ______ to the meeting.
What is writing and prior?
The types of meetings are held prior to an ARD meeting to discuss proposals to be shared with the committee.
What are staffing meetings?
Start late, lie in wait, refuse to listen/respond to parents' requests or concerns, or refuse to let the parent see or touch the ARD paperwork.
What are things NOT TO DO in an ARD meeting?
These must be taught, monitored, measured, documented, and then sent to the parent at the end of each grading period.
What are IEP goals/objectives (Progress Reports)?
Formal testing is not required to qualify for this program.
What is 504?
OCR stands for
What is the Office of Civil Rights?
This program is required to be offered if a district has one English Learner in any grade level.
English as a Second Language Program
According to TEA, teachers shall include these state standards and these federal standards in daily lesson plans.
What are TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and ELPS (English Language Proficiency Standards)?
The parent/guardian, a general education teacher, a special education teacher, and a school/district administrator.
Who are the required members of the ARD committee?
Filling out all ARD paperwork prior to the meeting, predetermining results, "forcing" staff to agree, over-populating ARD meetings, and sending out non-professional emails.
What are things NOT to do in preparation of an ARD meeting.
Focus on student needs, respond to parents' requests, advocate for recommended services, and be specific.
What are things TO DO in an ARD meeting?
This should be called if the student is not making expected progress based on the current IEP.
What is an ARD meeting?
This is required by law to be implemented and followed once written
What is a 504 plan?
Caring for oneself, Performing manual tasks, Seeing, Hearing, Eating, Sleeping, Walking, Standing, Lifting, Bending, Speaking. Breathing. Learning, Reading, Concentrating, Thinking, Communicating, Working, (not an exhaustive list)
What are major life activities?
This program is required to be offered if a district has 20 or more English Learner students who speak the same home language in the same grade level.
Bilingual Education Program
English Learners must have the opportunity to work on these four skills at their current levels of English development while gradually increasing the linguistic complexity of their English. Hint: These four skills are assessed on the annual TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System) for each EL.
What are reading, writing, listening, and speaking?
These special educators may be the trickiest of all to schedule for their required attendance at the annual ARD meeting, so be prepared to plan accordingly with a proper notice. Identify one of these positions.
Who are the CTE teacher, LPAC rep, the Adapted PE teacher, the teacher of the visually impaired, the teacher of the deaf or hard of hearing (AI), the occupational therapist, and /or the physical therapist?
This document is sent at least 5 school days prior to an ARD meeting unless a parent waives it.
What is ARD notice?
"We don't provide..."
"We don't have that program/service..."
"That program is not for children with this label..."
"No matter what the federal law says, we expel for that..."
What are things NOT TO SAY during an ARD meeting?
Anyone NOT present at the ARD meeting should not be allowed to sign this.
What is sign the ARD attendance page?
These are accommodations to the curriculum, not modification to the curriculum.
What are 504 Plan accommodations?
This plan is designed by a Committee to provide reasonable accommodations to enable an eligible student to access the school related activities and programs.
What is a Section 504 Plan?
The one member of an LPAC committee who must not be employed by the school district in any way.
Who is the LPAC Parent Representative?
These are used to describe how an EL at each level is able to understand and use English to engage in grade-level academic instruction.
What are PLDs (Proficiency Level Descriptors-beginning, intermediate, advanced, and advanced high)?
Free and appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment (LRE), and Individual Education Plan (IEP)...
What are the three cornerstones to special education according to federal law?
This situation will prompt the district to ensure an attorney will represent the local education agency (LEA) is in attendance at the ARD meeting.
What is if a Parent wants to invite their own attorney to attend the ARD meeting?
Give in if the request is educationally inappropriate or allow consensus members to leave without written consent from a parent/guardian.
What are things NOT TO DO during an ARD meeting?
If the ARD meeting ends in disagreement, this option should be offered to the parent/guardian.
What is a 10 school days recess?
This federal law was designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education.
What is section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ?
Interventions such as medication, hearing aids, or other devices or practices which serve the purpose of reducing the impact of the identified condition.
What are mitigating measures?
The number of school days a district has to complete the identification process and LPAC placement.
What is 20 days (not to be adjusted for illness, holidays, school-wide testing, or variance in school start/end dates, etc.)?
Districts that receive these funds must provide separate parent, family, and community engagement activities.
What are Title III Funds?