Retention and Special Education
Should you try to have your disabled child “held back” (formally “retained”) for a year in school? Can you succeed? Why is this such a problem?
Recently, a couple wanted to have their mid-elementary (3rd grade I think), special education child kept back for a year.. they were concerned that they they were behind, struggling, and falling further behind.
They asked the school about retention and got a lot of resistance and what sounded like a preemptive “No”.
Options
1. Easy(ish), Early Retention
It seems that many schools are open to retention when kids are young (pre-kindergarten to kindergarten… ). Some parents of non-disabled kids are pretty aggressive with taking this option (and some seem to see it as an “edge” for being older – sigh)…
This may make a lot of sense and if you are at all concerned about your child’s (potential) academic progress… why not do so when it is easy (ier)?
… or push the system when others are doing the same thing already.
(another case of “acting like a general education parent” perhaps?)
2. Transfer to Private School (temporarily or permanently)
(This was the option that it looked like the family decided to take.)
This may not be available to you based on your local environment and child’s disability (availability of a suitable, cooperative private school).
Private schools can “do what they want”… so you could negotiate with them to have your child “retained via transfer” (not a formal term).
If the private school is good for your child and you… win, win!
If it is good enough for one year, you can probably than do a simple transfer back to a public school with your child’s grade reset. (I’ve heard stories about this succeeding… please share your experience!).
3. Apply for Retention (General Education model)
At least in California, Retention is a “general education” function. We attempted it when our child was in second grade (unsuccessfully – good news in retrospect!) and successfully in fifth grade (successfully – but we may have wound up “closing the door completely” behind us :( ).
Public schools, at least in my direct and indirect experience in California, are VERY reluctant to use retention. I think this is flawed (!!!! upcoming article !!!!)…. even if they are violating California’s written state policy on retention.
After going through retention, my criteria would be:
1. Your child is at least one full year behind their class cohort.
2. You have an EXCELLENT team that is making good progress with your child (we did NOT have this in second grade – I think it would have been a disaster if we had succeeded in getting retention).
3. Your special education AND general education team support retention.
4. You anticipate minimal negative social impact (either loss of friends or problems with new classmates).
NOTE – I suspect that we are still going to be more than one year behind after retention, but I do NOT actually think that repeated retention makes much sense even if doable.
4. Apply for Retention (Special Education model – Least Restrictive Environment)
As noted above, I am totally puzzled by our school district’s opposition to retention. If a student is more than a year behind, it is easier for both the general education teacher and special education teacher to provide closer or on-grade support to a disabled student if the student is less behind.
Thus, a case could be made that by retaining a student, they will be spending more time with their general education peers….if that is going to be the case… or having a special education teacher/team with more “academic grade appropriate” skills or other students would be more educationally effective.
NOTE – SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE – staff from our school district told us in second grade that our child would be able to stay in school up to age 22 (the maximum allowed under US IDEA law). This allowed us to make the argument that we were simply making a different choice of WHERE are child would be educated by the school district, not how long they would be in the district. (We are still VERY ANGRY that anyone would make such a pronouncement about a second grade age child… but we also recorded it – ALWAYS RECORD YOUR IEP MEETINGS!).
5. Push Your School District
… assuming the options above didn’t work…
In California, we have pretty strong public records request powers. You could:
1. Push your school district for data on retention (who gets it, who doesn’t) to see if there is evidence of discrimination.
2. See if there is a formal school or state appeal process.
3. Institute an action to challenge school if they are in violation of state policy.
4. Hire a lawyer or advocate (this is separate from other listed actions… which you can do individually).
5. File for Due Process (the Least Restrictive Case MAY work for you).
6. Push on your Special Education Director (building on Option 4).
7. Push on your Superintendent (or others) (building on Option 3 and maybe 4).
8. Push on your school board members… (making a case for a problem with the district policy or violation of district or state policy).
9. File a Discrimination Complaint with the School District or State or Department of Education (depending on your circumstances – we filed what we thought was a VERY VERY SOLID situation in our previous school district and got … nothing. I am personally very dubious of this approach for being effective in a useful time horizon).
6. Push your State
…. making things better…. Probably slowly.
As far as I know, California doesn’t collect data on retention or retention applications. Therefore, no one knows how many people file, what are the outcomes, and who is or is not retained.
Simply forcing a standard form and state data collection and reporting may have a substantial impact.
Adding a state-level appeal might change things (remember, “Due Process” as it stands today Safeguards Procedures, not your Child’s Education!!!0
… talk to your legislator… connect with other parents…. Look for precedents elesewhar…It is likely to be a long process, but you can make a big difference!
7. Media Add-On
If you’ve got a good story and are willing to share, the media is always hungry for content… Public/Press leverage can make a difference, but it will take work… this isn’t about “getting interviewed” or providing a lead, but building a media campaign.
8. Others?
What other options have you considered or tried in the area of retention?
… and other Questions and Options welcome!!!
