Here are 15 guidelines that can strengthen the effectiveness of your advocacy.

  1. Have your child evaluated by experts who can identify your child’s needs.

  2. Make sure you understand his needs before you meet with school personnel to discuss his needs and possible interventions.

  3. Make specific requests (in writing) for meeting his needs; support your requests with reports from well-credentialed experts, experts whom the school respects.

  4. Treat people with respect, even if you disagree with them, even if they reject your requests.

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Nothing can ensure that your child’s IEP meeting will be productive. However, you can increase the odds that it will be. Here’s one way. Before the meeting, meet with your child’s case manager and agree on how the meeting should be organized. You have a right to do this as you’re an important member of the IEP Team.

Fortunately, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA-2004) and the format of the IEP offer an excellent sequence for developing the IEP. Unfortunately, the sequence is often ignored and critical parts of the IEP are given the short shrift.

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No.

The reading goals of struggling readers should emphasize only what they must learn to make meaningful, important progress. Having only a few important reading goals that must be emphasized during reading and related instruction increases the odds that teachers will devote an adequate amount of instructional time to overcoming the struggling reader’s specific reading difficulties. Too many goals lead to diluted, unfocused instruction.

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