Honors and a IEP

Well as many know my oldest had a dx list a mile long. He is also in the honors high school. Last year when it came time to redo his IEP it was all new to everyone. He has always been mainstreamed the difference this time was he had tested and qualified for honors. You see most people tnk of a IEP only for kids that are falling behind. In our case it keeps him from falling behind.

Years ago when we got the first IEP I had to fight. We had to dance a round a bit because on one hand we had a very frustrated child and on the other we had a C student. C student is good enough for the school. At first they said look he passes tests, he has decent grades that's good enough. We fought back that no it is not. That he is not reaching his potential. That there is a academic affect. Also that waiting for him to fail was not a option.

We had a great teacher that was on our side. When asked in the meeting to forget the tests and look at him vrs other students was he up to par. This is where she said no. She admitted that she had been grading him differently than others because she knew that he knew the information but just couldn't do what was asked. So she found different ways to get it done. With that the IEP was written.

Now fast forward to going into HS. While this is a new backfield for all of us. We are doing our best. We have two high schools involved, which means two sets of caseworkers, 2 different admins of schools. So far three weeks in all is well.

When we had the initial meeting the caseworker was hmm well this is a new one for me. She also said she relized from reading the records that taking away the supports would not be good for him. No one wanted him held back just because it was new territory, so this year will be a bit of trial and error.

Today I would love to go back to that first principal and say hey remember when you said there was no educational impact that C student was fine. Well look at him now. When the schools stepped in stopped fighting everything and helped we now have a A student in honors everything and headed to MIT. (that's where he wants to go right now). Would we be here without the supports. Probably not. We would more than likely have a C student who was not being educationally challanged that was bored.

To all the educators out there I would ask one thing of you. Stop looking at the tests, stop looking at the grades, look at the person. Sure they may be a average student but are they reaching their potentional. Is there something that could be done to help them reach higher. It may be a bit more red tape to get through. More than likely it will be more work for you, but they payoff is worth it.