Understanding the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS) Transition during COVID 19

 

In Tennessee families who have a child aged birth to three years who have disabilities or developmental delays can get services for their child through Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS). Children diagnosed with certain disabilities in two developmental areas, or are delayed by 40 percent in one area, may be eligible for TEIS. Information from a physician may be used to determine eligibility. TEIS is part of the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD).

TEIS and DIDD are committed to working with local schools to provide information and services for a smooth transition to Special Education (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - IDEA; Part B services) (Learn more about IDEA Part B – Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities here). 

For children who have not been able to have transition-related activities due to COVID-19, DIDD is temporarily offering developmental therapy. These children must have been receiving early intervention services and have turned three on or after March 16, 2020 not yet been found eligible for Special Education (Part B) services. DIDD will provide services through February 28, 2021. The flowchart above shows more information about whether your child is eligible for these services and how to get started.

Each month, TEIS will be providing the Tennessee Department of Education with a list of children who have turned three years old since March 16, 2020. If the children on the list have not yet received their Special Education (Part B) eligibility determinations, TEIS will reach out to their families and offer therapy until they are eligible up until February 28, 2021. This ensures that services will continue to be provided during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

If you have any questions about your child’s TEIS transition at age 3, please reach out to your TEIS Service Coordinator to ask. If you still need help, you can reach out to us at specialeducation@thearctn.org.

How to Make the Most of Virtual Learning

 

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, but one of the hardest hit populations have been students. With schools switching back and forth between in-person and remote or some version of a hybrid, students with IEPs have had it particularly rough. As a parent, it’s hard to watch your child struggle, but we often wonder what we can do or say to make things easier, especially during a pandemic. The Family Engagement Team at The Arc TN has pulled together some tips and resources that you can use to help get you and your child through this year.

Important things to Remember:

·        The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a Federal Law and has not been changed or waived in light of COVID-19. Your students still have the right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). https://fespedtn.blogspot.com/2020/11/breaking-down-idea.html

·        If a school district is providing remote or virtual learning opportunities, the FAPE is required to make sure students with disabilities are able to fully access those opportunities: https://fespedtn.blogspot.com/2020/06/

·        Participation in all educational opportunities provided by the school is important. If the educational opportunity provided for your child does not work for them, document that and tell the school so they can figure out another plan.

·        Keep detailed notes about how the student is being impacted. CLICK HERE for a weekly guide to tracking your child’s progress. Always keep everything in writing.

·        Open communication between you and the teacher is key!! 

·        If a teacher is trying a new strategy, it may be best to implement the strategy at home, too.

Here are some questions to consider:

·        What are the educational options, choices, opportunities, and participation for students WITHOUT disabilities?

·        How many hours of a week is instruction being provided?

·        How is instruction being provided?

·        Is homework being assigned?

·        Are students with disabilities being offered the same instruction and education option, opportunities, choices, activities, and supports as students without disabilities?

Questions to ask yourself about students with disabilities:

·        How will the students be tested to determine the outcomes for students with IEPs and 504 plans are assisting students in reaching their goals?

·        Will the students have accessibility to all learning materials (print and digital) and technologies, enabling students with disabilities to access curricula with assistive technology?

·        Does the school have personnel and guidelines in place to ensure that students’ IEPs and 504 plans are appropriately reviewed, revised, and updated in partnership with parents and guardians, as scheduled during the year, whether remote or in-person?

·        Are general education, special education, assistive technology, and education technology staff prepared to collaborate to ensure that every learner with a disability continues to learn and make progress in the least restrictive environment?

If the student with disabilities is not being offered the same instruction, here is a list of steps for parents can take. Parents can take any approach they prefer. But this is a good recommendation for the order you could try.

·        Address the issue with your child's teacher

·        Request a meeting of the IEP team to address the issue

·        Contact the Special Education Director at your school district about the issue

·        Reach out to the Department to speak to a complaint investigator Heather Anderson at Heather.Anderson@tn.gov and she will work with you to try to resolve this informally

·        File an administrative complaint with the Department of Education

·        Request mediation from an outside party

·        Request a Due Process hearing https://fespedtn.blogspot.com/2020/06/since-shortly-after-schools-closed-in.html

 

If you have any questions about the services your child is receiving in special education, please feel free to reach out to our team at specialeducation@thearctn.org.

COVID-19 School Closure Updates for Families in Special Education

PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR LINKS TO RESOURCES FROM THE TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

For supports for students with disabilities from special education related programs across the state, CLICK HERE.

If you are looking for links to educational resources you can use at home, CLICK HERE.

During these unusual times, we wanted to keep families informed about information the Tennessee Department of Education has put out about COVID-19 school closures and how it will impact students with disabilities and IEPs.

It's important to remember that all students and teachers are being asked to do things in suddenly new ways. We will all have to work together to be creative and flexible to make sure all students continue to have a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). There are special things that need to be done for our students with IEPs who may have supports, modifications, and accommodations in place to access their education program when they are in school. The Tennessee Department of Education has put out some guidance throughout this constantly evolving situation. Links are provided below to more information. Here is an outlined summary:

• If a school closes for COVID-19 and does not provide educational opportunities for general education students, then they do not have to provide services to students with IEPs during that time. 
• If the closed school DOES provide educational opportunities (remote/virtual learning, video conferencing, educational resources/packets, etc.), they must ensure that students with disabilities can have equal access to the same opportunities.
•         The State Department of Education recognizes that there may be challenges in meeting special education deadlines during these times of school closures. This chart shows the regular requirement along with the flexibility that schools have during this time: 

•          If your school is closed but provides educational opportunities to general education students that your child with an IEP is not able to access, your child may be entitled to compensatory services once school starts again. Compensatory services can include making up missed hours of the services that would have been provided through the IEP and should take into account any regression (loss of skill/ability) that may have occurred during the time off.
•          If your child is missing services, schools are being directed to track the number of hours missed to help document for make up sessions. It might be smart to document that information yourself as well.

Updates added March 27, 2020: 

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/health-&-safety/SPED%20Guidance%20COVID_TN%20Final.pdf

• If the only change to a student with a disability’s educational services is that they will be provided virtually rather than in person (but the type and amount of services otherwise remain unchanged), an IEP team meeting is not required, and no changes need to be made to the IEP. 
• If, however, the type or amount of services listed in the IEP or 504 plan must change because they can only be provided face-to-face and not virtually, the IEP team should convene to discuss the type and amount of services to be provided. The team must document any services missed and assess the need for compensatory education.
• Parents still have a right to request dispute resolution even during these school closures. For more information, please click the updated link above and scroll to page 5. 
• Frequently Asked Questions about services to students with disabilities can be found at the link above. Scroll to page 7.

Questions that you should consider if online virtual learning is offered to students:

•         Will my child be able access the online delivery of learning and instruction?

•          Does my child require adult support to access curriculum online? Who will provide this support and how? (Reminder, students of an appropriate age may be home during the day while their parent is at work or home with an older sibling who is also trying to complete their schoolwork.)

•          Are there accommodations that can be provided through electronic resources such as the accessibility setting for text-to-speech or screen reader, bookmarked links on a single document, speech-to-text software or apps, etc.?

•          If your school is considering an online program available through a vendor, be sure to ask them what accommodations, accessibility features, or differentiated instruction is available for your child. What is missing but needed in order for your child to have equal access? 
  

• Who will create the alternate activities for those students who require significantly modified assignments or who cannot access the activity in the virtual format?

Please closely monitor your school district’s social media pages for further announcements as things may change. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out directly to your special education teacher or director, or you can email me at japrea@thearctn.org.

Resources:

Tennessee Department of Education COVID-19 Resources (updated often):

https://www.tn.gov/education/health-and-safety/update-on-coronavirus.html

Tennessee Department of Education COVID-19 Resource specific to Special Education:

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/health-&-safety/Services%20to%20Students%20with%20Disabilities%20COVID-19%20Guidance.pdf
UPDATED MARCH 27TH: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/health-&-safety/SPED%20Guidance%20COVID_TN%20Final.pdf

US Department of Education Guidance on COVID-19:

https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/qa-covid-19-03-12-2020.pdf

Supplemental Guidance from US Department of Education (added March 22, 2020):
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/frontpage/faq/rr/policyguidance/Supple%20Fact%20Sheet%203.21.20%20FINAL.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

Great Family-Friendly Resources in English and Spanish from Family Network on Disabilities in Florida based off US Department of Education guidance:
https://fndusa.org/esedownload/providing-services-children-disabilities-covid19/