Streamlining Prior Written Notice: Improving Family Engagement

1. Prior Written Notice and the New IEP Team Meeting Report Presented by Janet Zimmerman and Kelly Russo February 6, 2015

2. Why are we here? • IDEA 2004 and the final 2006 regulations focused on parents being able to meaningfully participate in their child’s IEP Team Meeting • The minimum content requirements of prior written notice (PWN) were expanded

3. What is Prior Written Notice (PWN)? • Letting the parents (or persons with educational rights) know what we (the school system) are going to do before we do it or what we are not going to do. IEP Team Meeting Notice IEP Team Meeting Report IEP Reevaluation Report Manifestation Report How do we provide PWN to families?

4. Providing PWN • Procedural – covered by the forms • Substantive – content documented in the team meeting notes HCPSS forms are designed to satisfy all elements of PWN. It’s a matter of what you actually type that makes the difference! What you type determines if the PWN requirements are met.

5. PWN Elements • Action proposed • Basis for proposing the action • Consideration of data • Description of other relevant factors or other options that were considered and rejected • Explanation of why the action was accepted or rejected *Parents/Guardians also need to be provided with the Parental Rights booklet and a list of available resources for support

6. Problems • Inconsistent location of documentation • Not consistently satisfying all elements of PWN with written content • Documentation when a parent disagrees at an IEP Team Meeting • Movement of staff can mean relying on paperwork only, without staff input

7. Important to Remember • Document WHO made the proposal • WHO agreed with it? • The IEP TEAM? This means everyone on the IEP Team, including the parents. • The SCHOOL TEAM members? This means all of the HCPSS staff present on the IEP Team. • The PARENTS? • WHO disagreed with it?

8. Disagreement • If the school team members disagree with the parent, then they should document a RESPONSE. • Why do they disagree? • What is the school system’s proposal and why is that appropriate? • Provide the parents with a copy of the Procedural Safeguards. • Do not reject your own proposal solely because the parents do not agree.

9. Stylistic Points • Attribute statements to specific IEP Team members • Including recommendations of evaluators when a student is assessed • Identify who presents information (data, report, evaluation, etc.) • Reference dates of documents • Proper grammar

10. We are… • Implementing a consistent method for documentation countywide • Revising the IEP Team Meeting Report to more clearly satisfy all of the elements of PWN • Incorporating features into Tienet documentation to save teachers time • Providing training on how to satisfy the elements of PWN and type “meeting minutes”

11. How will the new IEP Team Report help? • Discussions and decisions are sorted by topic, organized by IEP sections • Discussions and decisions can be exported directly into the IEP • Any rejected proposals can be clearly documented • It will print only the topics discussed • Easy to select data sources that were considered

12. What does it look like? Sorted by subject!

13. What does it look like? Select your data!

14. How will this help? • Documentation will be clear and concise for better communication with families. • Allows staff to review IEP Team decisions in one format without searching through multiple documents. • Documentation in the IEP Team Report will match the content of the IEP. • Provides quick access to changes made in an amendment IEP.

15. IEP Team Decisions • PWN clearly documents the IEP Team’s decisions. • Parents determine whether or not they wish to exercise their parental rights.