The Parent as Advocate Peter W. D. Wright, Esq. Pamela Darr Wright, MA, MSW

Overview  Know Child: Organize File  Understand Test Scores & the Bell Curve  Learn How to Write IEPs  Prove Your Case: Use “Letters to the Stranger;” Other Documents  Learn How to Deal with School System; Hone Negotiation Skills

The List of Documents Use a word processor to make a chronological list of ALL documents Date Description Comments 10/6/99 Psych. Eval Scores dropped 11/9/99 Educ. Eval No progress 1/15/00 Eligibility Change to ED 2/1/00 IEP In ED class

Use Evaluations to Measure Educational Progress  Learn: What tests & subtests measure  Learn: The Bell Curve  Learn: Standard Scores  Learn: Percentile ranks  Learn: To Chart Test Scores

The Bell Curve -2SD -1SD mean +1SD + 2SD % 16% 50% 84% 98%

The Bell Curve  Learn: What tests really measure  Learn: Composite scores, subtest scores  Learn: Standard scores (SS), percentile ranks (PR), grade equivalent (GE) scores, age equivalent (AE) scores  Learn: Measure educational progress  Learn: When does apparent gain mean loss (regression)?

How to Chart Test Scores Over Time  Find repeated educational achievement tests  Examples  Woodcock Johnson Tests  Kaufmann (KTEA)  Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT)  Standardized Group Batteries  Compare scores; measure change in percentile ranks

Woodcock Johnson Scores: Standard Scores 1/90 5/91 10/92 6/95 Reading Writing Math Mean

Woodcock Johnson Scores: Percentile Ranks 1/90 5/91 10/92 6/95 Reading Writing Math Mean

Woodcock Johnson Standard Scores - Bar Graphs

Woodcock Johnson - Bar Graphs Percentile Ranks

Woodcock Johnson Reading Scores as Percentile Ranks

Woodcock Johnson Writing Scores as Percentile Ranks

Woodcock Johnson Math Scores as Percentile Ranks

3 Dimensional Bar of W-J % Rank Scores

3 Dimensional Line of W-J % Rank Scores

IEPs with Measurable Goals & Objectives  Example #1: Typing/Keyboarding By June , Johnny will type a passage of text at a rate of 35 words per minute with not more than 5 errors on a 5 minute timed test.  Example #2: Decoding Skills By June , Johnny will improve letter-word identification skills from the 10 th percentile level to the 25th percentile level, as measured by the WJ letter-word subtest.

Summary  Learn about the facts and law  Organize your child’s file  Use the Bell Curve to chart test scores  Develop a theme that generates empathy and desire to help

The End Peter W. D. Wright, Esq. & Pamela Darr Wright, LCSW Site: