Summer School ? ESY and Targeted Services | mofas.org

It?s that time of year, the planning for summer with our kids. Out of my 6 children, 2 will be attending school this summer break.
One is in ESY-Extended School Year, the other in Targeted Services.

What is ESY?
It is part of special education and related services. It is provided beyond the normal school year, in accordance with your child?s IEP (Individualized Educational Program) and is provided at no cost to the parents of the child.

It is often associated with school age children K-12, however ESY may also mean Special Ed services designed to maintain a young 3-5 year old child?s acquired skills and to reduce regression during periods of time when ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) is not in session such as summer breaks. Those who qualify include any eligible student with a disability, ages 3-21 who needs ESY in order to receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).

What is Targeted services ?
Summer school or ?targeted services? as our school district calls it are optional and voluntary programs that provide reinforcement activities that help with remedial subjects such as math, reading, etc. It also reinforces what they have learned during the school year. The focus is usually on the areas your child is weakest or needs additional help during the school year and based on testing. It also follows along the determined goals in your child?s IEP.

When is the decision made as to whether or not there is a need for ESY?
The IEP team determines each year whether or not the student needs the services, usually about 4-6 weeks prior to the end of the school year. Ideally, it should be offered or decided early enough before the end of the school year for the parents to agree or disagree with the decision made. If you disagree, there is a process in which they school must comply and also a timeline of when they must respond.

Not every child of mine on an IEP is going to go to ESY or Targeted services school, just the 2 showing need. However, know that you are the child?s best advocate and therefore should be ready with questions if the situation arises as to why your child is or is not going to receive these services.

With the school team?s decision, there is paperwork sent home. The paper is a prior written notice of the district?s proposals and refusals, regarding ESY which also includes provisions for dispute resolution, including due process, mediation and complaint investigations.

What factors determine the need for ESY?
Basically, it?s your child?s ability to acquire and maintain a skill. If regression happens after returning from breaks such as Christmas break, Spring Break, and summer breaks it may show a need. Also, the time it takes your child to recoup what they have lost, i.e. does it take days, weeks, or longer to relearn what they have not been able to retain? If the team sees significant regression or the serious potential for such regression/recoupment, your child is probably a good candidate for this program.

Another thing the IEP team looks at is whether there are behaviors that interfere or impede the learning process. The team may also look at the degree of impairment, degree of regression, the rate of recoupment as I mentioned above, the ability of the parent to provide educational structure at home, the rate of progress, behavior and physical needs, availability of alternative resources, ability of child to interact with nondisabled children, and area?s in the child?s curriculum which need continuous attention.

No one factor is important in and of itself, there are too many variables to be considered, but usually there are a combination of factors that lead to the decision for the need for ESY services. The teachers have said to me, ?There needs to be a documented need.? That usually means with observation, scores, and assessment, they can determine the criteria that will show regressing after breaks.

What exactly does regression mean?
The lack of maintaining a skill, or loss of skills, that occurs during breaks. They want to prevent a student from relapsing or going backward academically and/or behaviorally.

What does recoupment mean?
The time necessary to get back a skill that your child lost.

If goals are not met during the school year, does that constitute ESY?
Not reaching IEP goals does not automatically make a student eligible for ESY.

How long will they have summer school?
My child going to ESY will have 4 days/week for 4/weeks. She will get 1 hour/day on 2 days, and 2 hours/day on the other 2. She is a Kinder child going into 1st grade. She will be bused directly from our home.

How long is the Targeted Services?
The child going to targeted services will be going 4 days/week for 5 weeks. His classes are 3 hours/day. He is going into 6th grade. He will need to go to a central busing location in our neighborhood where they pick up a large group of kids at once.

What is a Targeted Services Program?
Summer Targeted Services is a 5 week program. Research has shown that students who participate in small group instruction through the summer maintain academic gains established during the school year.

My kid really needs this extra time to develop his skills.

Targeted Services are programs providing academic services complementing current school programming to students. These services help them develop academically and socially to keep pace with the educational achievements of their classmates.
Instructional techniques used are similar to the usual classroom method with an emphasis on literacy and math. They will also be exposed to enrichment activities that use music and art.

The goal is to increase critical skills in area?s of: reading, strategies, comprehension, math, science and other academic areas.
They also work on Social/Emotional areas which include being able to manage emotions, social skills improvement and being responsible to make good decisions.

Can any child be signed up for this service?
No, the student must be invited to participate and must meet the criteria established by the state.

Is there a fee?
The program is free of charge. It is, however, contingent on state funding. Classes could get cancelled if the state does not fund the program. So far, this hasn?t been a problem for my children for the past 5 years.

Where are classes held?
Classes are held on our school district campuses. My son who is heading to middle school will actually be going to his the middle school where he will be attending in the Fall. The Kinder child of mine is going to an Elementary school in our district, not her home elementary.

Does someone suggest your child for Targeted services?
Students are recommended by their current school to participate because they have performed academically below grade level expectations or have social/emotional factors that may put them at risk of not progressing through school. Targeted Services can take place before or after school, weekends or extended year (summer).

In our case, it has always been during the summer.

I hope this helps explain to some of you what Summer school is all about and some of the differences offered. Good luck and don?t hesistate to ask your child?s IEP Case Manager at school about what their thoughts are on your child?s need for Summer school.

christmas photo cards ar 15 costco kmart urban meyer ohio state traffic report traffic report