Download Special Education in Parkway School District and Special School District of St. Louis County and more Schemes and Mind Maps Advanced Education in PDF only on Docsity! 83 Special Education In conjunction with the Parkway School District, the Special School District (SSD) of St. Louis County (SSD) provides special education staff, services, and programs for Parkway students with disabilities. A student qualifies for special education when it is determined, through evaluation, that there is an educational disability which “adversely affects educational performance” and requires special education services. All decisions regarding a student’s “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) and “individualized education program” (IEP) are to be made by the student’s IEP Team, which includes the student’s parent(s) and, as appropriate, the student. Emphasis is on keeping the student in the “least restrictive environment” (LRE) and supporting the student in Parkway’s general education curriculum. The types and amounts of special education and related services, service delivery models, settings in which the services are delivered, curriculum modifications, accommodations, and all other educational decisions related to the student’s disability are to be made by the IEP Team. Certain procedural safeguards, which include the right to appeal diagnostic and IEP decisions, are available to students with disabilities and their parents. The opportunity to participate in a Parkway general education classroom, earn credit toward graduation, and a high school diploma is available to all students, regardless of the nature and severity of their disabilities. With appropriate accommodations and supportive services, most students are able to meet standard curriculum objectives and be graded on the expectations set for all students. Depending upon a student’s individual special needs, diploma requirements may be modified, waived and/or added. The student’s IEP team must formally determine, authorize, and document (in the student’s records) waived, modified, and added requirements, modification of curriculum, and any individualized grading methods (e.g., pass/fail instead of letter grade). Modification of a general education curriculum/course may be done when, despite accommodations and supportive services, a student is unable to achieve the standard learning objectives defined for each course and therefore requires the essence of the Parkway course to be changed (modified) to allow them the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the general education instruction. Grades are to be based on the extent to which the modified requirements, expectations, and competencies/skills are met, not met, or exceeded by the student, as well as other variables (i.e., class participation, homework completion) used by teachers to determine grades. The amount of credit earned will be the same as for a non-modified course and will count toward earning a Parkway diploma. When a general education course is modified for a student, the course title will include an asterisk (*) and, possibly, a different course number on the transcript. The following notation will appear on Parkway transcripts: (*) = Modified Curriculum. Modified course grades are averaged in the same manner as regular course grades to compute grade point averages and determine eligibility for extracurricular activities. Eligibility for extracurricular activities is determined in the same manner for all students. To determine potential implications for eligibility in high school or college competitive interscholastic athletics/activities, refer to the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), the NCAA Clearinghouse, and/or the school guidance counselor and athletic director. When a student with an IEP earns the normally required number of credits for a diploma, but the IEP team recommends that the student’s individually prescribed course of study should include additional special education programming (i.e., Vocational Skills Program), the diploma is to be awarded after completion of all the student’s prescribed programming. However, the student may participate in their high school graduation ceremony with classmates, as deemed appropriate by the IEP team. Special education services can be provided in a variety of ways. 83
