Collaboration Across Home & School: H.E.L.P.F.U.L. Mindset
Got a H.E.L.P.F.U.L. Mindset?
GPS Education Consulting shares tips to obtain this essential ingredient to help support students at home and at school.
Now, more than ever before, showing up with a helpful mindset can be the ingredient that takes recipes for effective collaboration and communication across home, school, and community support systems from “good” to “great.”
Check out our “H.E.L.P.F.U.L. Mindset” acronym below to see if you’ve got this essential ingredient!
I’ve previously written about many of the driving factors in educator burnout, and I’ve also spoken about the significant challenges that school systems face when attempting to support students in the ways that are necessary in 2024 America, with the resources and funding that reflect the needs and costs of decades ago…
For recovering idealists like myself, having to live in this space where we are promising families and students so much, yet struggling to carry-out the promises in a consistent way through well-defined strategies that are adequately-communicated…well, it can be like being asked to run a mile and then finding out on the day of the race that you’re shoelaces have to be tied together, and the mile is now entirely uphill. In other words, it’s an exhausting and disheartening experience.
A temptation that everyone can fall for is staying “stuck at the starting line” and slipping into a mindset of simply “admiring the problem.”
Regardless of whether you are a parent, school employee, or community agency or provider, we can all fall for it.
And in doing so, it’s easy to get stuck in an unhelpful mindset that results in feeling powerless over the situation(s). When people feel powerless, we can find ourselves engaging in ways that increase hostility, defensiveness, finger-pointing, apathy, etc. These actions can become pests in your learner’s collaborative kitchen, and once in the kitchen, they can wreak all kinds of havoc on the essential ingredients for effective collaboration and communication.
At the same time though, in order to move toward identifying and implementing solutions, we can’t fall for the toxic positivity trap…
Instead we need to approach things rooted in reality, while reaching out toward the opportunities that can be born through a commitment to navigating around obstacles.
In other words, we need to identify the problem(s) in order to generate, identify, and implement possible solutions.
Need help moving from admiring the problem to generating possible solutions? Just like cooking, collaboration is an “art.” Contact GPS Education Consulting today to help you to improve your “craft.”
Identifying problems can be really uncomfortable, and many times this is where things fall apart for teams.
It takes a delicate balance between being direct, but also offering opportunities for people to “save face,” while offering grace, and volunteering our assistance whenever possible and appropriate.
It is an art… and not everyone has a side-hustle as a diplomat. One of the key actions that you can take is intentionally showing-up with a helpful mindset.
This is easier said than done, and people much smarter than me have dedicated countless pages to positive psychology, and cultivating a helpful mindset.
What I’ll offer to the topic is an acronym that offers a blend of concrete strategies, mantras, and skills to develop that can increase your chances of showing up with a H.E.L..P.F.U.L. Mindset.
Have Hard Conversations with A Soft Startup
Emphasize willingness to be part of solution
Leave behind unrealistic expectations
Pause when getting upset
Forgive the small stuff & Find the “fixers”
Understand others’ perspectives and the underlying factors at play
Locate the Incremental Progress (and Celebrate it Together)
In my next post, I’ll give some concrete steps and suggestions for carrying out each aspect of the acronym. Stay tuned : )
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Collaboration Across Home & School: Empathy
Got Empathy? Like cooking, collaboration is an “art.”
GPS Education Consulting's tips to obtain essential ingredients to support students at home & school.
Time to see if you have the essential ingredient of empathy in your learner’s collaborative kitchen. Empathy is, “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.”
How can a parent who has never worked in the schools, and a school staff member who has never been the parent of their student understand and share the other person’s feelings?
In my experience, hearing parents/caregivers and students share their stories and provide a glimpse into their worlds often helped me to get a sense of their responsibilities, worldviews, priorities, passions, fears, previous experiences navigating the systems, personalities, and dreams.
It often gave me a glimpse into what life looks like for them once the student and family leave the school building at the end of the day. Often times, people would label their emotions as they spoke, other times, reading body language provided some good clues. And usually, reflecting those emotions back through active listening helped me get a sense of whether I was on the right track.
Sometimes, their experiences hit close to home, and it was pretty easy to connect my experiences and feelings with what they may be experiencing/feeling. In fact, the challenge was usually pausing to intentionally disconnect with the situation and not internalize it as my own. Other times, I have to pause and actively envision myself in their situation to understand and share their feelings.
One challenge that parents often face when attempting to cultivate empathy in their relationship with school staff is that there are professional boundaries that make it very challenging and nuanced for school staff to be able to share a glimpse into their worlds.
I remember often thinking, “If you only knew about the other ‘fires’ we’ve been putting out today, you might understand why we’re walking into the meeting already stressed-out.” However, drawing on my customer service jobs and training since the age of 15, what usually came out was, “I’m sorry.”
Not a bad response, since giving a peak behind the curtain requires a delicate approach…but it doesn’t do much to build empathy with receptive parents. It also doesn’t help the team to cultivate those other essential ingredients needed for effective collaboration across home and school.
So, what can you do when the people in your kitchen aren’t able to have those difficult, emotionally laden, and precarious conversations with one another?
The long-term solution is to work toward cultivating the other needed ingredients. However, the real world doesn’t always make that possible.
Here are a few things to try while you’re cultivating those other needed ingredients:
Attend Parent / Caregiver meetings and Parent / Community Member grassroots initiatives,
Find books/podcasts/documentaries/movies that are realistic depictions of what it’s like to navigate systems of support as a parent, or work to support kids needs within overburdened and bureaucratic systems,
Read blogs and social media posts from folks who have been in that position and are in a place where they can share about it,
Find friends/family members who have worked in schools, or who have parented children who require some extra creativity in the classroom, and ask them off the record about what that looks like,
Volunteer in the schools to build trust, and to see a bit behind the curtain,
Follow trusted news coverage about the strengths and needs of school systems and healthcare systems,
Connect with the Teacher and Administration Union-Representatives, etc.
As you learn more, you may find that:
You’re better at separating the person/people from the disagreement and focus on the ways that the systems in place are breaking, or broken.
You have some additional solutions to offer, and those solutions focus on repairing the broken pieces instead of cleaning up each mess caused by the broken parts.
You feel more empowered to be a change-agent in a seemingly grid-locked discussion.
As the team focuses on solutions and systems-change (when appropriate), the more likely you’ll be able to cultivate the other necessary ingredients together as a team.
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Collaboration Across Home & School: “Food for Thought”
Just like cooking, collaboration is an “art.”
GPS Education Consulting shares essential ingredients needed to support students at home & in school.
It’s been a minute since I’ve jotted down some thoughts with the hopes that they help you to help your learners navigate the path to school success…Like most of you, I’ve been busy lately… While I’m not sure what has kept you busy…I’m happy to share that my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world in May! Since then, we’ve been busy showering the little man with love, and doing our best to show up for him in the first few miles of his (and our) journey together towards his personal growth. I know that for me, this has already led to many opportunities for my own personal growth. It’s also led to some opportunities for binge-watching “The Bear” on FX.
With my recent thoughts often focusing on new beginnings and laying a strong foundation for growth (and also some culinary/kitchen drama), I wanted to offer some tips and strategies for parents/caregivers, school staff, and community helpers to make the most of the new opportunities and experiences that typically accompany a new school year. And remember, whether you’re reading this on the first day of school, or the last day of school, you can always make today the start of a new year.
Regardless of whether you’re a parent, grandparent, foster parent, guardian, caregiver, school employee, or community service provider, you are a “Champion for Children.”
As a Champion for Children, reader, it’s my hope that this series of posts (and possibly videos) will provide you with “Food for Thought.” I hope that you’ll walk away from this content hungry for opportunities to implement these tips and strategies. Even more so, I’d love for you to try some of these strategies in your work with school staff, parents, community providers, etc.
We are at a time where it’s extremely challenging to be a:
Parent / Caregiver trying to support your kid’s needs both in school and outside of school,
Teacher, Special Educator, School Psychologist, School Counselor, SLP, Paraeducator, Administrator, ____ [Insert Any Other Staff Title Here]… attempting to support your students’ needs both in school and outside of school, AND
Community Provider attempting to provide wrap-around supports for the needs of kids both in school and outside of school.
I don’t say this to increase fearmongering, invalidate personal experiences, or contribute to a culture of pointing fingers and judging or criticizing others. I share this to let you know that now, more than ever, we need to offer solutions and help wherever and whenever we can.
So, with that in mind, based on my experiences as a school psychologist and as a non-attorney educational advocate and educational consultant, I’d like to share some essential ingredients you’ll need in your kitchens in order to start-off the school year with a strong foundation for collaboration and communication across systems of support.
Empathy
Helpful Mindset
Self-Awareness
Rapport
Relationships
Welcoming Environment(s)
Trust
Transparency
Honesty
Time-Management
Boundaries
Knowledge and Familiarity with Support Systems, and
A Desire to Understand Unique Circumstances
Over the coming weeks, I’ll address each ingredient, along with a look at the pests that often eat the ingredient, and a few ideas on how you can work toward cultivating the missing ingredient. If you’re wanting to have your dessert before dinner, check out our old posts (Post 1, Post 2, Post 3) for more tips on laying a strong foundation of collaboration across home and school.
Just like cooking, though, collaboration is an “art.” There will be many moments where you walk in with a vision for your dish, and you have the ingredients to make it, and you think you followed the recipe, but what you end up has no resemblance to the product you envisioned. Other times, you’ll be off by just a bit. At GPS Education Consulting, we’ll meet you where you’re at and help you to improve your “craft.” Connect with us to set-up a free consultation to see how we can be useful for your learner(s).
Ready, Chef?
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Halftime Adjustments: Support Your Child’s School Success!
January means “halftime” in the school year, and playoff football (Go Ravens)! GPS Education Consulting is back with more tips for your learner’s success!
Last week we started a “halftime” speech to encourage champions of children to make the next few months of the school year their best yet! Whether your learner came into the halfway point up by 28, or down by 28 (or anywhere in between), these tips will be useful.
In our last blog, we talked about the brief relief that parents, caregivers, students and school staff experience over the winter break. We also noted that for many folks, as the break concludes, those old familiar fears and frustrations about their learner’s education return. If you missed our last post, take a few minutes to check it out!
Today, we’re offering strategies that you can use to help develop a gameplan to successfully tackle the rest of the year! So…pull out your self-reflection notes/voice memo/video from last week, because you’ll need them to make your plan of attack for the second semester!
If you realized you had a hard time getting the additional information / input that you needed to answer those questions, we’ve got your back!
Armed with all this information and self-reflection, while taking into account your learner’s input (wherever appropriate)…it’s time to develop goals and plans to make it happen!
So as you develop your goal for the next half, ask yourself:
“What are our realistic expectations for your learner between now and Summer?”
“What supports do they need for success?”
Use the SMART Goal format (if you’re not sure what this is, check out this article)
As you and your learner develop your SMART Goal(s), consider these points:
1) Reassess & Refine: Schedule an intentional conversation with your learner and/or school team (plan ways to make it more comfortable for all involved – e.g., timing, location, verbal and nonverbal communication tone, minimal distractions, etc.)
a) Discuss goals, roadblocks, and learning styles.
b) Adjust routines or study methods if needed.
c) Celebrate achievements and address challenges together.
2) Rekindle Motivation: Connect their interests and passions to their studies! Show how skills learned in math apply to building that robot, etc.
3) Rebuild Momentum: Tackle tough subjects head-on.
a) Partner with teachers for extra help, form study groups, or explore online resources.
b) Encourage daily practice habits for consistent progress.
4) Rethink Rewards: Reward effort rather than results (e.g., grades).
a) Celebrate the journey alongside results. Your positive words and belief in their potential are the most powerful tools you have! Other rewards include: Movie night for mastering a concept, game time for completing homework early, etc. (If your learner doesn’t like the reward, it’s not a very effective reward…Get their input!).
5) Refuel the Body & Mind: Model and encourage healthy sleep, nutritious meals, and regular exercise!
6) Open Communication Channels: Schedule regular meetings with teachers.
a) Be proactive! Don't wait for concerns to arise.
b) Share your observations and ask questions – you're both on the same side.
7) Be an Active Listener: Pay close attention to teachers' feedback and suggestions.
a) Try to understand their perspective (ask questions in a kind and respectful way to help you understand) and find ways to work together for your child’s benefit!
8) Advocate for Your Child: If you have concerns about learning gaps or specific needs, share them calmly and constructively.
a) Advocate for appropriate interventions or accommodations – knowledge is power.
9) Champion Classroom Engagement: Ask about volunteer opportunities (these strengthen your connection with the learning environment and their teachers). Check out our blog for tips for effective collaboration with school staff!
Remember, the second half of the school year can be the strongest!
With self-reflection, thoughtful planning, open communication, and a narrowed-focus on realistic expectations, your child can successfully tackle their school year!
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Halftime!?! GPS’s Tips to Ace the Rest of the School Year!
January marks “halftime” in the school year, & the start of playoff football (Go Ravens)! GPS Education Consulting shares tips for winning the second half.
Happy New Year!!! With the first half of the school year in the books, and at the start of a new calendar year, we’ve officially reached “halftime.”
For many students and school staff, Winter Break is like a cold drink of water for someone lost in the desert. It’s often an opportunity to rest & recharge for the second half. Many parents also enjoy a week or so of not having to keep tabs on homework, grades, projects, etc. But as the break draws to a close, the “Sunday-Scaries” often sink-in…
While parents may also be looking forward to their learner(s) heading back to school, and getting some additional peace & quiet, for many, this is quickly supplanted by the old familiar fears and stresses about their learner’s education. Oftentimes, the realization of where their learner needs to be at the end of the year, vs. where they are currently performing, exacerbates the worries & frustration.
So, in the spirit of playoff football (Go Ravens!), I’ll be giving a halftime speech over the next few weeks, so that you can develop a gameplan to successfully tackle the rest of the year! Whether your learner came into the halfway point up by 28, or down by 28 (or anywhere in between), these tips will be useful.
Reflection Time:
Set aside 15 – 30 minutes by yourself to consider (Write your thoughts down!) the following questions:
What went well?
How can the team reproduce that in the coming months?
Where do you see opportunities to build momentum/improve strengths?
How can you express this with school staff in a genuine, authentic, & meaningful way?
What went wrong? How can the team avoid that again?
What can: a) You; b) Your Learner; c) Their Educators & School Staff do differently?
How can you express this with school staff in a respectful, kind, direct, & solution-focused manner?
Is it time to bring more members onto your learner’s team (e.g., ABA Therapist, Advocate, Consultant, Counselor, Outside OT/PT/SLP, Pediatrician, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, School Staff, Social Worker, Tutor, etc.) ?
Do you have a clear idea of how your learner is performing (e.g., academically across all classes/subjects, socially, behaviorally, emotionally, etc.)?
Is your understanding of their performance based on Subjective or Objective data?
If your understanding isn’t clear and/or is solely based on subjective information, how will you get more of an objective and measurable description of their performance?
Do you have a clear understanding of the school’s end-of-year expectations for your learner?
If not, how can you get that information? Syllabi? School Handbook? Parent-Teacher Conference? Email? Researching District’s curriculum and graduation standards?
Is the expected performance realistic based on your learner’s individual learning style and current functioning?
What does the school team think?
What do outside providers think?
Have you requested a Section-504 or IEP Meeting to discuss these concerns, & determine what resources/interventions would be useful, and/or whether your learner would qualify for accommodations and/or services through a 504 Plan or IEP ?
If you didn’t jot anything down, go back and do it! If writing isn’t your preferred learning style, no worries! Make an audio/video recording, voice-to-text, etc. You know yourself best, so do what you know works! In our next post, we’ll challenge you to use this information to develop a detailed plan of action for the rest of the school year.
If you realized you need some additional information or input to answer those questions, take action ASAP! That way, you can avoid your learner heading back onto the field without a clear plan for their success.
Want more tips? Read through our blog about transitioning back to school!
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Errors in School Records: More Common Than You Might Think
Growing Needs & Lacking Resources in Schools Lead to Mistakes in Records & Can Impact Students’ Futures. GPS Finds Mistakes, & Advocates for Solutions!
Today we’re wrapping-up our discussion about the ways that GPS Education Consulting works to empower and support parents, caregivers, and school staff to: identify, & rectify the significant issues that arise from errors and omissions in documentation within educational records.
To recap our last few posts:
Unfortunately, errors & omissions in Educational Records are very common & impact many students.
Remember: School staff are under-resourced and stretched too thin. Even with the best of intentions, educators don’t operate in a vacuum. When they are being asked to do so much, it’s impossible to do everything well.
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Today, we’re discussing some of the ways that insufficient resources & increasing needs in schools often contribute to increased errors and omissions in educational records:
School staff are rarely in positions where they are only expected to work on documentation. They have the enormous responsibility of teaching and supporting students.
When choosing between: A) supporting an upset student, B) providing legally-mandated services & instruction to students, etc., and C) completing paperwork with fidelity… Most educators are kind and compassionate individuals who will devote their time and attention to supporting students in need. As a result, they often rely on strategies to increase efficiency to complete documentation (e.g., Copying/pasting from older documents written for that learner, or from other documents written for different learners; Providing qualitative descriptions that lack objective data, etc.)
School staff are trained to be educators, not lawyers/stenographers. They might not have the knowledge and skills needed for accurate and efficient documentation despite their best efforts.
Staffing shortages contribute to:
A scarcity of trained individuals to complete these specialized responsibilities,
Miscommunications in distribution of roles/responsibilities, and
A disorganized, inconsistent, & piecemeal approach to supporting students throughout the year.
Burnout – impacts the quality of documentation and motivation to “get it right.”
Schools take a team approach. Involving many different experts in decision-making and discussions has so many benefits (it’s also legally-required), but it also introduces inherent challenges. Specifically, when there are many folks who have some degree of responsibility for the outcome, it is easier for things to fall through the cracks if people are assuming others will fix it (e.g., Relying on the team’s input to catch and correct errors from the first draft, etc.)
These factors often contribute to confusion, errors, and omissions within educational records, and, unfortunately these can have negative repercussions for your learner’s future that range in severity from trivial to life-altering.
Not ready to proceed with our services? No worries! Here are some tips to help encourage accurate documentation:
Document information/concerns (IN WRITING) as soon as possible after it occurs.
Be specific and objective.
Be organized.
Be Respectful.
Advocate for more resources/funding for your learner’s schools.
Get involved in School Board Meetings and have your voice heard!
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Errors in School Records: Advocating for Remedies
Errors & omissions in educational records are common and can have significant consequences for your learner’s future; we advocate for solutions & remedies.
Today we’re continuing our discussion about some of the ways that GPS Education Consulting works to empower and support parents, caregivers, and school staff to identify and rectify the significant issues that arise from errors and omissions in documentation within educational records.
Within the “world” of educational records there are many “realms.” Possibly the most important one is Special Education Documentation. Technically, it includes both Individualized Education Program (IEP) Documentation & Section-504 Documentation. Documentation in special education is the process of collecting and recording information about a student's learning and development (related to their IEP/504 Plan).
Accurate and effective documentation is critical to ensuring that students are receiving the appropriate services and supports, and that they are making progress towards their IEP goals (or grade-level curriculum standards for students without an IEP).
Documentation is used to:
Develop and implement the student's IEP / 504 Plan (e.g., determining eligibility and developing appropriate goals and supports).
Track the student's progress and determine when to increase, maintain, or fade the student’s supports.
Communicate with parents and other stakeholders about the student's progress (Documentation is the starting point for effective advocacy for a learner’s needs and access to appropriate services and supports).
Identify appropriate options and support the student's transition to the next level of education or employment.
Clearly, documentation is used for a lot of high-stakes decisions. So, what happens if there are errors and/or omissions?
Imagine: You find a box with a jigsaw puzzle inside. There’s no picture to show what it should look like at the end. You start working on it. Some pieces are falling into place. You get a general idea of what it might look like when completed. As you work on it you notice that pieces are missing and there are random pieces from other puzzles. You might never determine what the puzzle depicts… You’re frustrated and you realize that you wasted a lot of time and effort.
Similarly, when a student’s educational record is missing information and contains errors, the team might end up wasting a lot of time (years spent with the wrong interventions and strategies) and effort (when significant efforts make little gains, it’s not uncommon for students to lose motivation to keep giving it their best) because they lack those important pieces that reveal the true strengths and needs of the learner.
Without an accurate and complete record of your learner’s strengths and needs, the IEP or 504 Plan probably won’t provide all of the supports that your learner needs to be successful (e.g., focusing solely on behavior concerns without supporting learning difficulties; focusing solely on academics without supporting the rest of the learner – social interaction, emotional regulation, executive functioning; etc.).
You get it…errors and omissions in educational records can have negative repercussions for your learner’s future that range in severity from trivial to life-altering… But you might be thinking, “This can’t happen that often…”
Remember: School staff are under-resourced and stretched too thin. Unfortunately, errors and omissions in educational records are very common & impact many students. We’ll dive into this next week. For now, we’ll just say:
Even with the best of intentions, educators don’t operate in a vacuum. When they are being asked to do so much, it’s impossible to do everything well.
GPS Education Consulting helps fix the mistakes using comprehensive educational record reviews to:
Highlight the strengths of your learner’s educational programming,
Uncover weaknesses/gaps/errors, and
Advocate for solutions and remedies to address errors.
As an Educational Consultant & Advocate:
We educate parents about their learner’s educational rights, and
Supportively coach folks as they apply their new knowledge and advocacy skills to the issues that matter most to their learners.
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
Documentation: If it’s Not in Writing, It Didn’t Happen
Our life-changing Education Consulting & Advocacy Services ensure that you are heard, & your input is well-documented during your learner’s school meetings.
Today, in our series exploring services that get your learner on a path to school success, we’re talking about one of the most important services that we offer… Assisting Clients and Teams with Proper Documentation of Educational Records.
At the start of my career as a school psychologist, I was placed at a school where my predecessor abruptly left the education field and couldn’t file and hand-off important documents for the next school year. Before my students even entered the building that school year, I learned this phrase:
“If it wasn’t written down, it never happened.”
Long story short, I worked with several important folks from the school district to identify the gaps in documentation. They were wonderfully proactive, and held IEP Meetings to inform the parents of the situation, and to offer make-up (“Compensatory”) services. I spent the next several years providing compensatory psychological services and completing assessments because the therapy logs and psychological assessment reports were missing for a number of students.
This was the beginning of a very important lesson in the idea that folks can do awesome things for kids, or fail to do important things for kids; there’s a good chance that the only way the next school/district/related services provider/educator will know about it in order to continue or rectify it, is only if it was written down.
Here are a few examples to underscore how this topic can make an enormous impact on your learner’s education. As you read, look for why it’s crucial to:
Ensure accurate documentation, and
Have your input about decisions/discussions pertaining to your learner’s educational programming documented in writing.
Scenario 1:
You handed your child’s third grade teacher a copy of an outside psychological report. They were wonderful and tried to implement a bunch of recommendations, but never passed it along to a 504 or IEP Team. You move schools the next year, and there’s nothing in the File to show the new school/teacher what was previously done (and no evidence that a psych report was ever given to the school). So, they have you bring the report in for the school team to review as the first step in the IEP or 504 Process. In this case, one of the better outcomes would be that your learner is only unsupported for 90 days during their transition to a new school. It’s also possible (and more likely) that it will take much longer to restore supports for your learner. This could translate to years of missed opportunities to help your learner.
Scenario 2:
The school proposes a change to your learner’s educational programming. You are upset and you verbally disagree at the meeting. The notes come back a few days later and they do not include a written description of your stated concerns and disagreements. You didn’t get a chance to open it because there are many other priorities competing for your time and energy. A few months go by, and your learner is really struggling. You decide to pursue your “Parental Rights & Procedural Safeguards.” As you do so, you go back through notes and meeting minutes. You realize your input and concerns were never documented in writing. In this case, you’ll likely have a harder time negotiating remedies with the school system (e.g., it will take longer, and perhaps become contentious and more expensive).
Over the next few weeks, we’ll share a bit more about this important topic. More importantly though, we’ll share a bit about how, GPS Education Consulting works to empower and support parents, caregivers, & school staff to identify and rectify the significant issues that arise from errors and omissions in documentation within educational records (If you want to learn more in the meantime, go back and read our post on Comprehensive Record Reviews).
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
School Assessments: Advocating to Support Your Learner
GPS Education Consulting’s life-changing Advocacy Services will help your learner succeed by increasing thoughtful & supportive collaboration with schools.
We’re continuing our series exploring services that get your learner on a path to school success! Today, we’re wrapping up our deep-dive into world of school assessments and psychological reports. Let’s recap:
We summarized some obstacles that are encountered when hardworking school professionals attempt to juggle competing demands within overburdened systems.
We’ve discussed ways GPS Education Consulting helps clients and schools:
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Up next - Obstacles 4 and 5:
“Opportunities to collaborate…felt less thoughtful & less supportive.”
When school professionals are struggling to schedule an excess of meetings within a limited number of slots, it’s highly likely that they: have fewer chances to thoughtfully collaborate and review records in advance and may experience compassion fatigue.
Possible implications: Conversations about your learner feel rushed/hurried, and/or seem narrow in scope.
Specifically, they might focus on outcomes related to specific decisions, rather than focusing more largely on identifying and specific obstacles and empowering you/ staff/your learner to overcome these barriers to success. Afterward, you may feel like your learner’s needs were discussed, but no solutions or plans to support them were identified.
Some good news…Many of the services we’ve already discussed are also useful for today’s obstacles. So, let’s explore further how GPS Education Consulting helps to restore thoughtful and supportive collaboration across home and school.
When you are represented by a passionate, trained and experienced non-attorney advocate, folks tend to spend additional time preparing for the meeting. As a bonus, when you choose GPS Education Consulting, you’re also gaining the valuable qualifications, reputation, and expertise of a seasoned school psychologist.
School psychologists are often the “go-to” person for:
- Guiding school teams through important educational decisions (e.g., eligibility for services, interpreting assessments, etc.), and
- Identifying and connecting students/families with needed services and resources.
You can easily see how a school psychologist serving as your learner’s advocate often leads to school teams spending extra time to make sure they’ve thought about their evaluations and next steps.
Additionally, our outsider’s perspective and input related to interpreting important data can help the team see things from new perspectives while making important decisions about your learner’s education.
To be clear: GPS Education Consulting is not in the business of attacking and shaming the folks working so hard to support kids. However, we are adamant about:
- supporting the learner’s team to develop and implement necessary actions for the learner, and then
- holding the right people accountable for meeting learners’ needs. This often leads to thoughtful selection of, and expedited access to, support.
Our approach means that you will have a savvy and informed team member seeking:
To improve relationships with the school, while also
Asking the difficult questions,
Listening for what’s unsaid, and
Advocating for the answers and actions your learner is entitled to.
It’s a nuanced path to walk…but, chat with us and you’ll see that our personality, experiences, and training make us uniquely qualified to effectively navigate these narrow paths to support.
One of our guiding principles while working with students, families, and staff is: Put needed supports in place as soon as possible. Subsequently, you can expect conversations and decisions to be primarily grounded in the idea of “what supports are needed?” followed by determining how to go about quickly and efficiently establishing and documenting them.
Finally, when you hire GPS Education Consulting, we will support you and your learner from day one. You’ll take comfort in knowing that you have an empathetic, encouraging, reliable, and supportive guide along your learner’s journey to school success.
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!
School Assessments: Moving Forward with an Advocate
How GPS Education Consulting’s life-changing Advocacy Services increase productive collaboration with schools, & help your learner to achieve more successes.
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Let’s continue our series exploring services that help get your learner on a path to school success!
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been doing a deep-dive into the often emotionally-charged and confusing world of school assessments and psychological reports. We summarized some obstacles that are encountered when hardworking school professionals attempt to juggle competing demands within overburdened systems.
From that depiction of an effective school team juggling their many competing responsibilities within an over-burdened system, it’s easy to see how productivity and meaningful discussions compete for that scarce resource known as “time.”
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Next up: Obstacle #3:
“Opportunities to collaborate…felt less productive.”
We laid out several ways GPS Education Consulting can help folks to meaningfully use assessment data to support learners’ strengths and areas of need (If you missed it, give it a quick read). As a bonus, those services also contribute to more productive collaboration across home, school, and community partners!
Here are a few of the many ways GPS Education Consulting will increase productive collaboration with schools:
Fewer continuation meetings due to breakdowns in preparation (e.g., documentation / prior-written-notice, meeting participants, meeting purpose(s), etc.).
Advanced opportunities to:
thoughtfully consider,
empower yourself with knowledge and resources, and
emotionally process the likely choices and outcomes that you will be presented with at the meeting(s).
Increased structure during meetings.
Less time spent on lower mutual-priorities and time-consuming explanations.
Getting key school system stakeholders/decision-makers involved earlier, which often leads to clarity and access to resources during complex situations.
More time to spend engaged in creative and solution-focused problem-solving with the experts who work with your learner.
Sounds great, right? Here’s how we do it:
Our record review and one-on-one conversations prior to the meeting will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of personalized documentation proposed to bolster your learner’s interests and talents, and to develop skills in the areas that are harder for them.
We’ll review possible interpretations of the information and proposed supports, detailing the ways that these could lead to choices and decisions for the upcoming meeting(s).
With GPS Education Consulting representing you and your learner(s) as a non-attorney advocate throughout the process, you’ll have peace-of-mind knowing that we are putting our years of training and experience running thousands of IEP & Section 504 Meetings into advocating for your learner, while supporting the folks that work closely with them.
We will support the team using time-saving communication strategies ahead of time to establish common priorities for the meeting(s).
We will ensure that the necessary stakeholders participate in the meetings.
We’ll help the team to efficiently follow the established procedural safeguards and regulations for learners who require more creativity and support than their peers.
We'll employ our substantial experience with interpreting standardized assessments while important decisions are being made about your learner’s future.
We will lend our expertise and talents with complex problem-solving and solution-focused advocacy to overcome the obstacles often encountered in large systems like schools.
We will read between the lines using our training and experience in the school, and respectfully ask the challenging questions to get the answers your learner deserves.
We will review documentation from meetings and collaborate with the team to rectify errors and omissions.
We will support the team to envision and construct a path to school success for your learner.
We will guide you and the team to resources and additional professionals when the road is blocked.
Best,
Evan Gallena, Ed.S., NCSP
Founder & Lead-Consultant: GPS Education Consulting L.L.C.
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Together, as one… Navigating the path to school success!