What is IDEA?

IDEA is the Individual with Disabilities Act, which was originally enacted by Congress in 1975 to make sure children with disabilities had the opportunity to  receive a free appropriate public education. There were new regulations in Dec. 2004 and the final regulations were published in August of 2006. They can be found on the ED.gov website.

What is 504?

504 is a program available to children who do not qualify for special education but who may need assistance or accommodations. This includes children who have dyslexia. It is similar to an IEP in the following areas: evaluation, accommodations on standardized testing, and related services to assist in accessing regular education. It is different from an IEP in that there are no progress reports and there is limited discipline protection.

What is ARD?

ARD stands for an Admission, Review, and Dismissal meeting. An ARD meeting is called either by the school or parent at any time. However, an annual meeting must be held to discuss the IEP (Individual Education Plan). An ARD meeting must be held after an FIE (Full Individual Evaluation) is done to discuss whether a student qualifies for Special Education services.

What is inclusion?

Instructional setting refers to the place where the special education staff will work with the student. The LRE, least restrictive environment, is always considered first. A mainstream classroom is the least restrictive environment for those services. If the student is in a mainstream classroom for half day or more and the special education teacher goes in to help, that is considered inclusion. However, a resource room is sometimes the appropriate environment if the student is needing more individualized help.

My child is involved in 8 extra-curricular activities.  How much is Too much? 

Two activities are more than enough to provide any child with an outlet and proper social development.  Too many outlets can be overwhelming.  The overscheduled child can experience frustration and begin to feel unsuccessful when they are not provided with enough time to fully engage in the activity they are involved with.  Talk with your child and find out the favorite activities and scale back to only a few.  You will find a happier child and one that learns how to spend develop interest to fill their time.

My child is getting involved with friends that are not serious about school and her grades are dropping.   We need to save her grades.   How can your tutor help?

Our tutors help a child focus.  We instill confidence in the child and their ability.  As the child builds confidence we also help the child build a love for learning.  Our teachers will teach the child to develop their skills to think and process information.  We strive to help each child reach their ability and potential.  By building confidence and providing academic support and success in the classroom this will help the child make better decisions in life and ultimately learning to select better friendships.

Our school doesn't offer enough extra programs for the gifted and talented students.  Will you tutors be able to keep her challenged? 

Our teachers participate in continued training and subject area specialty training.  This allows the tutor to work with students that they can make the most impact with.  For our Gifted and Talented students we provide a most engaging tutorial environment for the student by providing educators focused on the child's special talents and gifts.  Therefore, we are able to keep learning fresh and exciting, enabling your student to stay sharp, engaged and excited throughout the learning process.

My son loves science and needs more hands on science activities. Will your tutors be able to work on experiments?

For students with a love of science we provide many opportunities for the child to experiment and study sciences that are of interest to the student.  For example, we have worked with science fair projects allowing the project to be a discovery process instead of chore that parents are forced to help with.  Our teachers encourage project exploration and discovery while mindful of planning and timeframe commitments that are taught to the student through project management.

Do you work with special projects? 

We absolutely work with special projects!  Since each tutoring session is built to provide your child with the support they need we are equipped to participate in exciting and creative special projects that can also be used as a tool to teach project management skills.

What are Achievement and IQ tests?

These tests are nationally standardized tests which mean they compare a student performance against other student from across the country of the same age or grade.  These instruments are individually administered, so they are usually more reliable then group administered tests that are given by the majority of the school districts and private schools.  Some of the more common tests used are the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – 4, Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – II, Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement – III.

How are these tests different than what other tutoring companies require when enrolling in their programs?

Most of the other tutoring companies require some type of “assessment” before enrolling in their program.  What those assessments do is give the company an idea of where to place the student in their program.  The results of those assessments will not usually translate to what is happening in school or be relevant to anyone outside that tutoring company.

What areas of information will I learn about my child with the results of these tests?

This testing covers several different areas of a students learning.  We start with doing a cognitive (IQ) assessment.  What this does is gives us some insight into how the student learns.  We look at verbal abilities, problems solving abilities, memory (long and short term) skills, and processing skills.  We uncover what type of learner the student is, how they best process information, and if there are any areas of weakness that can be built on.   Once we complete the cognitive testing, we move on to look at the student’s academic strengths.  We look at all areas of reading including sight vocabulary, reading comprehension, oral reading, silent reading, reading fluency and rate.  We also look at math computation and problem solving.  Writing skills are covered and include spelling, mechanics, organization, and composition.  We are able to see how they perform compared to peers their same age/grade across the country.

Are the tests something that my school teacher would understand and accept as true results?

Absolutely, the results are interpreted into “plain English” for parents and teachers.  These assessments are widely accepted and will meet any requirements for obtaining eligibility into special education, 504, or even gifted and talented programs.

Why would this information be important for our family to know?

Understanding how your child learns best can be one of the most important tools you have in assisting them to be successful in school.  With this information, instruction can be tailored to meet the student’s learning style.  It also gives the parents and student insight into areas that need improving on.

How would this information impact tutoring?

With all of this information, we can pinpoint exact areas of strength and weakness. We talk about strategies for improving the weak areas and using the areas of strength to help develop the weaker areas.  We can then help the teacher/tutor use their time more efficiently in helping the student to perform at their very best every day.