Milestones Spring Issue 2022

Educational Advocate
An Educational Advocate makes sure and oversees
that school districts are required to identify and evaluate
every child that may need special education services,
accommodations, modifications, and the appropriate class
setting under a legal requirement called “the child to find.”
Every student with an Individualized Education Program
(IEP) must be re-evaluated every three years, unless the
parent agrees in writing that testing is not necessary, this
process is called a triennial evaluation. The parent can
have the Department of Education conduct the psycheducational
evaluation or may have one done privately.
Under the FAPE Law, Section 504 regulation requires
a school district to provide a “free appropriate public
education” (FAPE) to each qualified person with a disability
who is in the school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of
the nature or severity of the person’s disability. IDEA Law
enforces that all school-aged children who fall within one
or more specific categories of qualifying conditions (i.e.,
autism, specific learning disabilities, speech or language
However, a parent doesn’t need to wait for the threeyear
evaluation, if the parent sees their child is regressing
in areas of academics or any other areas or the current
program isn’t sufficient, new evaluations should be
requested in wiring to your school district. The Department
of Education will NOT evaluate a child on mental health
needs or diagnose a child with a specific condition, such as
ADHD, ADD, or dyslexia.
impairments, emotional disturbance, traumatic brain
injury, visual impairment, hearing impairment,
and other health impairments).
An independent or private evaluation is usually
necessary for a specific diagnosis and may
be paid for through a child’s Medicaid,
IDEA requires that a child’s
disability adversely affects her
educational performance, while
504 enforces that individuals
who meet the definition of
qualified “handicapped”
person, for example, a child
who has or has had a physical
private medical insurance, or out of
pocket expenses, in which some
cases can be reimbursed by the
(DOE) Department of Education
if the parent disagrees with
the DOE’s evaluations or
feels they are not sufficiently
comprehensive.
or mental impairment that
substantially limits a major
life activity or is regarded as
handicapped by others. (Major
life activities include: walking,
seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing,
learning, working, caring for oneself, and
performing manual tasks.)
Most Educational Advocates
accompany the parent to IEP
meetings, school, or expulsion
meetings. Some advocates may charge
for their services hourly or a one-time
fee which includes everything the advocate
provides for services. Federal law states that schools
“must ensure that the IEP Team includes the parents of the
It does not require that a child need special education to
child.”
qualify. Students who are ineligible for services or are no
longer entitled to services under IDEA (e.g., kids with
LD who no longer meet IDEA eligibility criteria) may be
entitled to accommodations under Section 504.
If you want a specific teacher or administrator to be part
of the team, you’ll need to advocate for that. The same is
true if you don’t want a certain staff member to take part.
The key is to persuade the school that the staffing you want
As an Educational Advocate, Parent Advocate, or even
an attorney who specializes in Education Law, one
must initiate the parent in seeking the appropriate set
of evaluations that include at least the child’s school
file, psycho-educational evaluation, social history, and
classroom observation, and may include other evaluations
to determine whether that child may benefit from additional
services to accommodate their educational needs. Also, it
is critical to your child’s success. The most vital person
of the IEP Team is The Local Educational Agency (LEA)
representative, who is an important and required team
member of each student’s IEP Team and the Parent(s).
General education teacher, Special education teacher,
School-system representative, Evaluator, and/or additional
team members would be Specialists/experts or the student
(if 15 years old or older) are critical in determining the
must include a recent physical evaluation, usually done by
the child’s pediatrician and provided by the parent.
appropriate services and class setting for the student.
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