Stacey Hoaglund
ADVOCATE, LIFE COACH, CONSULTANT, SPEAKER, AUTHOR
Category: Advocacy
Category: Advocacy
Inclusion Shouldn’t be a Fight
It’s hard to believe that the first few weeks of school are gone already! Most of the calls our office receives at this time of the year are related to a school’s failure to successfully include students in general education classrooms (even if it’s on the IEP). There are a variety of reasons why this
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5 Tips for Ending the School Year on a Positive Note
It’s hard to believe that the school year is gone already. For some parents, there’s still another week or so, and for others, the year is done and gone. Are you ready? Is your IEP ready? If your child is changing schools, have you visited the new school? Do you know what to expect? Hoping
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Ugh! Standardized Tests! Now What?
We are in the height of testing season. It seems like every school I walk into, all I hear is chatter about the FAST, STAR and I-ready. It’s so sad that the education of children has been hijacked by standardized tests. Be that as it may, testing is nothing new; even when I was in
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Mammas Need Reminders Too!
How often do you run around reminding your kids, and your spouse or significant other, of all the things that need to take place within each 24-hour cycle? As moms, we have a tendency to be the person in the home who manages the lives of everyone else who lives under the same roof. For
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Envisioning an Improved Continuum of Services
As many parents are participating in their child’s matriculation meeting at this time of year – transition meeting from preschool to kindergarten, elementary to middle, middle to high – there are a few things to understand about what’s referred to as a “continuum of services”. What’s This All About? Those 3 words basically mean that
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Figuring Out What’s Worth Fighting for
ad·vo·cate [v. ad-vuh-keyt] According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word advocate has been around since the 14th century. The definitions include: 1: one that pleads the cause of another; to plead in favor of 2: one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal 3: one that supports or promotes the interests of another. Advocating can
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Don’t Miss Asking these Questions at Your Matriculation Meeting
As matriculation meetings will be starting soon (they typically begin after Spring Break), it’s important to know and understand your child’s rights to inclusive education. I find that most parents don’t know that the federal law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requires that all IEP teams consider a regular education placement EVERY YEAR – not
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Special Education Checklist for Parents
According to IDEA, Special Education is “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,” which includes everything from making classroom adaptations to off campus travel training, and everything in between. Parents need to be aware of some of the hallmarks of special education
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How to Track Your Child’s Progress from Home
Did you know that your school is responsible for providing your child with what they need to make educational progress? This means ALL kids, not just those who are on regular standards and spend their day in a regular education classroom setting. Oftentimes, parents hear messages from their school that sound something like, “His disability
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Understanding the Eligibility of ESY
If your child’s annual IEP is in the springtime, chances are good that someone at your meeting will say something like, “Well, while we have you here, let’s take care of ESY.” You might be thinking, “What is that??? More letters that I’m not really sure about.” Since you get that sinking feeling that you’re
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