Opinion ID: 3012968
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Meaningful Educational Benefit

Text: Taking each deficiency noted by the ALJ in turn, the evidence on the record does not overcome the ALJ’s factual conclusions. For several deficiencies, the School District does not present any rebuttal and none can be found in the record. The proposed IEP does not address I.H.’s residual hearing, nor does the School District explain why the ALJ’s finding that this is a significant omission is incorrect. The IEP refers to use of the Stanford Achievement Test “normed on the Hearing Impaired.” App. at A455. The School District does not rebut Dr. McKirdy’s statement that the SAT is not an appropriate test for determining I.H.’s performance levels, as the test is not normed for children younger than eight. 18 The proposed IEP recognizes that I.H.’s progress may suffer without an extended school year. App. at A463 (“Hearing-impaired children lose a great deal of academic ground during the summer months . . . when they are not in a structured, academic setting.”). Nevertheless, the proposed IEP does not address extended school year services. The ALJ found that consistent use of signs, specifically relating to the word order used and the use of connecting words and word endings, was one of the most important aspects of teaching I.H. English. S.H. v. Newark Bd. Educ., No. EDS7639-99 at 9-10, ¶ 34-36. A thorough review of the record supports the ALJ’s conclusion that the School District did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the communications methods of Bruce Street and Lake Drive are the same. The parties agree that both schools adhere to the “total communication” philosophy. The evidence in the record does not rebut the ALJ’s conclusion that the execution of the total communication philosophy was different between the two schools. Dr. McKirdy testified that Lake Drive stresses the use of connecting words and word endings because those words are easily missed.4 The school stresses consistency between teachers and classes to assure that the appropriate signs are used. In addition, Dr. McKirdy testified that the school strives for consistency with words for which there is not a formally accepted sign. The School District’s witnesses testified that Bruce Street employs the same philosophy of total communication, but did not contradict the ALJ’s conclusions that there may be significant differences in the details of the language used. Coupled with the ALJ’s finding that I.H. is at an important stage in her language acquisition, the record supports the 4. Dr. McKirdy gave the following example in her testimony: “putting the s on the end of a word, three balls, plus the plural marker on the end, you would mark a past tense, you would mark . . . good, better, and best, so that the er, est endings on an adjective so that you’re giving clues for that. Like a sentence, he walks the dog, versus he walked the dog, has hugely different meaning, which you use a signed marker to show that it’s either active or happened in the past.” App. at A276. 19 ALJ’s conclusion that differences in the program may be detrimental to I.H. The non-testimonial evidence on the record does not contradict the ALJ’s factual findings. Therefore, we accept them as correct. In light of his factual findings, the ALJ’s conclusion that the School District did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed IEP would convey a meaningful educational benefit is not in error.