Opinion ID: 1210963
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Educational Background

Text: S.M. has qualified for special education since the first grade because of severe reading disabilities. In 2002, after attending private school for a number of years, he enrolled at Cleveland Middle School in the APS system for sixth grade. S.M.'s IEP for sixth grade provided that he would attend two regular education classes: physical education and band. It also provided that he be placed in special education for other subjects, although his special education class frequently joined regular education social studies and science classes. His special education teacher provided reading instruction using two reading programs, both of which employed Orton-Gillingham approaches. [2] His IEP also stated that APS would provide access to Kurzweil, a computer program designed to assist the reading disabled by reading aloud any scanned text. A speech language pathologist assisted him in using it. S.M.'s initial IEP for seventh grade placed him in a resource room with a special education teacher for reading and language arts. That special education teacher also was responsible for S.M.'s instruction in math, which was taught in full inclusion with a regular education class. His remaining classes were regular education. Kurzweil also was made available to S.M. After three weeks of this placement, S.M. was removed at the request of his parents. Under a revised IEP, he was placed in a self-contained classroom with a team teaching approach. A special education teacher taught reading, language arts, and social studies, while the team teacher taught math and science. His reading instruction involved one of the Orton-Gillingham programs that had been used in sixth grade. His revised IEP also called for APS to provide books on tape, audio-book versions of his class textbooks, as a modification to enable S.M. to succeed in the general education environment. It appears that although S.M. enjoyed audio-books that were played for the whole class, he resisted using them on his own. In March 2004, S.M.'s parents (i.e., the Millers) arranged for private reading instruction from an Academic Language Therapy (ALT) Therapist. S.M.'s parents then instructed his special education teacher at APS to refrain from giving reading instruction. His parents also purchased WYNN software, a computer program that scans printed texts and reads them aloud, to enable S.M.'s access to school textbooks. Although S.M. was initially placed in a self-contained classroom at the beginning of eighth grade, once a new IEP was developed he joined regular education classes for social studies, math, and literature, along with two electives. For his remaining classes, he received specialized instruction in a resource room. His IEP reiterated his need for Kurzweil or like software and stated that it would be made available in his teacher's room. Admin. R. at 132, 142. The IEP also noted [l]iterature books on tape to be ordered. Id. at 142. However, S.M.'s resource room teacher was not yet certified, was teaching special education on waiver, only had minimal training with any Orton-Gillingham approach, and used a different reading program. APS continued to be on notice that S.M.'s parents were rejecting the reading instruction provided by the school district; further, S.M.'s parents asked APS to allow the private instructor to provide ALT during the school day, but APS refused.