As an effective advocate for your child you need to back up and support what you know about your child with written proof and store it in a Advocacy Binder. First you have to construct the system for long-term use.
Begin with the storage organization. You may want to have a dual system which involves your computer as well, but you should start with a portable system with hard copies. The most flexible and versatile system employs a 2 to 3 inch loose-leaf binder which has colour-coded sections for easy access. Build in large envelopes to store tests, report cards, commentary of any kind, and any other relevant material sent home by the school.
Always date everything and write a brief note attached with a paper clip so you can separate it easily from the original. The note should outline the significance of the document.
Never give away original documents — always make copies if the need arises. Also, do not mark the original in any way. Keep records in chronological order from the most recent to the earliest material you have.
The Table of Contents or sections of your Advocacy Binder should include, but not be limited to, the following entries:
- Profile of your Child: This contains developmental, psychological/emotional, family and home life, medical and educational information. The purpose is to have a complete picture of your child, so that you can decide what relevant information to share.
- List of Professionals: This contains the full names of all professionals your child has had contact with, including telephone, email, fax, cell phone and address. Include therapist, doctors, counselors, and specialists of any kind and indicate the date your child was seen.
- Reports and Records Section: This section contains reports from the school as well as from professionals outside of the school. Ask the school principal to show you your child’s OSR (Ontario School Record) and duplicate the contents and transfer them to this section. Also ask to see any correspondence, records, evaluation, or any other document the school may have pertaining to your child, request copies and transfer them to this master system (you may have to pay copying fees).
- Communications log: Good practice includes maintaining a diary of each and every school contact, and summarizing what takes place at meetings. You should include samples of your own observations and impressions in this section. This allows you, just as if you were reading a personal diary, to recover memories and opinions of the events backed up with documents of the details of what transpired.
It is in this portion of the Advocacy Binder that you will post your diary notes on any meetings you attend, noting the names and positions of the attendees and the highlights of the meeting. Be sure to include the following information:
- Who was present at the time?
- When exactly did it occur?
- Why did it take place?
- Where did it happen?
- How was it resolved?
The school will have a similar communications log as part of the IEP. You should be sent the IEP every reporting period, and you can check your communication log with the one in the IEP. If there are contacts that you think should have been reported in the IEP, ask to meet with the teacher who wrote or updated the IEP, usually the classroom or special education resource teacher.
Adapted from Partnering with Schools for Student Success LDAO online course
LDA Ontario www.LDAO.ca