Episode Details

Charles Fox, a special education attorney and parent of a child with special needs, explains how principals can avoid special ed lawsuits and due process hearings. He has represented parents for about 20 years, and says the fast road to a hearing is when each side stops hearing the other.

Fox tells how he ended a seven-month silence with a district administrator by asking one question and agreeing on one rule: when I talk, you listen, and when you talk, I listen. He also shows what vague IEP data looks like and what useful data looks like.

What you'll learn

• Listen first in IEP meetings, and expect parents to do the same, because Fox says lost conversation is the fast road to due process.
• Ground every opinion in data, whether anecdotal or quantitative, instead of saying a child needs something because you said so.
• Replace vague IEP report-outs like 'his speech is better' with specific observations you can point to.
• Collect behavior context, including what came before, the payoff, intensity and duration, not just a count of how often it happened.
• Make it safe for teachers to speak honestly at the table by never reprimanding them afterward.

Chapters

• 0:57 How to introduce communication cards to staff
• 3:38 Why a parent became a special ed lawyer
• 6:35 What leads to a due process hearing
• 10:56 Intent, fear and the opaque black box
• 16:53 Good and bad data in IEP meetings
• 22:27 Behavior context that solved two real cases
• 27:16 Making IEP meetings real data discussions

Times are for the episode without ads. Your player may be off by the length of any ads.

Questions this episode answers

What leads to a special education due process hearing?
Fox says the fast road to due process is a lack of meaningful conversation, when both sides stop hearing each other. He also points to guesses about intent, lack of transparency, and opinions not grounded in data or fact.

What kind of data should be used in an IEP meeting?
Fox says he is not wedded to one form of data, but wants specifics. Vague statements like 'Johnny's speech is better' are not helpful. He wants real observational details or numbers, and for behavior, context about what happens before and after.

Why does behavior frequency data alone fall short?
Fox describes a school that counted 248 tantrums in a week. He says that only confirms the behavior matters. Without antecedent, consequence, intensity and duration, the team cannot plan, and a frequency-only count suggests the school wants the child out.

About Charles Fox

Special education attorney who represents parents, writes a special education law blog, has practiced about 20 years, and is the parent of a child with special needs.

Links and resources

• Rate on Apple Podcasts
• Rate on Stitcher
• Jethro Jones on Twitter
• Transformative Principal on Twitter
• Communication Cards
• Show notes for this episode
• Paperless Principal book

Working on this at your school? Get a free preview of a 10-week leadership pathway built from episodes like this one at transformativeprincipal.com/start.

Thanks to our Sponsor

Listen Now