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First, the good news: your child's VALLSS score went up. If they moved from high risk to moderate risk, that's real, meaningful progress — and it happened because your child was getting great support. Here 's something worth knowing, though: when scores improve, the type of support your child receives at school often changes too. In many Virginia schools, a student who moves from high risk to moderate risk may shift from Tier 3 instruction with a reading specialist to Tier 2

You made it to the IEP meeting. You're sitting across from a table of school staff — the classroom teacher, the special education teacher, maybe an administrator, maybe a school psychologist. They all know each other. You're the outsider. And then someone says it: "Your child doesn't really need an IEP for that — her teacher is already doing that accommodation in the classroom." It sounds reasonable. But here's what they're not telling you. If it's not in writing, it doesn't

You know your child has a disability. Maybe a teacher has flagged it, maybe you've had a private evaluation, maybe you've just watched them struggle for years. But getting a formal IEP through the school? That's a whole different battle. The process can feel like you need a degree in special education law just to understand what's being said in the meeting. Eligibility criteria, evaluation timelines, present levels, service minutes — it's a lot of jargon, and it can be overwh