New OCR guidance on report cards and transcripts!
—New OCR guidance for how to do them.
March 2007 Update
Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, M.A., J.D.
Report cards and transcripts have the same purpose: to provide information about a student’s “progress or level of achievement in specific classes, course content, or curriculum.” Each is designed to provide information about WHAT the student is studying and the progress/achievement of that student.
Report cards and transcripts can assign grades for how SWD participate in regular education classes. Districts or states establish standards. If SWD do not participate in the general or grade-level curriculum and are taught different content, modified, or alternate curriculum, report cards and transcripts can (and should) reflect that. This Letter is consistent with prior OCR letters.
For report cards and transcripts, the OCR highlights the fact that schools generally have a continuum of options for students—e.g., from below basic to basic to college prep to honors to Advanced Placement. The OCR confirms that report cards and transcripts can use markings, such as asterisks (*) or other symbols to indicate that SWD had a modified or alternate curriculum in general education. This Letter is consistent with prior OCR letters.
This OCR letter highlights differences between report cards and transcripts. The OCR reminds us that Section 504 and Title II of the ADA prohibit schools from treating SWD differently from other students on the basis of disability. As a general rule, SWD should receive the same aids, benefits and services as other. A different aid, benefit, or service is permissible if it is necessary for SWD, so long as it is as effective as the aid, benefit or service that is provided to others. Specifically:
Report cards. These are provided to parents. Since, according to the OCR, they are not provided to others, the OCR reasons that report cards may indicate that a student receives special education or related services—so long as that information is consistent with the purpose of report cards (to inform parents about how the child is progressing). Merely indicating that a child receives special education and related services is not enough—as it is not as meaningful as report cards provided to other students (which indicate level of progress, etc.) Contrary to prior letters, this Letter appears to permit report cards (but not transcripts, see below) to inform parents about the WHO. See earlier blog for the difference between the WHAT and the WHO.
Transcripts. These are provided to others (such as post-secondary institutions, potential employers, and others outside the district). They may not indicate that a student receives special education or related services because such information (a) impermissibly reveals confidential information and (b) does not further the purpose of transcripts (to provide information about the student’s academic achievement). Transcripts may provide information about the WHAT—not the WHO: What did the student study and how did he/she do? This Letter confirms prior letters.
Finally, recall that while transcripts may indicate modifications of standards, they may not indicate the use of accommodations. See earlier blog for the difference between accommodations and modifications.
See Miriam’s book, Grades, Report Cards, etc…and the Law
for a far more extensive (and reader-friendly) discussion of these issues.
For information, please email Miriam@schoollawpro.com.
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