A Voice for GAP Kids - Providing information,education and advocacy

Are you of someone you love receiving Special Education Services in the Public Schools System through an Individual Educational Plan (IEP)? If so, the questions are: Are you a GAP Kid? What are the consequences of being a Gap Kid? What are the educational issues that impact GAP Kids?

A larger, harder to define population of students with disabilities, are now known as the “gap kids” or “gray-area kids”. These students are being defined under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as: Students with disabilities who are not significantly cognitively disabled but who may be severely learning disabled or mildly mentally retarded. Students perform at a higher level than those with severe cognitive disabilities – too high to be assessed based on alternate achievement standards. Learning well below grade level. Students often function 3 to 5 years below grade level. Students do not meet the criteria of the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP).

What are the consequences of being a Gap Kid in Virginia if you are in High School? Students in grades 9-11 are not enrolled in courses that have an end-of –course Standard of Learning assessments. Therefore the student does not earn a standard unit of credit or a verified credit required to graduate with a Standard or Advanced Studies Diploma. Additionally, students do not qualify for remediation or tutoring since they are not enrolled in any of the courses that have an end-of –course Standard of Learning assessments.

In September of 2005 a support group was formed “ A Voice for GAP Kids”. This group will focus on educational issues that impact GAP Kids (students with IEP’s in grades 9-11). The group has identified four issues that need to be addressed during the 2006 Session of the Virginia General Assembly.

What are the educational issues that impact GAP Kids? The issues are:

Students are not being allowed to enroll in the courses for which there is an end-of- course Standard of Learning assessment.
Students are not participating in the Virginia Accountability System (end –of course Standards of Learning assessments) and do not meet the criteria of the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP).
Students are not being counted towards the schools Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) .
Currently these students are not able to access Off-site instruction to take the courses required to earn a standard or advance studies diploma.

All requests for drafts of legislation to be prefiled to Legislative Services by 5:00 PM” on December 12,2005. A Voice for GAP Kids is working very hard to get the four issues that need to be addressed during the 2006 session heard.

We need your help, please call both of your state legislators (Delegate and Senator). Ask them to address the educational issues that impact GAP Kids. Ask them to support legislation to effect a change in Public Policy for GAP Kids.

On October 15,2005 a web-site was created for the support group to provide information, education and advocacy for GAP Kids. The website hopes to provide information on more than just the educational issues that face GAP Kids. It will be providing information on ways for youth to be involved in the community in which they live. GAP Kids live all over the United States so some of the information is more general to the federal regulations and National organizations.

For more information on the A Voice for GAP Kids visit our web-site http://www.gapkids.cjb.net or contact either Tim Moore, P.O. Box 174, Rockville, VA 23146, (804) 749-3895, jetsgiantsyanks10@yahoo.com or Linda Moore at MooreLM@juno.com

Are You A GAP Kid? By Tim Moore