{"id":2196,"date":"2020-02-19T17:30:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T21:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=2196"},"modified":"2020-02-25T15:40:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T19:40:20","slug":"certificate-instead-of-a-diploma-is-this-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/certificate-instead-of-a-diploma-is-this-ok\/","title":{"rendered":"Certificate Instead of a HS Diploma? No Way!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"Certificate%20Instead%20of%20a%20HS%20Diploma%3F%20No%20Way%21\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p>My son is in his senior year and has ADHD. He has an IEP. If he can&#8217;t&nbsp; pass the competency test, the school will give him a certificate, not a diploma. He will continue to take the tests, but time is running out.&nbsp; Is there anything I can do to help him?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If your son has an IEP, he is eligible for special education until he graduates from high school with a *regular high school diploma* or ages out at age 22.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do not accept a certificate<\/strong>. The certificate is meaningless and will not help him get a job, get further education or be self sufficient and independent.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>You need to write a letter to the school to request an IEP meeting.&nbsp; In your letter, describe the problem as you did to me.&nbsp; Ask the school to provide more intensive services so he has the knowledge and skills needed to pass the competency tests.<\/p>\n<p>Be polite but firm.<\/p>\n<p>The emphasis on effective transition was new in IDEA 2004. Congress made significant changes in the legal definition of &#8220;transition services&#8221;. Section 1400(c)(14) describes the need to provide &#8220;effective transition services to promote successful post-school employment and\/or education.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Has the school provided a good transition plan? What are the goals? What services and supports is the school providing to ensure that your child attains these goals?<\/p>\n<p>I suggest that you request that the team include test preparation for the competency test in his IEP.&nbsp; This is an important time for your son. The school is required to help him make a successful transition from high school to life after school.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll find more transition information, articles, and resources here: <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/trans.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Transition, Transition Services, and Transition Planning<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">at<\/span> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/trans.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/trans.index.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My son is in his senior year and has ADHD. He has an IEP. If he can&#8217;t&nbsp; pass the competency test, the school will give him a certificate, not a <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/certificate-instead-of-a-diploma-is-this-ok\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,57,5,11,76],"tags":[547,546,548,549,545,1313],"class_list":["post-2196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-fape","category-idea-2004","category-special-ed-law","category-transition","tag-aging-out","tag-certificate","tag-competency-tests","tag-graduation","tag-regular-diploma","tag-transition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2196"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25648,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions\/25648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}