ADVOCACY SERVICES

Our goal is to help you, as parents, navigate educational systems to obtain appropriate school services and placement options.  We provide an expert opinion about what will be best for your child’s education. 

We collaborate in school meetings, advocating for our expert opinion to become a reality for your child.

Our Process

• We speak with you to understand your concerns and goals.
• We review related educational records including assessments, previous plans (IEP/504), report cards, and communication between home and school.
• We speak with all involved professionals to gain an understanding of their perspective.
• We observe your child in school (without their knowing we are there to see them).  While at school, we speak with involved school staff to gain an understanding of their perspective.
• We meet with you to present our expert opinion, including changes that may be needed in the current program and any suggestions for alternative public and/or private programs.
• We communicate with school personnel through phone calls, written communication and/or meetings to advocate for the necessary changes in program and/or placement.

In the course of our work, we also make recommendations for any additional assessments or services that may be necessary to help your child to realize their potential. 

We are available to continue to monitor the implementation of the plan that we have helped create and to make any necessary changes or updates. 

Although we do not accept insurance, families may qualify for a reduced rate for our advocacy services based on a review of financial need.  Some families may qualify for funding for WEG’s work through the Low Intensity Support Service program, LISS.  Round 1 opens May 1st.

Parents of students who are Black and have special needs may also qualify for some no cost services through SEE US.

EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT SERVICES

Do you know what your child’s present academic levels really are?  Report cards only tell part of the story.  WEG can help you gain objective academic data to make the best determinations about your child’s education. 

Our assessment team is comprised of independent, state-certified professionals, all with prior classroom experience and expertise in administering a number of nationally-recognized assessment tools.

WEG offers formative and summative assessments and criterion referenced tests to determine your child’s present levels of academic performance in reading, writing, and math.  Contact our parent support specialists today for more information.

Top Reasons Families Choose an Independent Educational Assessment:

• Confirm accuracy of school reports
• Gauge readiness for grade-level advancement
• Consider placement in a special program, or evaluate the effectiveness of a current program
• Measure progress on goals and objectives of an IEP
• Identify learning gaps that need to be addressed

Weinfeld Education Group assessors can perform Independent Educational Evaluations that are paid for by school systems, when there is a dispute over a school district assessment.  In some cases, families who need financial support may qualify for a reduced rate for assessments.

BEHAVIORAL SERVICES

Functional Behavior Assessments/Behavior Intervention Plans (FBA/BIP)

WEG has expertise in both outward behaviors, including disruptive behaviors and aggression, as well as internalizing behaviors, such as anxiety, depression and school avoidance.

We can perform a Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) to analyze the current behaviors, by examining the antecedents and functions of the behaviors in question.

We can then develop a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) to help the student develop more productive replacement behaviors.

We develop these plans in collaboration with parents, private providers and school staff, whenever possible.

GIFTED & TALENTED SERVICES

Some students may be identified as Gifted and Talented (GT) and/or Twice Exceptional (2e).  Once identified, these students may need specialized programs either in their public school district or in private schools. 

WEG provides help in understanding whether or not your child should be identified as GT/2e and what services or programs may be appropriate.  We will help you navigate the processes for both identification and appropriate placement.

SEEUS

Special Education Excellence for Underserved Students (SEE US)

Providing no-cost, expert, special education consultation or advocacy to Black students with special needs whose education has been impacted by systemic racism.

• Black students with special needs are under-identified for special education services and over-identified for certain categories.
• The achievement gap between Black students, with and without special needs, and White students is significant and persistent.
• There is disparity between how Black students and White students are identified and served in Special Education.
• Students with special needs, who do not receive appropriate services in school, have very poor outcomes. The school to prison pipeline is real and primarily impacts Black students, especially those with special needs.
• 75.4% of White male students and 45.6% of Black male students were receiving special education services among 4th graders in the lowest reading decile.

Click here to find out more about this service

SCHOOL SELECTION SERVICES

Parents, attorneys and relocation specialists need to be able to identify the quality of specific private and public schools.  We can prepare a detailed and individualized report that includes specific criteria to assist in selecting the right school for your child. 

We prepare personal, accurate, and current information on schools using our research based, WEG-8 School Selection Criteria.  Our experts provide you specific information needed to make an informed decision for your child.  We discuss your child’s strengths, your goals, and your child’s needs.  If your child has an IEP, 504 Plan, informal learning plan, or is in private school, the report will include schools and programs that can meet their specific needs.

We can provide reports for multiple children with different needs.  Customized reports are also used to assist parents who disagree with the school’s proposed placement.  Our expert witnesses are also available to testify about which school is best according to our research based criteria.

My firm hired the educational consultants at the Weinfeld Education Group, LLC in an effort of obtain expert testimony in a contested custody case.  I found their offices extremely helpful and professional.  They were instrumental in my client obtaining a favorable outcome in court.  WEG completed a timely School Selection and Placement Comparison Report that was thoroughly analyzed, supported by facts and provided opinions that were difficult for opposing counsel to attack.  I highly recommend their services if you have the need!
Alan D. Levenstein, Houlon, Berman, Finci & Levenstein, LLC

EXPERT WITNESS SERVICES

There are times, despite our best efforts to collaborate, a judicial process is required to make a decision about what is appropriate for a child.  

We serve as expert witnesses in both special education disputes, including mediation and due process hearings, as well as in family court. 

We testify in legal proceedings, presenting our expert opinion in order to advocate for what we believe is best for your child.  We accept referrals directly from parents as well as attorneys.  We also provide you with referrals to attorneys, when legal expertise is needed. 

In addition to our educational consultants, our consulting professionals including psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and assistive technology experts, are also available to testify as expert witnesses.

TRAINING AND BOOKS

We provide evidence based information on how to best teach children with learning difficulties. We train parents, school staff, and a variety of service providers. Our training includes topics addressed in books authored by members of the WEG group (see Books page).  

Our training can range from keynote addresses, to one hour presentations, to semester-long courses. We hold an annual conference, “Diamonds in the Rough,” that provides training on special needs topics for parents and professionals.

Our process

1. Contact WEG’s Executive Director, Rich Weinfeld, about your group’s training needs.
2. WEG conducts a needs assessment to ensure that our training matches your precise needs and budget.
3. WEG designs custom training, which may include a variety of formats including workshops and webinars. Training may also include specific follow up expectations of staff, with opportunities for observation, feedback, and coaching by WEG consultants.

SCHOOL CONSULTATION
WEG provides an assessment of a school or school district’s current curriculum, methodologies, and organizational systems.  WEG can design a plan for improvement and help train staff to implement that plan.

WEG ONLINE COURSES

Online Course - Advocating for Students: The Special Education Process and Beyond

An online, self paced course, based on Rich Weinfeld's, "Special Needs Advocacy Resource Book.”  The book is Available on Amazon.  The course provides a strong foundation in the principles of special needs advocacy, with an emphasis on practical application of the fundamental legal requirements that drive special needs education.  No matter what your role is in the school system or outside of the school system it’s important that you understand why special needs identification and planning works the way that it does.

Whether for salary advancement or recertification, CE Credits Online offers best-in-class continuing education courses for teachers including LAUSD Salary Points and NYC P Credits.  This six-module, 45 hour graduate-level course offers options for 3 credits or a certificate of completion. 
Course objectives include:   

• Gain a foundational understanding of special education law
• Learn the process for developing 504 plans and Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)
• Improve plan effectiveness by writing S.M.A.R.T. goals and choosing appropriate accommodations and adaptations
• Access tools to effectively implement IEP or 504 plans, monitor the plan’s effectiveness and track student progress
• Know the steps to requesting functional behavioral assessments and creating behavioral intervention plans

Online Course - Identifying & Removing Obstacles for Black Students with Special Needs (SeeUs)

Are you ready to make a difference in the lives of under-served Black Students with Special Needs? Change agency begins with awareness, knowledge, and skill. In this self-paced course, teachers and school staff will recognize personal and professional biases, relationships between structures of racism and special education, relate empathy for ignorance to strategies for equity, and relegate evidence-based and privileged best practices to the most marginalized students with special needs: Black students.

Objectives

• Analyze data and recognize disparities and challenges among boys and girls across all special education boys and girls, specifically, Black, White, Latinx and Native American Indian.
• Apply the idea of best teaching and advocate practices to their classrooms to better support struggling students to reach their potential.
• Begin to assess/unpack/reflect on their own individual identities and cultures, including influences on teaching and learning.
• Choose equitable and easy to implement classroom management practices as a strategy for inclusion.
• Design an instructional practice, process, or program proposal that directly impacts the outcomes for Black students with special needs.
• And more....

By the conclusion of this course, you will learn how to improve the quality of your role in the identification of Black Students with Special Needs related to academic, disability, or giftedness and will understand the role of the advocate as part of the special education identification and planning process. Most importantly, you will build upon your intellectual courage and interpersonal empathy while adjusting your instructional method to ensure a meaningful impact for all of your students.

CE Credits Online offers self-paced, online courses that are the ultimate in convenience.