WHAT A RELIEF
TO FINALLY HAVE CLEAR LEGAL SUPPORT FOR INCLUSION
Does this sound familiar?
You are working to change the school system to be more inclusive.
You and your committee worked hard on the school's latest vision and strategic plan, focusing on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
You thought everyone was finally on the same page, and you could lead your staff and colleagues to live up to the inclusive vision your team created.
Instead…you are continually barraged with legal questions about inclusion and are not a special education lawyer. “But don’t we need a continuum of placements?” “But isn’t a paraprofessional a restrictive setting?” You know enough legal information to answer these questions partially. But you need more support. And if you think of your internal legal team—You are not sure your legal counsel deeply understands IDEA and LRE.
You feel sure and unsure at the same time. You are sure of your convictions and what is right, but you need help sharing the legal information.
Worse yet, you have families asking legal questions and staff answering them inaccurately.
If only you could get your entire team on the same page.
Well, it IS possible…
Legal Bytes- What the Law Requires for Inclusive Education – Special Education Lawyers and Inclusive Education Experts answer your most important questions about inclusive education.
Imagine if EVERY leader
in your district……
- Operated under the same legal understandings of inclusive education
- Knew how to support their claims legally
- Ran IEP meetings in the spirit of Least Restrictive Environment
- Understood how to support ALL staff to design and deliver inclusive lessons – no more separate places and spaces to provide support to some students
- Had answers to their burning legal questions from special education lawyers and experts
Sounds amazing right? Your journey towards inclusion – needs Legal-Bytes
LEGAL-BYTES – BECAUSE
CLARITY CREATES CONFIDENCE
Introducing Legal-Bytes – the solution to your legal professional development needs around creating inclusive schools!
Legal-Byte content is deeply supported in U.S. Federal law, scholarly research on the academic, social, and behavioral benefits of inclusive education, and most importantly, the lived experiences of disabled people.
At the heart of Legal-Bytes is the spirit of the IDEA, which is the belief that students with disabilities have the right to be educated thoughtfully in general education classrooms with meaningful access to general education content and full engagement with peers.
But it goes beyond theories and beliefs. Legal-Bytes, taught by Special Education Attorney Pat Radel has evolved from our combined involvement in 14 due process hearings and 100s hours working with special education lawyers to ensure LRE for students of all ages.
We have taken the most potent legal questions from what we learned as researchers, professors, and professional development providers. We have culled, organized, and boiled them down to the essential questions and answers in this invaluable PD offering.
let us guess..
You have had several due process proceedings regarding inclusion
Your leaders and staff are not clear about what LRE means legally
You struggle in IEP meetings to know if what you are doing is legal
Students with disabilities continue to be your lowest-performing group on district achievement measures.
You’ve accessed your local legal counsel but haven’t seen the inclusion needle move or seen outcomes for students improve.
And leading inclusion is only a fraction of your entire workload. You are exhausted! You feel like you’ve wasted time, effort, and money trying to make the district inclusive…and nothing has worked.
What would it be WORTH TO YOU to have…
- All of your leaders embracing inclusion, understanding the spirit and the letter of IDEA
- Leaders and educators feel respected, supported, and confident.
- Improved achievement of students with disabilities and those without
- Access to world-recognized legal and inclusion experts who have a proven record of creating actual change in school systems
- No more due process hearings to sweat through
the best investment
Inclusion-Bytes is available for district-wide and
program-wide licenses.
THE LICENSE GIVES YOU UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE ALL LEGAL-BYTES FOR THE
NEXT 3 YEARS.
DR. KRISTIE PRETTI-FRONTCZAK
DR. JULIE CAUSTON
legal-bytes are…
Legal-Bytes is a comprehensive transformative on-demand professional development series for special education or curriculum directors, superintendents, principals, coordinators, board of education members, teacher leaders, coaches, and inclusion facilitators – anyone leading this vital work!
Legal-Bytes consists of 4 powerful videos taught by special education attorney Pat Radel. Five concise Ask Me Anything (AMA) questions were answered by Pat, Julie, and Kristie. See the full table of contents below.
Our Story
We, Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak and Dr. Julie Causton (Kristie and Julie) have dedicated our lives to studying and reimagining special education, to teaching administrators and educators HOW to create inclusive schools, and finding the essential ingredients and legal supports that make a school inclusive.
We design and deliver online professional development that transforms schools, even yours, into wildly inclusive places and spaces.
What you get
We know that effective PD must be practical, designed by experts, differentiated, provide just-in-time solutions, and allow leaders the opportunity to tap into their lived experiences and seek solutions in real-time.
We also know that in a content-heavy and fast-paced world, busy school leaders need respectful PD targeting the issues they face, allowing them to put things into practice immediately and giving them feasible solutions.
Here’s What You Get:
- 4 comprehensive and on-demand Legal-Bytes taught by Pat Radel
- 5 concise legal questions and answers taught by Pat Radel, Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, and Dr. Julie Causton
- Each video comes with Key PPTs and downloadable handouts
- Customized district content hub that is password-protected
Table of contents
Legal-bytes
Do we really need to include every student? Part 1
Description: Special Education lawyer Pat Radel delves into the legal intricacies of inclusive education. In this session, he sheds light on how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) strongly advocates for inclusion. Backed by references to U.S. federal statutes, regulations, and case law, this discussion aims to demystify the legal landscape surrounding inclusive practices.
Length: 09:36
Do we really need to include every student? Part 2
Description: In the second installment of our series, Special Education lawyer Pat Radel explores how school districts navigate the presumption of inclusion. Engaging in a delicate balancing act, Radel emphasizes the crucial role of peer-reviewed research and data. Discover how districts assess not only a student's ability to progress in general education but also whether progress is achievable with supplementary aids and services.
Length: 12:53
What if the student can’t keep up?
Description: Special Education lawyer Pat Radel challenges the common notion that students must “keep up” in a general education setting to be considered effectively included. Drawing on relevant case law examples, Radel clarifies the legal landscape, highlighting that true inclusion goes beyond mere pace. Join the conversation on redefining standards for inclusivity.
Length: 10:18
What if the student can’t behave?
Description: Special Education lawyer Pat Radel unravels the complexities of behavioral challenges in the context of inclusive education. Delving into placement decisions and changes, Radel advocates for research-based approaches. He outlines the necessity of a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and explores the threshold for adjustments to a student's Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Gain insights into legally sound strategies for addressing behavior challenges within inclusive frameworks.
Length: 13:28
Ask me anything
What if the student can’t communicate?
Description: In this AMA we explore how IDEA considers various special factors, including communication challenges, in assessing a student's educational needs. Discover the legal obligations that public schools have to provide auxiliary aids and services, ensuring equal access to the general curriculum for all students, regardless of communication modality.
Length: 04:47
What about specially designed instruction?
Description: In this AMA we demystify the concept of specially designed instruction (SDI) within the general education environment. Gain legal clarity on why, according to the law and best practices, SDI need not be exclusively planned outside the general education classroom. Explore how the legal framework supports inclusive instructional strategies.
Length: 05:06
What about the continuum of placements?
Description: In this AMA we delve into the legal rationale behind advocating for a smaller number of students placed outside of general education. Learn why, legally speaking, an existing continuum of placements is not required to provide flexibility when needed. Gain insights into creating more responsive and inclusive placement practices.
Length: 05:06
What about students with significant support needs?
Description: In this AMA, we tackle the legal requirements surrounding students with significant support needs. Explore how the law mandates a thorough exploration of all available tools for supporting students in the general education setting before considering more restrictive environments. Engage in a conversation about fostering inclusivity and meeting diverse needs.
Length: 04:20
Should districts ever start with the most restrictive setting?
Description: In this AMA, we describe the legal landscape that places a presumption on including students in the general education setting. Explore why any discussion about placement options must follow a determination by the team that the student's needs cannot be met in a mainstream environment. Learn how U.S. law prioritizes inclusion and places the burden on school districts to justify alternative placement options.
Length: 03:41
GET Legal-BYTES
FOR YOUR DISTRICT
Satisfaction guarantee
We don't just promise satisfaction—we guarantee results! If you struggle in any way to roll Leadership-Bytes out, we’ll meet with you and your team for 1 hour to problem-solve and engage in exploring possibilities…for free. We're that confident in our solution.
You can also invest risk-free because our commitment to quality lasts a lifetime and we’ll make sure the content remains accessible to your staff for a lifetime. Check out our terms here.
Lastly, we're so sure you'll love Legal-Bytes that it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you're not delighted with your purchase, simply return it for a full refund—no questions asked.
Here is exactly what happens after you purchase…
First – You will receive an immediate email congratulating you on your wise and life-changing PD.
Second – You get immediate access to a customized and password-protected dashboard. This dashboard is the online content hub for all videos, supplemental resources, instructional materials, and handouts. The dashboard provides you and your team with a one-stop place to access at their own pace and on their own schedule, or in alignment with the schedule you put forth.
Third – Don’t worry, we will be an email away if you have any questions.
Who's Right for
Legal-Bytes?
Legal-Bytes are for you, if you…
-
- Have leaders with varying levels of understanding of the legal aspects of inclusive education
- Have outdated special education classrooms and programs that need to be changed
- Dream of a school where every student belongs
- Have a large discrepancy in the academic performance of students with disabilities
- See staff using pull-out and resource rooms to service special education students
- Respect the time and energy of your colleagues
Will you continue to start and stop this work as legal questions arise, or will you confidently and courageously lead this work because you know it will change the lives of your students and — eventually leave a legacy of inclusion behind?