Getting the Most From

IEP2002-03

Jeri Katz, D.Ed.

Associate Professor

Bridgewater State College

Bridgewater, MA

Agenda

• Philosophy of Writing IEPs• FAPE• IEP walk-through• Progress Reports• Questions and Answers

Philosophy

The IEP Is…

• Special education• Specially designed instruction

designed to meet the unique needs of the individual student.

• Defines what all team members agree is the best strategy for teaching the student.

• Establishes goals and objectives for the coming year.

IEP Development

• Focus on the next year only. Think about the future with next year in mind.

• Decide what are the most important areas to be addressed.

• Write to the student’s needs NOT to the program.

• Cooperation and collaboration are the key to success.

An IEP is NOT…

• The entire curriculum to be taught.• The curriculum is inherent to the

program. We pick the program after we design the IEP.

• A daily schedule minute by minute.

• A lesson plan.

A memo….

“I would be most appreciative if you would cover goals and objective writing again.  I feel that with IEP writing coming up again soon, we need to have a refresher in this area.  Specifically, if you would review benchmarks, not writing curriculum goals but rather goals related to the child's special needs and how this impacts his/her ability to access the curriculum.”

• March 19, 2002 from a local special education director

FAPE 2002

FAPE is best defined as:

Getting for the student what he/she really needs, not what would be nice.

FAPE

• For parents and teachers/specialists, this means coming to a meeting prepared to prioritize and focus on specific areas for the coming year.

• For teachers/specialists, this means considering how what you will do with the child will make a difference….Or not.

Collaboration

• Come prepared to listen to each other.

• Come open to suggestions.

• Come with some ideas.

• Come with your priorities.

• Leave with a plan.

Walking Through the IEP

Concerns

• Parents: In this section, they should come prepared to discuss 1, 2, 3 or 4 focus areas that they would like to see in the IEP that is about to be created.

• For example, areas for students with developmental disabilities might include increased communication skills, more emphasis on verbal language, life skills, or ADLs.

Vision Statement

• Parents should think about what they would like to see for their child in the next couple of years.

• Consider what they would like to see the child do – realistically – at transition points: entry to kindergarten, 3rd grade, middle school, graduation.

• Think also about how they and you would like to see the child at home and in the community.

• This is not solely a statement of the parent and/or student.

• Other team members can participate in giving their perspective. It is a good place to open dialogue.

Student Strengths and Evaluation Results

• This is a summary of the results – not the full report.

• Say positives about the student.• Do not list all the services or

educational history.• Answer all the questions –

including whether or not the goals and objectives from the previous year were achieved…or not.

PLEP A: General Curriculum

• Consider this the academic page.• The focus is on the access to the

regular curriculum.• Hardest page to write for students

with functional and life skills focus.• Important: Checking a box does not

mean you write a goal for that area. • Think across the curriculum and

school day…not just a single subject.

The Disability and the Curriculum

• Answer the question: as a result of the disability, how does this student access the curriculum of the classroom environment?

• What areas are affected?• What does the student “look

like” in the classroom setting?

Accommodations

• Accommodations are what regular education does when special education staff is not working with the student directly.

• Useful in inclusion settings.

• Useful for partial regular class participation.

• Should be limited in number, 4-6 maximum.

Modifications

• This is the definition of special education.

• It is a team decision as to how to address the needs of the student in the coming year.

• There are many options to consider. Keep an open mind.

Content

• Is the content of the curriculum going to be changed in any way?

• Is the student going to be given different texts or materials?

• Is there a change in the amount of information that the student will be given?

Methodology/instruction

• What direct instruction methods are going to be used with this student that is different than those provided to typically progressing students?

• Is the instruction going to be provided in a different way from other students (small group, pull-aside, etc)?

Performance Criteria

• Is the student going to produce his work in a way that is different than other students, such as orally vs. written work?

• Is this student going to be graded in an individualized manner?

• Is the student going to be held accountable for all content taught? If not, then tell how he will show what he knows.

Testing and Performance Criteria

• This is where you must clearly state any regularly used testing accommodations such as small group administration (such as no greater than 5 students), reading the test to the student, etc.

• This will set the stage for the MCAS page of the IEP – regular or alternate form.

PLEP B: Other Educational Needs

• Follows the same procedures as PLEP A except it is focused on other educational needs.

• These cut across the school day and are not limited to subjects.

• Must be student centered – not therapist centered.

Goals

• Last one year.• For children with severe

disabilities, 4-6 goals would be the rule of thumb.

• For students with learning disabilities or other mild/moderate forms of disability, 3-4 goals are the average.

4 Rules for Goals

1. Focus on student needs.

2. Focus on priorities.

3. Do not focus on subjects.

4. Must be measurable and observable.

WE WILL NOT WRITE SUBJECT GOALS.

• WE WILL WRITE GOALS THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OUR STUDENTS.

• WE WILL WRITE STUDENT CENTERED GOALS.

• WE WILL WRITE GOALS FOR OUR STUDENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL SUBJECTS NOT A SINGLE SUBJECT.

Goals Are Not Owned!

• No one individual owns a goal.• The goal/objectives are written

about the child not the therapists or teachers.

• Therapies are a means to an end. (Yes, I meant what I just wrote…don’t shoot me).

• Strategies are a means to an end.

So this means……

• More than one individual can work on a single goal.

• More than one individual will comment on the progress towards the goal.

• It is OK for people to disagree about the progress. Students work differently for different people in different settings.

For example:

• A speech and language therapist and…

• a classroom teacher and…• a special education teacher

and…• a reading specialist can all

work on • a single language arts/reading

goal!!!

Current Performance Level

• A statement of the student’s current level in relation to the goal that is about to be written.

• Many of us call this the “Polaroid snapshot.”

Writing a Good Goal or Objective

• Condition• Behavior• Criterion

• When or where?• What or how?• How often, how long, how fast,

how much?

Goals

• We do not use time specific goals, meaning by the end of the first quarter or by February 15.

• Why?• Because we cannot predict that

precisely.

• Instead think of of one of these two models.• Hierarchical -- one step at a time.• Discrete skills – separate skills

making the whole.

Hierarchical

• To add numbers with sums up to 20 independently.• Add sums to 5.• Add sums to 10.• Add sums to 15.• Add sums to 20.

Discrete

1. Make jello• Pour liquid into a bowl or other

vessel.• Stir liquids without spilling.• Open a package and empty it into a

bowl independently.• Measure 1 cup liquid.

• All of these are individual skills that can be taught separately from each other.

Example -- CPL

• Tom (grade 9) is able to write a 3 –5 sentence paragraph with only end punctuation. He uses concrete, non-descriptive language when he writes in short sentences. His spelling is generally accurate for familiar words.

Goal – One Year From Now

• Tom will write a 3 paragraph story consisting of a beginning, middle, and end and correctly capitalize and apply end punctuation for each sentence.

•Who might work on this goal?•Teacher •Speech and language pathologist•OT

Objectives/benchmarks

• Tom will use at least one adjective in every other sentence he writes.

• Tom will use at least one adverb per paragraph.

• Tom will capitalize beginning words and proper nouns in sentence with 80% accuracy.

• Tom will write a 2 paragraph story given a choice of topics that has a beginning, middle and end.

Example: CPL

• Joan has no verbal language. She uses 20 signs to make her personal needs and choices known to others. Her rate for learning and incorporating a new sign into her language is 3-4 weeks.

Goal

• Joan will use up to 40 signs spontaneously in communication interchanges with peers and adults.

•Who might work on this goal?

• Special Education Teacher.•Speech and language pathologist.•1:1 Aide•Parents

Objectives/benchmarks

• Joan will learn and use 3 new signs per month (average).

• Joan will use new and old signs in communication scripts with an adult.

• Joan will initiate a dialogue of 3 exchanges with an adult or peer using new and old signs.

Service Delivery

• Not every member of the team gets their own goal.

• A goal may be listed 1, 2, or 3 times depending upon how the services will be provided.• A behavior goal might be under:

• Consultation by behavior specialist.• Carried out by a 1:1 aide in an inclusion

setting ( regular class setting).• Worked on by sped staff in the self-

contained classroom (pull-out).

Non-participation Justification

• This is not a simple statement of “team decision.”

• There must be a clearly stated rationale of why the student cannot be serviced in the context of the regular class setting.

• Non-participation means that you are limiting access to the general education curriculum.

• Why is the TEAM making such a decision?

Non-participation, con’t

• The TEAM should• Focus on the student and the disability• Reasons why the removal is being

recommended.• Reference to any special services with

accompany benefits for the student.• Connection to the service delivery

• From DOE training, Spring 2003

Non-participation, con’t

• This should be used for all pull-out services that fall under the realm of special education.

• Note: As a result of pull-out services, the team should discuss what will happen when the student returns to class. Students going for a pull-out service should not be penalized with make-up work, etc. This is often forgotten when we make decisions.

Summary of meeting

• Everyone who comes to a TEAM meeting needs to clearly understand the purpose of the meeting.

• No one coming to the meeting owns any goal/objective set.

Summary, con’t

• We ultimately want to establish a positive environment for parents – no matter what their experiences at team meetings where in the past, with the team members, the administrators, or with educational advocates who are present.

Summary, con’t

• Teachers and therapists – Each TEAM meeting should be looked upon as a time to create the best plan possible for the child as we know him or her today, no matter what your experiences have been in the past with parents or other team members.

Before the meeting ends…

• Complete the school system required summary of proposed IEP and give to the parent.

• Be sure to keep a copy of whatever paperwork you give the parent.

• Give the parent the Parents Right’s Brochure and, if applicable, the Parents Guide to Special Education.

Progress Reports

Progress reports

• Progress reports are directly linked to the IEP.

• They come out at the same time and frequency as report cards.

• Reporting should be clear and concise.

• Avoid words that you cannot substantiate with documentation.

Progress reports

• Do not use words such as “he has read 3 books and is doing well.”

• Did he comprehend the books? Did he read them aloud? Has his fluency increased? Where they at his grade level or below his grade level? What was the goal? Did he reach his goal?

Progress reports

• Why the concern?• These are documents that

show whether or not the student is making progress towards meeting his/her goals.

• If the student is not meeting the benchmarks, then the TEAM needs to reconvene and look at a possible amendment to the IEP.

DOE

• DOE looks to see if the narrative discusses “whether or not progress was sufficient to enable the student to achieve the annual goal by the end of the IEP period.”

Written language

John has made measurable progress in achieving his writing goal. He is now able to to write a single paragraph with a beginning and end and with 3 supporting details. His punctuation is acceptable for the initial capital of a sentence and end punctuation of period and exclamation point.

Word problems

• Sarah has progressed at a slower rate than expected. At the present time she has not yet been able to memorize her facts 6-9 and is reliant on the number line or a calculator. She has memorized the facts 1-5 and can apply them to simple word problems without assistance.

Fluency

• Susan is orally reading at 25 words per minute when given selections 2 years below grade level. With grade level materials, she continues to hesitate and stop reading. It is likely she will achieve her goal of fluent oral reading for materials one year below grade level.

A final note..

The IEP is about the child first and the

adults second.

The end.Thanks for coming

Applaud now