Guidelines for Making Decisions about IEP Services

IEP Services 6 of 8

Some Students with IEPs May Need Related Services

This series of slide shows is based on:

Guidelines for MakingDecisions about IEP Services

2001Michael F. Giangreco, Ph.D.

University of Vermont, Center on Disability and Community Inclusion

This document is available in a pdf (portable document format) on the internet

http://www.uvm.edu/~uapvt/iepservices/http://www.state.vt.us/educ/Cses/sped/main.htm

Distributed by theVermont Department of Education

Family and Educational Support TeamMontpelier, Vermont

Development of this material was supported by a grant from the Vermont Department of Education, Montpelier, Vermont under the auspices of Vermont Act 117: An Act to Strengthen the

Capacity of Vermont’s Education System to Meet the Needs of All Students, Section 7 (d) (5).

Ask Vital Questions About the Need for Each Proposed Related Service

Educational Relevance exists when a

proposed service can be explicitly linked with an identified component of the

student’s educational program

Is the Proposed Related Service

Educationally Relevant?

Example

If a therapist recommends supporting a student’s handwriting skills, and handwriting is on the IEP or is part of the general education curriculum the student is pursuing, then it is educationally relevant.

If a therapist recommends that a student work on exercises to improve a balance so she can learn to ride a bicycle, and bike riding is not part of the educational program for this student, then the proposed service is not educationally relevant.

Non Example

In considering whether to accept a

recommendation to provide a proposed service, the team

should clearly understand its purpose.

A clear purpose promotes effective

implementation and evaluation.

What is the Purpose of the Proposed Related Service?

Examples of purpose: Selecting equipment

Making adaptations

Transferring information or skills to others

Being a resource or support to families

Applying skills specific to the professional discipline

Establishing educational relevance

and understanding the purpose of a

service is not sufficient to warrant service provision.

Services also must be educationally

necessary.

If a proposed service, with a clear purpose, is

determined to be educationally relevant, it

is time to consider whether it is

educationally necessary by asking the following

questions:

Is the Proposed Related Service

Educationally Necessary?

If your team answers, “Yes” to the following question, it is an indication that the service under consideration probably IS educationally necessary:

1. Will the absence of the service interfere with the student’s access to, or participation in his or her educational program this year?

If your team answers, “YES” to any the following questions, it is an indication that the service under consideration probably IS NOT educationally necessary:

2. Could the proposed service be addressed

appropriately by the special educator or classroom teacher?

MORE QUESTIONS FOLLOW...

3. Could the proposed service be addressed appropriately through core school faculty or

staff (e.g., nurse, guidance counselor, librarian, special area teachers, administrator, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, custodians)?

4. Has the student been benefiting from his or her educational program without the service?

5. Could the student continue to benefit from his or her educational program without the service?

MORE QUESTIONS FOLLOW...

6. Can the service be appropriately provided during non school hours? (This question is based on the U.S. Supreme

Court decision in the 1984 case of Irving Independent School District v. Tatro.)

7. Do the proposed services present any undesirable or unnecessary gaps, overlaps, or contradictions with other proposed services?

In many cases, IEP teams are asking the wrong

questions such as:

“Could the proposed related services help?”

When this question, the answer is almost always “Yes.” But this is not the

question that the IDEA poses in the definition of

a related service.

Rather the question is better asked this way:

“If the student does not receive a proposed related service, is there reason to believe that he or she will not: (a) have access to an appropriate education; or (b) experience educational benefit?”

Some services considered desirable by parents or non-educational service providers may not meet

the educational relevance and necessity criteria to be considered a “related service” under the IDEA. This does not mean the service is unimportant. Rather, it could mean

that it’s not a responsibility of the

public school.

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IEP Services 7 of 8

Slide show 7 of 8 addresses, Decide “What” Before “How”