Individual Education Program

Special Education

• Specially Designed Instruction

• Meet the unique needs of a child with a

disability

• Provide access to the general education

curriculum

Evaluation

Assessment

Present Levels

Services

Placement

Planning

Instruction

Progress

Monitoring

IEP Process

Beyond the IEP Process

The IEP Process

Misconceptions about IEP’s • Not an instructional plan

– It does not explain how to teach

• Not all the goals a student needs

– The most critical skills in qualifying areas (not

likely to learn without specially designed

instruction)

• Not the total education program.

– Does not include classroom goals, activities

and curriculum provided to all children.

Specially Designed Instruction

• Organized and planned instructional activities that modify:

– Content: knowledge and skills

– Methodology: instructional strategies or approaches

– Delivery of instruction: way in which instruction is delivered

Evaluation

• Based on standardized norm-referenced

tests

• Areas of qualification

• Summary of scores

• General skills in specific domains

Assessment

• Curriculum or criterion-referenced tests

• Based on observation and direct test of specific, functional skills

• Conducted in natural environment if possible

• Involves the family

The IEP – “Wh” Questions

• IEP answers several questions:

– What the child knows

– What the child needs to learn

– When the child has achieved the goal

– What type of services are needed

Present Levels

What the child knows

• Based on evaluation and assessment

information

• Child’s current abilities on skills that are

the focus of intervention

• Baseline performance

• Record of pre-measures

Goals

What the child needs to learn

• Based on present levels (areas of

qualification)

• General outcomes for child over the course

of the year

• Which skills are the most critical and are not

likely to be achieved without specially

designed instruction.

Thinking about goals…

• What are the student’s most critical

needs?

• What skills will help access the general

education curriculum?

• What skills require specially designed

instruction?

Services

What type of services are needed

• Based on the present levels

• Services needed to make adequate

progress on goals and objectives

Evaluation

Assessment

Present Levels

Services

Placement

Planning

Instruction

Progress

Monitoring

IEP Process

Beyond the IEP Process

The IEP Process

Beyond the IEP – “Wh” ?’s

• Using the IEP as a “road map”, teams

must answer the following questions:

– When/where instruction will occur

– How will we teach the skills

– How progress will be monitored

The IEP

Viewing the meeting

as a tool for

developing a

collaborative

relationship

Tips… DO

• Describe the child

• Ask open ended questions (“what are some of the things you are seeing?”)

• Affirm & incorporate information from the family

• Respect the family’s perspective

• Use family friendly language

DON’T

• Read to the family

• Ask “Do you agree with this?” “Does that sound like your child?”

• Send the family home with an IEP that has no changes

• Prescribe as a professional

• Use professional jargon

Why build relationships?

• As families and professional work together and develop

collaborative relationships, they can establish a new way

of addressing academic problems.

• The family and the professional can benefit from each

others' knowledge, experience, and understanding of the

student.

• Working together, families and professionals increase

each others' repertoire of tools to help the student.

(Homan)

Barriers to a Full & Equal Partnership

• Parents seen as spectators who

appropriately seek out, understand,

accept, and rigorously follow professional

intervention plans

• Parents in the role of information receivers

and bystanders rather than partners

(Winzer & Mazurek)

A Full & Equal Partnership

• Truly believe each member brings something

meaningful and valued to the relationship.

• Share a common purpose - the welfare of the

child.

• Create a sense of shared responsibility around

common goals.

• Base the relationship on trust, understanding

and respect.

(Turnbull & Turnbull III)

As educators we strive for nothing less than the

academic and life achievement of our students. We

study techniques and methods with the hope of

becoming more effective teachers. We search for the

resources and information that will help our children

succeed. It is here that we make a fatal flaw. These are

not our children. Despite our love and devotion to their

pursuit of excellence, these children are members of a

complex and multidimensional unit called a family.

When we acknowledge this fact, we may also

understand that the one true resource children need is

the very group to which they belong.

Children need their family.

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