The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and the Individualized Education Program (IEP)

Definition of the IFSP A plan of services for infants and toddlers and their families. Such a plan includes statements regarding the child’s present developmental level, the family’s strengths and needs, the major outcomes of the plan, specific interventions and delivery systems to accomplish outcomes, dates of initiation and duration of services, and a plan for transition into public schools.

Definition of the IEP A program devised to satisfy IDEA’s requirement that students with disabilities must receive an educational program based on multidisciplinary assessment and designed to meet their individual needs. The IEP must include consideration of the student’s present level of performance, annual goals, special education and related services, time in general education, timeline for special education services, and an annual evaluation.

FIRST THING!!!!! (before anything else) PARENTAL CONSENT Parents as partners Cultural, ethnic, and linguistic differences Family’s strengths and needs Child’s strengths and needs

Process of the IFSP SCREENING. Child Find, established in the 1960s (though not added to law until 1986) as an effort to find children with disabilities and other special needs, does a screening to find those children. Those that need further evaluation go on to diagnostic testing.

Definition of a couple of terms … VALIDITY: a test that measures what it purports to measure. RELIABILITY: how accurate, de- pendable, and predictable a test is. SENSITIVITY: ability of a screening tool to identify correctly children with disabilities. SPECIFICITY: ability of a screening tool to correctly identify children who do NOT have a disability

Back to IFSP process DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY. Eligibility for special education and related services cannot be made on a single test or assessment. The data must be gleaned from several domains and sources. Assessment tools must be in a child’s native language. This does not mean a tool that has been TRANSLATED – this screws with the test’s validity and reliability.

IFSP process PLANNING THE PROGRAM – to plan a program that will benefit the family and the child; the writing of the IFSP with all domains considered and a part of the writing. IFSP outlines what services will be delivered, how they will be delivered, and what skills and areas will be addressed.

End of IFSP process... MONITORING PROGRESS and EVALUATING THE PROGRAM: the IFSP should be reevaluated at least once a year. From these evaluations, the program may be modified to better suit the child’s strengths and needs.

TERMINOLOGY Service coordinator: an interdisciplinary team member responsible for integrating services and keeping the family informed and involved. Assistive technology: various kinds of equipment designed to facilitate learning and communication for children with disabilities. Itinerant special education teacher: a consultant that travels between several classrooms for service delivery

TERMINOLOGY AUDIOLOGIST: a specially certified professional who focuses on hearing testing and hearing impairments DURATION MEASURES: how long an event or behavior lasts. FREQUENCY COUNTS: keeping track of how often a behavior occurs INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM: several different professionals working together on a common problem IQ TESTS: intelligence tests, norm- referenced

TERMINOLOGY LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT: most normalized environment in which the needs of a child with disabilities can be met appropriately. MULTIDISCIPLINARY: involving members of various disciplines who work independently but exchange findings NORM-REFERENCED ASSESSMENT: instrument that compares a child’s developmental level to a normative sample of same-age peers.

TERMINOLOGY ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY SPECIALIST: therapist who works with children with visual impairments to teach awareness of their position in the environment, of significant objects, and how to move safely and efficiently in the environment. PATHOLOGIST: professional who focuses on diseases or impairments. PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGIST: physician who specializes in diseases and malfunctioning of the eyes in developmental years.

TERMINOLOGY PORTFOLIO: a carefully selected collection of a child’s work that is used to document growth and development. PSYCHOLINGUIST: one who studies and analyzes the acquisition and production of language PSYCHOPATHOLOGIST: one who specializes in viewing mental disorders from a psychological perspective. SECONDARY PREVENTION: providing adequate intervention services before the condition worsens or affects other areas of development.

TERMINOLOGY SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL: a formal plan devised by the various agencies involved in providing services to a child and his/her family. STANDARDIZED TESTS: assessment instruments that include precise directions for administering and scoring. TRANSDISCIPLINARY TEAM: a team that shares the responsibilities for assessment, program planning, implementation, and evaluation across members.

TYPES OF TEACHER OBSERVATIONAL ASSESSMENTS: CHECKLISTS FREQUENCY COUNTS DURATION MEASURES ANECDOTAL NOTES RUNNING RECORDS LOGS, JOURNALS, DIARIES TIME SAMPLING LANGUAGE SAMPLING PORTFOLIO

TEACHERS SHOULD NOT: MAKE A DIAGNOSIS!!! Use LABELS to describe children Raise parents’ ANXIETY TELL parents what to do JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS without adequate data

TEACHERS SHOULD: Work well with families Voice concerns to families Listen carefully and respectfully Be knowledgeable Be culturally sensitive Work collaboratively with parents Remember that all children (and all parents) are different and unique.

PROCESS OF THE IEP Same as for IFSP: screen, diagnose, plan program, monitor, and evaluate. Should include –child’s present levels –Long term goals –Short term objectives –Specific services to be provided –Accountability –Where and when

WHO IS ON THE TEAM??? PARENTS Child’s regular classroom teacher Child’s special education teacher Principal or vice-principal or program head (LEA representative) A person who can interpret the data Service coordinator or equivalent School counselor or equivalent Interpreter Physical therapist Occupational therapist Psychologist Medical Doctor Speech-Language Pathologist Community support person Social Worker Orientation and Mobility Specialist Lawyers Behavior specialists Assistive technology specialist Vision Specialist ASL interpreter Other interested or involved parties

Informal Assessment Measures Checklist: a method of documenting the presence or absence of skill or behavior in a developmental sequence. ~class activity Frequency Count: keeping track of how often a behavior occurs. ~watch how many times players in white shirts pass ball afs/demos/15.html

Informal Assessment Measures Running Records: detailed account of a segment of time, recording all behaviors and quotes during that time. ~write down EVERYTHING exactly om/watch?v=- ulsq4a2SCg&feature =related

Informal Assessment Measures Logs, Journals, Diaries: a form of observation technique that involves making a page of notes about children’s behavior in a cumulative journal. Time sampling: method of recording where children are by choice at a certain time, measuring attention span and interests.

Informal Assessment Measures Anecdotal Notes: Factual narrative of an incident Portfolio: a carefully selected collection of a child’s work that is used to document growth and development.

Informal Assessment Measures Duration Measures: How long an event or behavior lasts ~ about 4 minutes ~ how many questions Will asks ~ how many letters in his answer? ~ how many times does he use the letter Q? om/watch?v=GoGZ7 rhZNHo