P REPARING FOR YOUR C HILD ’ S IEP M EETING A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the IEP Process

IDEA The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law, requires certain information to be included in the IEP but doesn’t specify how the IEP should look.

W HAT IS AN IEP ? The IEP, Individualized Education Plan, is a written document that is developed for a child who is eligible for special education. The IEP is created through a team effort and reviewed at least once a year.

What is the law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to children with disabilities? What is the name of the document that describes the educational program designed to meet a child’s unique needs?

IEP TEAM MEMBERS The required members of the IEP team include: The Parent/ Guardian Provides insights and information about strengths and needs, and ideas for enhancing the child’s education General Education Teacher Can share information about classroom expectations and your child’s performance and participate in the determination of appropriate behavioral interventions and supports, as well as accommodations ESE Specialist A representative of the school system who knows about ESE services and has the authority to commit resources ESE Teacher Has training and experience in educating children with disabilities and in working with other educators to plan accommodations

IEP TEAM MEMBERS Additional members of the IEP team include: School Psychologist Can interpret the results of your child’s evaluation and use results to help plan an appropriate instructional plan Others Individuals with knowledge or special expertise about your child that are invited by you and/or the school district Agency Representative When they are responsible for providing or paying for some transition services Student When appropriate, and whenever transition is discussed

Who is the key member of the IEP team who provides insights and information about strengths and needs, and ideas for enhancing the child’s education?

Academic Expectations Course of Study NGSSS/Access Points Approved District Curriculum Lesson PlansPresent Levels & Affect Statement Special Factors Measurable Goals, Benchmarks or STO IEP Services LRE Transition Progress Monitoring & Evaluation Data IEP General Education Curriculum Strengths & Student/Parent Input

What is the set of standards that a student seeking a standard diploma must follow? What is the set of standards that a student seeking a special diploma must follow?

P ROBLEM S OLVING S TEPS IN D EVELOPING AN IEP

S TEP 1 NEED IDENTIFICATION NEED IDENTIFICATION What is the need/barrier? The present level of educational functioning describes what the student can do and includes a statement describing how the student’s disability affects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum and priority educational needs.

Present Level of Educational Performance Includes information about your child’s strengths and needs based on information/ data provided by the parent, student, teachers, progress toward previous annual goal(s), and results of recent evaluations. Strengths of the student, results of recent evaluation, and concerns of the parent are recorded on the front page of the IEP. What the child can do (based on information from ESE records, teachers, parents, students, observations, and transition assessments) and how the disability affects the student’s progress in the general education curriculum is recorded on the goal page of the IEP.

What part of the IEP documents the strengths and needs of the student? Name a source of information used to develop the present level of academic functioning. (Two possible answers.)

S TEP 2 NEED / BARRIER ANALYSIS NEED/BARRIER ANALYSIS Why is it occurring? Consider the barriers the student is encountering which are preventing the student from being successful in the general curriculum. How does the problem affect progress in the general curriculum? Barriers may include, but not limited to: Asking for help Following directions (one step; multi-step) Initiating communication Attending to others Attention and focus Making a choice among items Cause and effect Making inferences

S TEP 3 I NTERVENTION DESIGN INTERVENTION DESIGN What are we going to do about it? The annual goal is based on the data described in the present level and individualized to meet the needs of the student. MEASURABLE ANNUAL GOAL CONDITION BEHAVIOR CRITERIA

M EASUREABLE ANNUAL GOAL An annual goal: Can reasonably be accomplished in one year Is based on what was discussed and documented in the present level of educational performance Focuses on needs that result from the disability Should help the student be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum

S HORT TERM OBJECTIVES / BENCHMARKS Short Term Objectives (STO) Represent intermediate steps to a goal Are measurable Often specify conditions Benchmarks Represent major milestones to a goal Should specify a time frame

What are the three components of a measureable annual goal? What are the intermediate steps or major milestones to the annual goal?

S TEP 4 R ESPONSE TO INTERVENTION RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION Is it working? The annual goal evaluation plan describes how progress toward the annual will be measured. It indicates the student’s response to the intervention. The annual goal plan must also include the data collection schedule, method and criteria. The Progress Toward Annual Goal (PTAG) form is completed with data to indicate the student’s response to the intervention.

W HAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE ? Given a task that involves more than two steps, Steven will use various strategies to complete the task independently 80% of the given opportunities. Progress toward goals will be evaluated every grading period by the ESE teacher through data collected and graphed on the number of times Steven independently completes a task involving more than two steps.

What is the name of the document that indicates how well the student is doing related to the annual goal?

S PECIAL FACTORS The IEP team must consider each of the special factors when developing or reviewing the child’s IEP. If the item is checked in the special factors section of the IEP, there should be evidence on the IEP that these needs were addressed.

S PECIAL FACTORS Special Factors are: Need for positive behavior intervention or strategies Language needs for Limited English Proficient Need for assistive technology devices an/or services Need for specially designed/adaptive P.E. Need for extended school year services Braille needs of blind/visually impaired Communication needs of the student For deaf or hard of hearing students the opportunity for direct instruction in the student’s language and communication mode

What document is developed if the child is experiencing difficulties with behavior? What special factor is marked on an IEP if the child requires a special device based on an evaluation? What special factor is marked on the IEP if there is data to document severe regression or extended time to recoup skills in order to provide FAPE?

S PECIALLY DESIGNED INSTRUCTION The description of the special education services : Identifies the nature of the services received (e.g., instruction in socialization skills, articulation skills, written expression) Based on the measurable annual goal(s) Includes the location (e.g. general education classroom, ESE classroom, campus-wide), initiation date, duration date, and frequency of those services.

R ELATED SERVICES Related services assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. Examples: Transportation Counseling Occupational therapy Physical therapy

S UPPLEMENTARY AIDS & SERVICES May be aids, services, and other supports that are provided in general education classes, other education-related settings, and extracurricular and nonacademic settings to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate. Examples Aide assistance Academic interventions Behavioral interventions

S UPPORT FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL Must relate to the unique needs of the student Should not reflect professional development, training, or information related to meeting the needs of students with disabilities in general

If your child requires special transportation or counseling, where is it indicated on the IEP? What drives the specially designed instruction indicated on the IEP?

S TATE & DISTRICT - WIDE ASSESSMENTS Students with disabilities are required to participate in state and district-wide assessments for accountability purposes. Students working toward a standard diploma will be assessed with FCAT or End of Course exams (EOC) Students working toward a special diploma will be assessed with Florida Alternate Assessment

ACCOMMODATIONS Accommodations: should facilitate an accurate demonstration of what the student knows or can do must be the same or nearly the same as those the student uses in completing classroom instruction and assessment activities should not provide the student with an unfair advantage or interfere with the validity of the test must not change the underlying skills that the test measures

LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT Removal from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services can not be achieved satisfactorily.

PLACEMENT Placement is determined by the amount of time the student spends with nondisabled peers Regular = 80% or more of the day with nondisabled peers Resource = 40-79% of the day with nondisabled peers Separate = 39% or less of the day with nondisabled peers Separate School

E XCUSAL An IEP team member my be excused from attending an IEP meeting, in whole or in part, when the meeting involves a modification to or discussion of the member’s area of curriculum or related service if both of the following occur: The IEP team member submits input into the development of the IEP in writing to the parent and the IEP team. The parent and the ESE Specialist consent to the excusal.

T RANSITION IEP Desired post-school outcomes What does the student desire to do after graduation? Self-determination needs Does the student have self-advocacy skills Course of study NGSSS or Access Points Diploma option Standard Diploma or Special Diploma Measurable post-secondary goal(s) Related to education/training, employment, independent living skills Transition services Services needed to reach post-secondary goals Transfer of rights From parent to student on reaching age of majority (18)

What provision on the IEP allows the student to use extra time when taking a test? What is determined when we calculate the amount of time your child spends with nondisabled peers? What are the goals that are written related to education/training, employment and independent living?

T RAINING, ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT Central Florida Parent Center provides parents of children with disabilities information, training, assistance, and support free of charge. Contact Information: Fax: Millie Pou Anna Brynild

What is the name of the organization that provides parents of children with disabilities with information, training, assistance and support?