Examining the Relationship of Quality IEPs to Student Progress A Reflective Process to Promote Reasonable Calculations for Educational Benefit 25 Industrial Park Road, Middletown, CT · (860) Connecticut State Department of Education · Division of Educational Programs and Services January 27, 2006

10/27/05 SERC 2 What is “Educational Benefit”? Determine with a Neighbor What does this term mean to you?

10/27/05 SERC 3 What is Educational Benefit? Instruction that is reasonably calculated to enable the child to achieve passing marks and advance from grade to grade Judge Rehnquist BOE v. Rowley decision, June 28,1982

10/27/05 SERC 4 Educational Benefit Educational Benefit can be measured by… Passing marks Advancement from grade to grade Progress toward goals and objectives Improved scores on district/statewide assessments/ alternate assessment Passing the high school exit exam

10/27/05 SERC 5 IDEA ‘04 The IEP must include… “a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services,…to be provided to the child,… to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum … and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities…” Section 614 (d)(1)(A)(i)(IV)

10/27/05 SERC 6 Focused Monitoring “The primary focus of Federal and State monitoring activities… improving educational results and functional outcomes for all children with disabilities” Section 616 (a)(2)

10/27/05 SERC 7 Why Procedural Compliance is Not Enough? “You can be in compliance with all 755 required items and not be achieving results for students with disabilities.” Alan Coulter

10/27/05 SERC 8 Current Underlying Concept Compliance Consists of Two Interrelated Elements: Educational Procedures + Educational Benefit (Results) BOE v. Rowley, decision, June 28,

10/27/05 SERC 9 How is Educational Benefit Obtained? “instruction… should be reasonably calculated to enable the child to achieve passing marks and advance from grade to grade” Judge Rehnquist BOE v. Rowley decision, June 28,1982

Assessing for Educational Benefit A Process for Districts to Examine IEPs

10/27/05 SERC 11 Educational Benefit Analysis Reviewing IEP documentation for a 3-year cycle Analyzing the relationship among needs, goals, and services Comparing progress across annuals Looking for patterns in the planning process Discussing if the IEP was reasonably planned to result in educational benefit Reviewing the child’s progress

10/27/05 SERC 12 Steps for the Process STEP 1 Chart what is recorded in the IEPs about needs, goals and objectives, services and progress. STEP 2 Analyze the needs, goals and services within each IEP for alignment. STEP 3 Compare across each IEP to determine progression of progress (or lack of progress).

10/27/05 SERC 13 STEP 1 Jigsaw the documentation of each IEP Look for… Present Level of Performance (p 3) Goals & Objectives, Accommodations & Modifications (pp 4 & 8) Services (p 5) Progress made on annual goals (p 4)

10/27/05 SERC 14 STEP 1 For each IEP Record what is written on the IEP. Information must be present in the IEP Information is verbatim as much as possible Short-hand and abbreviations are ok, but paraphrasing or summarizing is not Color Coded Green- what is written in IEP Blue-strengths Red-supporting documents (psy. evals)

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: Domain

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Present Level

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Concerns

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Goals, Objectives, Accommodations, & Modifications

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk Service

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS Progress

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS

10/27/05 SERC 22 STEP 2 For each IEP The group will determine the alignment between each component The recorder will draw circles and arrows to show alignment

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS

10/27/05 SERC 25 STEP 3 Comparing each IEP The group will determine if there was a change from the previous IEP to the next IEP The recorder will note the changes using 0, +, or –

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS oNo change from prior year +Increased complexity or progress -Decreased complexity or progress

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS KTEA Reading 2.1 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 2.5 G.E. +

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS Comp. is sig. below grade level + O

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS + O Improve comp of read material from 2.5 to 4.0 +

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS + O Given passage state 2 details + O

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS + O Given passage ans correctly 6/6 W quest + O -

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS + O + O - O

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS + O + O - O

Present Levels ConcernsGoals/ Objectives Services Progress Academic/ Cognitive Language Arts: KTEA Reading 3.4 G.E. Oral Reading Inventory 3.2 G.E. Comp. is sig. below grade level Improve comp of read material from 3.2 to 5.0 Given passage state 2 details Given passage ans correctl y 5/6 W quest Learning center 3.75 hrs/wk SSSSSS + O + O - O

10/27/05 SERC 35 Keeping Track +∆