Greetings friends!
As I prepare an IEP for one of my students, I would like to
share with you some tips and tricks that have worked for me throughout the
years, as part of the Tips and Tricks series.
Keep in mind, your state’s IEP may be outlined differently,
but all of the information provided in this post is relevant, wherever you
teach.
Let’s go through the IEP step-by-step:
Administrative Data Sheet: This first page
is designated for all important contact information and personal information of
the student. Usually, the teacher is not in charge of this page, but the
Special Education Coordinator or receptionist.
Parent and/or Student Concerns: This is the
parents’ (and students’ who are 14 years or older) piece of the IEP. Their
concerns are woven throughout the IEP. Concerns that the parents and/or student
want to see addressed to enhance the student’s education is written here.
Student Strengths and Key Evaluation Results Summary:
Student’s strengths, interests, personal attributes, and personal
accomplishments are described here. Additionally the student’s disability(ies),
general education performance, state/district test results, achievement toward
goals and lack of expected progress are included in this section.
Let’s take a closer look at this section, because it
includes A LOT.
Student strengths, interests,
accomplishments: include academic and general strengths in and out of school.
Some examples I include in my IEPS are caring,
compassionate, successfully transitioned to second grade inclusion classroom,
witty, bright, verbal, engaging, etc. Depending on the district/school,
this section can be written in list format or in complete sentences. I do not
include any areas that the student struggles in, as that is described at length
throughout the IEP. This section is to highlight the strengths and personal
interests of the student, not their weaknesses.
Type of Disability: This section
includes the general area of disability and the impact on the student’s school
and life functioning. The primary and secondary disabilities are included. I,
along with our special education team, refer to the eligibility checklist
provided by the Massachusetts Department of Education, when determining
eligibility.
Click
here to see this flow chart.
Results of most recent key evaluations and
state test scores: This includes any psychological and educational test
results (usually provided for a three year evaluation), as well as any scores
from the state’s standardized test format.
General Education Performance: This
section includes the impact the student’s disability(ies) has on general school
functioning (academic, social/emotional, and behavioral)
Questions I
ask myself when drafting this section are:
·
How does the student contribute to the classroom
climate?
·
How does the student assist staff and peers?
·
How does the student hinder the community?
·
What triggers maladaptive academic or social
behaviors?
I also integrate the academic
goals/issues I mention later in the document. This allows for an easy
transition when reading the document for the parent, specialists and future
educators. It also aids in a seamless segue into outlining the goals during any
future meetings/progress reports. I make sure to include information on the student’s academic strengths, ability to
work in different academic settings (one-on-one, independent, small group,
whole group, etc.), and challenges and
their ability to react to these struggles with all/any supports in place.
Vision Statement: This section should
include a realistic “vision” for the next 1-5 year period, based on parents’
visions for their child, the school team’s vision for the student, and the
student’s vision for him/herself (if applicable). The vision statement should
take into account the student’s preferences and interests. As students age
within special education, the vision statement should include desired outcomes
in adult living, post-secondary, and working environment. The transition plans
for older students as they enter the real world are intertwined with the vision
statement for older students (think 14 and up).
Present Levels of Performance (PLEP): How
does the disability affect the student’s performance in school.
A.
General Curriculum: How does the disability(ies) affect progress in the
curriculum areas? “General curriculum” includes English Language Arts, History
& Social Studies, Science and Technology, Mathematics, and “Other
Curriculum Areas.”
·
How does
the disability(ies) affect progress in curriculum areas?
This section is a more in-depth
look at what the child cannot do
within the curriculum due to his/her disability(ies). This includes how the
disability affects the student’s involvement and progress in the general
curriculum (i.e., same curriculum as used by “typical” students. In this
section, I describe how the behavior negatively affects his/her progress. I
also briefly describe each academic goal that will fall into this section.
(note: only include “academic” goals, or goals in which you can comment on
their performance as it relates to the curriculum. This section does not
include goals for more social or less structured educational times, such as
recess, peer relationships, etc. The next section will speak to these
challenges)
·
Accommodations:
Accommodations are supports that allow students to access the curriculum.
Some examples I commonly use are: use of assistive technology, directions read
aloud and clarified, use of a calculator, use of graphic organizers and
templates, small group instruction, tangible and visual reward systems, extended
time for assignments, etc.
·
Modifications:
Modifications are changes in the content, the method of presentation, or the
performance criteria from that which is sued for “typical” peers, but allow the
student to access curriculum content at their level. Some examples that I
include are: below-grade level materials, shortened assignments, limited
writing production, etc. If you are unsure of how to differentiate between
accommodations and modifications, check out this
great blog post I found and
pinned to my
Special Education board.
B. Other
Educational Needs: How does the disability(ies) affect progress of the
indicated other education areas? “Other educational needs” include: adapted
physical education, blind/visually impaired, extra curriculum activities,
social/emotional needs, assistive tech services/devices, communication,
language needs, travel training, behavior, communication for deaf/hard of
hearing students, nonacademic activities, vocational education , and “other”.
·
How does
the disability(ies) affect progress of the indicated other education areas?
This section is a more in-depth
look at how the student’s disability impacts their ability to access “the life
of school” and what they are not
able to do because of their disability. When writing this section, consider the
following:
o
How a student’s behavior impedes his/her ability
to interact appropriately within the school environment.
o
Impact of behavioral, social/emotional,
language, OT issues, etc. on participation in less structured school activities
such as school events, lunch, recess, fire drills, P.E., transitions,
assemblies, parties, etc.
o
Discuss the student’s behavior including
behavioral interventions, ability to follow school discipline code, etc.
o
Communication needs (SLP)
o
Assistive Technology (word processing,
AlphaSmarts, speech-to-text software, etc.)
o
Occupational Therapy (listed as other)
o
Skill development related to vocational
preparation or experience.
In this section, my focus (due to
my population of kiddos) is to describe how the student’s behavior negatively
affects progress in the social or less-structured aspects of the school day.
For example, I think about transitions,
gym/P.E., recess, field trips, peer relationships, etc.
·
Accommodations:
See above for description. These are some examples that I commonly use: structured, predictable routine and
schedule, social skills support, therapeutic milieu counseling, individual
psychotherapy, contingent and non-contingent breaks, etc.
·
Modifications:
See above for description. Here are some examples of modifications I commonly
use in my reports: therapeutic
interventions, assistance in all school settings to aid in utilizing coping
strategies and self expression, access to counseling staff for processing and
self-expression, alternate assessments/portfolio assessments utilized, etc.
Current Performance Levels/Measurable Annual Goals:
This portion of the IEP includes the annual goals as well as the current
performance levels of these goals. This portion is where the majority of the
input from others will be included. Aside from the student’s current
performance levels within each goal, the IEP team will be providing insight to
ensure adequate, rigorous, yet attainable goals will be written.
This section is set up by goal. Each goal section begins
with the number of the goal (if it’s the first one written, it will be Goal #1)
followed by the Specific Goal Focus
(a goal focuses on an area of need that will make the biggest difference to the
student). Some examples I commonly use for “areas of focus” include: memory,
communication, time management, self-advocacy, self-regulation, organization,
behavioral regulation, etc. For curriculum areas such as Reading, Writing,
and/or Mathematics need to be skill specific. For example, rather
than having “Reading” as the focus, I like to include specific reading skills
to focus on, such as reading fluency,
decoding multi-syllabic words, reading comprehension, etc. Keep in mind that
my population may be different than yours, so you may not need/want to be as
specific.
After the Specific Goal Focus, the Current Performance Level is described. This section pertains to
the specific goal, thus you will have a Current Performance Level for each
goal. In this section, the educator writes what the student can currently do. When writing this
section, consider the following:
·
What can the child do with and/or without
specific supports and/or accommodations.
·
This is the baseline (generally speaking) –
where a student is currently functioning with the current supports (or no
supports) in place.
·
This section focuses on what the child can do, not what he/she cannot do. That
was discussed in the PLEP sections.
I tend to look at this section as more positive – the focus
is on the student’s abilities. Even if the student cannot independently follow assignment expectations, I would word
it as the following:
“When
given a written checklist, Danny follows assignment expectations with minimal
adult support.”
Another example is:
“Currently,
with 1:1 support, Brenna initiates peer interactions in highly structured
social situations”
This may mean that Brenna struggles with conversing with her
peers during recess or less-structured times, but note how the sentence spins
the wording in a positive light – highlighting her abilities rather than her
challenges. If Brenna’s goal is to increase her ability to initiate peer
interactions with gradually thinning adult support, this would be an adequate
observation of her current performance level in this goal. (Example goal title:
Social Interactions)
The Current Performance Level serves as an introduction to
the Measurable Annual Goal.
Challenging, yet attainable goals should be written. Keep in mind that the goal
is expected to be met by the student by the end of the IEP period. (generally
one year – however depending on IEP amendments and such the time may be
shorter) In order to write measurable and attainable annual goal, ask yourself:
“How will we know that the student has reached this goal?”
I always consider the following
when drafting a goal:
·
What skills does the student need to develop in
order to access, participate, and make progress in the general curriculum and
life of the school?
·
Does this
goal address the skill area that is keeping the student from making progress?
·
A goal should contain a target behavior, condition, and criteria.
·
A goal must be measurable.
·
A goal must include data collection procedures.
An example goal: “Given a 30-minute class period, David will successfully
raise his hand before leaving his seat 60% of the time, with decreasing visual
and verbal prompting. Data will be collected bi-weekly by classroom staff
during two 30-minute class periods.”
In general, 3-4 goals should be chosen that would make the
biggest difference in helping this student. In many cases, students will need
more goals than 4 – often time I receive students with 6-7 goals. On one
occasion I had a student with 9 goals. However, it is important to really focus
on highly functional goals – goals that will have the biggest impact on their
lives. For example, I have a student with poor handwriting, or struggle to
access the social studies standards of our state. At the same time, my fourth
grade student may be reading at a Kindergarten level, and only able to count up
to 10. They may also be struggling with executive functioning, social/emotional
health, communication as it relates to speech and language, and gross motor
development. I need to prioritize my student’s needs, and consider scrapping a
“handwriting” goal and “social studies” goal in order to focus on more
functioning life skills. This is where the team dynamic can really be helpful
in offering insight and support.
The Measureable Annual Goal will also always include Benchmarks/Objectives, the section that
appears immediately after the goal. When writing the benchmarks, ask yourself:
“What will the student need to complete this goal?” It is common practice to
select 1-5 measurable objectives that are directly related to the goal and
specific goal focus.
Now, let’s consider the differences and similarities between
benchmarks and objectives (used interchangeably in the document) which will
help you better understand what to include in this section:
Objectives
·
Breaks
down the skills needed to meet the annual goal.
·
Leads to
meeting the annual goal
·
Examples:
o
Example
Goal:
§
Ann will write paragraphs and compositions at a
3rd grade level with increased independence 3 out of 5 times as
assessed by classroom work, homework, writing samples, and spelling tests.
o
Example
objectives (based on above example goal):
§
Given a graphic organizer, Ann will select a
topic and organize her ideas before writing a complete paragraph independently,
in 3 out of 5 times.
§
Given an editing checklist, Ann will revise her
writing to improve the level of detail and organization with increased
independence in 3 out of 5 times.
§
Ann will use proper size and spacing of her
letters during written work.
§
Given a structured spelling program, Ann will
improve spelling of high frequency words and pattern words with 80% accuracy.
Benchmarks
·
Describes
progress expected within a specific time period
·
Leads to
meeting the annual goal.
·
Examples:
o
Example
Goal:
§
Jill will independently travel from work and
home using the bus and walking and consistently be on time five days per week.
o
Example
benchmarks:
§
By the end of the first quarter, accompanied by
an adult, Jill will walk to the bus stop, ride the bus to work, and get off at
the correct bus stop.
§
By the end of the second quarter, Jill will be
able to identify the steps she will follow to independently travel to work.
§
By the end of the third quarter, Jill will
independently walk to the bus stop, ride the bus, and get off at the correct
bus stop.
Effective goals will be measured by some sort of “test” at
the end of the IEP period, is written in a way that someone else can
understand, implement, and evaluate, and is individualized based on the
student’s disability that affects educational process (hence the acronym).
Service Delivery: This
section includes services, related services, program modifications and supports
(including Positive Behavioral Supports, school personnel, and/or parent
training). Services should assist the student in reaching his/her IEP goals, to
be involved and progress in the general curriculum, to participate in
extracurricular/nonacademic activities and to allow the student to participate
with nondisabled students while working towards the IEP goals. In my district,
the school Special Education Coordinator, or sometimes, the district Special
Education Department Head completes the Service Delivery Grid. This grid is
split into 3 different types of services: Consultation, Direct Services in the
General Education Classroom, and Direct Services in Other Locations
(sub-separate). The type of services is indicated (OT, SLP, Extended School
Year, Therapeutic programs, academic services, etc.), the personnel that
provides the services, the frequency per day or week, as well as the duration,
and the dates in which these services will occur (usually the IEP period).
State or
District-Wide Assessment: This section includes information on the types of
participation the students engages in (on-demand testing with/or without
accommodations, or alternative assessments).
Additional Pages of
Information: These sections that follow the service delivery grid include
sections for Nonparticipation
Justification (pull out of the general education environment), Schedule Modification (longer/shorter
school day and/or year), Placement
Consent (for students who require educational and other placements) and Transportation Services (required
transportation as a result of disability).
Response Section: Here
is the section that the school “assures” the services indicated in the IEP will
be provided. The parents then decide on their response of the IEP (accepting as
is, rejecting portions, rejecting entire IEP, or request meeting to discuss IEP
further).
I wish you well on your IEP development. I hope the above
tips and tricks were helpful! Do you have any more specific IEP writing tips to
provide? I’d love to hear about them!
Cheers,
