Writing a Quality Individualized Education Program (IEP)

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Writing a Quality Individualized Education
Program (IEP)

• EDTR/PSYC 107
• Introduction to Special Education

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Step 1 Describe the Student

• Easiest part of the IEP
• Section in which you record the demographic
  information about a student
• Primary Language
• Disability Category

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Step 2 Describe the Students Present Levels of
Educational Performance

• What are the students educational strengths and
  weaknesses
• What skills or areas of learning need to be
  improved
• Use formal and informal assessment results or
  parent and teacher interviews
• Some states require narrative form, others
  require bulleted form
• Statement of how the disability affects the
  students involvement and progress in the general
  curriculum
• Description of the students performance levels
  in the skill areas affected by the disability
• Logical cues for writing the accompanying goals
  for improvement

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Example of Present Levels of Performance using
Narrative Format

• JaShon is a 4th grade student whose disability
  inhibits his ability to read required material in
  class. JaShon can read orally 95/100 words
  correctly in 2 minutes from a 2.0 grade level
  paragraph and 40/100 in 2 minutes from a 3.0
  level paragraph. JaShon can answer 4/5 literal
  comprehension questions from passages read to him
  at the 2.0 grade level and 0/5 literal
  comprehension questions at the 3.0 level

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Example of Present Levels of Performance using
Bulleted Format

• Strengths
• Reads 95/100 words correctly from 2.0 grade level
  paragraph
• Answers 4/5 literal comprehension questions from
  passages read to him at 2.0 grade level

• Needs
• Improve oral reading at the 3.0 and higher level
• Improve literal comprehension at the 3.0 and
  higher level

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On Your Own with Present Levels of Performance

• Using the example below, write a narrative or
  bulleted form of the students present levels of
  performance
• Estelle is an 11th grade girl whose math skills
  limit her success in math classes. Estelle can
  use a calculator to solve whole number addition,
  subtraction, multiplication, and division
  problems with decimals. She cannot calculate
  total cost of groceries, total outlay for utility
  bills, or expenditures for retail purchases.
  Estelle cannot calculate correct change, balance
  a checkbook, or calculate net income.

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Step 3 Writing Annual Goals

• IDEA Requirements for Annual Goals
• Measurable
• Reasonably accomplishable within a year
• Relate to helping the student be successful in
  the general curriculum or address other
  educational needs resulting from the disability
• Be accompanied by short-term objectives

• JaShon will increase reading fluency to 100 words
  per minute at the 3.0 grade point level
• JaShon will read for 15 minutes each day
• Measurable Yes
• Accomplish no, how will the reading improve
• Related no, needs to be more specific and based
  on present levels of performance
• Write an Annual Goal for Estelle

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Writing Short-term Objectives

• Break down the annual goal into measurable
  intermediate steps
• Task Analysis
• Become the basis for classroom instruction and
  ongoing assessment

• Steps
• List the behavior that will be measured
• Explain the conditions under which that behavior
  occurs
• State the criterion for mastery which allows you
  to measure when the behavior has occurred at the
  desired level

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Samples of Short-term Objectives

• JaShon will orally read a 100-word passage at the
  2.5 grade level in 1 minute with 5 or fewer
  errors for 2 consecutive trials
• Behavior
• Conditions
• Criterion
• Using the annual goal you created for Estelle,
  write a short term objective

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Step 4 Describe the SPED and Related Services
Needed to Achieve the Goals

• These decisions are made by the case manager and
  the IEP team
• SPED Services
• Related Services
• Supplementary Aids and Services
• Help the students advance toward attaining the
  annual goal
• Help the student progress in the general
  curriculum
• Help students participate with other children in
  nonacademic activities
• Consider LRE

• IDEA Mandates
• Behavior strategies and supports for students
  whose behavior impedes their learning or the
  learning of other students
• IEP-related language needs of students who have
  limited proficiency in English
• Instruction in Braille if a student is blind or
  visually impaired
• Special communication needs if a student is deaf
  or hard-of-hearing
• Needs for assistive technology devices or services

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Step 4 Continued

• IDEA Mandates
• Dates when the services will begin
• Frequency of how often and how long the service
  will be provided
• Location of where the services will be provided
• Duration of time that the services will be
  provided

• What SPED, Related Services, or Supplementary
  Aids do you think Estelle will require?

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Step 4 Transition Planning

• IDEA Mandates
• Age 14 and above
• Coursework to prepare for vocational or college
  future
• Age 16 and above
• Instruction
• Related Services
• Community Experiences
• Employment
• Daily Living Skills
• A functional Vocational Evaluation

• Examples
• State vocational rehabilitation agencies (DORS)
• Job Service
• City or County Summer work programs
• Private job training agencies
• Sheltered workshops
• Other government-sponsored or private service
  providers
• What are some considerations in planning for
  Estelles transition goals?

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Step 5 Participation in the General Curriculum
and Placement Decisions

• Participation should be addressed for
• Regular classroom and curricular activities
• Extracurricular Activities
• Nonacademic Activities

• Methods to describe this can include
• Percentage of time
• Number of Minutes
• List the specifics in which the student will/will
  not be participating

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Step 6 Participation in Statewide and County
Assessments

• Types of Modifications
• Timing/Scheduling
• Assessment Setting
• Presentation Format
• Response Format
• Use of Alternative Assessments must be used if
  current testing practices are deemed
  inappropriate
• Consider
• General or specific modifications needed, if any
• Whether the student is able to participate
• Alternative Assessments

• Sebastian is an eighth grade boy with significant
  deficits in reading and written language. He
  reads effectively at about the 4.0 grade level.
  He seems to process slowly, but can finish tasks
  if given sufficient time
• Practice writing testing modifications

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Step 7 How will Parents be Informed of Progress
toward Goals?

• IDEA Mandates
• How the students progress toward goals will be
  measured
• Mastery of objectives and annual goals
• Scale of progress ranging from Not Yet Addressed
  to Some Progress, Good Progress, and Mastery for
  each goal
• Portfolio
• Classroom performance on
• Tests and quizzes
• Progress charts
• Pretest/Posttest results
• Statewide assessment results
• How the parents will be informed of such progress
• Progress on goals and objectives
• Likelihood of achieving goals by the end of year
  as given by estimation based on past performance
• IEP Report Card sent with General Education
  Report Card
• Parent/teacher conferences
• Letters and phone calls

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Step 7 Example

• JaShons parents will be informed of his progress
  toward his annual goals on the same schedule as
  the rest of the students in the school
  parent/teacher conferences and quarterly report
  cards. These reports will include the number of
  objectives JaShon has met and an estimate of his
  rate of progress toward each annual goal.

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Your On Your Own

• Working individually or in a small group, go
  through these identified steps for your
  particular student to assist you in writing a
  quality IEP.