StudentLed IEPs

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Student-Led IEPs

• A Guide for Student Involvement

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Why?

• Students dont fully understand their
  exceptionality their individual strengths and
  weaknesses or what accommodations they need for
  post secondary success.
• Students have not developed self-advocacy skills

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Why not?

• Students become better self-advocates
• Person centered planning leads to greater
  self-determination
• Students understand their exceptionality and
  what will enhance their educational lives

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5 Stages to Success

• Develop a Student Led IEP Program
• Help students to understand their IEPs
• Engage students in the IEP process
• Prepare students to participate in and/or lead
  their IEPs
• Monitor ongoing self-advocacy

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Develop a Student-Led IEP program

• Involve Administrators
• Involve Parents
• Select Students
• Ensure Confidentiality
• Determine Instructional Goals
• Plan lessons
• Schedule time

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Involving Administrators

• Student participation
• Parental Notification
• Confidentiality
• Student access to their IEPs
• Scheduling

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Parental Involvement

• Explain the process
• Ensure rights will not be violated
• Parents participation still valued and needed
• Answer their questions

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Selecting Students

• ALL students can benefit
• If you need to start small, start with those you
  predict will have a high probability of success
• Start with those who already demonstrate
  leadership skills
• Choose how each student will participate

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Determining Instructional Goals

• The student will understand the purpose of an IEP
  and be familiar with its parts
• The student will gather information from the
  educational team prior to the IEP
• The student will prepare PLP, Transition Input to
  present at the IEP
• The student will co-present or lead his/her IEP

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Planning Lessons

• Identification
• Present Level of Educational Performance
• Annual Goals
• Accommodations
• Services

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Scheduling Time

• Group lessons
• Individual lessons

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Helping Students to Understand their IEP

• Purpose
• Rationale
• Parts of the IEP
• Where are you now (PLP)
• Where do you need to be a year from now? (Annual
  Goals)
• How are we going to help you get there?
  (Services, Modifications, etc)

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Activities

• What does my IEP look like?
• What does it mean to be gifted in NM?
• Study of the law
• How do I learn?
• Easiest
• Hardest
• Helps me to learn
• Hinders my learning
• What do others do to help me learn
• How do I transition to Adult Life (14 and up)

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Student Glossary

• Identification exceptionality disability
• Present Level of Performance
• Transition Planning
• Annual goal, objectives, benchmarks
• Special Factors
• Positive Behavior Intervention
• Accommodation/Modification
• State and District Testing
• Extended School Year
• Specially Designed Instruction
• Related Services
• Supplementary Aids and Services
• Placement
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Confidentiality

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Engaging Students in Developing IEPs

• Helping Students Access their IEPs
• Review each section
• Ask clarification questions
• Highlight statements that you disagree with
• Add your own ideas for things you think need to
  be added

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Reviewing Goals and Objectives

• completed goal/objective
• - incomplete goal/objective
• ?disagreement with goal/objective
• Be able to give evidence of success
• Get input from other sources

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Reviewing the Service Plan

• successful accommodation
• - unsuccessful accommodation

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Suggestions for Transition Aged Students

• Informal and/or formal interest inventory
• Career Exploration
• Scholarship Opportunities
• College Entrance Exams
• College Exploration
• Transfer of Rights

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Helping Students Write their IEP

• PLP-Describe exceptionality in your own words
• PLP-Develop a list of strengths and educational
  needs
• Goals - add based on the educational needs
  identified in PLP
• Accommodations review an accommodations
  checklist
• What do you think you should be doing to get
  ready for next year

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Preparing Students to Participate in their IEPs

• Preparing for the meeting
• Start with an agenda
• Provide Students with prompts
• Give instruction in listening, asking questions,
  stating disagreements in an appropriate way
• Taking notes

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Preparing Students to lead their own IEPs

• Greeting
• Introductions
• Review Ground Rules
• Review Agenda
• Deal with differences of opinion
• Summarize
• Thanks

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Agenda

• Introductions
• Ground Rules
• Where is the student now? (PLP)
• Where does the student need to be a year from
  now? (AGOBJ)
• How are we going to get him there?
• Considerations/Accommodations/
• State and District Wide Assessment
• Services
• ESY
• LRE
• Debrief the IEP

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Ground Rules

• The IEP will start and end on time.
• Don't interrupt when another participant "has the
  floor." (This includes no sidebar
  conversations.)
• Don't criticize the ideas of others. (No put
  downs)
• Build on the ideas shared by others.
• Remain open-minded and non-judgmental.
• Everyone participates, no-one dominates.
• Complaints are okay when they come packaged with
  a solution.
• Make compromises when necessary.
• Stick to the Agenda and time frames.
• The Facilitator is empowered to enforce ground
  rules.

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Setting up the Meeting

• Formal Notice
• Reminder

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Train other staff members

• Look at the student when he/she is talking
• Use the students name
• Do not refer to the student in the third person,
  refer all comments about the student to the
  student
• Ask the student questions first
• Always allow the student to finish speaking
• Restate what you heard the student say

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Provide Support During the IEP Meeting

• Although the student is facilitating, you must
  have an IEP record keeper
• Acknowledge the preparation that the student did
  for the meeting
• When discussing difficult topics, keep the focus
  on student strengths
• Create a visual signal for the student to use if
  he/she becomes overwhelmed
• Use the time-out technique to intervene

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Time-Out

• Acknowledge the issue
• Provide an alternative means to address the issue
• Restate IEP expectations
• Empower to help

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Debriefing the Meeting

• Praise the students participation
• Encourage student to send thank-you notes to the
  participants
• Evaluate the students participation

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Participation Criteria

• Led the IEP
• Described their exceptionality and impact
• Described present level of performance including
  strengths and weaknesses
• Reported test results
• Described current problems in class
• Described transition plan
• Recommended IEP goals
• Described needed accommodations
• Described legal requirements

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Resources

• Student-Led IEPs, A guide for Student
  Involvement, Marcy McGahee, CEC,
• www.cec.sped.org