Chapter 7: IEPs — Developing Your Child's Education Plan - Página 2

Who Attends IEP Meetings?

The IEP team consists of:

• The student's parents
• At least one regular education teacher of the student (if the student is, or may be, participating in the regular education classroom)*
• At least one special education teacher or, where appropriate, at least one special education provider*
• A representative of the school district who is: qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction; is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and is knowledgeable about the availability of the school district's resources*
• An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results (this may be a school psychologist or may be one of the teachers or the district representative listed above)*
• Any individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student. These individuals can be invited by either the school or the parent and might include an advocate, private tutor or related services personnel (such as a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist or physical therapist)
• When appropriate, the student. (You know your child best, so work with school staff to determine the appropriate age at which your child is ready to be part of the IEP team meeting. This will vary based on your child’s disability, level of maturity and ability to understand the information that is discussed during an IEP meeting.)

You should read the meeting notice to be sure that the required members are going to be on hand. You should expect that members will be available for the entire meeting. If you have any concerns regarding those who are scheduled to attend, communicate those concerns prior to the meeting. If the school district is proposing to excuse a team member, be sure you understand the terms of such excusals, as explained below.

[New] Exceptions to IEP Meeting Attendance

IDEA 2004 provides two ways that the IEP team members indicated above with a * can be excused from attending the IEP meeting, in whole or in part:

• If the member's area of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or discussed in the meeting. Parents must provide written agreement for this type of excusal.
• If, when the member's area of curriculum or related services is being discussed, the member submits written input to the parents and the team prior to the meeting. Parents must provide informed written consent for this type of excusal.

This applies whether the IEP team member wishes to be excused from attending either the entire meeting or part of the meeting. If you would prefer that the school district not propose to excuse any member of your child's IEP team, you need to notify the school, in writing, well in advance of the meeting. Use the Sample Letter Regarding IEP Team Member Excusal for this purpose.

Developing the IEP

Consideration Factors

The development of your child's IEP must begin with the consideration of several important factors. These are:

• The strengths of your child
• Your concerns for improving your child's education
• The results of your child's initial evaluation or most recent evaluation
• [New] The academic, developmental and functional needs of your child.

Careful consideration of each of these factors by the IEP team leads to the development of a statement about your child's present levels of academic and functional performance. Your concerns as a parent should be considered as important as the school's concerns and information. You should provide a written statement of concerns about your child's academic, developmental and functional needs to help ensure that the IEP reflects your input. For example, if your child is struggling with homework each night or experiencing difficulties participating in activities such as after school clubs or sports, include these as concerns that should be addressed.

As noted above, IDEA 2004 adds a new requirement that the IEP must take into consideration the "academic, developmental and functional needs" of your child. This allows the IEP team to broaden what it might consider important for your child's IEP beyond academic performance and include needs associated with other important aspects of your child's performance. Developmental and functional needs can include areas such as social skill development, behavioral problems and attention issues — all areas of development that can have significant impact on your child's academic performance. Your child's participation in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities should also be considered

Special Factors

Next, the IEP team must consider a list of "special factors" that might require additional elements in the IEP. These factors are:

• The use of positive behavioral interventions and strategies to address a child's behavior that gets in the way of his or her learning or that of others
• The language needs of a child with limited English proficiency
• Instruction in Braille for a child who is blind or visually impaired
• The language and communication needs for a child who is deaf or hard of hearing
• The need for assistive technology devices and services for all children with disabilities (e.g., special computer software, calculators, audio books)

For example, if the IEP team feels that a student's behavior is interfering with learning, the team should develop a behavior intervention plan. The behavior plan must be based on an assessment of the student’s behavior so that interventions can be developed to address the specific behaviors of concern.

A thorough discussion of behavior plans and the assessment required to develop such plans is beyond the scope of this guide. However, if your child’s behavior is interfering with learning, be sure to become familiar with this process and ask the IEP team to address behavior as part of your child's functional needs. Start by reviewing the information in the IEP Team's Introduction to Functional Behavioral Assessment And Behavior Intervention Plans.

Present Level of Performance (PLOP)

Next, the IEP team develops a statement describing your child's present levels of academic and functional performance. This statement should be drawn from a variety of information and data, including information provided by you. The PLOP must include information on how your child's disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. The PLOP establishes the starting point, or baseline, that will be used to develop the IEP's measurable annual goals, so it's important that objective information such as recent test scores and other evaluation data be included in this statement.

Examples of inappropriate and appropriate present level of performance statements (PLOP):

• Inappropriate: Susan is not progressing adequately in the second grade reading curriculum.
• Appropriate: Susan is reading 15-20 words per minute (WPM) with three to eight errors in second grade material. She reads slowly with inaccurate decoding skills.

Measurable Annual Goals

Next, the IEP team develops a set of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals. The goals must be designed to meet your child's needs that result from his or her disability. Additionally, the goals must enable your child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum. These goals should be written only for areas of need that arise from your child's disability. These are not goals for your child’s total education program (unless all areas are affected). Goals must be measurable and must relate directly to the information in the PLOP.

Examples of inappropriate and appropriate annual goals:

• Inappropriate: Susan will improve her decoding skills and reading speed.
  Appropriate: Susan will read 80 words per minute (WPM) with zero to two errors in second grade material.

Short-term Objectives

For students with significant cognitive disabilities who participate in district and state-wide testing via alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards, each annual IEP goal is also broken down into short-term objectives — measurable intermediate steps between the baseline (as described in the PLOP) and the annual goal.

[New] While the requirement for short-term objectives for all other students was eliminated in IDEA 2004, some states may choose to continue to require such interim steps as part of annual goals.

Progress Reporting

Next, the IEP team will describe how your child's progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured and reported to you. This description must include when you will receive regular progress reports. For example, progress reports can be issued quarterly, at the same time that report cards are sent home to all parents.

Reports of progress toward annual goals should involve objective measures — such as results gathered by curriculum-based measurement and standardized tests — and should not rely on any one single measure. A combination of measures will best document your child's progress and show if the special services are meeting your child's needs. Teacher observation and grades alone are not appropriate measures of student progress.