Top ten non compliance findings from the Office for Exceptional Children from their Special Education Onsite Reviews

#10 The annual goals of the IEP did not address the child’s academic areas of need. (6)

#9 The IEP did not contain a statement of the services and supplementary aides and supports to be provided to enable the child to be involved and make progress in the general education curriculum. (7 & 11)

#8 The IEP did not indicate the location where specially designed instruction would be provided. (7)

#7 The IEP team and other qualified professionals did not review existing evaluation data on the child, including evaluations and information provided by the parents, if any, and identify what additional data were needed to complete the evaluation. (ETR)

#6 There was not sufficient evidence that the evaluation process addressed all areas related to the suspected disability. (ETR)

#5 The IEP’s did not state the amount and frequency information for specially designed instruction. (11)

#4 The IEP did not have a statement that addressed how the child’s disability effects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. (11)

#3 The IEP did not contain a statement of the extent to which the child will NOT participate with nondisabled children in the regular education classroom. (11)

#2 The IEP did not contain a statement of the specially designed instruction that addressed the needs of the child and support the annual goals. (7)

#1 The annual goals of the IEP are not stated in measurable terms. (6)

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PLOP? Guiding Quantifiable Baseline

Directions for table group Choose a Reporter, Recorder, Timer and Task Master Answer your Question Be Prepared to Report to the Group

Measureable Annual Goals Does Your Goal Have The Following? Is the goal supported by information in the present level of performance which address the needs that result from the disability? Is who, the child’s name, present ? Is what he/she will be able to do present ? Is what level or degree of performance present ? Are the conditions under how the child will be expected to perform present? Is the length of time to master the goal present ? Is how progress will be measured present?

Content standard connection Are the goals connected to academic content standards?   (This is intended to focus on student specific skill deficits needed to master the academic content standards and should be supported with data in the present level of performance. It is not a restatement of the academic content standard.)

Now your task In your table groups, review John’s or Allison’s IEP. The PLOP is already completed, your task is to write a measureable annual goal based on the information provided. Each group should be prepared to present at least two goals for the student which they have chosen. Teams will complete Feedback Forms on each goal as they are presented.

Difference between benchmarks and objectives Mechanism used to reach the annual goal. Benchmark is a specific statement of what the child should know and be able to do in a specified segment of the year. How much and by when. Objective means a smaller, more manageable learning task that the child must master as a step toward achieving the annual goal. Objectives break the skills into discrete components that allow the child to successfully attain the goal. Same 6 elements must be applied

Section 7 Specially Designed Services Specially Designed Instruction Related Services Assistive Technology How do we determine what they need-what will their day look like-connecting to the goal

Specially Designed Instruction

Specially Designed Instruction Defined: “Adapting as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability and to ensure access of the child to the general education curriculum so the child can meet the educational standards that apply to all children within the jurisdiction of the school district.”

Specially Designed Instruction Instruction that supports the child to accomplish his/her IEP goals and NARROWS THE GAP between their present levels of performance and grade level benchmarks and indicators.

Completing Section 7 • Specially Designed Instruction describes the “content, methodology, delivery of instruction”.

– Are these elements present in the description? – Can anyone walk into the classroom and know what the student’s specially designed instruction is to entail? – Does the parent understand what the specially designed instruction is and how it is different from the instruction found in the typical general education classroom?

Specially Designed Instruction: Goals, Provider, Location of Services • Can all of the goals listed be attained through the description of the specially designed instruction?

– If “YES”, multiple goals can be listed. – If “NO”, the goals are separated and aligned with an appropriate description of the instruction to be provided the child.

Specially Designed instruction: Goals, Provider, Location of Services • Who will be providing this instruction? – Only the title of the person is needed • Where will this instruction be provided? – If it is provided in multiple locations, (ie: regular education classroom and resource room) it is considered multiple services and each listed separately.

Specially Designed Instruction: • Begin and End Date – Annotations state that this can be left blank if the beginning and end dates for the instruction is the same as the beginning and end dates of the IEP…. • Many districts do not allow this as it is confusing/unclear to parents.

Specially Designed Instruction: • Amount of Time – This refers to the amount of time instruction will be given toward the achievement of the goals listed, not amount of time in a class period or instructional period. – If multiple goals are listed in this instructional box it is the total amount of time that will be given to those goals as a group, not individually. Those goals must be related and receive the same specially designed instruction.

Specially Designed Instruction: • Frequency of Service –Aligned with the amount of time –Can be daily, weekly, monthly etc.

Does your district automatically place all students with disabilities in the regular education classroom?

Does your district offer all of the continuum placement options?

If your answer was “No,” what option(s) are not offered?

Why are these options not available to students with disabilities in your district?

Who makes your LRE decision in your district?

When is the least restrictive environment decision made in your IEP process?

Are the parents involved in the LRE decision process?

What justifications do you consider when you remove a student with disabilities from the regular education classroom setting?

The IEP must include a justification for why the child was removed from the regular education classroom, and - Is based on the needs of the child, not the child’s disability. - Reflects that the team has given adequate consideration to meeting the student’s needs in the regular education classroom with supplementary aids and services.

- Documentation that the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular education classes, even with supplementary aids and services, cannot be achieved satisfactorily. - Describes potential harmful effects to the child or others, if applicable.

Can a regular education teacher refuse to implement an IEP because he/she asserts they are not properly trained to educate students with disabilities?

To what extent could a school consider the impact of a SWD regular education class placement on non-disabled students?