The IEP: Drafting the IEP (Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4) Southwest Ohio Special Education Regional Resource Center Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Session Objectives To provide tools that will assist in drafting a clear, meaningful and measurable IEP. To provide formatting options and best practice guidance on specific steps of the IEP. To provide time for practical application and feedback.

Session Agenda Drafting Tools Procedural and Compliance Reminders Drafting the IEP –Step 1 Future Planning –Step 2 Present Levels of Performance BREAK –Step 3 Needs –Step 4 Annual Goals Session Evaluation

Session Format Drafting discussion/challenge slides will appear like this. At these points, you and your team or group will have time to address discussion questions, challenges, sample IEP items, or other issues relevant to the current “Step” of the IEP.

Drafting Tools (For Steps 1-4) 1.Ohio’s Operating Standards for Schools Serving Students with Disabilities (OS) pages Academic Content Standards (ACS) 3.Smart Sheet (SS) 4.Parent and Student Input (interviews, questionnaires, other) 5.Annual Goal Worksheet 6.Writing Measurable Goals and Objectives

Procedural and Compliance Reminders Timelines –Initial (30 days from eligibility determination) –Periodic Review (at least once annually) Forms –PR-02 (Parent Invitation) –PR-02 (Prior Written Notice) –Procedural Safeguards (Whose IDEA Is This?) –PR-07 (IEP)

Step 1 Discuss Future Planning The IEP team shall ensure that family and student preferences and interests are an essential part of the planning process. The team will document the planning information on the IEP. (OS page 65)

DRAFTING GUIDING QUESTIONS –What is the parents’/family’s vision for the child one, five, ten years from now? –In addition to academics, what are the community, work, living, and vocational considerations? –What are the student’s strengths and talents? Step 1 Discuss Future Planning

STEP 1 EXAMPLE Step 1 Discuss Future Planning

Drafting Discussion –When should the information for this section be gathered? –How can family and student preferences best be documented? Drafting Challenge –Develop or outline a tool that could be used to document family and student preferences.

Step 1 Discuss Future Planning Drafting Discussion –Critique Step 1 of the IEP brought by your team/group. –What should stay in place? –What changes need to be made?

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance The IEP for each child with a disability must include a statement of the child’s present levels of educational performance, including how the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement in the general curriculum… (OS page 66)

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance The IEP team shall consider –The strengths of the child and the concerns of the parents of the child for enhancing the education of the child. –Results of the initial or most recent evaluations of the child. –Results of the child’s performance on any State or district-wide assessments. –Special factors and other considerations. (OS page 65-66)

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance DRAFTING GUIDING QUESTIONS –Have only the areas of the child’s unique needs that require special services been addressed? –Has the data included been collected from a variety of resources, across settings, time, and team members? –Have jargon, terminology, and subjective words been avoided?

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance DRAFTING NOTES –It is next to impossible to write measurable annual goals unless present levels of performance contain measurable baseline data. –Measurable means that more than one team member can count it or observe it and show evidence with the same results.

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance DRAFTING NOTES –Organize data and information in a SPECIFIC FORMAT to aid in clarity, cohesiveness, and to ensure that all areas have been addressed. Use the child’s daily schedule as a framework. Organize the data by academic, functional, behavioral, etc. –Make it REAL… if the student moves, Step 2 should tell everything his/her new teacher needs to know!

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance Drafting Challenge –Using OS and the drafting guiding questions and notes for Step 2, evaluate and discuss these present levels:

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance Drafting Challenge –Compare those evaluation results to these present levels (consider the importance and/or impact of formatting and measurability):

Step 2 Discuss Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance Drafting Discussion –Critique Step 2 of the IEP brought by your team/group. –What should stay in place? –What changes need to be made?

BREAK 5 minutes When You Return: –There will be envelopes for your team/group when you return. –The envelopes contain slips that list separate specific skills. –Read the skills together as a group and place the skills in order.

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction Identify all needs that are interfering with the student accessing the general curriculum (participation and progress in Academic Content Standards) that need specially designed instruction. (OS page 66)

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction DRAFTING NOTE –There are two types of Needs 1.Skills - What academic, functional, behavioral or other skills the child needs to learn to do better? Requires observable, measurable, baseline present levels of performance. 2.Conditions - What conditions the child needs in order to learn? Requires present levels of performance that describe what accommodations, modifications, services have been successful.

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction DRAFTING GUIDING QUESTIONS –Does the need flow directly from Step 1 Future Planning and Step 2 Present Levels of Performance? –Has the need been found to be a priority? Critical Addresses multiple issues Across settings Necessary for future learning Impact level of independence Authentic, age appropriate, and applicable to real life Necessary for transition (post secondary education, work, living, etc.)

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction DRAFTING NOTE –Document alignment of student needs and annual goals and benchmarks/objectives with ACS in Step 3. –Using grade appropriate grade level indicators (GLI) from the ACS, align prioritized need with the GLI that has the most capacity for real- world application while at the same time moving the student the farthest towards achieving ACS. KNOW THE ACS! KNOW THE STUDENT!

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction STEP 3 EXAMPLE (Aligned with ACS)

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction Drafting Discussion –Use the drafting notes for Step 3 and the ACS to align this prioritized need with an appropriate GLI.

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction Drafting Discussion –Was there more than on subject, standard, and/or GLI that would have appropriately aligned the student’s need? –How many needs should be listed in each “Step 3”? If there is a certain number, why?

Step 3 Identify Needs that Require Specially Designed Instruction Drafting Discussion –Critique Step 3 of the IEP brought by your team/group. –What should stay in place? –What changes need to be made?

Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals A statement of measurable annual goals related to meeting the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum and to meet the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disabilities. (OS page 66)

DRAFTING GUIDING QUESTIONS –Does the goal flow directly from Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3? –Is there only one goal per page? –Is there a general statement of what content areas the goal addresses (or “all areas” if/when applicable)? Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals

DRAFTING GUIDELINES –Annual goals must measurable. Who… will do… what… how well… under what conditions? Reveal what to do to measure whether the goal has been accomplished. Yields the same conclusion if measured by several people. Allows for a determination of how much progress it represents. Can be measured without additional information. Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals

DRAFTING GUIDING QUESTIONS –Is the goal individualized? “The Ohio Academic Content should not serve as a ready made list for IEP goals…” (SS page 4) –Does the goal reflect what the student will do (not teachers!)? –Can the goal be accomplished within one year? Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals

Drafting Challenge –Use the drafting guidelines for Step 4 to evaluate this annual goal:

Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals Drafting Challenge –Now use the same guidelines to evaluate this annual goal:

Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals Drafting Challenge –Use the Annual Goal Worksheet and Writing Measurable Goals and Objectives to develop a goal for “Olivia” based on the need (aligned with ACS) you developed in Step 3.

Step 4 Identify Measurable Annual Goals Drafting Discussion –Critique Step 4 of the IEP brought by your team/group. –What should stay in place? –What changes need to be made? Drafting Challenge –Use the Annual Goals Worksheet and Writing Measurable Goals and Objectives to develop a revised annual goal that will contain all necessary parts to make it observable and measurable.

The IEP: Drafting the IEP Next Session Monday, November 13, :30 – 7:00 p.m. Focus on the rest of Step 4 (benchmarks/objectives/student progress), Step 5 (services), and Step 6 (least restrictive environment)