Module 1: IEP Overview – A Plan for
Guiding Instruction and
Service Provision
Product vs. Process
Product:

An individualized plan reasonably
calculated to result in educational benefit
(FAPE)
Process:

Planning to determine what is needed for
student to benefit from education
IEP Development Process
Desired
Outcomes/
Instructional
Results
General
Curriculum
Expectations
Developing PLAAFP
Statements
Area of
Instructional
Need
Implement &
Monitor Progress
PLAAFP
Statements
on IEP Form
Current
Skills and
Knowledge
Select Instructional
Services & Program
Supports
Write
Measurable
Goals
IEP Development: a “GPS”
• You:





Know where you want to go
Enter data about where you are
Create a map
Adjust to opportunities/barriers
Arrive and choose a new long-term goal
Planning: Two Critical Components
 Knowing where you want to go
 Using data as the basis
Assumptions
• Good IEPs are:
 Reasonably calculated to result in
educational benefit
 Connected to state standards as a
fundamental component to educational
benefit
Assumptions
• Good IEPs are:
 Dependent upon knowledge of
curriculum/effective practice
 Not an isolated event
 Consistent with regulation/best practice
The “I” in IEP
• Requires:
 Consideration of individualized data/needs
 Different goals for different students based on
needs
Activity 1.1
Reflect & Note:
• Why:
 Are standards important?
 Should we consider them?
 Standards-Based IEPs?
Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA)
Added accountability by requiring:
 Demonstrated progress on state standards
 Assessment on grade-level standards
 Students with disabilities as a reported
subgroup
Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA)
“…meet the child's needs . . . to enable the
child to be involved in and make progress
in the general education curriculum . . . ”
34 CFR 300.320(a)(2)(i)(A)
ESEA/IDEA Intersect
• Successful educational outcomes for all students
• Statewide Assessment Accountability for all
students
• Consequences for not assessing all students
• Access to the general curriculum is essential to
closing the achievement gap and reaching Annual
Measurable Objectives (AMO)
Ultimately…
“ It means that all our kids, even the ones our
system calls ‘hard to teach’ can learn.”
-Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education
“Ready means ‘never’ if we continuously focus
on the lowest-level skills.”
-Maggie McLaughlin, Autumn 2009
Activity 1.2
In Your Own Words…
Finish this sentence:


Standards-Based IEPs are important
because…
Accessing the General Education
Curriculum
• What is meant by the general education
curriculum?
 The full range of courses, activities, lessons, and
materials routinely used by the general
population
• What is meant by access?
 Participation in the knowledge and skills that
make up the general education curriculum
Access to the General Education
Curriculum for Students with
Disabilities
ACCESS is not:
•
Students with disabilities sitting in the general
education classroom completing work that is
unrelated to the grade-level standards.
•
Students with disabilities sitting in the general
education classroom exposed to content that is out of
their reach.
Access to the General Education
Curriculum for Students with
Disabilities
• It is essential to determine how students with
disabilities will participate in the content of the
general education curriculum.
• The student’s strengths provide the best
information to determine how the student can
access the knowledge and skills of the general
education curriculum.
Standards Drive Curriculum
• Provide instructional accountability
• Drive general education content instruction
• Support instruction in the least restrictive
environment
• Define the expectations of all students with or
without disabilities
• Create a structure for linking the IEP to the general
curriculum
Why Connect IEPs to Standards?
• High stakes accountability, performance goals and
indicators
• IDEA – access to the general curriculum
• Essential for closing the achievement gap
• Promotes a single system of education – inclusion
and a common language
• Encourages greater consistency across
schools and districts
• It’s best for kids – assumes more, not less
Activity 1.3
Think and Discuss
• How are you using the standards in
your school to shape your curriculum
and instruction?
• How are you using the standards to
develop IEP goals?
Connecting IEPs to Standards…
• Does not mean –
 Writing goals that restate the standards
 Using the academic standards alone to
determine goals
 Assuming that every student will work
only on grade-level content
Connecting IEPs to Standards…
• Does mean –
 Referring to standards to determine
expectations at grade level
 Using the standards as a guide to determine
what is important for the student to learn or
be able to do
 Conducting an analysis to determine gap
between grade expectations and current
skills/knowledge
What is a Standards-Based IEP?
• A process and a document (product) that is
framed by the state standards to ensure
instructional accountability for each student with
an exceptionality.
• A plan that contains goals individually designed
to facilitate the student’s achievement of gradelevel state standards.
• The cornerstone of access to the general
education curriculum for students with
exceptionalities.
23
General Steps:
1. Consider the grade-level content standards

Examine benchmarks

Discuss expected knowledge and skills

Consider prerequisite knowledge and skills
2. Examine student data to determine where
student is in relation to grade-level standards

Compare expectations with student’s current
instructional level

Gap Analysis
Standards-Based IEPs: Review and
Wrap-up
 Content is determined through
planning process
 Development is like using a GPS
Standards-Based IEPs: Review &
Wrap-up
• Depend on good data from multiple sources
• Start with discussion about the desired outcome
• Include vision with parent and student as a source
of data
• Determine instructional need(s) by a gap analysis
• Include data from comprehensive evaluation as
one source of data
Process of Developing Standards-Based IEPs
Determine general
education
curriculum
expectations
•
•
•
NxGCSOs/Support for SB-IEPs (ELA, Math)
NxGECEs/Community Readiness
Unwrap the Standards
Identify current
skills, knowledge
and area(s) of
instructional need
•
•
•
•
What is the big picture?
Which are most important?
Which are critical needs?
Develop student data profile
Conduct data/gap
analysis and
develop impact
statement
•
•
•
•
•
Review student data profile
Review Grade-Level CSOs
Review Learning Progressions
Determine Gap
Where student is and where student needs to go
Develop Present
Levels of Academic
Achievement and
Functional
Performance
•
•
•
•
Collect Data
Identify Strengths
Identify Needs
Develop Impact Statement
Choose content
standard and
objective(s)
•
•
What standard(s) and objective(s) best address the gap?
What standard(s) and objective(s) are critical for
accelerating student learning?
Write measurable
goals and
objectives
•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop 4-Point Goal
In what length of time (Timeframe)
Under what context (Conditions)
The student (Who) - Will do what (Behavior)
Through what assessment (Evaluation) - To what
degree/level (Criterion)
Accommodations/Modifications/Specially Designed
Instruction
High achievement always takes place
in the framework of high expectation.
Activity 1.4
Which Came First?
Standard
Present Levels of Academic
Achievement and Functional
Performance