Guidelines for Making Decisions
about IEP Services

IEP Services 3 of 8

Team Practices
This series of slide shows is based on:
Guidelines for Making
Decisions about IEP Services
2001
Michael F. Giangreco, Ph.D.
University of Vermont, Center on Disability and Community Inclusion
This document is available in a pdf (portable document format) on the internet
http://www.uvm.edu/~uapvt/iepservices/
http://www.state.vt.us/educ/Cses/sped/main.htm
Distributed by the
Vermont Department of Education
Family and Educational Support Team
Montpelier, Vermont
Development of this material was supported by a grant from the Vermont Department of Education, Montpelier,
Vermont under the auspices of Vermont Act 117: An Act to Strengthen the Capacity of Vermont’s Education
System to Meet the Needs of All Students, Section 7 (d) (5).
Learn about Team Members
Team members should
be aware of each other’s
specific skills, interests,
and experiences, in
addition to their
professional training.
Members without such
training (parents or
students for example) are
equally valuable team
members.
Knowing about each team member’s
specialization can assist the team in
deciding...
 how to support each
other,

what skills they need to
learn, or

where they need to
seek help beyond the
existing team.
Acknowledge Varying
Decision-Making Values

More-is-Better

Return-on-Investment

Only-as-Specialized-asNecessary
Decision-making models are
all based on underlying
values. Sometimes these
are clearly understood and
agreed to by team
members. When they are
unclear or competing it is
problematic because
differences increase the
probability that people will
be working at crosspurposes (sometimes
without realizing why).
More-is-Better

This approach is
misguided because it
confuses quantity with
value.

It can have negative
outcomes for students
by interfering with
participation in other
school activities.
Providing more services than necessary may:





decrease time for
participation with peers
disrupt the normal flow of
class activities
interfere with class
membership
cause disruption in
acquiring, practicing, or
generalizing skills
cause inequities in the
distribution of scarce
resources




overwhelm families with
a large number of
professionals
result in students with
disabilities feeling
stigmatized by “special”
services
create dependencies
unnecessarily
complicate
communication and
coordination
Return-on-Investment

Places a high value on serving
students who have a favorable
history and prognosis for being
“fixed” and those likely to
contribute the most economically
to society

It fails to recognize the many non
economic contributions made by
even people with the most
severe disabilities
Only-as-Specialized-as-Necessary




Helps determine the
appropriate type and amount
of service, but not more than
is needed
Draws upon natural supports
Includes data collection on the
impact of services
Takes precautions to avoid the
drawbacks of well-intentioned
over-service
The only-as-specializedas-necessary approach
does not necessarily
mean “less is always
best” or “only a little is
plenty. When used as
intended, it results in
students receiving
needed services. It is
meant to be a value
orientation agreed to by
the team, which includes
the family.
Develop a Shared
Framework

A shared framework
consists of a team’s
common set of beliefs,
values, or assumptions
about education, children,
families, and professionals
to which they agree
through ongoing
discussion.
It is advisable to share
differing perspectives
openly among team
members. When beliefs,
values, or assumptions are
unknown or hidden the
team process is more likely
to be undermined.
Developing a shared
framework provides a
foundation upon which a
team can build effective
educational programs.
Clarify the Process

Establish ground rules, group
expectations, and process
steps from the outset, either
before a meeting or at least
at the beginning of a meeting.

Process steps need to be
agreed to by group members
and adhered to by the group.
Common Ground Rules & Group Expectations




Have a written agenda
Make sure all members
have an opportunity to
contribute to setting the
agenda
Set an expectation that
members will arrive on
time, start on time, and
come prepared
Establish and share roles
(e.g., facilitator, recorder,
timekeeper)





Make sure all members
have an opportunity to
participate (e.g., use
round-robin)
Limit jargon
No “put downs”
Don’t criticize the
person, critique the idea
Build on each other’s
ideas
Have a clear meeting process,
here’s an example:

Present an agenda item

Have a discussion ensuring opportunities to all

Make a decision

Identify and record tasks to be completed

Name the persons responsible for task completion

Establish timelines for task completion

Spend time processing your teamwork practices
Seek Consensus
and clarify procedures if consensus is not achieved

The absence of team
processes to help reach
consensus about
educationally necessary
supports is a problem that
continues to plague IEP
services decision-making.

This problem takes two basic
forms.



Some groups have no
identifiable process.
Decisions are made
based on intuition,
clinical judgment,
historical practices, or
advocacy.
Although some teams
might have good luck
with this approach,
most are not so lucky.


Some groups have
identifiable processes
designed for use by
single disciplines; these
have substantial
limitations.
Without exploring the
interrelationships among
the other disciplines it
increases the likelihood of
service gaps, overlaps,
and contradictions.
If consensus is
not reached...

it is the responsibility of the
Local Education Agency to
make a service
recommendation. If parents
disagree, they have access
to dispute resolution options
including mediation,
administrative complaints ,
and due process hearings.
All of these options can be
avoided or minimized by
having a sound way to reach
consensus.
Open the next slide show

Open the next slide show
labeled:

IEP Services 4 of 8

Slide show 4 of 8
addresses, Learn About the
Student and Learn About
the Context