STANDARD’S BASED IEP TRAINING
Where do we start?
STANDARDS-BASED IEP’S
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Beginning with the reauthorization of IDEA in
1997, significant federal legislation was passed that
dramatically changed how states and local school
districts function.
Accountability for student learning became
foremost in federal regulations.
Let’s briefly review the legislation that impacted
our state’s policies and school district practices
STANDARDS- BASED REFORM
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IDEA reauthorization 1997
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Access to, participation and progress in the general education
curriculum.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
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Aligned system of standards and assessments; Accountability
for ALL students.
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State and local Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
IDEA 2004 and 2007 reauthorization
STANDARDS-BASED REFORM
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In the past 10 years, Federal legislation has
focused on two major assumptions related to
teaching and learning:
1). Special education students have the right to be
taught as if they can meet the same high
standards expected of all students.
2). All students must be provided with
opportunities to learn the general education
curriculum.
STANDARDS-BASED REFORM
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A few challenges along the way:
It changes the way special education
staff think about instruction for students
with disabilities.
 It raises the expectations for all student
learning.
 It requires by law that all children have access to
grade- level content (math and language arts)
state identified standards.
 Staff must now plan, teach, and assess students
on a more frequent basis so that the student can
participate and make progress in the GENERAL
EDUCATION curriculum.
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WHAT DOES “ACCESS TO” GRADE-LEVEL
CONTENT STANDARD’S MEAN?
Access means that all student have opportunities to
participate in the knowledge and skills that make up
the general education curriculum.
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Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) is defined in
the 2006 IEA regulations at 34 CFR 300.17 to mean:
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Special Education and related services that(a) are provided at public expense, under public supervision and
direction, and without charge,
(b) Meet the standards of the State Educational agency
(Minnesota Department of Education)
(c) Include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or
secondary school education in Minnesota, and
(d) Are provided in conformity with an IEP that meets the
requirements of 34 CFR 300.320 through 300.324.
THE
DESTINATION AND THE
“FLIGHT PLAN”
The Destination:
 Standards-based instruction is a process for teaching
all students clearly defined content standards for the
purpose of improving academic performance
(Destination).
The Flight Plan:
 The goal then is for general education teachers,
learning specialist and administration to form a
collaborative partnership so that the development and
implementation of standard’s based instruction will
be guided by a standard’s based Individual Education
Program (IEP) “flight” plan.
DEVELOPING STANDARD’S BASED IEP’S
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The Individual Education Program (IEP) plan is
the cornerstone of access to the general education
curriculum.
Basing the student’s IEP on grade-level content
standards:
Provides opportunities to learn the same content
learned by non-disabled peers.
 Addresses the unique needs presented by the
student’s disability
 Emphasizes access through analysis of the student’s
disability and how it will impact learning.
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WHAT STEPS DO IEP TEAMS NEED TO FOLLOW
TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STANDARDS-BASED
IEP’S?
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Step 1: Collect and examine materials for making
data-based IEP decisions. Review information from:
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Courses of study and/or curriculum guides
Current MCA, DALT and Classroom/Grade Level assessment
results
Student work samples
Previous year’s IEP
Grades
Discipline referrals
Attendance reports
WHAT STEPS DO IEP TEAMS NEED TO FOLLOW
TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STANDARDS-BASED
IEP’S?
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Step 2: Analyze data to develop the student profile.
The profile should include general statements
regarding :
Strengths
 Needs
 How the disability affects involvement/progress in the general
education curriculum
 Assessment/Evaluation
 Status of Prior IEP goals
 Teacher/Parent/Student/input
 Transition needs ( by grade 9)
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WHAT STEPS DO IEP TEAMS NEED TO FOLLOW
TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STANDARDS-BASED
IEP’S?
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Step 3: Use date to summarize the Present Level of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP).
Characteristics:
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It needs to be standard’s centered
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Data Driven
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Understandable
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Measureable
WHAT STEPS DO IEP TEAMS NEED TO FOLLOW
TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STANDARDS-BASED
IEP’S?
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Components of the PLAAFP:
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Student Strengths: Include information on the student’s response to learning
strategies, accommodations, interventions and content standard instruction.
Refrain from using the students exceptionality to explain how the disability affects
involvement in the general curriculum.
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Student Needs: Focus on identified needs that affect the progress in the
general education curriculum. Ask yourself…. What prerequisite skills/knowledge
does the student need to close the gap between his/her present level and the grade
level content standards?
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How the Disability Affects Performance:
Consider how the student’s
disability affects progress in learning the grade-level content standards. For
example:
“Emma’s difficulties retrieving information may negatively impact her progress
in achieving reading standards that include synonyms, antonyms, and
multiple-meaning words”.
SAMPLES
Present Level of Academic Achievement and
Functional Performance
Classroom assessments indicate that Ashlee can use details and
examples to draw conclusions from grade level reading passages. She
experiences difficulty with synthesizing ideas from reading passages
and drawing inferences as indicated on the most recent Minnesota
Comprehensive Assessment. Ashley’s difficulty with abstract
reasoning may negatively impact her understanding and drawing
inferences from text.
Marcus’ weakness in applying strategies, such as making inferences and
making complex predictions, affect his progress in comprehending
sixth-grade literacy materials.
WHAT STEPS DO IEP TEAMS NEED TO FOLLOW
TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STANDARDS-BASED
IEP’S?
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Step 4: Select the Content Standard(s):
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Consider content area standards
Look at all grade-level content standards and
“unpack” the standard (break the standard into it’s
component parts.
Analyze the subskills and determine which are most
important for each student (based on progress in the
general education curriculum)
Compare standard(s) with student’s area of needs
and the impact of the disability
Use data to determine the areas the student will find
difficult without additional supports.
WHAT STEPS DO IEP TEAMS NEED TO FOLLOW
TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STANDARDS-BASED
IEP’S?
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STEP 5: Write the Annual Goal(s)
based on Minnesota Standards.
Purpose= Describe what a student can reasonably
expect to accomplish in one school year.
Annual Goals answer the question “What should the
student be doing?”
 Annual goals are related to needs resulting from the
student’s disability that directly affect involvement and
progress in the general education curriculum.
 Select the need that has the greatest impact on progress,
and develop a goal to address that need.
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FIVE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A
MEASURABLE ANNUAL GOAL
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The Student… (WHO)
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Will do what….. (BEHAVIOR)
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To what level or degree….. (CRITERION)
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Under what condition….. (CONDITION)
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In what length of time…..(TIMEFRAME)
EXAMPLES OF MEASUREABLE
ANNUAL IEP GOALS
“Given high interest reading materials with visual cues, Mara will increase
her reading comprehension skills by identifying the main idea in a fourth
grade reading passage from one 1 out of 5 times on two consecutive trails
to 4 out of 5 times on two consecutive trials by the end of the fourth
quarter grading period”.
“Jacob will increase his reading fluency skills from 75 words of connected
text per minute to 110 words of connected text with 100 % accuracy at the
end of 36 weeks”.
“ By the end of the third trimester grading period, Angela will use prior
knowledge and life experience to make generalizations from her personal
experience to answer comprehension questions from grade 7 recreational
reading materials with an average of 90 % accuracy on classroom
assessments”.
DEPARTING THOUGHTS ….
“Coming together is a beginning;
Learning together is progress;
Working together is success.”
~ Henry Ford