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Reviewing the

IEP Process

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Gina Puorro

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Making a Referral

  • Referral to the Child Study Team (CST)
    • A written request for an evaluation that is submitted to the school district when a child is suspected of having a disability
  • Who can make a referral?
    • Parents
    • School personnel
    • Agencies

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What happens next?

  • Initial identification meeting with the CST
    • Discuss concerns for the student
    • Decide if evaluations are warranted
    • If warranted, which evaluations are appropriate?
    • If not warranted, discuss other strategies
  • Timeline: 90 days to complete evaluations

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What are the different types of evaluations?

  • Psychological
  • Educational
  • Social History
  • Speech and Language
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)

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Eligibility for Special Education

  • Preschool child with a disability
    • Ages 3-5
    • Developmental delay:
      • Physical, including gross motor, fine motor, and sensory (vision and hearing)
      • Intellectual
      • Communication
      • Social and emotional
      • Adaptive
    • OR has an identified disabling condition, including vision or hearing

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Eligibility for Special Education

  1. Auditorily impaired
    1. Deafness
    2. Hearing impairment
  2. Autistic
  3. Intellectually disabled
    • Mild, moderate, severe
  4. Communication impaired
  5. Emotionally disturbed
    • Inability to learn that is not explained by intellectual or health factors
  1. Multiply disabled

Ex. Cognitive impaired-blindness

  • Deaf/blindness
  • Orthopedically impaired
  • Other health impaired

Ex. ADHD, asthma, epilepsy, diabetes

  • Social maladjustment
    1. inability to conform to behavior standards in school, not due to ED
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Visually impaired

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Eligibility for Special Education

  • Specific learning disability
    • A severe discrepancy is found between achievement and intellectual disability
      • Basic reading skills
      • Reading comprehension
      • Oral expression
      • Listening comprehension
      • Mathematical calculation
      • Mathematical problem solving
      • Written expression
      • Reading fluency

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Eligibility for Speech-Language Services

  • Articulation/phonology
    • Sound production errors
  • Fluency
    • Rate of speech
  • Voice
    • Quality, pitch, resonance, loudness, duration
  • OR any combination, unrelated to dialect, cultural differences, or the influence of a foreign language

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The IEP

Team

  • Parent
  • Student, if appropriate
  • General education teacher
  • Special education teacher
  • Case manager
  • At least 1 CST member
  • Related service providers
  • School district representative

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Components of an IEP

  • Student strengths
  • Parent concerns
  • Academic and functional needs
  • PLAAFP
  • Goals/objectives
  • Evaluation results
  • Placement
  • Related services
  • Behavioral interventions
  • Communication needs
  • Assistive technology
  • Accommodations/modifications

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Least Restrictive Environment

Self-Contained

Pull-Out Resource

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In-Class Resource

General Education

More restrictive

Less restrictive

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Goals and Objectives

  • Measurable annual academic and functionals goals that shall, as appropriate, be related to the core curriculum content standards through the general education curriculum unless otherwise required according to the student’s educational needs, or appropriate, student specific, functional needs.
  • Goals shall include benchmarks (objectives) related to:
    • Meeting the student’s needs that result from the student’s disability to enable the student to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum; and
    • Meeting each of the student’s other educational needs that result from the student’s disability

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Modifications and Accommodations

Modification: Change what the student learns; kids are not expected to learn the same material as their peers

EXAMPLE: John is required to study 10 spelling words, while the rest of the class is required to study 20 spelling words

Accommodation: Change how the student learns the material; help kids learn the same material and meet the same expectations as their peers

EXAMPLE: Extra time to complete a test OR access to a computer to type notes instead of hand writing notes

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Annual Review

  • IEP team meets to review and revise the IEP and determine placement
  • IEP team will review:
    • Any lack of expected progress toward the annual goals and in the general curriculum
    • Results of any reevaluation conducted
    • Information about the student including information provided by the parents, current classroom based assessments and observations, and the observation of teachers and related services providers
    • Student’s anticipated needs
    • Other relevant matters

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Reevaluation

  • Every 3 years
  • 60 days to complete evaluations
  • Redetermine eligibility for special education
  • Required when a change in eligibility is being considered