Why is iep important

At this point, strategies specific to the student could be used to help the child become more successful in school prior to any formal testing. If this doesn't work, the child would be tested for a specific learning disability or other impairment to help determine qualification for special services. It's important to note, though, that the presence of a disability doesn't automatically guarantee a child will receive services.

To be eligible, the disability must affect functioning at school. To determine eligibility, a multidisciplinary team of professionals will evaluate the child based on their observations, the child's performance on standardized tests, and daily work such as tests, quizzes, classwork, and homework.

After it is determined that further testing is necessary, parents will be asked to sign a permission form that will detail who is involved in the process and the types of tests they use. These tests might include measures of specific school skills, such as reading or math, as well as more general developmental skills, such as speech and language. Testing does not necessarily mean that a child will receive services. Once the team members complete their individual assessments, they develop a comprehensive evaluation report CER that compiles their findings, offers an educational classification, and outlines the skills and support the child will need.

The parents then have a chance to review the report before the IEP is developed. If parents disagree with the report, they will have the opportunity to work together with the school to come up with a plan that best meets the child's needs.

The next step is an IEP meeting, during which the team and parents decide what will go into the plan. Also, a regular classroom teacher should attend to offer suggestions about how the plan can help the child's progress in the standard education curriculum and how it can be used in a regular classroom setting, if that's appropriate.

At the meeting, the team will discuss a student's educational needs — as described in the CER — and come up with specific, measurable short-term and annual goals for each of those needs. The cover page of the IEP outlines the related services and supports students will receive and how often they will be provided. Shrub Oak is Reopening All Programs! Special Education at Shrub Oak International School: Providing the Groundwork to Success Awareness and acceptance of autistic students have amplified with the recent increase in diagnostic prevalence nationwide Autism Speaks, Education Driven By Student Passion Parents often tell us they want an education for their children that incorporates their interests and passions.

Ready to learn more? Facebook Twitter Linkedin. Interested in visiting campus? Give us a call. This IEP team member must be able to talk about the instructional implications of the child's evaluation results, which will help the team plan appropriate instruction to address the child's needs.

The individual representing the school system is also a valuable team member. This person knows a great deal about special education services and educating children with disabilities.

He or she can talk about the necessary school resources. It is important that this individual have the authority to commit resources and be able to ensure that whatever services are set out in the IEP will actually be provided. The IEP team may also include additional individuals with knowledge or special expertise about the child. The parent or the school system can invite these individuals to participate on the team.

The school system may invite one or more individuals who can offer special expertise or knowledge about the child, such as a paraprofessional or related services professional. Because an important part of developing an IEP is considering a child's need for related services see the list of related services in the box on the previous page , related service professionals are often involved as IEP team members or participants.

They share their special expertise about the child's needs and how their own professional services can address those needs. Depending on the child's individual needs, some related service professionals attending the IEP meeting or otherwise helping to develop the IEP might include occupational or physical therapists, adaptive physical education providers, psychologists, or speech-language pathologists. When an IEP is being developed for a student of transition age, representatives from transition service agencies can be important participants.

See the box below for more information about transition. Whenever a purpose of meeting is to consider needed transition services, the school must invite a representative of any other agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services.

This individual can help the team plan any transition services the student needs. He or she can also commit the resources of the agency to pay for or provide needed transition services. If he or she does not attend the meeting, then the school must take alternative steps to obtain the agency's participation in the planning of the student's transition services.

And, last but not least, the student may also be a member of the IEP team. If transition service needs or transition services are going to be discussed at the meeting, the student must be invited to attend. More and more students are participating in and even leading their own IEP meetings.

This allows them to have a strong voice in their own education and can teach them a great deal about self-advocacy and self-determination. Question 24 addresses the role of the regular education teacher on the IEP team.

The extent to which it would be appropriate for the regular education teacher member of the IEP team to participate in IEP meetings must be decided on a case-by-case basis.

A child may require any of the following related services in order to benefit from special education. Related services, as listed under IDEA, include but are not limited to : Audiology services Counseling services Early identification and assessment of disabilities in children Medical services Occupational therapy Orientation and mobility services Parent counseling and training Physical therapy Psychological services Recreation Rehabilitation counseling services School health services Social work services in schools Speech-language pathology services Transportation If a child needs a particular related service in order to benefit from special education, the related service professional should be involved in developing the IEP.

He or she may be invited by the school or parent to join the IEP team as a person "with knowledge or special expertise about the child. Transition refers to activities meant to prepare students with disabilities for adult life. This can include developing postsecondary education and career goals, getting work experience while still in school, setting up linkages with adult service providers such as the vocational rehabilitation agency--whatever is appropriate for the student, given his or her interests, preferences, skills, and needs.

Transition services , for students beginning at age 16 and sometimes younger --involves providing the student with a coordinated set of services to help the student move from school to adult life. To help decide what special education and related services the student needs, generally the IEP team will begin by looking at the child's evaluation results, such as classroom tests, individual tests given to establish the student's eligibility, and observations by teachers, parents, paraprofessionals, related service providers, administrators, and others.

This information will help the team describe the student's "present levels of educational performance" -in other words, how the student is currently doing in school.

Knowing how the student is currently performing in school will help the team develop annual goals to address those areas where the student has an identified educational need. The IEP team must also discuss specific information about the child. This includes: the child's strengths; the parents' ideas for enhancing their child's education; the results of recent evaluations or reevaluations; and how the child has done on state and district-wide tests.

In addition, the IEP team must consider the "special factors" described in the box below. It is important that the discussion of what the child needs be framed around how to help the child: advance toward the annual goals; be involved in and progress in the general curriculum; participate in extracurricular and nonacademic activities; and be educated with and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children.

This includes the services and supports the school will provide for the child. If the IEP team decides that a child needs a particular device or service including an intervention, accommodation, or other program modification , the IEP team must write this information in the IEP. As an example, consider a child whose behavior interferes with learning. The IEP team would need to consider positive and effective ways to address that behavior. The team would discuss the positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports that the child needs in order to learn how to control or manage his or her behavior.

If the team decides that the child needs a particular service including an intervention, accommodation, or other program modification , they must include a statement to that effect in the child's IEP. Depending on the needs of the child, the IEP team needs to consider what the law calls special factors.

If the child is blind or visually impaired , the IEP team must provide for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille, unless it determines after an appropriate evaluation that the child does not need this instruction. If the child has communication needs , the IEP team must consider those needs. If the child is deaf or hard of hearing , the IEP team will consider his or her language and communication needs.

If the parents have a limited proficiency in English or are deaf, they may need an interpreter in order to understand and be understood. For meetings regarding the development or review of the IEP, the school must take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that parents understand the meetings--including arranging for an interpreter. Telling the school in advance allows the school to make arrangements for an interpreter so that parents can participate fully in the meeting.

In addition, the child's placement where the IEP will be carried out must be decided. The placement decision is made by a group of people, including the parents and others who know about the child, what the evaluation results mean, and what types of placements are appropriate. In some states, the IEP team serves as the group making the placement decision.

In other states, this decision may be made by another group of people. In all cases, the parents have the right to be members of the group that decides the educational placement of the child. These requirements state that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities must be educated with children who do not have disabilities.

The law also clearly states that special classes, separate schools, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment may occur only if the nature or severity of the child's disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. What type of placements are there? Depending on the needs of the child, his or her IEP may be carried out in the regular class with supplementary aids and services, as needed , in a special class where every student in the class is receiving special education services for some or all of the day , in a special school, at home, in a hospital and institution, or in another setting.

A school system may meet its obligation to ensure that the child has an appropriate placement available by: providing an appropriate program for the child on its own; contracting with another agency to provide an appropriate program; or utilizing some other mechanism or arrangement that is consistent with IDEA for providing or paying for an appropriate program for the child.

The placement group will base its decision on the IEP and which placement option is appropriate for the child. Can the child be educated in the regular classroom, with proper aids and supports?

If the child cannot be educated in the regular classroom, even with appropriate aids and supports, then the placement group will talk about other placements for the child. When the IEP has been written, parents must receive a copy at no cost to themselves. This includes the child's: regular education teacher s ; special education teacher s ; related service provider s for example, speech therapist ; or any other service provider such as a paraprofessional who will be responsible for a part of the child's education.

Each of these individuals needs to know what his or her specific responsibilities are for carrying out the child's IEP. This includes the specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that the child must receive, according to the IEP.

Once the IEP is written, it is time to carry it out-in other words, to provide the student with the special education and related services as listed in the IEP. This includes all supplementary aids and services and program modifications that the IEP team has identified as necessary for the student to advance appropriately toward his or her IEP goals, to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum, and participate in other school activities.

While it is beyond the scope of this guide to discuss in detail the many issues involved in implementing a student's IEP, certain suggestions can be offered. Every individual involved in providing services to the student should know and understand his or her responsibilities for carrying out the IEP.

This will help ensure that the student receives the services that have been planned, including the specific modifications and accommodations the IEP team has identified as necessary. Teamwork plays an important part in carrying out the IEP.

Many professionals are likely to be involved in providing services and supports to the student. Sharing expertise and insights can help make everyone's job a lot easier and can certainly improve results for students with disabilities.

Teachers, support staff, and others providing services for children with disabilities may request training and staff development. Communication between home and school is also important. Parents can share information about what is happening at home and build upon what the child is learning at school. If the child is having difficulty at school, parents may be able to offer insight or help the school explore possible reasons as well as possible solutions.

It is helpful to have someone in charge of coordinating and monitoring the services the student receives. In addition to special education, the student may be receiving any number of related services.

Many people may be involved in delivering those services. Having a person in charge of overseeing that services are being delivered as planned can help ensure that the IEP is being carried out appropriately.

The regular progress reports that the law requires will help parents and schools monitor the child's progress toward his or her annual goals. It is important to know if the child is not making the progress expected-or if he or she has progressed much faster than expected.

Together, parents and school personnel can then address the child's needs as those needs become evident. One purpose of this review is to see whether the child is achieving his or her annual goals. The team must revise the child's individualized education program, if necessary, to address: the child's progress or lack of expected progress toward the annual goals and in the general curriculum; information gathered through any reevaluation of the child; information about the child that the parents share; information about the child that the school shares for example, insights from the teacher based on his or her observation of the child or the child's classwork ; the child's anticipated needs; or other matters.

For example, the child may not be making progress toward his or her IEP goals, and his or her teacher or parents may become concerned. Individualized Education Plan IEP Individual education planning IEP is the process whereby teachers, support personnel, and parents work together as a team to meet the needs of individual students who require a range of supports.

Who Needs an IEP All teachers are encouraged to consider the potential benefits of individual education planning for a wide range of students with very different needs. Purpose of an IEP The purpose of an IEP is to provide a plan to help a student meet individual outcomes or goals beyond his or her current skills. Stage 1: Gathering and Sharing Information: You are a source of valuable information in the initial stages of developing and setting the direction of the IEP for your child.

Will this skill be used for other learning? Will this skill help your child be more independent? How long will it take to learn the skill? How useful will the skill be for your child in other environments?