The third way that IDEA legislation and current educational approaches affect teachers is by requiring teachers and other professional staff to develop an annual individual educational plan (or IEP) for each student with a disability. The plan is created by a team of individuals who know the student's strengths and needs; at a minimum it includes one or more classroom teachers, a firesource” or special education teacher, and the student's parents or guardians. Sometimes, too, the team includes a school administrator (like a vice-principal) or other professionals from outside the school (like a psychologist or physician), depending on the nature of the child's disability. An IEP can take many forms, but it always describes a student's current social and academic strengths as well as the student's social or academic needs. It also specifies educational goals or objectives for the coming year, lists special services to be provided, and describes how progress toward the goals will be assessed at the end of the year. Exhibit 1 shows a simple, imaginary IEP. (But keep in mind that the actual visual formats of IEP plans vary widely among states, provinces, and school jurisdictions.) This particular plan is for a student named Sean, a boy having difficulties with reading. IEPs, like the one in the figure, originally served mainly students in the younger grades, but more recently they have been extended and modified to serve transition planningfor adolescents with disabilities who are approaching the end of their public schooling (West, et al., 1999). For these students, the goals of the plan often include activities (like finding employment) to extend beyond schooling. See below.
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Student: Sean Cortinez |
Birth Date: 26 May 2002 |
Period Covered by IEP: September 20xx “ July 20xy |
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Address: |
Phone: |
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School: Grant Park Middle School |
Grade Level: 3 |
Teacher(s): G. Eidse |
Support Team
List specialists (educational, medical, or other) involved in assisting the student:
Resource teacher, instructional aide (part time):
Special Curriculum Needs to be Addressed:
List general needs here; use separate sheet (s) for specific, short-term objectives as appropriate:
Sean can read short, familiar words, singly, but cannot read connected text even when familiar.
Needs help especially with decoding and other “word attack” skills. Some trouble focusing on reading tasks. Sean speaks clearly and often listens well when the topic interests him.
Special Materials or Equipment Needed:
Modified test procedures and reading materials as required.
Signatures:
Parent or guardian: K. Cortinez
Teacher(s): G. Eidse
Principal: L. Stauffer
Date of IEP Meeting: 26 October 20xx
If you have a student with an IEP, you can expect two consequences for teaching. The first is that you should expect to make definite, clear plans for the student, and to put the plans in writing. This consequence does not, of course, prevent you from taking advantage of unexpected or spontaneous classroom events as well in order to enrich the curriculum. But it does mean that an educational program for a student with a disability cannot consist only of the unexpected or spontaneous. The second consequence is that you should not expect to construct an educational plan alone, as is commonly done when planning regular classroom programs. When it comes to students with disabilities, expect instead to plan as part of a team. Working with others ensures that everyone who is concerned about the student has a voice. It also makes it possible to improve the quality of IEPs by pooling ideas from many sources”even if, as you might suspect, it also challenges professionals to communicate clearly and cooperate respectfully with team members in order to serve a student as well as possible.
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