Creating Quality IEPs

MMSD Department of Educational Services “Yes We Can…Together!” Conference August 31, 2009

Rationale

 The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2):    The incidence of students with disabilities completing high school rather than dropping out increased by 17 percentage points between 1987 and 2003. Postsecondary education participation more than doubled to 32 percent. In 2003, 70 percent of students with disabilities who had been out of school for up to two years had paying jobs, compared to only 55 percent in 1987.

Project Goals

 Build collaboration between regular and special educators around the instructional needs of students with disabilities  Provide instruction to students in their least restrictive environment (LRE)  Increase parent involvement in all phases of the IEP process  Increase educational outcomes for students with disabilities

Project Outcomes

 Ensure active parent/guardian, family and student participation in all stages of the IEP process  Develop IEPs in a strength-based manner  Recognize and embed District standards early in the process.

Project Outcomes

 Document student progress in the general curriculum as a common practice  Provide a means to increase the level of collaboration between home and school  Provide a forum for all adults who work with students to positively impact the student’s access to learning opportunities in a collaborative manner

Professional Development Outcomes  Provide an Overview of the Quality IEPs process by:   Highlighting Teacher Standards Discussing Project History/Implementation   Discussing requirements of IDEA 04 Reviewing DPI Compliance Corrective Action   Reviewing the four components of Quality IEPs Accessing and completing the SPSR in Infinite Campus

National Staff Development Council (NSDC)  Staff development that improves the learning of all students:  Uses student data to determine classroom learning priorities, monitors and recognizes progress, and help sustain continuous improvement

National Staff Development Council (NSDC)  Staff development that improves the learning of all students:  Prepares educators to understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly, and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for their academic achievement.

Creating Quality IEPs Project

 Team Members  Pilot History  Pilot Sites  Implementation Plan 2009-2011

Team Members

      Sue Addamo Lisa Davidson Tamar Jacobsohn Mary Nielson Patty Weynand Scott Zimmerman

Pilot History

 2 Year Pilot Project: 2007-2009  Full Implementation: 2009-2011  Collaborative effort between MMSD staff, MTI, Parent Advisory Council, Department of Teaching and Learning and Department of Educational Services  Grounded in Research and Development Model

 Franklin  Glendale  Lowell  Mendota  Randall  Hamilton

Pilot Sites

 Sennett  Sherman  Whitehorse  Wright  East  Memorial

Implementation Plan 2009-2011

 Promote understanding and application of the 4 main components necessary to create a Quality IEP  Embed 2009 DPI audit for Corrective Action  Develop and use electronic instructional modules  Conduct 1/2 day trainings for all MMSD staff

Research on the Achievement Gap  Students learn what they have the opportunity to learn.

 The only way students with disabilities can be as successful as their peers without disabilities is to ensure that they have the opportunity to learn the same instructional content.

IDEA=needs of individual students NCLB=school accountability  Shared goal of improving academic achievement through high expectations and high-quality education programs.

Board of Education Priorities

 All students who have completed 3rd grade are able to read at grade level or beyond  All students complete Algebra by the end of 9th grade and Geometry by the end of 10th grade  All students maintain 94 percent attendance rate at each grade level

DPI Corrective Action Focus

     Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance Consideration of Special factors Transition Services Annual Goals Notice of Continuing Placement

Key Components of Quality IEPs

 Legal compliance  Regular and special education alignment with use of the standards  Family involvement in the IEP process  Strength-based IEPs

Purpose of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004

“to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living.” 20 USC § 1400(d)

Civil Rights

 ADA Amendments Act of 2008  Congress recognized that physical and mental disabilities in no way diminish a person’s right to fully participate in all aspects of society, but persons with physical or mental disabilities are frequently precluded from doing so because of prejudice, antiquated attitudes, or the failure to remove societal and institutional barriers.

Regular Education and Special Education Alignment

 IEPs contain baseline data and information which references the math, language arts, communication, and inquiry/research standards in the PLAAFP  IEP goals contain clearly defined standards based criteria for student achievement  Students who participate in the general education curriculum are assessed on their progress toward meeting grade/age level standards

Regular Education and Special Education Alignment

 Increases level of student involvement in general education curriculum and environments  Systematic process for instruction and progress monitoring  Provision of instruction and monitoring in core curricular areas when student’s achievement is not at grade/age placement level

Parent Involvement

 The involvement of parents in the IEP process has many benefits:     Increases the teacher's understanding of the child's home environment Adds to parents' knowledge of the child's educational setting Improves communication between parents and the school Increases the likelihood that, with improved understanding between home and school, mutually agreed upon educational goals will be attained

Strengths Based Model

 The IEP Team focuses on what the student can do, and develops a Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) from this perspective

The Instructional Core

Teacher

(instructional strategies)

Content

(curriculum)

Task Student

(engagement)

The Instructional Core

 The integral relationship between teacher, student and content by which learning occurs

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

 A research-based framework for designing curricula (educational goals, methods, materials, and assessments) which enable

all

students to learn  Accomplished by providing rich supports for learning and reducing barriers to the curriculum, while maintaining high achievement standards for all students

Differentiation



Differentiated Instruction

applies an approach to teaching and learning such that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and demonstrating understanding.

Transition

 Elementary Focus – Vision for student, standards, functional performance  Middle/High Focus – Long Term outcomes

Tools of the Project

 Student Performance Summary Report (SPSR)   Bound hard copy Electronic version in Infinite Campus (PLP)  Guidelines for Completing Quality IEPs (Initial eval and Reevaluation)  Guidelines for Completing Quality IEPs (Programming and Placement)  Parent Planner  Student Examples  Build A Goal

Using the Tools

Benefits of using the SPSR  The bar for student achievement is set high, based upon content area standards  Promotes collaboration, planning, and differentiation of instruction between regular education and special education staff

How to Use the SPSR in Infinite Campus

 Demonstration  Utility

Resources

 Creating Quality IEPs Documents:  http://dww.madison.k12.wi.us/es/SpecEd/ Profdev/QualIEPs/QualIEPs.htm

 Creating Quality IEPs - Training Modules in Moodle:  http://moodle.madisonvirtualcampus.org/ moodle/course/view.php?id=163

Any Questions?