Transcript Your Child’s Individualized Education Plan: Where to Start

Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act:
How to use it to get
services for your student
Jill Hill Fane
Family Advocate
Federation of Families of Northeast Florida
Mental Health America of Northeast Florida
Jacksonville System of Care Initiative
904-379-0617 Office
[email protected]
www.mhajax.org
www.fofjax.org
IDEA LAW
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement
Act of 2004
Guides states and school districts in providing specially
designed instruction and related services
Parts A, B, C, and D
• Part A: General Provisions, Definitions and Other
Issues
• Part B: Assistance for Education of All Children with
Disabilities (School)
• Part C: Infant and Toddlers with Disabilities (Early
Steps)
• Part D: National Activities to Improve Education of
Children with Disabilities (Parent Training Centers)
IDEA Part B
Individualized Education Plan
What is IDEA Part B?
 The nation’s special education law, Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), sets
high standards for achievement and guides
how special help and services are made
available in schools to address students
individual needs through an Individualized
Education Plan (IEP). These students must
meet criteria qualification for Special
Education Services.
What is the criteria qualification
for Special Education Services..
To be eligible for IDEA…
• A child must meet the criteria of
one or more disability categories
AND
• Must also need specially designed
instruction and related services
IDEA Disability Categories
• Autism
• Emotional Disturbance
• Hearing Impairments
• Intellectual Disability
• Orthopedic
Impairments
• Other Health
Impairments
• Specific Learning
Disabilities
• Speech/Language
Impairments
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment
• Developmental Delays
(Ages 3-9, depending on your
state)
What is the criteria
qualification for Special
Education Services..
To be eligible for IDEA…
• A child must meet the criteria of one or
more disability categories
AND
• Must also need specially designed
instruction and related services
What is Specially Designed
Instruction and Related Services?
Specially Designed Instruction Definition:
 Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) refers to the teaching
strategies and methods used by teachers to instruct
students with learning disabilities.
 To develop appropriate specially designed instruction…
analyze student work, evaluation information, and any
other available data to determine the student's strengths
and weaknesses. Based on that student's unique learning
needs, strategies are developed. Teachers continue to
measure students' progress and make changes in
instruction as needed.
Related Services Definition:
• Related Services help children with disabilities benefit
from their special education by providing extra help with
developmental, corrective, and other supportive services.
Specially Designed Instruction
Specially Designed Instruction refers to the teaching strategies and methods
used by teachers to instruct students with learning disabilities and other types of
learning disorders.
 Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of
an eligible child under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of
instruction—
 To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s
disability; and
 To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can
meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency
that apply to all children. [§300.39(b)(3)]
Thus, as part of designing the instruction to fit the needs of a specific child,
adaptations may be made in the content, methodology, or delivery of
instruction.
Related Services
Related services is defined by the United States Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") 1997 as,
 The related services according to IDEA, "transportation and
such developmental, corrective, and other supportive
services as are required to assist a child with a disability to
benefit from special education..."[section 300.24(a)] ... Related
services also help children reach their IEP goals and objectives.
 The related services include: audiology, counseling services, early
identification, family training-counseling and home visits, health services,
medical services, nursing services, nutrition services, occupational therapy,
orientation and mobility services, parent counseling and training, physical
therapy, psychological services, recreation and therapeutic recreation,
rehabilitative counseling services, school health services, service
coordination services, social work services in schools, speech pathology
and speech-language pathology, transportation and related costs, and
assistive technology and services.
 Related services were mandated in the IDEA 1997, and more than 6.1
million children with disabilities received related services in 1998-1999
(Nichcy).
Principles Included in IDEA
Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate
Appropriate evaluation
evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
Appropriate Evaluation
Evaluation Referral Process
• Pre-referral activities (RTI)
• Referral (Parent or School)
• Consent (Parent)
• Evaluation (60 days)
• Eligibility Determination
• Written request & consent for
evaluation
Pre-referral activities
The IEP process is initiated through a series of pre-referral interventions. The interventions implemented
vary depending on the kind of problem the student is exhibiting. The major purposes of this stage of the
IEP process are to
 Document and explain students' difficulties and challenges
 Test the effectiveness of classroom accommodations
 Assess the power of various instructional interventions
 Monitor students' progress
Pre-referral activities are employed to screen students before more formal identification procedures are
implemented.
 Before a referral for special education is made, teachers and family members work together to see
whether educational or behavioral difficulties can be resolved in the general education classroom.
The assessments used during this step are intervention-based and are made in the student's general
education class using direct measures of performance.
 During this pre-referral period, teachers try different validated teaching approaches to determine
whether faulty instruction is the source of the problem. They also make basic accommodations to the
instructional program and systematically differentiate instruction more intensively. General
education teachers receive both assistance and consultation from specialists.
 Students whose learning remains challenged are referred to special education and the next step of the
IEP process.
 Response to Intervention (RtI) can be used during the Pre-Referral Stage
Response to Intervention (RtI)
 RtI integrates assessment and intervention within a school-wide,
multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and
reduce behavior problems.
 With RTI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning
outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based
interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those
interventions based on a student’s responsiveness, and RTI may be
used as part of the determination process for identifying students
with specific learning disabilities or other disabilities
 RTI is a multi-level instructional framework
aimed at improving outcomes for ALL students.
 RTI is preventive and provides immediate
support to students who are at risk for poor
learning outcomes
 RTI may be a component of a comprehensive
evaluation for students with learning disabilities.
RtI and Evaluation
 The School wants
to do RtI before
they begin an
evaluation?
Identifying Children for Evaluation
Before a child’s eligibility under IDEA can be determined, a full and individual evaluation of
the child must be conducted. There are two ways a child may be identified to receive an
evaluation under IDEA:
 Parents may request that their child be evaluated. Parents are often the first to notice
that their child’s learning, behavior or development may be a cause for concern. If they’re
worried about their child’s progress in school and think he or she might need extra help
from special education services they may call, email, or write to their child’s teacher, the
school’s principal, or the Director of Special Education in the school district. If the school
agrees that an evaluation is needed, it must evaluate the child at no cost to parents. If the
school agrees that an evaluation is needed, it must evaluate the child at no cost to
parents.
 The school system may ask to evaluate the child. Based on a teacher’s recommendation,
observations, or results from tests given to all children in a particular grade, a school may
recommend that a child receive further screening or assessment to determine if he or she
has a disability and needs special education and related services. The school system
must ask parents for permission to evaluate the child, and parents must give their
informed written permission before the evaluation may be conducted.
Evaluation Determines
 Category of disability
 Whether the child needs specially
designed instruction and/or related
services
 The present levels of academic
achievement and related developmental
needs
 Whether any accommodations or
modifications are needed
Giving Parents Notice
IDEA requires the school system to notify parents in writing that it would like to
evaluate their child (or that it is refusing to evaluate the child). This is called
giving prior written notice. The school must also:
 Explain why it wants to conduct the evaluation (or why it refuses);
 Describe each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report used as a
basis for proposing the evaluation (or refusing to conduct the evaluation);
 Where parents can go to obtain help in understanding IDEA’s provisions;
 What other options the school considered and why those were rejected; and
 A description of any other factors that are relevant to the school’s proposal (or
refusal) to evaluate the child.
The purpose behind this thorough explanation is to make sure that parents are
fully informed, understand what is being proposed (or refused), understand what
evaluation of their child will involve (or why the school system is refusing to
conduct an evaluation of the child), and understand their right to refuse consent
for evaluation, or to otherwise exercise their rights under IDEA’s procedural
safeguards if the school refuses to evaluate.
Parental Consent
 Before the school may proceed with the evaluation, parents must give their
informed written consent. This consent is for the evaluation only. It does not mean
that the school has the parents’ permission to provide special education services to the
child. That requires a separate consent.
 If parents refuse consent for an initial evaluation (or simply don’t respond to the
school’s request), the school must carefully document all its attempts to obtain parent
consent. It may also continue to pursue conducting the evaluation by using the law’s
due process procedures or its mediation procedures, unless doing so would be
inconsistent with state law relating to parental consent.
 However, if the child is home-schooled or has been placed in a private school by parents
(meaning, the parents are paying for the cost of the private school), the school may not
override parents’ lack of consent for initial evaluation of the child. As the Department of
Education (2006) notes: “…once parents opt out of the public school system, States and
school districts do not have the same interest in requiring parents to agree to the
evaluation of their children. In such cases, it would be overly intrusive for the school
district to insist on an evaluation over a parent’s objection.” (71 Fed. Reg. at 46635)
The Scope of Evaluation
A child’s initial evaluation must be full and individual, focused on that child and only
that child.
 Evaluation (reevaluation) typically begins with a review of existing evaluation data
on the child, which may come from the child’s classroom work, State or district
assessments, information provided by the parents and teachers, and so on.
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The evaluation must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to
gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information about
the child, including information provided by the parent. When conducting an
initial evaluation, it’s important to examine all areas of a child’s functioning to
determine not only if the child is a child with a disability, but also determine
the child’s educational needs. This full and individual evaluation includes
evaluating the child’s:
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health
vision and hearing
social and emotional
general intelligence
academic performance
communicative status
motor abilities
Communication and Culture
Specifically, consideration of language, culture, and communication
mode means the following:
 An important component in evaluation is to ensure that assessment
tools are not discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis.
 Evaluation must also be conducted in the child’s typical, mode of
communication (unless it is clearly not feasible to do so) and in a
form that will yield accurate information about what the child
knows and can do academically, developmentally, and functionally.
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Student’s Native language
Sign language, braille, PECS
Assistive or alternative augmentative communication devices
This provision in the law is meant to protect children of different
racial, cultural, or language backgrounds from misdiagnosis.
If your child has impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the
law requires that tests are selected and administered so as best to
ensure that test results accurately reflect his or her aptitude or
achievement level and not reflect the child’s impaired sensory,
manual, or speaking skills (unless the test being used is intended to
measure those skills).
Determining Eligibility
 The child’s assessment results should be explained. The specialists
who assessed the child or evaluation interpreter will explain what
was done, why they used the tests, the child’s results on those tests
or other evaluation procedures, and what the child’s scores mean
when compared to other children of the same age and grade.
 It is important to know that the group may not determine that a
child is eligible… if the determinant factor for making that
judgment is the child’s lack of instruction in reading or math or the
child’s limited English proficiency.
 The child must otherwise meet the law’s definition of a “child with
a disability”–meaning that he or she has one of the disabilities
listed in the law and, because of that disability, needs special
education and related services.
 If the evaluation results indicate that the child meets the
definition of one or more of the disabilities listed under IDEA and
needs special education and related services, the results will form
the basis for developing the child’s IEP.
IDEA Disability Categories
• Autism
• Emotional Disturbance
• Hearing Impairments
• Intellectual Disability
• Orthopedic
Impairments
• Other Health
Impairments
• Specific Learning
Disabilities
• Speech/Language
Impairments
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment
• Developmental Delays
(Ages 3-9, depending on your
state)
What if You Don’t Agree
with the Evaluation Results?
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If you disagree with the results of your child’s evaluation, you have the right to obtain what is
known as an Independent Educational Evaluation, or IEE.
An IEE means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by
the public agency responsible for the education of your child. If you ask for an IEE, the
public agency must provide you with information about where an IEE may be obtained.
 Who pays for the independent evaluation?
 IEEs are at public expense
 Or it may initiate a hearing to show that its own evaluation was appropriate.
 The public agency may ask why you object to the public evaluation. However, the
agency may not require you to explain, and it may not unreasonably delay either
providing the IEE at public expense or initiating a due process hearing to defend the
public evaluation.
 If the public agency initiates a hearing and the final decision of the hearing officer is that
the agency’s evaluation was appropriate, then you still have the right to an IEE but at your
own expense.
 The results of parent paid evaluation must be considered by the public agency, if it
meets agency criteria, in any decision made in providing your child with FAPE.
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Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
Parent & Student Participation
Parent & Student Participation
One of IDEA’s foundational principles is the right of parents to participate in
educational decision making regarding their child with a disability. The law is very
specific about what school systems must do to ensure that parents have the
opportunity to participate, if they so choose.
 Parental rights of participation can be summarized as follows:
 Parents have the right to participate in meetings related to the evaluation,
identification, and educational placement of their child.
 Parents have the right to participate in meetings related to the provision of a free
appropriate public education (FAPE) to their child.
 Parents are entitled to be members of any group that decides whether their child
is a “child with a disability” and meets eligibility criteria for special education and
related services.
 Parents are entitled to be members of the team that develops, reviews, and
revises the individualized education program (IEP) for their child.
 Parents are entitled to be members of any group that makes placement decisions
for their child.
 Parent and students are not required to participate, however; that is their choice.
 IDEA guarantees is that they are given the opportunity to participate.
Alternative Participation
If neither parent can attend the meeting the school must use
other methods to ensure their participation, including individual
or conference calls, or video conferencing.
 Parents
 School / District Personnel
 By agreement
Active Participation
 Speak up
 Ask questions
 Make suggestions
 Disagree
Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
Least Restrictive Environment
Least Restrictive Environment
By law, schools are required to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive
environment that is appropriate to the individual student's needs.
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"Least restrictive environment" (LRE) means that a student who has a disability should have the
opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers, to the greatest extent appropriate.
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They should have access to the general education curriculum, or any other program that non-disabled
peers would be able to access.
The student should be provided with supplementary aids and services necessary to achieve educational
goals if placed in a setting with non-disabled peers.
Academically, a resource room may be available within the school for specialized instruction, with
typically no more than two hours per day of services for a student with learning disabilities.
Should the nature or severity of his or her disability prevent the student from achieving these goals in a
regular education setting, then the student would be placed in a more restrictive environment, such as a
special school, classroom within the current school, or a hospital program.
Generally, the less opportunity a student has to interact and learn with non-disabled peers, the more the
placement is considered to be restricted.
To determine what an appropriate setting is for a student, a team will review the student’s strengths,
weaknesses, and needs, and consider the educational benefits from placement in any particular
educational setting. With the differences in needs varying broadly, there is no single definition of
what an LRE will be, and each student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
Free Appropriate Public Education
Free Appropriate Public Education
 Under the IDEA, FAPE is defined as an educational
program that is individualized to a specific child,
designed to meet that child's unique needs, provides
access to the general curriculum, meets the grade-level
standards established by the state, and from which the
child receives educational benefit.
Definition of an
Appropriate Education
 Some of the criteria specified in various sections of the IDEA statute includes
requirements that schools provide each (disabled) student an education that:
 is designed to meet the unique educational needs of that one student,
 addresses both academic needs and functional needs,
 provides “...access to the general curriculum to meet the challenging expectations
established for all children” (that is, it meets the approximate grade-level standards of the
state educational agency, to the extent that this is appropriate)
 is provided in accordance with the Individualized Education Program (IEP)
 is reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.
 The free appropriate public education offered in an IEP need not be the best possible
one, nor one that will maximize the child's educational potential
 rather, it need only be an education that is specifically designed to meet the child's unique
needs, supported by services that will permit him to benefit from the instruction.
 The IDEA guarantees only a basic floor of opportunity, consisting of specialized
instruction and related services which are individually designed to provide educational
benefit.
FAPE according to IDEA
• Special education and related
services
• Provided at public expense
(without charge)
• Provided under public
supervision and direction
• “…in conformity with the
individualized education
program.”
Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
Procedural Safeguards
What are the students and Parents Rights?
What are Procedural Safeguards?
 The federal regulations for IDEA 2004 include a section
called Procedural Safeguards. These safeguards are
designed to protect the rights of parents and their child
with a disability and, at the same time, give families and
school systems several mechanisms by which to resolve
their disputes.
 At least one time a year, the parents of a child with a
disability must receive from the school system a complete
explanation of all the procedural safeguards available to
them, as parents, under IDEA. This explanation is called
the “Procedural Safeguards Notice.”
What is the purpose of the
procedural safeguards notice?
 The purpose of the procedural safeguards notice is simple: to inform parents
completely about the procedural safeguards available under IDEA. These
represent their rights as parents and the protections they have—and their child
as well—under the law and its implementing regulations.
 IDEA states that schools must send the procedural safeguards notice to the
parents only one time a school year, except that schools must also give a copy to
parents:
 in their child’s initial referral for evaluation under IDEA, or when the parents
ask for such an evaluation of their child;
 When a State complaint is filed and when the first due process complaint is
received
 when a parent requests a copy of the procedural safeguards notice.
 Your local school district may also post a current copy of the procedural
safeguards notice on its website, if it has a website.
What does the Procedural
Safeguards Notice contain?
(A) independent educational evaluation;
(B) prior written notice;
(C) parental consent;
(D) access to educational records;
(E) the opportunity to present and resolve complaints, including-(i) the time period in which to make a complaint;
(ii) the opportunity for the agency to resolve the complaint; and
(iii) the availability of mediation;
(F) the child's placement during pendency of due process proceedings;
(G) procedures for students who are subject to placement in an interim
alternative educational setting;
(H) requirements for unilateral placement by parents of children in private
schools at public expense;
(I) due process hearings, including requirements for disclosure of evaluation
results and recommendations;
(J) State-level appeals (if applicable in that State);
(K) civil actions, including the time period in which to file such actions; and
(L) attorneys' fees.
Student Records
 IDEA and other federal laws protect the confidentiality
of your child’s education records. These safeguards
address the following three aspects:
 the use of personally identifiable information;
 who may have access to your child’s records; and
 the rights of parents to inspect their child’s education
records and request that these be amended to correct
information that is misleading or inaccurate, or that
violates the child’s privacy or other rights.
Prior Written Notice
 The school district must give parents a written notice
(information received in writing), whenever the school
district:
 Proposes to begin or change the identification,
evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the
provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE)
to the child; or
 Refuses to begin or change the identification,
evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the
provision of FAPE to your child.
 The school district must provide the notice in
understandable language
What Does the Notice Include?
The written notice must:
 Describe the action that your school district proposes or refuses to take;
 Explain why your school district is proposing or refusing to take the action;
 Describe each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report your school district
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used in deciding to propose or refuse the action;
Include a statement that the parent has protections under the procedural safeguards
provisions in Part B of the IDEA;
Tell you how the parent can obtain a description of the procedural safeguards if the action
that your school district is proposing or refusing is not an initial referral for evaluation;
Include resources for the parent to contact for help in understanding Part B of the IDEA;
Describe any other choices that the child's individualized education program (IEP) Team
considered and the reasons why those choices were rejected; and
Provide a description of other reasons why the school district proposed or refused the
action.
Notice in understandable language. The notice must be:
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Written in language understandable to the general public; and
Provided in your native language or other mode of communication you use, unless it is clearly not
feasible to do so
PARENTAL CONSENT
Consent means:
 The Parent has been fully informed in your native language or
other mode of communication (such as sign language, Braille, or
oral communication) of all information about the action for
which you are giving consent.
 The Parent understands and agrees in writing to that action, and
the consent describes that action and lists the records (if any)
that will be released and to whom; and
 The Parent understands that the consent is voluntary on The
Parent part and The Parent may withdraw their consent at
anytime.
 The Parent’s withdrawal of consent does not negate (undo) an
action that has occurred after they gave the consent and before
you withdrew it.
Resolution Options
 Mediation
 Local Complaint
 State Complaint
 Due Process Hearings
 Resolution Meeting
Mediation
 Resolve disputes
 Voluntary
 Trained mediator
 Timely manner
 Confidential
 Cannot delay due process
 If agreement is reached - Legally
binding agreement
Local Complaint
 Signed written complaint
 Notify State
 Offer mediation
 Written response
 If parents disagree with the results,
they can Appeal
State Complaint
 A statement of how a requirement has not been met
 Explanation of facts
 An allegation of a violation
Within 60 days, the Department must…
 Conduct an independent investigation
 Review all information
 Issue a written decision
 Extend 60 day time limit
Resolution Meeting
 If a Due Process Hearing has been requested, a
Resolution Meeting is held to discuss all the facts that
form the basis of the request so that the school district
and the parents have the opportunity to resolve the
dispute.
 it might be the team’s last chance to resolve their issues
before going to Due Process.
 but - the meeting doesn’t have to take place at all if the
parent and the school district agree in writing to waive
the meeting, or if the parent and the school district
agree to use the mediation process instead.
Due Process Hearings
 A Request for a Due Process Hearing must include
 A description of the problem
 A proposed resolution of the problem
 The District must send a response within 10 days…
 Explanation of why it proposed or refused an action
 Description of evaluations used as basis of action
 Administrative Law Judge
 Knowledge of IDEA and Florida Rules
 Not an employee
 Impartial
Due Process Hearing Rights
Both sides have the right to…
 Counsel
 Present evidence
 Record of hearing
 Findings
Conflict Resolution Options
Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
The Individualized
Education Program/Plan
IEP
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An IEP defines the individualized objectives of a child who has been found with a disability, as defined by
federal regulations.
The IEP is intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would.
In all cases the IEP must be tailored to the individual student's needs as identified by the IEP evaluation
process, and must especially help teachers and related service providers (such as paraprofessional
educators) understand the student's disability and how the disability affects the learning process.
The IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and
what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively.
Key considerations in developing an IEP include assessing students in all areas related to the known
disabilities, simultaneously considering ability to access the general curriculum, considering how the
disability affects the student’s learning, developing goals and objectives that correspond to the needs of
the student, and ultimately choosing a placement in the least restrictive environment possible for the
student.
As long as a student qualifies for special education, the IEP must be regularly maintained and updated
over the student's primary educational years.
Placements often occur in "general education", mainstream classes, and specialized classes or subspecialties taught by a specifically trained individual, such as a special education teacher, sometimes
within a resource room.
An IEP is meant to ensure that students receive an appropriate placement, not "only" special education
classrooms or special schools. It is meant to give the student a chance to participate in "normal" school
culture and academics.
IEP Meeting: Notice
 Location
 Time
 Whom the school has
invited
 Purpose of the meeting
 Native Language
What Should an IEP Include?
This is a brief list of what IDEA requires:
 A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the
child’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum;
 A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals;
 A description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured, and when periodic progress
reports will be provided;
 A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided to the
child, or on behalf of the child;
 A statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child to
advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; to be involved in and make progress in the general education
curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and to be educated and participate with
other children with disabilities and nondisabled children;
 An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular
class and in extracurricular and nonacademic activities;
 A statement of any individual accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional
performance of the child on State and district wide assessments;
 If the IEP team determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular State or district
wide assessment of student achievement, the IEP must include a statement of why the child cannot participate in the
regular assessment and why the particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for the child; and
 The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications, and the anticipated frequency, location, and
duration of those services and modifications.
Present Level - Domains
 Curriculum & Learning
 Independent Functioning
 Social / Emotional
 Communication
 Health Care
Present Levels & Goals
Statements of:
 Present Levels of Academic
Achievement & Functional
Performance
 strengths, effect of disability, &
priority educational need
 Measurable Annual Goals
 Evaluation Plan
 measuring & reporting
IEP GOALS
 Wording matters!
 “Writing Special Education
Goals” – 9,960,000 hits!
 Learning a skill
 Measurable
 Specific
Sunshine State Standards
http://www.fldoe.org/bii/curriculum/sss/
Access Points
Next Generation Sunshine State Standards Access Points:
 Drive the curriculum, instructional strategies, and
assessment
 Reflect the key concepts of the Next Generation Sunshine
State Standards with reduced levels of complexity
 Ensure access to the standards that apply to all students in
the same grade
 Are written to three levels of complexity: participatory,
supported, and independent
 http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/OnlineParentGuide.pdf
Diploma Options
 http://www.duvalschools.org/fch/guidance
/DCPSDiplomaOptions.pdf
 Standard Diploma
 Special Diploma
Provision of Services
 Special Education
 Related Services
 Program Modifications/
Accommodations
 Supports for School Personnel
 Supplementary Aids & Services
Related Services
 Developmental
 Corrective
 Supportive
 Assist in the achievement of a goal
 Help to benefit from special education
 Nonexhaustive
Provision of Services
 Date for beginning of
services
 Frequency
 Location
 Duration
Transition IEP

Standard or Special Diploma

Post-School Outcome

Transition Service Needs

Instruction / Information on Self-Determination

Goals based upon transition assessments

List of transition services

Age of Majority / Transfer of Rights

Interagency linkages
Signatures
 Who attended
 Parent’s signature
(Exception: Child’s first IEP)
Manifestation Determination
 A decision made by the IEP Team about whether
a student's misconduct is caused by the
student's disability.
Team determines “Yes”
 Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Behavioral Intervention Plan
Team determines “No”
 Services in different setting
How do you make a
Behavior Plan?
1. Identify and Name the Problem Behavior

Even if a Certified Behavior Analyst or Psychologist is going to do the FBA, the teacher will be the person to identify which behaviors most
impact a child's progress. It is essential that the teacher describes the behavior in an operational way that will make it easy for the other
professionals to complete the FBA.
2. Complete the FBA

The BIP Plan is written once an FBA (Functional Behavioral Analysis) has been prepared. The plan may be written by the teacher, a school
psychologist or a behavior specialist.

A Functional Behavioral Analysis will identify target behaviors operationally and the antecedent conditions. It will also describe the
consequence, which in an FBA is the thing that reinforces the behavior. Understanding the consequence will also help choose a replacement
behavior.

A BIP or Behavior Intervention Plan, describes how teachers, special educators and other staff will help a child eliminate problem behavior. A
BIP is required in an IEP if it is determined in the Special Considerations Section that behavior inhibits academic achievement.
3. Write the BIP Document

Your state or school district may have a form you must use for a Behavior Improvement Plan. It, and your BIP should include:
Target Behaviors
Specific, measurable goals
Intervention description and method
Start and frequency of intervention
Method of Evaluation
Persons responsible for each part of the intervention and evaluation
Data from Evaluation
4. Take It to the IEP Team

The last step is to get your document approved by the IEP team, including the general education teacher, the special education supervisor,
the principal, the psychologist, the parents and anyone else who will be involved in implementing the BIP.

The Team has been working to involve each of the stakeholders at the beginning of the process. That means phone calls to parents, so the
Behavior Improvement Plan is not a big surprise, and so the parent doesn't feel like they and the child are being punished.
5. Implement the plan

Once the meeting is over, it's time to put the plan into place! Be sure that all the members of the implementation team to meet briefly and
evaluate progress. Be sure to ask the tough questions. What is not working? What needs to be tweeked? Who's collecting the data? How is
that working?
CONNECT THE DOTS
Goal
Evaluation
Present
Level
Related
Service
Effect of
Disability
Priority
Educational
Need
Resources:
What is the child’s Disability?
Or suspected disability?
 NICHCY http://nichcy.org/
 http://nichcy.org/disability/s
pecific
 NICHCY offers brief, but
detailed fact sheets on
specific disabilities. Each fact
sheet defines the disability,
describes its characteristics,
offers tips for parents and
teachers, and connects you
with related information and
organizations with special
expertise in that disability.
 In English and Spanish
RtI (Response to Intervention)
 Florida Brochure on RtI
 http://www.florida-
rti.org/_docs/EvaluationsSpecialEd.pdf
 Florida RtI
 http://www.florida-
rti.org/Resources/index.htm
 National Association of State Directors of
Special Education, Inc.
 http://www.nasdse.org/Projects/Respon
setoInterventionRtIProject/tabid/411/De
fault.aspx
Does the child take the FCAT
or Alternative Assessment?
FCAT Accommodations
 http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/fcattea
m.pdf
Alternative Assessment
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/ese
/FAQ09.pdf
Alternative Assessment Manual
http://www.fldoe.org/asp/pdf/fl-altassessment-manual.pdf
 DOE Technical Assistance Paper
http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb
/Get/Document-5831/dps-2010-92.pdf
Does the Child have
behavioral issues?
Functional Behavioral Assessment and Plans
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/tap99-3.pdf
RtI Behavior
http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/requestservices_onlin
emodules.asp
 What does the Matrix mean?

http://www.mckay-iepmatrix.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=v
iew_page&PAGE_id=13
 What is Extended School Year (ESY)?

http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/y2002-5.pdf
 What should parents do when services in their child's
IEP are not being provided?

http://school.familyeducation.com/specialeducation/ada/38430.html
Advocacy
 Wrights Law

www.wrightslaw.com
 Special Education Advocate

www.specialeducationadvocacy.org
 Central Florida Parent Center

www.CFLparents.org
 Family Network on Disabilities

www.fndfl.org
 The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA)

www.copaa.org
Questions?
Please fill out survey
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