Elena Kuzmenko Kae Jensen Education 205 IEP Final Project Due Dec.

16, 2012 Education 205 IEP Final Project Part One: Once it has been determined that a student qualifies for special education, the next step is to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP is a statement of a students educational program which is written by a multidisciplinary team. The purpose of developing an IEP is to make sure that a student with a disability receives special education, related services and supports required to meet the students unique needs. In the following paragraphs I will identify the components of an IEP and continue to describe the top three components I find most important, providing the purpose for each element. I will explore the challenges in performing each component well and explain why I have chosen these three components as most important. An IEP is a road map that provides information about where the child is, where we want the child to go, and how the child will get there. First of all, an IEP requires a statement of the childs present levels of educational performance. Second, an IEP should include statements of measurable annual goals. An explanation of how progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured is also an important part of an IEP. Next, an IEP needs to include a description of the students special education program, and related services the child will receive to help him progress toward meeting the educational goals. Included also, must be an explanation of the extent to which the child will participate in the general education program with non-disabled children. The IEP must explain what types of testing adaptations and modifications will be used

with the student and why they are needed. The IEP must include a projected beginning and ending date of services, the frequency of the services, where they will be provided, and for how long. Finally, beginning no later than one year before the child reaches the age of majority under State Law; the IEP must include measurable goals for the students anticipated postsecondary program and a description of the services needed for the child to reach those goals. Of these eight components, I find that the most important element is determining the childs present levels of educational performance. The purpose of this requirement is to explain how the disability affects the childs progress in the general education curriculum. The statement needs to address academics, life skills, physical functioning, social and behavioral skills, and any other areas of concern affecting the childs ability to learn and develop. In order to obtain all of this information and to make sure it is accurate; the right assessments need to be done. The challenge is figuring out what kind of assessments would work best for the child as an individual and whether certain kind of data would be useful to describe the childs skills. I believe this is the most important step because it is vital establish the childs skills in all areas to determine where to go next. The second component that I find to be of top importance is explaining what types of testing adaptations and modifications will be used with the student. The purpose of this element is to prevent the childs disability from interfering with his or her ability to show their true skill levels. A child may be able to perform better if a test for example was multiple choice instead of short answer test. The challenge is determining what different assessment would work better in helping the child perform their true skill level and to explain in the IEP the reason for this decision. I think this is one of the top three most important elements because if a childs skills are not accurate because of a disability, how can progress be made if the wrong tools are used.

Determining to what extent the child will participate in the general education program with non-disabled children is the third most important element for me. The purpose of this element is to make sure a child is educated in the least restrictive environment to the greatest extent appropriate for the child. This element makes sure that a child is not unnecessarily removed from a regular classroom. The challenge to this element is that many factors go into the decision and it is important to focus on the right factors that are most appropriate for the child. This element is one of the most important because choosing the right least restrictive environment is vital to make sure that the child is receiving the instruction they need. Every IEP is required to have the above eight components, the three I have mentioned in detail are the ones I find most important. I have provided the purpose of those three elements and explained the challenges that accompany them. To support my statement I have provided reasons for choosing those three elements as the most important in my point of view. The whole purpose of the IEP is to makes sure that disabled students are taught the skills necessary to achieve success in life.

Part Two: 1. Present Level of Academic Performance Currently Brittneys academic skills are at a kindergarten level. Most of her educational experience is spent in the ERR room. She can care for her own basic needs but can become harmful to her own self through inappropriate sensory stimulation activities. Brittney is progressing with accepting instruction but still needs to work on agreeing with the direction of her teachers and aids. Her attention span is limited to about 5 minutes unless she initiates the activity, which then increases her attention span to 15 minutes. 2. Annual Goals Reading Kindergarten Site Words - Brittney will be able to read 10 kindergarten site words correctly with 2 or less errors in 8 of 10 trials Dressing - Brittney will be able to put on a pull-over shirt correctly in 9 of 10 trials Measuring Linear Items - Brittney will be able to measure linear items correctly with no assistance in 9 of 10 trials. 3. Assessment Methods Reading Kindergarten Site Words- Brittney will work with an assistant on reading 10 kindergarten site words once each day for an increasing amount of time starting at 4 minutes and increasing to 7 minutes without getting distracted. She will work on becoming familiar with the words and will have multiple trials that will be recorded. 3 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to read 10 kindergarten site words with 6 or less error in 8 of 10 trials. 6 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to read 10 kindergarten site words with 5 or less error in 8 of 10 trials. 9 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to read 10 kindergarten site words with 3 or less error in 8 of 10 trials. Dressing- Brittney will be observed at least once a week while dressing, starting with assistance in putting on all of her clothing to being able to put on at least her shirt correctly in 9 of 10 trials. 3 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to put her shirt on without it being inside out in 9 of 10 trials. 6 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to put her shirt on correctly with very little assistance in 9 of 10 trials. 9 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to put her shirt on correctly without any assistance but with minimal verbal guidance in 9 of 10 trials. Measuring Linear Items- Brittney will work with an assistant measuring linear items 3 times a week for 5 minutes. Multiple trials will be recorded. 3 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to measure linear items correctly with assistance in 9 of 10 trials. 6 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to measure linear items correctly with assistance 4 times in 9 of 10 trials.

9 month benchmark: Brittney will be able to measure linear items correctly with assistance 2 times in 9 of 10 trials. 4. Special education programs- Brittney will receive most of her educational experience in the ERR room. Her parents will receive training on how to help her learn to dress herself and what steps they can take to help her meet her goals. 3 times a week Brittney will receive speech therapy and twice a week she will receive occupational therapy. 5. Participation in the Regular Education Classroom- Brittney will continue spending the majority of her educational experience in the ERR room receiving assistance there. For thirty minutes each day she will spend time in the general education classroom to practice accepting instruction from the general education teacher and continue practicing staying focused on a task to eventually increase her attention span. 6. Testing adaptations/modifications- Brittney will be able to choose the items she would like to measure so that this way she will possibly stay engaged longer and enjoy the process. She will only need to measure items that are within a foot length. In order for Brittney to be able to put on her shirt correctly, the same shirt will be used for multiple testing so that she is familiar with what it looks like, it will also include a picture on the front of the shirt to help her identify how the shirt should look when it is put on. 7. Start date, frequency, location and duration- The goals will begin at the beginning of the school year and take place at both the school location and home location. Services will be provided daily in the ERR room, continuing the whole school year. 8. Transition- Having learned step by step benchmarks to reach an annual goal, Brittney will continue to use these steps to learn to fully dress herself, to measure all types of items and to learn more words. Part Three: Goal One: Strong Components- All the goals are based on the present levels of performance. Who will do the assessment is stated. Debatable Issues- Saying Anthony will be fluent doesnt clearly define what it is that will be observed. Also what kind of appropriate behavior will he be displaying specifically? Errors in Presentation- It was not stated what score is considered fluent for the annual goal. Goal Two: Strong Components- benchmarks are reasonable to be expected to be met. Debatable Issues- Im not sure if the plus or minus marks will say much about what exactly his behavior was like during class. Errors in Presentation- I did not see any goals addressing the fact that Anthony was currently falling behind on his school work and he is failing subjects. Goal Three:

Strong Components- Assessment methods align with the goals stated. Debatable Issues- I feel that the benchmarks are a bit unreasonable being that they are too fast paced. Errors in Presentation- The current status did not present any behavioral issues which were addressed in the goals. Who will be monitoring and testing him? Where will he be if not in the general ed room?