Planning and Writing an IEP Part 2

I'm back with Part 2 of "Writing and Planning an IEP." Last week I walked you through the steps of planning an IEP. You can visit that post here. This week I'll walk you through the steps of writing a good IEP.

I'll begin by going through each page of the IEP.
While all districts/states use different IEP programs and layouts, IDEA requires all IEPs to contain the same components.

Page 1 of your IEP will always be the student and parent information page. It will also contain the meeting date, the student's eligibility (i.e. autism, intellectual disability, etc.), their eligibility date, and the anticipated re-evaluation date. Most programs auto-generate the information on this page, but you'll want to make sure that the information is all accurate. 

Let's get into the meat of the IEP. The "Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance," known as the PLAAFP. This terminology may vary a little from district to district, but regardless this is where you will enter the present levels for the student. 

In the present levels, you will enter the...
-name of assessments conducted and the date they were conducted
-assessment results
-the effect on the student's involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.

My district also requires us to include "parent input" within the present levels. 

It is also best practice to include a report summary of the child's previous psychological evaluation in the present levels.

Here is an example.

Here you will list the students strengths, the parent/guardian's educational concerns (you will obtain this at the meeting), and the student's interests/preferences. If possible, simply ask the student what they like to do in their spare time. If this is not possible, say for a non-verbal student for instance, include the interests you have observed the student partaking in in the classroom.
*Some districts do not require students' interests/preferences to be addressed until age 14 when transition services are being discussed.

This section of the IEP addresses behaviors, assistive technology, limited english proficiency, visual impairments, hearing impairments, and my state recently passed a bill (AB 341) that requires indicators of dyslexia to be addressed on this page. If the student doesn't need support for any of the above, check "no" for each one and move onto the next page of the IEP. Here are some guidelines if they do need support in one of the areas mentioned above.

• Behavior - If the child's behavior impedes his/her learning or the learning of others, check yes and a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and/or a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) must be completed to address the behavior and behavior should be addressed in the "PLAAFP," and the accommodations page, if needed.
• Assistive Technology - If the child requires assistive technology, check yes. The team should determine the nature and extent of the devices and/or services and address it in the PLAAFP and on the accommodations page, if needed.
• Limited English Proficiency - If the child has limited English proficiency, the team must consider the language needs of the student and again, address it in the PLAAFP and the accommodations page, if needed.
• Blind/Visually Impaired - If the child is blind or visually impaired, the team must determine the needs of the student and address it in the PLAAFP, and on the accommodations page, if needed.
• Deaf/Hearing Impaired - If the child is blind or hearing impaired, the team must determine the needs of the student and address it in the PLAAFP, and on the accommodations page, if needed.

Don't overdo it on the goals and write too many to manage. One goal for each service area is usually sufficient. You MUST have at least ONE goal for each area the child will receive services in, but no more than one is required for each service area. Your goals should be "SMART." Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Timely. Here is the layout of a good goal and two examples.

By date, name will _________, measured by _________, maintaining or achieving a criteria of _________, implemented by _______________. 

Example 1. Each goal begins with a long-term measurable annual goal and then lists the short-term objectives that will be taken to get there.

By annual review date, Jaiden will identify numerals 0-40, measured by work samples and oral drills, achieving a criteria of 80%, implemented by the Special Education teacher and staff. 

#1 By the end of the second quarter of the 2016-2017 school year, Jaiden will identify numeral 0-10, measured by work samples and oral drills, achieving a criteria of 80%, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

#2 By the end of the third quarter of the 2016-2017 school year, Jaiden will identify numeral 0-20, measured by work samples and oral drills, achieving a criteria of 80%, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

# 3 By the end of the fourth quarter of the 2016-2017 school year, Jaiden will identify numeral 0-30, measured by work samples and oral drills, achieving a criteria of 80%, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

#4 By annual review date, Jaiden will identify numeral 0-40, measured by work samples and oral drills, achieving a criteria of 80%, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

Example 2:

By annual review date, Jaiden will take turns and share a toy with other children with teacher support, measured by teacher observations, maintaining a criteria of 5/5 trials, implemented by the Special Education teacher and staff. 

#1 By the end of the second quarter of the 2016-2017 school year, Jaiden will take turns and share a toy, measured by teacher observation, achieving a criteria of 2/5 trials, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

#2 By the end of the third quarter of the 2016-2017 school year, Jaiden will take turns and share a toy, measured by teacher observation, achieving a criteria of 3/5 trials, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

# 3 By the end of the fourth quarter of the 2016-2017 school year, Jaiden will take turns and share a toy, measured by teacher observation, achieving a criteria of 4/5 trials, implemented by the Special Education teacher and staff.

#4 By annual review date, Jaiden will take turns and share a toy, measured by teacher observations, achieving a criteria of 5/5 trials, implemented by the Special Education Teacher and staff.

A good goal includes:

• A time frame
• What the student will do
• How it will be measured (i.e. work samples, teacher observations, oral drills, teacher-made tests, etc.)
• Criteria to indicate mastery
• Who will implement?

For more assistance on writing goals, check out these IEP goal banks here. 

*Keep in mind, some districts do have specific formats they want you to use. Be sure to adhere to your district's standards. 

The IEP must include a statement of how the child's progress toward the annual goals will be measured and how the parents will be regularly informed of their child's progress. This must be at least as often as parents are informed for non-disabled children. Best practice is every quarter.

Most IEP programs allow you to generate progress reports that auto-fill the child's goals that you fill in progress on to send home. If not, you may have to create your own or find out from your facilitator, what your school uses. 

This page is where you list the specifically designed instruction for the child. 

You will include:

• The service area
• The dates of services
• The frequency of services
• The location of services

Here is an example of each.

• Math
• 2/3/2016 - 2/2/2017
• 200 minutes/wk
• Self-contained Classroom

*Remember, if it's on the services page, you MUST have a goal for it AND it must be addressed in the PLAAFP.

Related services are speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing services, transportation, counseling, etc. The related services include the same components as the services page above. The child's related service provider(s) will complete this page of the IEP or at least let you know what to put.

This is the supplementary aids and services page that is another required component of the IEP. This is where you will list accommodations or modifications that the child requires to be successful. Some examples might include:

• Needs to sit close to the whiteboard
• Needs frequent restroom breaks
• Needs additional think time to answer questions.
• Needs frequent positive reinforcement
• Needs an augmentative communication system -Don't be too specific when listing accommodations for materials and technology as it limits your options and resources.

Here you will indicate how the student will participate in state-wide or district assessments and if they will require testing accommodations or alternate assessments. This section only applies to students in grades 3 and above. 

ESY (Extended School Year) is summer school. The team will need to decide if the child requires ESY. You will need to review your district's guidelines to see if children need to meet a specific criteria to qualify.

The placement page indicates the student placement (i.e. resource room, self-contained, special school). It also indicates the percentage of time the student will participate in the regular ed environment, if any, and a justification statement as to why the student will not participate with non-disabled peers in the regular classroom.

To figure the minutes that a child will participate in the regular ed environment, follow these steps:

• Add up the total minutes in school per week
• Subtract the minutes child is with you per/wk
• The remainder of the minutes are in GE. Take the minutes they are in general ed and divide it by the total minutes in school. This is the percentage they are in GE.

Example for my self-contained students:

-1855 minutes in school per/wk

-1455 minutes w/ me -(50 min/day in specials & 30 min/day in lunch = 400 min/wk)

-400 min/wk in GE

-400 divided by 1855 = 22% of the day in GE

Once you've finished writing the IEP, it's best practice to send home a draft a day or so before the meeting. It not only speeds up the meeting since families have read it prior, but allows parents/guardians time to brainstorm their parent input prior without being put on the spot at the meeting. 

Do not send the entire IEP home; send only the PLAAFP, parent concerns page, goals, and the accommodations page. Sending the entire IEP home can be overwhelming and confusing for the family and the 4 pages listed above are the main pages that require parent input.

That's it! Make sure you've sent all of your meeting notices home and have filed and documented them in the status record.

Be sure you have notified all of the required members that will be attending the meeting. 

Writing IEPs can be very overwhelming, even for Veteran teachers. They have to be the most hated task for ALL Special Education Teachers! The best advice I can offer to eliminate this stress is, start early. Don't wait until the last minute. Schedule your IEPs four weeks in advance, spend a week or two assessing the child and getting reports you may need from others (i.e. GE teacher report if they go to GE classes, nurse report, Speech report, O.T. report, etc.) All of the related service providers the child has will be adding present levels to the PLAAFP, so you want to give them all adequate time to do so and to complete their own assessments. 

I hope this information makes you more comfortable with writing IEPs. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions you may run across!

I leave you with this cute IEP poem!