Tips For Writing IEPs
EEXE 6027
IEP Tips
1. Students have the ability to be a valuable member of the IEP team (18).
2. Always need to consider how the IEP goals I recommend will advance equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency (24).
3. Some students that don't qualify under IDEA do qualify under section 504. This means I will have to write a 504 plan for these students (28).
Chapter 2
1. Design an IEP that ensures the student will be involved and has the ability to make progress in the general education curriculum. The IEP must address the student's education and education related needs, so they can make progress (33).
2. The IEP team and I need to identify the supplementary aids and services the student needs, so he/she can be involved and make progress in the general education classroom (38).
3. IEP team is responsible for placement in the general ed classroom. IDEA presumes that students will be educated and placed in a general ed classroom and participate in activities with their nondisabled peers (42).
Chapter 3
1. During the IEP conference, the results of nondiscriminatory evaluations should be summarized and are the foundation for planning each student's individualized IEP program (60).
2. "At the IEP conference, you should develop a plan for a student who needs one and you should make the plan culturally appropriate," (66).
3. At the IEP conference, you must comply with IDEA regulations and communicate the IEP to the student's parents in their preferred or native language (68).
4. Partner up with social workers and school counselors when they are part of the IEP team, so you can identify how to reduce educational challenges for students that are experiencing poverty.
Chapter 4
1. Ask the student's family who is accessible and the family members they want to include as partners in the IEP development and implementation (82).
2. "Collaboratively developing the IEP provides an excellent context for building a trusting partnership with families," (86).
3. When I contact parents to invite them to the IEP conference, it is a good idea to tell them about the parent training and information center for my state. This provides the parents with a resource they can use before attending the IEP conference (89).
4. During an IEP conference, ask if the parents want suggestions on how to help their child with homework. "Don't presume that they do or do not provide that assistance," (97).
Chapter 5
1. "Teachers have oppurtunities at IEP conferences to learn more about the nature of different assessments and to have questions answered about how assessment links to classroom instruction," (113).
2. Remember that differentiated instructions is a good strategy for all students and not limited to students with learning disabilities and always consider this when developing an IEP.
Tips Cont
Chapter 6
1. IEP needs to observe the student with a communication disorder communicate before drafting the IEP.
2. IEP team needs to consider how the student communicates outside of school by having community and home based assessments. This will provide the IEP team a full insight into the student's communication disorder.
3. "The IEP team will want the student to learn strategies and use augmented communication systems that will allow him or her to communicate with teachers, family, and peers at school," (137).
4. "The IEP should specify that every professional who works with a student who uses an AAC or other device should learn how to operate the AAC or other device," (141).
Reference
Shogren, K. A., Turnbull, A., Turnbull, R., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2016). Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools. San Francisco: Pearson Eduction Inc.