It's all about the STUDENT
Understanding an I.E.P.
The Meeting:
Participants of an I.E.P. include the student's Parent, Teacher, R.S.P. / Speech Teacher, School Psychologist, an Administrator, and a Nurse when applicable. The educational team works together to make a plan for the student's success. The parent is an active participant in all decisions and must give consent before any test can be preformed on the student.
OBSERVING AN I.E.P.
The Student: Jane Doe's I.E.P.
Strengths:
The meeting began by first discussing the student's strengths. Each participant in the meeting shared at least one strength they knew the student has or shows. Some of the strengths shared about this student were that she is very sweet, kind hearted, very helpful, and has great social skills. She also has great attendance, tries hard on her assignments, shows a want to learn, and has a lot of drive, not wanting to give up or quit.
Challenges:
Next, each participant shared a challenge they felt the student struggles with. One of the challenges for this student was that at home she becomes easily frustrated with her homework when she doesn't understand it. Another challenge noted was that she has a difficult time retaining information or skills learned (forgets things easily). She also struggles with her basic math facts of addition and subtraction which hinders her in her advanced math facts of multiplication and division. Lastly, she struggles with reading in all areas (fluency, decoding, comprehension, etc.). This struggle affects all of her foundational academic skills including her writing abilities.
Outcomes:
The meeting concluded with the discussion of outcomes. It was discussed with the parent that this student qualified for services under her specific learning disabilities in math reasoning and reading comprehension. It was agreed upon that she would take all test in a separate setting (out of the general classroom) with the R.S.P. Teacher who can read all questions to her and allow her extra time to complete all tests. It was also discussed and agreed upon that she would be allowed extra time to complete in class writing assignment and be given small group instruction or Guided Reading to improve upon her reading comprehension skills.
After answering any remaining questions, all participants sign the I.E.P. documents acknowledging and agreeing to support and implement the newly created plan for the student.