Defensible IEPs Douglas County School District

1. Defensible IEPsDouglas County School District Module V: Documentation and Timelines

2. Evaluation (Present Levels) • Evaluations administered/Date and/or Information Reviewed: • To make clear the team’s use of multiple sources of info, including assessments administered (and purpose for which they were selected, if appropriate), modifications in administration of assessments, assessment results—the numbers. • May also include discussion of specific test results that require use of numbers and data points. • Interpretation of Results: 3 parts • Provide in plain English an integrated, narrative statement of the evaluation data (without numbers); • Answer the question, “How does the student’s disability impact access to and progress in the general curriculum, including standards?” • Identify Educational Needs to be addressed by the IEP.

3. Goals and Objectives • Purpose: To address the educational needs identified by the IEP team through the development of present levels. • Write goals as long-term, broad-based statements and objectives that describe specifically the skill the student can reasonably expect to achieve within one school year. • Ensure the goals/objectives are measurable, e.g. words per minute, outbursts per hour, number of times correct out of a number of trials—4 out of 5 trials with less than 2 verbal prompts.  • Some baseline information is a necessary part of measurability. • Douglas County Specail Education Practitoner’s Manual, E-G-10. 3

4. Academic Content Standards • The IEP shall specify: • Whether the child shall achieve the content standards adopted by the district in which the child is enrolled; or • Whether the child shall achieve individualized standards which would indicate that the child has met the requirements of his or her IEP. • ECEA Rule 4.03 (6)(c)(i); Manual, E-G-14.

5. Accommodations/Modifications • Accommodations allow access to the curriculum, but do not substantially change the instructional level, content, standards, or expectations. • CDE explains, “Accommodations consist of adaptations to instructional strategies (materials, manner of presentation, grouping, format), and/or the classroom environment (seating arrangements, lighting, sound, etc.)” • Modifications are changes to the program or curriculum that alter the scope or content of the curriculum when accommodations cannot be effective. • The IEP team must discuss accommodations/modifications that may enable students to participate in extracurricular/nonacademic activities, such as field trips, intramurals, and band/orchestra performances.

6. Service Delivery = Placement • A student’s “placement” is comprised of the special education and related services provided in the child’s IEP, not the physical location in which the services are implemented. • Placement must be determined by the IEP team (at the IEP meeting) and based on the child’s present levels and goals and objectives. Do not complete Page 8 of the IEP in advance of the meeting or include a completed Page 8 with a draft IEP. • Begin with the general education setting and actually address the options. 6

7. Service Delivery • Do: • include frequency, location, and duration of services and modifications. • include specific implementation dates. • Do Not: • include specific school buildings, teachers, or instructional methodologies, unless they are necessary for FAPE. • argue too much over language, just attribute it to the source (e.g. “the parent reports…,” “the teacher observed…”). 7

8. Documenting the Meeting • Purpose: For the parent to leave the meeting with accurate documentation of all of the IEP team’s decisions. • Computer-Based IEP Program • Best Practice: Live in the meeting, leave with final. • Alternative: Leave with handwritten draft, followed later by final computer-generated IEP mailed with cover letter to parents. Manual, Appendix B, Sample Letters. • IEPs are legally binding documents and the decisions about IEP contents must be made by a properly constituted IEP team or by written amendment. • Manual, E-G-3. 8

9. IEP Amendments • Outside of an IEP meeting: • Only when the School District and parents agree to the change AND agree to make the change without a meeting. • Documentation: • parents’ agreement to the change and agreement to complete the change without an IEP meeting. • prior written notice. • confirming correspondence with a copy of the amended IEP. • Manual, E-G-2; Appendix B, Sample Letters. 9

10. Prior Written Notice • Purpose: To provide a final detailed document setting forth the District’s plan for the student’s education and ensure the parent/student understands the offer. • A school district must provide prior written notice (PWN) to the parents of a student with a disability before it:  • Proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child; • Refuses to initiate such a change. • Manual, Appendix C, PWN Chart. (Continued . . . ) 10

11. Prior Written Notice (continued) • The contents of the PWN must contain: • A description of the proposed or refused action; • An explanation for the proposal or refusal; • A description of each evaluation, assessment, record, or report used as a basis for the proposal or refusal; • A description of other options that the IEP team considered and why those options were rejected; (Continued . . . )

12. Prior Written Notice (continued) • A description of other factors relevant to the proposal or refusal; • A statement that the parents have procedural safeguards and the means by which a copy of the procedural safeguards notice may be obtained (See, Manual Section J, Procedural Safeguards and Dispute Resolution); • Sources for the parents to contact to obtain assistance in understanding the PWN and their rights. 12

13. Implementing IEPs • Accessibility of the child’s IEP to teachers and others. Each school district must ensure that— •  The child’s IEP is accessible to each regular education teacher, special education teacher, related services provider, and any other service provider who is responsible for its implementation; and • Each teacher and provider described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section is informed of— • His or her specific responsibilities related to implementing the child’s IEP; and • The specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided for the child in accordance with the IEP. 34 C.F.R. § 300.323(d); Manual, E-G-6. (Continued . . .) 13

14. Implementing IEPs(continued) • Inform teachers how to access the complete IEP. • Inform teachers of their specific role in implementing the IEP, including the specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided. • Check with teachers for understanding. • Collect data periodically. • Convene follow up meeting(s) to address staff/parent/student concerns or lack of progress. 14

15. Timelines 15 • 60 calendar daysfrom the day the School District receives signed consent to complete initial evaluations. • 30 days to convene an IEP meeting after eligibility determination. • 3 calendar days to implement IEP services for an in-state transfer student. • Reevaluation—conducted every 3 years, unless the parents and School District agree that no reevaluation is necessary. • When not otherwise specified, “reasonableness” is the standard. • Eligibility meeting—within a “reasonable period of time” after the initial evaluation is completed. • Notice of IEP meetings—reasonable, which is usually 10 days, but can be fewer. • Implementation of IEP services—as soon as possible following IEP development or as otherwise determined by the IEP team.