Writing Instructionally Appropriate IEPs

1. Writing Instructionally Appropriate IEPs Special Populations Department Tennessee Department of Education

2. Norms We Will: • Be open to others’ views and input • Share experiences and ideas • Determine roles and responsibilities • Ask questions within and outside of our own group • Provide constructive feedback • Be engaged in the presentations and group work • Be respectful and turn all technology to silent mode during work time

3. Procedures Roles and Responsibilities of Group Members • Make sure that each person in your group is serving in at least one role. If you have more than 4 people in your group, have more than one Timekeeper/Gatekeeper. If you have less than 4 people in your group, have group members serve in more than one role. Everyone should serve as a secondary facilitator, helping make the group’s work easier. Small Group Facilitator • The Facilitator leads the discussion, making sure that everyone is fully participating. • Examples of getting all to provide input: “Will each person give your thoughts about what data we should include in our present levels of performance?” • “As the most highly qualified professional providing the most intense intervention, what supports would we have in place for our student? What do you all suggest? We will start with (name) and go around the group”. Scribe • The Scribe writes the information for the group on the presentation chart Reporter • The Reporter reports the small group's work to the whole group. Timekeeper/ Gatekeeper • The Timekeeper keeps track of the time and makes sure that the group finishes the task on time as well as ensuring everyone remains on task.

4. Procedures • This activity is meant to simulate the collaboration that is needed to gather all the necessary information to write an instructionally appropriate IEP. • As a professional educator, there might be times when you receive a file on a student and there will be things missing. This is a time where you might have to go look for the information to make your file complete. • For example, you might need to discuss with the general education teacher, special education teacher, school psychologist, and any one else necessary to make sure all information is collected.

5. Procedures • Identify partners by colored folders

6. Phone A Friend You have a file at your table, but the contents in that file are not an exact match to your case partner’s file. To find your case study partner, raise your “Phone a Friend” paper and the facilitator can guide you, or go to the table with the same color folders. You may then collaborate with your new partners, much like we collaborate with general education, psychologist, therapists, parents, etc. Any thing you learn in collaboration can now be used in developing the IEP for your case study

7. File Cabinet Search Sometimes we, as special education teachers, are not given all the information we require for IEP development. To simulate this, we have created a “File Cabinet” for you today. If you would like to search for more information or missing information, hold up your “File Cabinet Search” paper and the facilitator will bring you the “file cabinet” to search. Items found may now be added to your case study.

8. Clarifying Questions This is difficult work and we realize that. At any time, you can raise the “Clarifying Questions” and the facilitator will come to your table to help answer or clarify anything that is related to the 2 days of training or case study work.

9. Developing A Strong Narrative A quick snapshot describing the student’s strengths and concerns • Must include: • Student’s strengths • Parent concerns in their own words to the greatest extent possible • Impact on mastery of standards • Medical information, even if no concerns (don’t leave blank) • Must pass the “stranger test”

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11. Share Your Work Reflect and make changes as necessary

12. Developing A Strong PLEP A summary of assessments aligned to area(s) of need Must include: • Student’s current assessment data • Narrative description of ability level related to skills • Impact on mastery of standards • Exceptional: yes or no • Positive terms and language • Must pass the “stranger test”

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15. Developing A Strong MAG A clear description of an observable behavior a student will be able to do within one year Must Include: • Condition • Behavior • Performance criteria (How well? How consistently? How often? How measured?) • Must pass the “stranger test” • Look at the template provided

16. Goal Setting with CBM data

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19. Characteristics of the Most Intensive Intervention Potential intervention components: • specifically target student’s skill deficit • are research based, explicit, and systematic • are more intensive than general education interventions • for academics, must be more intensive than Tier III • provides support to students in addition to intervention

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22. Accommodations Accommodations change the “how” Must address: • Core instruction participation and access • Assessment participation and access • Student’s entire school day; not limited to ELA & Math

23. Modifications Modifications change the “what.” This is a very significant decision that should only be considered as a last resort. • Scaffolding, accommodations, support, interventions, and additional adult assistance should all be tried first with data collected to determine effectiveness and fidelity of each accommodation. • Modifications are restrictive by nature. They are only the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) once all other options have been implemented with fidelity and data has been collected. Only then can we determine that modifications are required.

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26. Considerations of Service Delivery • Least Restrictive Environment • All students are general education students first • All students receive high quality core instruction— for students with the most significant needs, the “how” and “where” is the “I” in IEP • Areas of deficit • Intervention required to meet student’s need • Directly linked to the MAG • A person is not an intervention

27. Considerations of Service Delivery Cont. • Student independence • The MAGs should be increasing the student’s skills so he or she requires increasingly less accommodation/modifications the following year. • Collaboration between general and special education teachers • Training support for staff/peers • May be noted in the MAGs under “details—supplementary supports for school personnel” Ex: A child has a visual schedule. A special education professional would provide a fifteen minute training to all staff on that particular schedule.

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30. Sharing what has been developed • Present Your Student (Case study)

31. Moving Forward—Self Reflection • What questions do you still have? • Who on your team/school/LEA can assist you moving forward? • How will you communicate about the changes to parents? When? In meetings, prior, multiple times? • What interventions do you have available at your school? • What interventions might you need? • How will your schedule be different next year? If you have questions you would like answered, please place the index card in the box in your room.

32. Programming team Joann Lucero, Literacy Intervention Specialist Joann.Lucero@tn.gov Ryan Mathis, Mathematics Intervention Specialist Ryan.Mathis@tn.gov Alison Gauld, Behavior and Low Incidence Coordinator Alison.Gauld@tn.gov Jill Omer, Speech, Language and Autism Coordinator Jill.Omer@tn.gov Tie Hodack, Executive Director, Instructional Programs Tie.Hodack@tn.gov Vacant, High School Intervention and Transition Coordinator