The Educational Benefit Review Process

1. 25 Industrial Park Road, Middletown, CT 06457-1520 · (860) 632-1485 A Process for Reflection on the Quality of IEPs The Educational Benefit Review Process Revised 8/08

2. Today’s Agenda • Review background of Educational Benefit Review Process • Provide overview of process • Complete each step of process • Reflect on next steps SERC

3. Outcomes • Describe what constitutes “educational benefit”; and • Determine if the design of a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) was reasonably calculated for educational benefit. SERC

4. Essential Question for Learning How can the development of an IEP be reasonably calculated to increase the likelihood of the student achieving educational benefit? SERC

5. What is “Educational Benefit”? Dialogue with your team What does this mean to you? SERC

6. Supreme Court’s first IDEA case Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson School District v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982)

7. Providing a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) Rowley“2 PRONG TEST” • Did they comply with the procedural requirements of IDEA? (Procedural Prong) AND • Did they develop an IEP reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefit? (Substantive Prong) SERC

8. Reasonable Calculation The Procedural Prong (not an exhaustive list) • Identified needs; • Goals in each need area; and • Services to support progress toward goals & general curriculum. (Drouin, 2004) SERC

9. Educational Benefit The Substantive Prong (not an exhaustive list) • Passing marks; • Advancement from grade to grade; • Progress toward goals and objectives; • Improved scores on district/statewide assessments; and • Passing the high school exit exam. Rowley SERC

10. The Steps and Protocol Educational Benefit Review Process

11. The Components • Reviewing IEPs for a 3-year cycle; • Analyzing the relationship; • Comparing progress; • Reviewing for quality; and • Determining if IEP was reasonably planned to receive educational benefit. (Drouin, 2004) SERC

12. Steps for the Process • STEP 1 Record Information • STEP 2 Analyze Relationships • STEP 3 Compare to Prior Year • STEP 4 Review of Quality • STEP 5 Discuss Overall Educational Benefit (Youtsey, 2006) SERC

13. Notes on Reflection SERC

14. STEP 1- Record Information • Jigsaw the documentation • Look for… • Present Level of Performance, Concerns, Impact Statements (pp. 4-5) • Goals & Objectives, Accommodations & Modifications (pp. 7 & 8) • Services (p. 11) • Progress made on annual goals (p. 7) and (pp. 4-5 of the next IEP) SERC

15. STEP 1- Record Information • Record what is written on each IEP • Must be present in IEP • Is verbatim • Abbreviations are acceptable • NO Paraphrasing or summarizing are SERC

16. For Example… SERC

17. SERC

18. Domain SERC

19. Strengths SERC

20. Present Level SERC

21. Interests/learning preferences SERC

22. Concerns SERC

23. Impact statement SERC

24. Goals, Objectives, Accommodations, & Modifications SERC

25. Service & Placement SERC

26. Progress SERC

27. Please Select • Facilitator • Keep group focused on task • Recorder • Record responses for the group • All the rest will serve as reporters SERC

28. Summary of Step 1 • Review each question • Use evidence from IEP • Come to consensus SERC

29. What did we learn? Share one highlight from your conversation SERC

30. STEP 2- Analyze Relationships • Consider each IEP separately • Draw circles and arrows to designate alignment • Draw empty circles to designate gaps SERC

31. For Example… SERC

32. SERC

33. SERC

34. Summary of Step 2 • Review each question • Use evidence from IEP • Come to consensus SERC

35. What did we learn? Share one highlight from your conversation SERC

36. STEP 3- Compare to Prior Year • Compare progress from • year 1 to year 2 • year 2 to year 3 • Note changes with: • 0 = No change • + = Increased complexity, time with non-disabled peers, or progress • - = Decreased complexity, time with non-disabled, or progress p. 12 SERC

37. For Example… SERC

38. Last year’s IEP stated: Using 3rd grade level text, will use phonics skills to decode a passage to 65 CWPM Given a list of sight words in isolation, will identify them to 95% accuracy Accommodations: Use picture cues to read Last year’s IEP stated: WJ-III- Word Attack 83 SS; DRA level 12-42 CWPM; student sounds out each and every single word when reading, does not use punctuation Last year’s IEP stated: Word attack and spelling skills, lacks fluency Last year’s IEP stated: Reading in general education classroom for 90 mins per day Last year’s IEP stated: M (73 CWPM) S (85% accuracy) M (97% accuracy) Last year’s IEP stated: Weaknesses in decoding and spelling impact the ability to read text and provide written responses in class Last year’s IEP stated: Math, social studies, science SERC

39. Codes to Remember SERC

40. Summary of Step 3 • Review each question • Use evidence from IEP • Come to consensus SERC

41. What did we learn? Share one highlight from your conversation SERC

42. STEP 4- Review of Quality Quality indicators • Age-appropriate • Use of general education content and expectations • Address missing skills • Generalizes across settings • Observable, measurable, related • Progress monitoring • Family participation p. 14 SERC

43. For Example… SERC

44. Summary of Step 4 • Review each question • Use evidence from IEP • Come to consensus p. 17-18 SERC

45. What did we learn? Share one highlight from your conversation SERC

46. STEP 5- Discuss Overall Educational Benefit Decide if IEP was reasonably planned • Use summaries from previous steps • Look for patterns in the IEP SERC

47. For Example… SERC

48. Overall Summary • Review each question • Use evidence from IEP • Come to consensus SERC

49. What did we learn? • 3 practices you will keep • 2 practices you will change • 1 remaining question SERC

50. Time to Action Plan • What outcome do what to achieve? • What will it be done? • Who will oversee that it is done? • When will it be done by? SERC