What I Will Do Today

1. DevelopingS.M.A.R.T. IEPsMitchell L. Yell, Ph.D.myell@sc.eduwww.mitchyell.wikispaces.comUniversity of South CarolinaPresentation to the 4th Annual Midwest Regional Special Education Law ConferenceMarch 24, 2010

2. What I Will Do Today Explain what a S.M.A.R.T IEP is Discuss why IEPs need to be S.M.A.R.T Demonstrate how to develop S.M.A.R.T IEPs

3. What is a S.M.A.R.T. IEP??

4. A S.M.A.R.T. IEP is… Educationally Meaningful & Legally Correct

5. S.M.A.R.T. IEPs are… Specific Measurable & Measured Ambitious Research Based Team Developed

6. Specific A student’s IEP must be individualized and specifically address a student’s unique educational needs

7. Measurable & Measured A student’s IEP must contain measurable annual goals that establish criteria for monitoring his or her progress toward attainment of the goal. The goals must be measured.

8. Ambitious A student’s IEP must be result in meaningful educational progress. To ensure that an IEP is meaningful the student’s goals must be ambitious, but reasonable.

9. Research Based A student’s special education program must be based on peer-reviewed research

10. Team Developed Only the student’s IEP team, including his or her parents, can make decisions about a students identification, programming, or placement

11. Why do IEPs need to be S.M.A.R.T.??

12. Two Major Reasons • Students are more likely to receive an education that confers meaningful educational benefit • The IEP will meet the requirements of the law

13. Congressional Report on the IDEIA • “Improving education results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy.” • The purpose of the 2004 reauthorization was to: • “Improve educational results for children with disabilities” • “To assess and ensure the effectiveness of education for children with disabilities”

14. Comments to IDEIA Regulations • These requirements “emphasize the importance of using high-quality, research-based instruction in special education settings consistent with (NCLB)” (p.32) • This system will require evidence in the form of data-based documentation reflecting formal assessment of progress during instruction through repeated assessments” (p. 32)

15. Question: How Do We Meet the Substantive Requirements of IDEA 2004? Answer: By providing an education that confers meaningful educational benefit

16. Question: How can we ensure that our IEPs confer meaningful educational benefit? Answer: By developing meaningful goals, based on relevant assessments, measuring progress toward the goals, and reacting to this information.

17. The Big Picture How we’ll get the student there Special Education Services Current Achievement/Functioning (PLAAFP) Achievement in a Year (Annual Goals & Progress) Where a student is Where we want a student to be

18. The Three Stages of the S.M.A.R.T. IEP Process

19. S.M.A.R.T.Assessment

20. Assessment: Questions • Who should receive special education services? • Eligibility & classification decisions • What instructional services will be provided? • Assessment must lead directly to instructional programming • How effective are the special education services? • Progress monitoring

21. What Does This Mean? • Teachers must understand administration of standardized assessment instruments for eligibility determination (e.g., WJPB, Key Math) • Teachers must understand and be able to develop informal assessment instruments to help the plan and evaluate student’s instructional programs (e.g., Curriculum-based measurement, curriculum-based assessment, FB • Teachers must be able to explain the instructional implication of assessment results

22. The Big Problem in Assessment • Too often the IEP team focuses on tests to determine eligibility without doing assessments that relate meaningfully to instruction

23. Assessment Summary A relevant assessment is the path to good goals A relevant assessment is the first step in program development Assessment depends on everyone’s input The assessment is the baseline by which a student’s progress is measured

24. S.M.A.R.T.Programming

25. Programming • The process: In the IEP process, the educational program for a student is developed and then the success of that program is evaluated • Changes must be made if needed • The document: The IEP is the blueprint that constitutes a student’s free appropriate public education (FAPE)

26. Programming Requirements • Special education programming consists of: • Special education services • Related services • Supplementary services • Program modifications • Special education services must be based on “peer-reviewed research” • The program must be designed to confer “meaningful educational benefit”

27. What Does This Mean? • IEP teams must develop meaningful and ambitious goals • The purpose of goals is to determine the amount of growth we expect in one year’s time • Goals help us to determine if programs are successful • Teachers must know and keep current on the research in their field • The services that teachers provide must be based on peer-reviewed research and be designed to allow the student to reach his or her goals • Services include supplementary services & program modifications

28. Peer-Reviewed Research IEPs must include ”a statement of special education servicesand supplementary aids and services based on peer reviewed research. (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004)

29. What Is Peer-Reviewed Research? • According to NCLB it means that the research has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal(published) or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review  • This means that a special education teacher is accountable for knowing what methodologies he or she is using, and whether the methodologies have support in the research  

30. IDEIA is Congress’ attempt to fix this problem by closing the “research-practice” gap

31. What Doe This Mean? • Special education teachers must adopt and use scientifically based approaches for which there is supporting research in peer-reviewed journals • Teachers are accountable for: • Using evidence-based educational practices • Knowing the research behind the procedures we use • Ensuring that our educational programs confer “meaningfuleducational benefit”

32. S.M.A.R.T.Evaluation

33. Purposes of Evaluation • To determine if the instructional program is working (Formative evaluation) • If the programming is not successful, we need to make changes • IDEIA requires that teachers collect data on student progress and share the data with parents • To determine if the child is still eligible for special education

34. A Four-Step Model for DevelopingS.M.A.R.T. IEPs

35. The State of the Art “Sadly most IEPs are horrendously burdensome to teachers and nearly useless to parents. Many, if not most, goals and objectives can’t be measured and all too often no effort is made to actually assess the child’s progress toward the goal.” Bateman & Linden, 2006

36. The Four IEP Questions • What are the student’s unique educational needs that must be considered in developing the individualized program? • What goals will enable the student to achieve meaningful educational benefit? • What services will we provide to the student to address each of his or her educational needs? • How will we monitor the student’s progress to determine if the instructional program is effective

37. Step 1: Write the Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance Statement

38. PLAAFP • Based on a full and individualized assessment, the IEP team determines a student’s unique educational needs to which special services must be directed and explains the effects of the student’s disability on his or her learning and involvement in the general education curriculum.

39. How Important is the PLAAFP? • Larson v. I.S.D #361 (40 IDELR 231, D. MN, 2004) • An IEP was declared invalid because the present levels statements contained only conclusory and general statements, which lead to vague, unmeasurable goals • Board of Education of the Rhinebeck Central School District (39 IDELR 148, NY, 2003) • “Two years of the student’s IEPs were deficient in that they lacked objective data in the student’s present levels of performance statement…which resulted in an inadequate basis upon which to measure (the student’s) progress and to develop meaningful, measurable goals.” • The entire IEP is based on the present levels statements

40. Common PLAAFP Errors • Writing vague descriptions of academic and/or functional needs • Writing statements that are not related to a student’s disability • Writing statements based solely on a standardized battery of tests • Writing PLAAFP statements that are not individualized • Using a student’s disability as the PLAAFP statement

41. Example of a PLAAFP Statement: Academics • Jeremyis a fourth grade student with asevere reading problem. He currently reads at an average rate of 24 words per minute out of his grade level reading textbook; his peers read at an average rate of 62 words per minute in the same book. Jeremy’s reading problems make it difficult for him to work successfully in general education classes that require him to learn by reading.

42. Let’s Review • The PLAAFP must be a clear, understandable, & precise statement that: • Leads directly to measurable annual goals • Describes how the student’s disability affects educational performance • Explains how the student’s disability affects his or her participation in general education • Leads to an annual goal, special education service, or both

43. Appendix C of the IDEA Regulations (1999) • “There should be a direct relationship between the present levels of performance and the other components of the IEP. Thus, if the statement describes a problem with the child’s reading level and points to a deficiency in reading skills, the problem should be addressed under both (1) goals & objectives, and (2) specific special education and related services provided to the child.” (Question 36)

44. The relationship among PLAAFPs, goals, & services • Simi Valley Unified School District (44 IDELR 106, 2005) • “The IEP must show a relationship between the student’s present levels of performance, the goals, and the services that are provided to meet those goals.” • In this case a school’s IEP was invalid because the IEP lacked goals that were related to the students needs and furthermore the “IEP lacked accurate measurable goals and appropriate strategies for monitoring student progress.”

45. Step 2: Develop the Measurable Annual Goals

46. Measurable Annual Goals • The purpose of a measurable annual goals is to estimate what a student may accomplish in a year’s time and then to evaluate the success of a student’s special education program. • Goals should include academic and functional areas if needed • Goals should be directed at meeting a student’s needs related to the disability so he/she may be involved in and progress in the general curriculum

47. Measurable Annual Goals • The essential characteristics of IEP goals is that they must be measurable and be measured • If a goal is not measurable it violates the IDEA and may result in the denial of FAPE (Bateman & Herr, 2006) • If a goal is not measured that violates the IDEA and may result in the denial of FAPE (Bateman & Herr, 2006)

48. More Goal Stuff in the IEP • The IEP must describe how the student’s progress toward the annual goals will be measured • The IEP must include schedule for reporting progress to a student’s parents as often as students in general education get report cards

49. How Important are the Goals? • Rio Rancho Public Schools (40 IDELR 140, NM,2003) • “The purpose of measurable goals is to enable the child’s teacher(s), parents, and others to gauge how well the child is progressing toward achieving the goal…This information allows the IEP team to determine whether a child is making adequate progress, and, if not, to revise the child’s program accordingly.” • “Measurable goals are critical to planning and implementing an IEP.”

50. Hearing Decisions on Measurable Goals • Measurable goals must provide a mechanism for determining whether the special education services are enabling a student to make educational progress (Escambia, SEA AL, 2004) • Measurable goals allow the IEP team to determine whether a student is making adequate progress and, if not, to revise the educational program accordingly (Rio Rancho, SEA NM, 2003)