Functions of an IEP
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Individualized Education Programs (IEP) are given to students in special education. They have many components to follow the progress of the students. There are six major components:
-Present levels of performance -Annual goals -Supplementary aids and services -Accommodations -Related services -LRE- Service delivery Present levels of performance is a statement about the individual's present academic achievement and functioning performance. This should include how the disability affects progress and involvement in the general education classroom, in activities, and their benchmarks and short-term objectives. This should also include parental concerns and behavioral strengths and needs. Present levels of performance are updated as time develops for the child with the IEP. The levels of performance keep everyone on the IEP team, including the parents and teachers whom the student will be in contact with, involved and up to date on where the student is performing academically, socially, and in terms of their disability.
Annual goals are functional, academic, and measurable. They include the who, what (behavior), criteria, condition, and time frame to be met. They are based on the individual's disability, enable the individual to be involved and make progress, and help the individual meet their other educational needs. The annual goal are large and predicted to be met by the end of the IEP. Objectives are small goals to help students reach their large annual goals. IEPs are available to the student and parents throughout the year, but each student has a schedule of when they will be assessed. The annual goals give long term milestones for the student to reach. Each teacher and person involved on the IEP team and with the child need to be aware and help the student work toward these goals. These annual goals should be realistic, but challenging for the student. The goals should be changed once they are met, and continually be changed throughout the time the student has an IEP.
Supplementary aids and services are presented in a statement based on research that are to be given to the individual. It includes program modifications and supports for school personal to be given to the individual. The aids and services are to help the child meet the annual goals written in the IEP. They are also to help the child participate in extra-curricular, non academic activities, and to learn and participate with disabled and non-disabled children. Supplementary aids and services are to enable the student to have the most "normal" school experience as possible. They are to help the student be included in all activities that they desire and are medially able to participate in. Students with disabilities do not always have the disadvantage academically, but extra curricular activity wise as well. Activities should not disadvantage students with disabilities, so supplementary aids and services create more equality for those students.
Accommodations are individually appropriate and presented in a statement on the IEP. They are necessary for state and district assessments to measure the academic and functioning progress of the individual. If the IEP team decides the individual can not take the state or district assessments, the reason must be stated and the alternative assessment must be provided in the IEP. Accommodations do not alter what the student is taught, but helps them meet their goals and keep up in the curriculum. This can be the use of Microsoft Word instead of writing a long paper. Accommodations are in each classroom for students with disabilities. They are to help the student succeed in the classroom. General education and special education teachers need to be aware of students that need accommodations and work to provide them for the benefit of the student.
Related Services can be post secondary and in the forms of training, employment, independent living skills, and/ or transition services that assist the individual in reaching their goals. This includes the special education instruction and how much time will be presented by a special education teacher to the student. It can also be transportation. If a student is unable to ride a bus to school with the other students, special education must provide an alternative ride to school. Related services include all services outside of accommodations and supplementary aids and services.
The least restrictive environment and service delivery deal with how the individual will get their services provided by special education and where they will be placed educationally. Students in special education should be placed in the least restrictive environment to keep them involved with general education. Service delivery is how they will receive their services through a special education teacher in an inclusion classroom, by after school speech pathologist meetings, or with resource room hours during the school day with a special education teacher.
Heward, W. L. (2013). Exceptional children: An introduction to special education. 10th ed. Pearson Education Inc. Upper Saddle River: New Jersey.
Georgia Department of Education. (2007) Quick guide to the model IEP. Retrieved from https://armstrong.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/765008/viewContent/10901917/View. |