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Ch10TheIndividualizedEducationProgram.pptx

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The Law and Special Education

Fifth Edition

Chapter 10

The Individualized Education Program

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Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

10.1 Describe the individualized education program mandate in the I D E A and the regulations implementing the mandate.

10.2 Describe the purposes of the individualized education program.

10.3 Describe the procedures for developing a student’s individualized education program.

10.4 Describe the required participants on a student’s individualized education program planning team.

10.5 Describe the required components of a student’s individualized education program.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

10.6 Describe the procedural and substantive requirements of a student’s individualized education program.

10.7 Describe the decisions in major cases that have addressed the individualized education program mandate of the I D E A.

10.8 Describe the effect of U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in Board of Education v. Rowley and Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District on I E P development

Introduction

An I E P must aim to enable the child to make progress: the essential function of an I E P is to set out a plan for pursuing academic and functional advancement.

-Chief Justice John Roberts, Endrew F. versus Douglas County School System (2017)

Purposes of the I E P

Communication and collaboration

Management

Accountability

Compliance and monitoring

Evaluation

I E P Development: Procedural Requirements

“(A)n I E P must be drafted in compliance with a detailed set of procedures (that) emphasize collaboration among parents and educators” (Endrew F versus Douglas County School District, 2017, page 2.).

The procedures required in the I E P process represent the when and how of I E P development.

“Hearing officers can rule against a school on procedural grounds only if the procedural violation (a) impeded the student’s right to receive a F A P E, (b) impeded the parents’ opportunity to participate in educational decision making, or (c) caused a deprivation of educational benefits. I D E A, 20 U.S.C. 1415(f)(3)(E)(i)

Examples of Procedural Errors

Failing to involve parents in the I E P process.

Predetermining a student’s placement or services.

Determining placement before programming.

Failing to assemble an appropriate I E P team.

Failing to include required components in a student’s I E P.

The I E P Planning Process

I D E I A 2004: Streamlining the Planning Process

A I E P team member can be excused under certain conditions

I E P team members may complete their work using other than face-to-face meetings

I E P meetings and reevaluation meetings can be consolidated

Changes to the I E P can be made via amendments rather than redrafting the entire document

The I E P Team: Required Members

A student’s parents or guardians

The child’s special education teacher

The child’s general education teacher

A representative of the local educational agency

A person who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results (may be one of the preceding team members)

The child, when appropriate

The I E P Team: Other Members

Related service providers

A person with expertise in assistive technology

For a transition I E P, a representative of the agency likely to provide or pay for transition services

Other persons, at the discretion of the parents or school

Part C provider, if the child was eligible for Part C

Components of the I E P (1 of 2)

A statement of a student’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance.

A statement of a student’s measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals; short-term instructional objectives for students who take alternate assessments (consult state law or regulations regarding short-term objectives).

A statement of how the student’s progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured and when periodic reports on the student’s progress toward the goals will be provided to the parents.

A statement of the special education, related services, and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research, to be provided to the student and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel.

Components of the I E P (2 of 2)

An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the student will not participate with students without disabilities in general education.

A statement of any accommodations necessary to measure the academic and functional performance of the student on state- or district-wide assessment of student achievement or a statement of why a student cannot participate in the regular assessment and how the alternate assessment was selected.

The projected date for beginning the services and modifications and the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services.

A statement of appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessment services and the transition services needed to assist the student in reaching those goals and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel (for transition aged students).

Special Considerations

In the case of a student whose behavior impedes his or her learning or the learning of other, the I E P team should consider positive behavioral interventions and supports to address that behavior

In the case of a student with limited English proficiency, consider the language needs of the student as they relate to his or her I E P

In the case of a student who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in Braille unless an evaluation shows that Braille is not appropriate

Consider the communication needs of the student and in the case of a student who is blind or visually impaired, consider the students language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs

Consider whether the student needs assistive technology devices and services

Flowchart: I E P Development

I E P Development: Substantive Requirements

The substantive requirements are satisfied when “if the child’s I E P sets out an educational program that is reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress appropriate in light of his circumstance” (Endrew F v. Douglas County School District, 2017, page 16).

The substantive requirements of a student’s I E P represent the what of I E P development, and thus the actual content of his or her special education program developed in the I E P process and memorialized in the I E P document.

Examples of Substantive Errors

Failing to conduct a complete and individualized assessment of a student’s needs.

Failing to include all of a student's educational needs in the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance section of the I E P

Failing to write challenging, ambitious, and measurable annual I E P goals.

Failing to monitor students’ progress and make changes when needed.

I E P Development: Implementation Requirements

“We hold that a material failure to implement an I E P violates the I D E A. A material failure occurs when there is more than a minor discrepancy between the services a school provides to a disabled child and the services required by the child’s I E P.” (Van Duyn v. Bake Sch. Dist., 2007, page 822).

It is important that I E P teams ensure that after a student’s I E P is developed that it must then implemented as agreed upon.

A failure to implement an important or material component of an I E P may be a denial of F A P E, even if an I E P is procedural and substantively correct.

Standards-Based I E Ps

The I D E A and the law’s implementing regulations require that IEPs to include information that allow a student to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum.

According to the standards-based I E P approach, the task of the I E P team is to (a) determine how a student is currently performing academically, (b) compare that performance to what she or she may be expected to do on grade-level academic standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled, and (c) write goals and determine services that will help to close that gap

A standards-based I E P is not a restatement of the state content standards nor is it an I E P in which a student’s goals are taken from the state standards

Lessons from Litigation & Legislation

Principle 1: Ensure that the procedural requirements of the I D E A are followed.

Principle 2: Involve a student’s parents in the development of his or her I E P.

Principle 3: Assemble an appropriate I E P team.

Principle 4: Develop an I E P that will enable a student to make progress.

Principle 5: Ensure that all teachers and related service providers understand their responsibilities as listed in a student’s I E P.

Principle 6: Ensure that the I E P is implemented as written.

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