response 2

Repose Discussion 2

Guided Response: Review the posts of your classmates and that of your Instructor. Respond to at least three peers. Discuss with your peers how their ideas and suggestions will assist with Mr. Franklin’s increased understanding and his work in the futures as a required participant of the IEP team process. How will understanding these components contribute to the decision-making process during the IEP team meeting? You are encouraged to provide additional resources that will assist with your explanation.

Peer 1

Beth Aleen

Manage Discussion Entry

The three selected elements of an IEP that I feel is important in the process of developing the written IEP document for a student with special needs is:
1. Statements about students’ current levels of academic achievement and functional performances
2. Statements specifying the special education, related services, and supplementary aids and services that children will receive
3. Measurable annual goals for children, including academic and functional goals
 
Statements about a student’s current levels is how the child is preforming currently in class. It describes the child’s skills and abilities based off the special education evaluation. It should cover areas of development where your child might need support. The purpose is to address the kinds and amount of special education services that might be needed for your child. It will focus on how the disability will affect involvement of activities and development. I chose this element because without knowing a child’s strengths and weaknesses then there is no starting point in setting goals. Parents and teachers are important to this element for they will provide the information needed about the child.
The statement about special education, related services, and aids for children with disabilities means aids, services, and other support that is provided for the student while in a regular classroom or activity. The aids and services can be modifications or accommodations to curriculum, direct services to the child or support and training for staff. When considering aids or support other areas of the school setting should be kept in mind, for example extracurricular activities. I chose this element because I feel that parents, teachers, and specialist should know what resources they will have for the child. If the aids or supports are not defined, then approved by everyone the child may not receive appropriate education. Teachers, specialists, and the school district are important for this element because they will share what is available for the child and what the child will need to receive an appropriate education will in class with peers that are not disabled.
Measurable annual goals is my third element that I find important for an IEP. In this element is when questions are asked and answered about where the child is heading academically in the year. What will they work on academics or development, goals that are positive, skills that can be seen or measured and when will all the goals and skills be achieved. It is for the child to have the needs to be involved in their education and to make progress. I chose this element because a professionally written plan is needed to measure the child’s performance and if it was achieved in the given time frame. Teachers are important to this element because they will have the assessments and data that can be shared to show what skills or goals have been completed and data that will show what level they are on to prepare for the IEP for the next school year. It is important to know what has been achieved by the end of the year for the next IEP meeting , new goals can be added.
Osborne, A. G., & Russo, C. J. (2003). Special education and the law: A guide for practitioners (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
ParentCenterHub. (n.d.). Contents of the IEP (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/iepcontents/ (Links to an external site.)

Peer 2

Nikie Hail

Manage Discussion Entry

Below are the elements that I find to be exceptionally important in the process of developing the written IEP document for a student with special needs
 
Current levels of academic achievement and functional performances
     Statements about students’ current levels of academic achievement and functional performances clearly describe a child’s abilities, performance, strengths, and needs. Evaluation of current levels is based on all the information and data previously collected and known about the child, the full and individual evaluation of the child as described IDEA in its evaluation/eligibility provisions paragraphs (§§300.301 through 300.311). (Osborne & Russo, 2014). This part of the IEP offers the answer to the question, “How does a child progress at school through the general curriculum without any special education or other support?”. Depending on a child’s age and disability, “current levels” will refer to either academic achievement, in other words, achievement in curriculum subjects such math, English, science, history, etc.; to functional performances, in other words, skills necessary for daily activities; or both. Relevant evaluation tools and strategies must be used to gain necessary information about a child’s current level. Academic achievement is omitted for children in preschool age. This part of a child’s IEP also provides an explanation of how the child’s disability affects his or her learning, participation in activities, and progress in the general curriculum. Well-defined and written current levels are crucial for planning the related annual goals, special education and other related services, and accommodations. (Present Levels (Component of the IEP), 2017). In case of the first IEP plan developed for a child after the eligibility process, a child’s general educator and the parents are the most important IEP Team members to contribute to this part of the IEP document as they know a child better than other members who might not have seen or interacted with the child yet. Eventually, the specialists who evaluated a child in specific areas, for example, a speech and language pathologist or educational psychologist, also play a substantial role in describing a child’s current levels from a professional perspective. I chose this element of the IEP because the current level of achievement and performances is the starting point for developing a child’s annual goals and services to lead to his or her progress. Therefore, the current level part of the IEP is one of the most important.
 
Measurable annual goals
The IEP document must contain a statement of measurable annual goals. Benchmarks or short-term goals are reported in this section for students with more significant disabilities evaluated through alternate assessments. Both academic and functional annual goals must be positive, clearly defined, visible, measurable, realistic, challenging but achievable. When planning for an annual goal, not only a child’s specific needs related to his or her disability but also involvement, participation and progress in the general curriculum must be addressed. The indication related to how progress will be measured and how often and how progress will be reported to the family must be provided in the IEP document as well (McLeskey, Rosenberg, & Westling, 2018). In other words, the IEP annual goals can be described as a route map that guides adults in the child’s life, meaning parents, teachers and service providers, towards the final target in the child’s annual achievement. All the members of the IEP team, it means the parents, general education and special education teachers, special education and related service providers and the child himself or herself, if present, should take part in decision-making related to the annual goals as they will all work together to achieve those goals. I chose this part of the IEP document because I believe that it is impossible to design appropriate support without clearly stated goals to achieve. Once we know what the outcome should look like, we can plan how to achieve it. I appreciate the part of the IDEA that stresses that goals must be measurable. Without the possibility to measure the performance against the goals, the evaluation of both achievements and quality of the program would be based on subjective opinions, therefore impossible.
 
Special education, related services, and supplementary aids and services
IDEA requires that the IEP document contain statements with the special education, related services, and supplementary aids and services that children will receive. Those components must be based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable. In this part of the IEP document, all the services and accommodation aimed to support a child with a disability in achieving his or her annual goals. The IEP document specifically defines a type of service or support, service provider, adopted strategies and tools, frequency and duration of the service, location of the services, materials, and resources. It is important to notice that the support and services mentioned in the child’s IEP refer exclusively to the areas of his needs, not to their education as a whole. The most important contributors to this part of the IEP document are special education teachers and service and support providers, as the definition of provisions must be based on their professional judgment and experience. I chose this part of the IEP because it is where a plan for a child with a disability differs from a plan for children without disabilities. As educators, we should always establish the goals of achievement based on the current students’ levels for all children regardless of their abilities; in this part of IEP, the law gives us the tool to extend the support of children who need to overcome the difficulties caused by their disabilities.
 
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References
McLeskey, J., Rosenberg, M. S., & Westling, D. L. (2018). Inclusion: Effective Practice for All Students (3rd Edition). Pearson Education, Inc.
Osborne, A. G., & Russo, C. J. (2014). Special education and the law: A guide for practitioners (3rd ed., Kindle Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA, U.S.A.: Corwin – SAGE Publications.
Present Levels (Component of the IEP). (2017, September 9). Retrieved April 2021, from Center for Parent Information and Resources: https://www.parentcenterhub.org/present-levels/#closer (Links to an external site.)
 

Peer 3

Antia Wells

Manage Discussion Entry
There are 8 elements that an IEP must contain, after reviewing the required materials I have chosen the three I feel to be most essential to the student’s education plan. The current skill level of the student is the most essential component out of all eight. Every IEP must clearly give an accurate description of a child’s performance and skill in all areas that raise concern. There should be an explanation as to how the disability is impeding on progress being made in the setting of a general education. It should explain how due to the disability the student lacks skills in things such as academics, life skills, gross and fine motor, and social skills. These results are determined by assessments given during an evaluation. This element of the process is normally by the interpreter which is normally the special education teacher.
Annual goals are essential because they are a road map identifying where and roughly when we are expecting to see progress. The goals are annually updated and should clearly reflect input from everyone on the IEP team. The goals are expected to be realistic based on the student’s current skill level. Even though the component is called annual IEP, the team is able to include shorter goals that address different skills that overall work towards the annual goals. This section includes the entire IEP team but special consideration is given to the parent, as well as the special education teacher, and all outside services the student will need during the term of this IEP.
 
(2011). The IEP Team Process: Chapter 3 – What’s Included in the IEP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIi0xanOVcs.
Last but certainly not least is the special education services. This is the plan that breaks down the student’s special education program that has been specifically designed to suit the student’s particular needs. It expresses concerns such as adaptations that need to be met, an aid that may be needed to be with a student, and even transportation adjustments. This section may be completed by the local school district representative or the special education teacher.