StandardsBased IEPs Alabama State Department of Education Special

Standards-Based IEPs Alabama State Department of Education Special Education Services March 2013

Da. Lee Chambers, Ph. D. Education Specialist Special Education Services Alabama State Department of Education daleec@alsde. edu 334 -242 -8114 2

Reproductions of the slides and/or information from this Presentation should be credited to: Alabama State Department of Education, Special Education Services P. O. Box 302101 Montgomery, AL 36130 speced@alsde. edu 334. 242. 8114

Topics § IDEA 2004 § Standards § Alabama Curriculum Guides § Alabama Extended Standards § Writing IEPs to Standards

IDEA 2004

Content of the IEP, IDEA 2004 A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum (i. e. , the same curriculum as for nondisabled children); or for preschool children as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities.

Content of the IEP, IDEA 2004 A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals, designed to meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum and meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability. For children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards, a description of benchmarks is also required.

Academic Achievement “A considerable gap in achievement in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies exists between youth with disabilities and their peers in the general population. ” Wagner, M. , Newman, L. , Cameto, R. , and Levine, P. (2006). The Academic Achievement and Functional Performance of Youth With Disabilities. A Report From the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS 2). (NCSER 2006 -3000). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.

Functional Performance Functional performance is the acquisition of essential and critical skills needed for children with disabilities to learn specific daily living, personal, social, and employment skills, or the skills needed to increase performance and independence at work, in school, in the home, in the community, for leisure time, and for postsecondary and other lifelong learning opportunities.

Functional Performance • Personal Living • Motor Skills • Social Interaction and Communication • Community Living • Broad Independence Wagner, M. , Newman, L. , Cameto, R. , and Levine, P. (2006). The Academic Achievement and Functional Performance of Youth With Disabilities. A Report From the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS 2). (NCSER 2006 -3000). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.

Annual Goals Students with Mild Disabilities Academic • Standards-Based Instruction (most likely Course of Study Standards or Essentials Course Objectives) • Intervention Programs Functional • Communication Skills • Study Skills • Organizational Skills • Social Skills Ages 16 and Older • Transition Skills

Annual Goals Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities Academic • Standards-Based Instruction (most likely Alabama Extended Standards) • Intervention Programs Functional • Communication Skills • Adaptive Behavior Skills • Daily Living Skills Ages 16 and Older • Transition Skills

Content of the IEP, IDEA 2004 “Facial compliance with the IDEA’s requirements is not enough. The language of the IEP has to make sense and communicate something meaningful about the child and the proposed program…” Norlin, J. , (2011). What do I do when…The answer book on individualized education programs. Third Edition, LRP.

Standards

Standards • Standards clearly communicate what students are expected to know and be able to do at each grade level. • For students with significant cognitive disabilities, standards also provide opportunities to access the knowledge and skills that Alabama has decided are important.

Alabama Courses of Study and Academic Content Standards A course of study is a document that specifies what students should know and be able to do in a particular subject area by the end of each grade level or course. Minimum content for each grade level is delineated in the academic content standards.

Alabama’s College and Career Readiness Standards Expecting Excellence!

Opportunity to Learn Teachers create opportunities for students to learn grade-level expectations (content standards).

Alabama Curriculum Guides

Alabama Curriculum Guides • Designed for students who are not performing at grade level • Include objectives that are prerequisite to the standard and/or break the standard down into smaller instructional units.

Alabama Curriculum Guides Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. [RL. 3. 2] Objectives: ELA 3. 2. 1: Define moral. ELA 3. 2. 2: Define genre to include fables, folktales, and myths.

Alabama Curriculum Guides (continued) ELA 3. 2. 3: Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral. ELA 3. 2. 4: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. ELA 3. 2. 5: Identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

Alabama Extended Standards

What are Extended Standards? • They are extensions of the state academic content standards for each grade level. • They are designed to allow students with significant cognitive disabilities to access the general education curriculum.

Alabama Extended Standards

Alabama Curriculum Documents To access Alabama Curriculum Guides and Alabama Extended Standards: www. alex. state. al. us/specialed Click on Curriculum

Curriculum Guide Documents Extended Standards Documents

Writing IEPs to Standards

The IEP is the cornerstone of access to the general curriculum.

Q&A, Standards-Based IEPs • www. alsde. edu • Click on Offices • Click on Office of Learning Support, Special Education • Click on Standards • Scroll down to find Qand. A_Standards. Based_IEPs docs. alsde. edu/documents/65/Qand. A_Standards-Based_IEPs. pdf

Developing Standards-Based IEPs What steps do IEP Teams need to follow to develop effective standards-based IEPs?

Step 1: Collect and examine materials for making data-based IEP decisions. § § § Courses of study and/or curriculum guides Current assessment data • State assessments • Classroom assessments (curriculum-based) • Eligibility data (if current and related to learning) Student work samples Previous year’s IEP Other information (e. g. , grades, discipline referrals, attendance reports)

Step 2: Analyze data to develop the student profile. The profile should include general statements regarding: • • Strengths Needs Parental concerns Student preferences and/or interests • Evaluation/assessment data • Other • Status of prior IEP goals • Teacher/Parent/Student input • Transition needs (at least by age 16)

Strengths of the student Parental concerns for enhancing the Student Profile Student Preferences and/or Interests Results of most recent evaluations The academic, developmental, and fu needs of the student Other For the child transitioning from EI to Preschool, justify if IEP will not be implemented by the child’s 3 rd birthd

Step 3: Use data to summarize the present level. The present level answers the question: What is the student doing now? ”

Present Level Components Strengths Needs How the student’s disability affects performance in the general education curriculum (for preschool children, how the disability affects the child’s participation in age appropriate activities)

Present Level Strengths §Must be individualized §For academic goals, must be based on data related to the standards §Are specific to each goal and are not typically repeated in more than one Present Level Ask…What have we learned about this student’s strengths?

Present Level Needs §Must be individualized §For academic goals, must be based on data related to the standards §Are specific to each goal and are not typically repeated in more than one Present Level Ask…What prerequisite skills/knowledge does the student need to close the gap between his/her present level and the grade-level content standard or the functional achievement expectation?

Present Level How the Student’s Disability Affects Performance in the General Education Curriculum §Based on characteristics of the student that are a result of his or her disability. § Might be repeated in more than one Present Level depending on the nature of the standards being addressed

Present Level How the Student’s Disability Affects Performance… Consider how the student’s disability affects progress in learning the grade-level content standards

Present Level DO NOT use the student’s exceptionality to explain how the disability affects involvement/progress in the general curriculum! o Example of what NOT to write: Marcus’ learning disability affects his progress in the general curriculum. o Example of what to write: Marcus’ weakness in applying strategies, such as making inferences and making complex predictions, affect his progress in comprehending sixth-grade literary materials.

Present Level Remember… The present level of academic achievement and functional performance sets the stage for developing IEP goals!

Step 4: Write Annual Goals. Purpose • To describe what a student can reasonably expect to accomplish in one school year • Annual Goals answer the question “What should the student be doing? ”

Annual Goals Academic goals are based on: –Alabama content standards listed in the Alabama COS (and Curriculum Guide Objectives and/or Essentials Course Objectives) or –Alabama Extended Standards (for students with significant cognitive disabilities)

Annual Goals § Five Components • Who • Time frame • Conditions • Behavior • Criterion

Annual Goals Measurable annual goals must include the following: The student …(WHO) Will do what …(BEHAVIOR) To what level or degree…(CRITERION) Under what conditions…(CONDITIONS) In what length of time…(TIMEFRAME)

Example of Annual Goal with Five Components Jacob will read 90 -110 words of connected text per minute with 100% accuracy at the end of 36 weeks. • • • The student (Jacob) Will do what (read 90 -110 words per minute) To what level or degree (100% accuracy) Under what conditions (connected text) In what time frame (end of 36 weeks)

Annual Goals Annual goals are related to needs resulting from the student’s disability that directly affect involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. o For preschool children, as appropriate, to participate in age-appropriate activities

Annual Goals If a large number of needs are identified in the present level, the IEP Team must consider how each need impacts the students’ progress in the general education curriculum. Select the need that has the greatest impact on progress, and develop a goal to address that need.

Annual Goals § Consider content standards – Look at all grade-level content standards – Discuss intent of standard – Determine which standards are most important for each student (based on progress in the general education curriculum) – Compare standard(s) with student’s areas of needs and the impact of the disability – Use data to determine the areas the student will find difficult without additional supports

Annual Goals Remember…! § The IEP goal is NOT the content standard § The IEP goal is part of a plan to make the content standard immediate and individualized for the student. § Do not copy the content standard word for word to become an IEP goal.

Legend for IEPs subject grade level content standard Standard M. 3. 10 Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100. [3 -NBT 1] Content Standard Identifier from Common Core State Standards objective M. 3. 10. 1: Define rounding. M. 3. 10. 2: Round whole numbers from 100 to 999 using whole numbers from 10 to 99. M. 3. 10. 3: Model rounding whole numbers to the nearest 100.

Legend for IEPs --Course of Study Standard M. 6. 1 or COS M. 6. 1 --Curriculum Guide Objective M. 6. 1. 2 --Essential Objective (designated by ◊ or ♦) ◊ ALG 1 -B. 1. 5 (formally known as AOD Objectives) --Extended Standard (including complexity) M. ES 6. 1(3)

Benchmarks Individualized Education Programs § 300. 320 Definition of individualized education program. General. As used in this part, the term individualized education program or IEP means a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in accordance with §§ 300. 320 through 300. 324, and that must include… (ii) For children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or shortterm objectives;

Benchmarks Short-term objectives and benchmarks are steps that measure the child's progress toward the annual goals in the IEP. When written correctly, short-term objectives provide teachers and parents with a roadmap and a clear mechanism to evaluate the child's progress. Wright, P. and Wright, P. (2006). Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2 nd Edition. Hartfield, VA: Harbor House Law Press, Inc.

Benchmarks • Measurable • Minimum of 2 per goal • A logical breakdown of the major components of an annual goal • Required for all goals, not just academic goals, regardless of whether it is a testing year or not

Benchmarks may be: § Sequential (crawl, then walk) or § Parallel (decode accurately and understand what is read)

Special Education Special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including: § (i) Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and § (ii) Instruction in physical education.

Specially Designed Instruction Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate, to the needs of an eligible child under these rules, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction: § (i) To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's disability; and § (ii) To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children.

Thank You for Participating! Da. Lee Chambers, Ph. D. daleec@alsde. edu 61

Please email your Questions and Comments to your SES contact person. . .