IEP Reflection

[disclaimer: another exciting reflection written for my UNLV grad course]

Importance of the Individualized Education Program

The Individualized Education Program is essential to ensure the best education for a student. The IEP outlines the past, present, and future with the present levels, accommodations, and goals accordingly. Creating this legal document holds the teachers, staff, school, and county accountable for the education and growth of a student. The standardized document also allows for easy transition between schools. Though the format of the IEP is standardized, the information in each section is uniquely tailored to each student. The IEP is more than just the final document. A team meets to determine if the IEP is the best plan for the individual student. The team must agree before the IEP is implemented. Once the IEP has been locked, it is a living document. The goal’s progress must be monitored and worked towards. Adjustments and revisions may be made to the plan whenever necessary by calling an IEP meeting.

Writing the IEP

The IEP must be revised annually to continue relevance to the student. This ensures the appropriate amount of time to monitor progress, meet goals, and test for the student’s present levels using standardized tests. This timeline also fits the standard notion of education being grouped by years, such as grade levels. One benefit of having the IEP dues every 364 days is that the IEPs are likely to be spread out and therefore have a greater likelihood of being completed with care and detail. One downfall of the IEP not aligning to the school calendar is that the goals are less likely to align to the curriculum.

Writing an IEP can be challenging. The program used to write the IEP can be very frustrating. Encore only functions on Internet Explorer, which is not available on all computer models. Encore also is not an intuitive program in that is it easy to learn or make sense of. The system also crashes often or does not properly save. This can be extremely frustrating when there is specific language that must be used when writing the IEP. The Clark County School District provides a guide with samples to aide in writing IEPs. These samples can be extremely helpful but also may lead to generic statements instead of individualized plans. One must be careful not to solely include statements from the binder but to include unique information about the student that will create an accurate individualized education program.

Due to the IEP’s extensive nature it is important to begin writing with ample time before the meeting is held. As soon as the date is set, tests must be administered to assess the student’s present levels. The student’s teachers should be asked for feedback and what they believe the student needs to be successful in their class.

Once the IEP is written, the draft is reviewed during the IEP meeting to discuss any revisions that need to be made. Any revisions to the draft must be made within twenty-four hours, as the IEP must be locked within twenty-four hours of the meeting. Requiring the IEP to be locked within twenty-four hours ensures that the IEP is completed and any edits are fresh in the writer’s mind. The writing of the draft is the responsibility of the Teacher of Record with the assistance of the IEP team members when necessary.

The IEP Team

The IEP team consists of the LEA representative, special education teacher, general education teacher, parent, and student. When necessary, an interpreter, school psychologist, special services (speech therapist etc.), and/or nurse may also be part of the team. A parent has the right to bring any person of importance to the meeting to discuss the IEP. The special education teacher often leads the meeting since they are most likely the teacher of record and contributed the most to the IEP draft. The LEA representative serves to ensure that the legal rights of the student and parent are being met. The general education teacher serves as a representative for the grade-level curriculum and should be a teacher of the student if possible. The parent and student serve as another source of information and a safeguard for the student’s wellbeing.

The IEP Meeting

A years worth of planning boils down to a meeting that lasts less than an hour. If all is not covered during the meeting, another session may be scheduled. Typically with all of the coordinated schedules, the meeting is most likely to only last one session. Due to the short nature of the meeting, every minute is essential and must be planned ahead of time. The team member who is moderating the meeting must be well versed in the draft. It is best for all team members to have a draft of the IEP before the meeting so that each member can read over and suggest edits before the meeting. Due to scheduling restraints, it is difficult to procure a general education teacher that interacts with the student for every meeting. Often there is only a rare window of time when all of the necessary specific individuals are available. After looking at the proposed meeting time, it is often the case that no general education teacher who works with the student is available during that time. Therefore, the general education teacher can only provide input on the general education curriculum and not about how the student functions in the classroom.

Scheduling is extremely difficult due to the inflexible schedules of major IEP team members such as the school psychologist and special education facilitator who are only available on certain days of the week and only overlap on one. In an ideal world there would be more people qualified and hired to serve in those positions in order to maximize availability and student impact.

In the future I hope to be able to write an IEP at least ten days in advance to allow for revisions by other team members. This has been a challenge so far due to limited testing materials necessary for writing present levels. I hope to call home to every student to deliver the prior notice and meeting arrangements. I hope that this increased involvement and planning will increase the accuracy and effectiveness of the IEP. This is essential because the IEP directs the learning and therefore life trajectory of the student.