# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
IEP Input Form for Educators and Other Professionals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At a glance

A strengths-based IEP uses student abilities to help work on weaknesses.

IEP goals are built around what the student can do and how the team can use those abilities.

Helping students identify and leverage their strengths, interests, and preferences can lead to more self-awareness and self-advocacy.

But more and more schools are shifting the focus from deficits to a strengths-based approach. This kind of IEP gives much more weight to a student's strengths, interests, and preferences. The team not only identifies strengths but leverages them to help address weaknesses.

Here's what you need to know to help develop a strengths-based IEP for your child.

What strengths-based IEPs are

A strengths-based IEP looks at abilities as well as weaknesses. It looks at what students can do, what the team wants them to do next, and how strengths might be used to set goals to help address a particular need.

How strengths-based IEPs work

There's no one way to develop a strengths-based IEP. But here are some common elements and approaches.

Use a strengths finder before the IEP meeting. These kinds of student self-assessments can help IEP teams develop a strengths-based IEP. A strengths test not only tells the IEP team about kids' abilities. It also tells the kids about their own abilities. And these insights can be a guiding force throughout the IEP meeting.

Give students a leadership role in IEP meetings. Having students actively participate in parts of the IEP meeting can help in many ways. For example, students can lead the part of the meeting where they share what they discovered about themselves when taking the strengths test.

Student involvement in IEP meetings can deepen the discussion about strengths. It can also give kids a sense of ownership when they get to help make decisions about their IEP.

Reframe the way the IEP team talks about strengths. Too often, IEP teams discuss a student's strengths by saying things like "What I like about Elana is...." And these kinds of comments can be hard to connect to the rest of the IEP in actionable ways.

But IEP teams can reframe the strengths discussion so it focuses on abilities: "What does Elana do well?"

For example, if Elana struggles in math, what does she do well in that subject? Can she work independently? Does she prefer to work in groups? Is she able to use a calculator? Strengths-based IEPs aim to start with a strength for each of the skill sets discussed in this section.

Weave strengths into IEP goals. This is the heart of a strengths-based IEP. IEP goals are built around what the student can do and how the team can use that ability to work on an area of weakness.

It's important for IEP goals to be SMART ( Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and T ime-bound). Incorporating your child's strengths into SMART goals can make the goals even stronger. It helps kids see how to make progress by leveraging what they're good at.

Here are a few examples of how a strengths-based IEP goal could differ from a SMART goal that isn't strengths-based:

The common goals and the strengths-based goals set the same expectation for student progress. But only the strengths-based goals use the student's abilities and interests to help chart a path to progress.

The potential of strengths-based IEPs

Strengths-based IEPs aren't widely used yet. But as more schools make strides in student-led IEPs and other areas, they may inspire more districts to rewrite their IEP templates. Adjusting these templates can help ensure that strengths are discussed throughout the IEP meeting, not just in the first section.

In the meantime, you don't have to wait for your child's school to change its IEP template. There's a lot you can do right now.

Key takeaways

Strengths tests and self-assessments can help deepen the discussion about strengths.

Strengths-based IEP goals use a student's abilities, interests, and preferences to help chart a path to progress.

Involving students in IEP meetings can help the team think about ways to develop strengths and work on weaknesses.

About the author

About the author

Julie Rawe is the special projects editor at Understood.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Brian Stack, MEd is the principal of Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston, New Hampshire.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Strengths-based IEPs: What you need to know

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is a strengths-based IEP? Find out how this type of IEP focuses on student strengths to set IEP goals, and see examples of strengths-based goals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Individualized education programs that focus on learner competencies enhance student growth and increase parental involvement.

To create a caring learning community where teachers and parents are partners and the strengths and competencies of students are celebrated, a strengths-based framework for curriculum, instruction, assessment, and evaluation is key. For students with exceptionalities, their educational program, supports, and related services are largely determined by an individualized education program (IEP) or individual services plan (ISP) that pulls information from their present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP).

This blueprint, however, tends to fall short in considering a student's strengths and competencies, and more often than not focuses on what a student cannot do. The stigma often felt by students with exceptionalities, along with the inference that these students are less-than, is further exacerbated through a traditional IEP, which is rooted in a deficit-based framework.

Drawbacks of Deficit-Based Models

This deficit-based approach to setting goals, determining benchmarks, and deciding on programs and services downplays the unique contributions and capabilities of students, focuses on limitations and labels, may promote a negative understanding of the student and their potential, and ultimately discourages parental input and student participation in the IEP process. What if instead we leverage students' strengths and competencies to improve areas of growth?

Strengths-based IEPs are rooted in the belief that all students have strengths and that students' motivation increases when the adults around them point out those strengths. When a skill is not acquired, the implication is not that the student is deficient, but rather that the student lacks the opportunity, experience, and instruction needed to master the skill at this time. Moreover, shifting to a more balanced, holistic perspective that leans on a student's strengths to improve areas of weakness provides an authentic opportunity for students to develop their self-advocacy skills, self-confidence, and independence as learners.

Student struggles are not ignored-rather, they are reframed with a strengths-based lens for actionable IEP goals addressing specific student performance expectations. Approaching IEPs from a strengths-based perspective does not sugarcoat the struggles that students with exceptionalities may face. It's a way to shift the language we use to describe the needs of our students, and ultimately it leads to higher investment in their educational, social, and emotional growth.

6 Things to Consider When Drafting IEP/ISP Goals

1. Student likes. Take an inventory of the student's strengths, interests, and preferences. Use this inventory to create a personal connection to learning and to create choice for students. When teachers can differentiate content (the delivery method or access to what is learned), process (the activities used to learn it), and product (how learning is shown or how it is assessed), students can generalize and transfer learning more effectively.

2. Word choice. Use phrases such as "excels at," "does at grade/age level," or "does well" to describe student competencies, and use these strengths to inform the IEP team's approach when writing goals and objectives for student growth.

3. Specific conditions. List the conditions in which the student may excel (e.g., time of day, content area, seating placement), and build upon these conditions throughout the school day to provide scaffolding for areas of weakness.

4. Instructional strategies. Lean on strategies that are proven to work with the individual student so that specific and contextualized information is included.

5. Subjective language. Examine each statement for subjective language, and aim to shift to more objective language. This adapted example from Frontline Education illustrates how a shift from subjective to objective language gives more specific and useful information: "Andi frequently misbehaves" is better written as "When frustrated, Andi may leave their seat and pace at the back of the classroom."

Traditional IEP goal: Mike will complete his history chapter notes on time and with 85 percent accuracy in three out of four consecutive assignments.

Strengths-based IEP goal: Mike will use his skills with technology to dictate and complete his history chapter notes on time with 85 percent accuracy in three out of four consecutive assignments.

6. Positive examples. Ask, "What does the student do well?" Begin each IEP goal with a strength:

Increasing Parental Involvement

Teachers should encourage parents to be active participants in the IEP process. A strengths-based approach is a pathway to increasing parent-school partnerships because it shows parents that their child's teachers believe in their child's potential, and students begin to understand that they are capable and valuable contributors at school and in life. A teacher once remarked, "It is clearly beyond time for us to value the unique qualities of every individual in our classroom."

Students are multifaceted, ever-evolving, and full of potential. By focusing on what the student can do, and then using those strengths to set goals to help address a particular need, teachers provide students with greater opportunities for academic success; they build resilience and a growth mindset; and finally, self-esteem, self-determination, and self-efficacy are fostered. It's time for the language used in PLAAFPs and IEPs/ISPs to reflect this understanding.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Many Benefits of Strengths-Based IEPs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Individualized education programs that focus on learner competencies enhance student growth and increase parental involvement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Abstract

1. Confront Beliefs About Disability

2. Examine the Hidden Curriculum

3. Promote an Asset-Based Representation of Disabled People

4. Focus on Access

To ensure that all students can bring their whole selves to the classroom, educators must take steps to counter cultural assumptions about who belongs.

You have 0 free articles left this month.

Create an account and get additional free articles.

Credit: VECTOTFUSIONART / SHUTTERSTOCK

Abstract

1. Confront Beliefs About Disability

2. Examine the Hidden Curriculum

3. Promote an Asset-Based Representation of Disabled People

4. Focus on Access

Experiencing disability as a student in the 1980s and 1990s, I had never heard the word ableism: but I knew what it felt like to be viewed as deficient, strange, and incapable. My 1st grade teacher wasn't afraid to tell my parents she didn't want me in her class. In the school gym, I often sat against the wall alone while my classmates engaged in P.E. At times, classmates made fun of me, imitating the way I walked or ran with my crutches. These few examples of rejection don't encompass the whole of my K-12 experience, but they certainly played a part in the lack of belonging I felt in my community.

I was in graduate school before I had a name, aside from prejudice, for what I knew so well. Talila Lewis (2022) describes ableism as, "A system of assigning value to people's bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normalcy, productivity, desirability, intelligence, excellence, and fitness." Lewis's conception of ableism identifies how it often works hand-in-hand with racism, since it leads people to devalue certain characteristics and ways of being.

Today, more and more students and teachers recognize and are able to name blatant ableism, even if they don't yet understand the nuances or know how to challenge it. Education leaders can support this growing critical consciousness and improve the experience of disabled students and that of the entire community by exploring what an anti-ableist pedagogy could look like. This pedagogy might encompass the mindset educators bring to their work and the methods they use in teaching.

Working from the tenets of disability studies in education (Connor et al., 2008), and drawing from my experience as a teacher and school administrator, I've developed four exercises for building an anti-ableist pedagogy. These exercises, outlined below, need continuous attention, like any social justice project.

1. Confront Beliefs About Disability

Even if teachers are skilled with the technical strategies of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), accommodation, and modification, they may still unconsciously view students in deficit terms. An anti-ableist approach is cultural, related to ways we think, act, and interact with each other; and it is important for all students, disabled and nondisabled alike, as they develop ways to navigate human difference and their own unique qualities.

To develop an anti-ableist pedagogy, we need to reflect on our own beliefs and practices on a continuous basis. This can begin at an individual level: What have I come to believe about disability? How did I come to think this way? How does it impact the students and families I serve? Even those of us with firsthand experience with disabilities need to question our beliefs as we often have internalized ableist perspectives. Reflection can also happen among school teams: What does our shared mission say about disability? How do our practices meet or fail to meet the needs of disabled students and/or family members?

In our ableist society, there are many ways to conceptualize disability. An anti-ableist pedagogy brings those ways into question. A medical model of disability is one that views disability as a problem that needs to be fixed or cured, a deformity, a burden, and something pitiable. So sorry, my heart goes out to you. Poor thing! How would a model like this impact students? How accepted could one feel? A charity model of disability sees disability as an opportunity to take care of someone who seems less fortunate, a marker that deems someone to forever be in need of others' kindness. Please, let me help you cross the street. It's a good thing I was here when you needed me. What would this model do to a student's sense of agency? By contrast, a social model of disability, anti-ableist in nature, understands impairment to be a natural part of human diversity and sees disability as the result of social barriers and ableism. We can work together to remove barriers.

A social model of disability understands impairment to be a natural part of human diversity and sees disability as the result of social barriers and ableism.

Could this third model help us focus on problems within the environment rather than within individual students? Disability activists and allies have promoted the social model in an effort to move us away from the medical model, a predominant deficit-based model that has caused much harm. Distancing ourselves from the medical model does not mean we neglect medical care and support, but rather that we accept these needs as a natural part of life. This acceptance means letting go of pity and low expectations and realizing that disabled people can live well and have meaningful lives. Although researchers have identified many other models, the social model can be particularly helpful in schools, reminding teachers to eliminate barriers to learning instead of assuming some students are unable to learn.

Being aware of various models of disability can support our work in examining the hidden curriculum our schools teach-the values we have inherited and have left unquestioned. Educators play a part in socially constructing ideas about disability. First, let's begin with the concepts mentioned in the definition of ableism: "normalcy, productivity, desirability, intelligence, excellence, and fitness" (Lewis, 2022). How do these areas contribute to a hidden curriculum in schools? When we promote one right way to be or act, we contribute to the pressure students feel to meet norms, to see those who don't as abnormal and less valuable. When our expectations for productivity in the classroom do not consider the realities of various minds and bodies, we send a message that some are more worthy than others. The images we post on classroom walls and the comments we make about people communicate to students what we view as desirable. These representations can influence the way they see themselves and the way they treat others. Even our assessments and grading systems often rigidly characterize a narrow slice of our population as intelligent. And we wonder why some students are unmotivated. Likewise, setting up competitions and rewarding winners with high praise can leave many feeling like they fall short of excellence and fitness, and that their efforts and growth do not measure up.

Even if we have to make use of some of these common practices in education, we can ask ourselves how we can modify or think differently about them to make them more inclusive and less marginalizing. How can we celebrate uniqueness and multiple ways of being? How can we encourage learning for everyone? How can we uplift our students without demeaning others? How can we identify the intelligence within every individual and be a champion for them? How can we celebrate cooperation and the growth everyone achieves?

Second, so much of our education system is based on standards. Although intended to provide equal opportunities and to hold high expectations for all, standards can often lead to one-size-fits-all curricula and assessment systems that deny the fact that students are not and never will be standardized. Our compliance with standards-based education becomes part of the hidden curriculum, the messages we send about who students should be. From a social model perspective, we might consider: How can we hold high expectations for all students without expecting this to look the same for everyone? If we are beholden to standards, how do we talk to students about them? If a teacher acknowledges the imperfect system in their conversations with students, explaining that standardized tests do not reflect everyone's strengths, that can help students develop a critical consciousness about their own value.

A third common aspect of our hidden curriculum (and many say it is more explicit than hidden) is the value we place on independence. We assess students on what they can do by themselves. We most often give individual assignments. We teach students to dream about taking care of themselves and praise those who don't need help. By contrast, disabled leaders and activists, like those of other marginalized communities, know that interdependence is reality, that survival depends on working together and asking for help (Raghaven, 2020). How can we support students in building their capacities and their sense of agency while valuing the interdependent nature of our lives? How do we celebrate that we can all contribute in unique and beautiful ways?

As we question our own beliefs about disability and the messages infused in our teaching, we can look for ways to shift toward asset-based representations of disabled people within our curriculum. One approach is including texts that focus on disability in a nuanced way. Writer and activist Leroy Moore wrote Black Disabled Art History 101 (Xóchitl Justice Press, 2016) for children as a response to not seeing Black disabled artists in books and curriculum while he was growing up. In the dedication, he writes:

This book is dedicated to all the disabled children and youth searching for a mirror, for histories, for stories, and for images that say, "You are not alone. You are being carried by disabled Black and Brown adults who were once disabled Black and Brown children and youth. We want you to continue on your path and lead others in new directions."

Moore's book offers narratives of disabled visual artists, musicians, dancers, actors, and actresses. Similarly, Alice Wong's young adult book Disability Visibility: First Person Stories for Today (Delacorte Press, 2021), contains a collection of essays written by disabled authors. Books like these can provide road maps and ways of being that students can connect to and can claim with dignity.

Disability counternarratives, like the stories in Moore's and Wong's books, come from the perspective of disabled folks and are another key part of asset-based representations. Disabled activist Stella Young says we've all been sold a lie about disability, "that disability is a bad thing." Her 2014 TED Talk, "I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much," is one counternarrative that can help teachers change the script for disabled students and their peers, shifting their perspective of where expertise lies. What stories do your students need to hear? How might a good counternarrative give them a glimpse of their own tremendous potential?

4. Focus on Access

An anti-ableist pedagogy cannot exist without a continuous focus on access. Thankfully, more and more teachers are building flexibility into their classroom environments with Universal Design for Learning, considering multiple means for providing content, engaging students, and assessing knowledge and skill. Access, though, is more than UDL and more than placement within special or general education settings. It entails giving attention to how students feel and whether they can safely bring their whole selves to the classroom.

Access entails giving attention to how students feel and whether they can safely bring their whole selves to the classroom.

Disability activists Alice Wong, Sandy Ho, and Mia Mingus have launched a project called "Access is Love " in which they promote the idea that access is everyone's responsibility and must be a collective effort. The resources they provide can support educators who want to think deeply about what access means, who access is for, and how to build accessibility practices in a K-12 classroom. Is access in schools all about logistics, like wheelchair accessibility, font size, and the presence of ASL interpreters or captioning? Or does access also entail consideration of the affective needs of students? For example, a variety of seating and standing options can signal that it's OK that our bodies need different things and can allow students to tend to the needs of their bodies without being "the odd one."

Could access include the ways in which curriculum opens minds to new ways of thinking that provide space and belonging for all bodies and minds? Reading a children's book like We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch and Anne McGuire (AK Press, 2021) and discussing ways to make our communities more accessible can spark creativity and convey the idea that everyone is valued. Asking teens in a science classroom to read stories by disabled writers-like those highlighted in the International Disability Alliance's "Voices of People with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Outbreak" project-while learning about public health can model how to consider the perspective and expertise of those who are disabled.

An Ongoing Effort

An anti-ableist pedagogy is possible and is needed. As educators, we can develop practices that recognize and interrupt ableism and that acknowledge disability as diversity that exists outside the confines of special education. We can continuously check our own beliefs about disability and examine the messages within hidden curriculum that harm students. We can grow to see the value of disability counternarratives, inviting them into our classrooms with the voices of artists and writers, local community members, and our students. With these practices, we prioritize access and hopefully learn to model protocols for making access something educators and students can both expect and support.

References

Connor, D. J., Gabel, S. L., Gallagher, D. J., & Morton, M. (2008). Disability studies and inclusive education-implications for theory, research, and practice. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 12 (5-6), 441-457.

Lewis, T. (2022, January 1). Working definition of ableism-January 2022 update.

Raghaven, S. (2020, May 18). In a world that often interprets 'care' as 'burden,' interdependence should be valued beyond disabled community. Firstpost.com.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

We create practical, timely, affordable professional learning to help educators and instructional leaders provide students with a modern, equitable, and quality education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To ensure that all students can bring their whole selves to the classroom, educators must take steps to counter cultural assumptions about who belongs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Community for Learning and Leading Together

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources for Practicing Anti-Ableist Pedagogy | Transformative Learning in the Humanities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On Saturday, November 5, 2022, I had the privilege of conducting a pedagogy workshop at the American Studies Association conference, with my esteemed TLH colleagues and mentors, Cathy Davidson, Shelly Eversley, Christina Katopodis, Javiela Evengelista, and Jason Hendrickson.

# data[].attributes.body
Does this test really tell us something we don't already know?

# data[].attributes.body
The end goal is not inclusion. The end goal is to belong.

# data[].attributes.headline
"When your student is happy and engaged, what circumstances are in place?"

# data[].attributes.subject
"When your student is happy and engaged, what circumstances are in place?"

# data[].attributes.body
Shifting the focus to strength-based and interests as a bridge to learning.