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Center for Parent Information and Resources

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Center for Parent Information and Resources

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This has important information for families.

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Current as of April 2022
This information in Spanish | Esta información en español

IEP stands for "individualized education program." An IEP is a written statement for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in keeping with certain requirements of law and regulations. These requirements are discussed in this section.

The Big Picture

Before diving into the specifics of what must be included in an IEP, it's important to consider the "Big Picture" of the IEP-its purposes, how it serves as a blueprint for the child's special education and related services under IDEA, and the scope of activities and settings it covers.

The IEP has two general purposes: (1) to establish measurable annual goals for the child; and (2) to state the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services that the public agency will provide to, or on behalf of, the child. When constructing an appropriate educational program for a child with a disability, the IEP team broadly considers the child's involvement and participation in three main areas of school life:

the general education curriculum,

extracurricular activities, and

nonacademic activities.

By general education curriculum, we mean the subject matter provided to children without disabilities and the associated skills they are expected to develop and apply. Examples include math, science, history, and language arts.

When we talk about extracurricular activities and nonacademic activities, we're referring to school activities that fall outside the realm of the general curriculum. These are usually voluntary and tend to be more social than academic. They typically involve others of the same age and may be organized and guided by teachers or other school personnel. Examples: yearbook, school newspaper, school sports, school clubs, lunch, recess, band, pep rallies, assemblies, field trips, after-school programs, recreational clubs.
The IEP can be understood as the blueprint, or plan, for the special education experience of a child with a disability across these school environments.
Who Develops the IEP?

The IEP is developed by a team of school personnel and the child's parents. This team meets at least once a year and more often, if necessary.

Team members work together to craft an education that will address the child's individual needs and enable the child to participate in general education and school activities, learning alongside his or her nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. The IEP team then puts its crafted plan down in writing-resulting in the IEP that will guide the delivery of the child's special education and related services.

If you'd like to read more in depth about the IEP team, please visit our pages on the subject, beginning at:
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/iep-team/

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What an IEP Must Contain

When the members of a child's IEP team sit down together and consider how the child will be involved in and participate in school life, they must be sure that the resulting IEP contains the specific information required by IDEA, our nation's special education law. Here's a brief list of what IDEA requires:

A statement of the child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the child's disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum;

A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals;

A description of how the child's progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured, and when periodic progress reports will be provided;

A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child;

A statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and to be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children;

An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in extracurricular and nonacademic activities;

A statement of any i ndividual accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and districtwide assessments;

(Note: If the IEP team determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular State or districtwide assessment of student achievement, the IEP must include a statement of why the child cannot participate in the regular assessment and why the particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for the child; and

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

Extra IEP Content for Youth with Disabilities

For students approaching the end of their secondary school education, the IEP must also include statements about what are called transition services, which are designed to help youth with disabilities prepare for life after high school.

IDEA requires that, beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP team, the IEP must include:

measurable postsecondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills; and

the transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.

Also, beginning no later than one year before the child reaches the age of majority under State law, the IEP must include:

a statement that the child has been informed of the child's rights under Part B of IDEA (if any) that will transfer to the child on reaching the age of majority.

**Highly Rated Resource! This resource was reviewed by 3-member panels of Parent Center staff working independently from one another to rate the quality, relevance, and usefulness of CPIR resources. This resource was found to be of "High Quality, High Relevance, High Usefulness" to Parent Centers.
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A Closer Look at Each IEP Component

The list above of IEP contents is helpful in understanding what type of information is basically required in a child's IEP. However, the more you understand about each individual part, and especially how they go together to form an action plan for a child's education, the easier it will be to write a well-grounded and effective IEP.
So...use the links below to explore the different parts of the IEP and the details associated with each.
_________________________________________________

Present Levels
How is the child currently doing in school? How does the disability affect his or her performance in class? This type of information is captured in the "present levels" statement in the IEP.

Annual Goals
Once a child's needs are identified, the IEP team works to develop appropriate goals to address those needs. Annual goal describe what the child is expected to do or learn within a 12-month period.

Related Services
To help a child with a disability benefit from special education, he or she may also need extra help in one area or another, such as speaking or moving. This additional help is called related services. Find out all about these critical services here.

Accommodations in Assessment
IDEA requires that students with disabilities take part in state or districtwide assessments. The IEP team must decide if the student needs accommodations in testing or another type of assessment entirely. In this component of the IEP, the team documents how the student will participate.

Would you like to read something else in this suite about the IEP?

Use the jump links below to go to another section of the All about the IEP suite.

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Current as of April 2022 This information in Spanish | Esta información en español IEP stands for "individualized education program." An IEP is a written statement for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in keeping with certain requirements of law and regulations.

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Lots of assessments and recources

on Behaviors

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Jot down your Initial Thoughts about the Challenge: What is an IEP? What is the IEP process? What is included in the IEP document? When you are ready, proceed to the Perspectives & Resources section.

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Measuring and reporting student progress

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Current as of 2018 This info in Spanish | Esta información en español
Another component of the IEP that IDEA requires is specifying how the child's progress will be measured. This statement flows naturally out of the annual goals written for the child, which must be measurable. Measuring the progress that a child is making toward his or her stated annual goals is an essential part of the special educational process, because it gives the IEP team concrete evidence as to whether the individualized program as designed by that team is actually effective or whether adjustments to services or instruction need to be made. And, of course, it's equally essential to report back to the child's parents, so they are informed about their child's learning.

IDEA's Exact Words

IDEA states that each child's IEP must contain:

(3) A description of-

(i) How the child's progress toward meeting the annual goals described in paragraph (2) of this section will be measured; and

(ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided...[§300.320(a)(3)]

Prompting Questions to Help Guide the Discussion

IEP teams may find it easier to address this component of the IEP by framing the discussion around specific questions. For example, the IEP team might ask itself these three questions:

How will the child's progress be measured?

When will the child's progress be measured?

How well will the child need to perform in order to achieve his or her stated IEP goals (and, for some children, benchmarks or objectives)?

The information on how well a child must perform and how his or her progress will be measured is often called evaluation criteria. Well-written evaluation criteria are stated in objective, measurable terms. (You'll note the tie-in with the requirement that the annual goals written for a child must be measurable.) For example, a child might be required to perform a task "with 90% accuracy" or get 18 out of 20 words correct in each of 5 trials. These are concrete numbers or scores, establishing what the IEP team considers an acceptable level of performance or progress for the child.

In other instances, progress may not be measured in number scores, such as statements like this:

By June 15, Vicky will complete the obstacle course unassisted, as documented by the adapted physical education teacher.

In this example, the teacher will observe and take notes while Vicky completes the obstacle course. Teacher observation/notes are one way of checking progress. Other ways of checking progress may include:

reviewing class work and homework assignments;

giving quizzes, tests, or teacher-made assessments; and

giving informal and/or formal assessments (the QRI or Woodcock-Johnson, for example).

Reporting to Parents on the Child's Progress

IDEA's exact words above also refer to the periodic reporting of each child's progress, which gives parents, other members of the IEP team, and the public agency the opportunity to review the IEP and make adjustments if they are warranted. When a child does not make the progress expected, then it's essential to determine why and take corrective action.

The 2004 Amendments to IDEA are not especially prescriptive about the timing of such progress reports. This is because the statute itself does not require report cards or quarterly report cards. When IDEA mentions them in §300.320(a)(ii) (see above), they "are used as examples...of when periodic reports on the child's progress toward meeting the annual goals might be provided" (71 Fed. Reg. at 46664, emphasis added). As the Department of Education clarifies:

The specific times that progress reports are provided to parents and the specific manner and format in which a child's progress toward meeting the annual goals is reported is best left to State and local officials to determine. ( Id.)

In OSEP's letter to Pugh on January 18, 2017, the Department reiterated this position, adding, "Thus, State educational agencies and their local educational agencies have discretion to determine the specific content of the periodic progress reports provided to parents of children with disabilities, and in reporting progress on annual goals."

Would you like to read about another component of the IEP?
If so, use the links below to jump there quickly.
_________________________________________________
Annual Goals
Once a child's needs are identified, the IEP team works to develop appropriate goals to address those needs. Annual goal describe what the child is expected to do or learn within a 12-month period.

Measuring and Reporting Progress (you're already here!)
Each child's IEP must also contain a description of how his or her progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured and when it will be reported to parents. Learn more about how to write this statement in this short article.

Related Services
To help a child with a disability benefit from special education, he or she may also need extra help in one area or another, such as speaking or moving. This additional help is called related services. Find out all about these critical services here.

Accommodations in Assessment
IDEA requires that students with disabilities take part in state or districtwide assessments. The IEP team must decide if the student needs accommodations in testing or another type of assessment entirely. In this component of the IEP, the team documents how the student will participate.

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Measuring and Reporting Student Progress

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Current as of 2018 This info in Spanish | Esta información en español Another component of the IEP that IDEA requires is specifying how the child's progress will be measured. This statement flows naturally out of the annual goals written for the child, which must be measurable.

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Center for Parent Information and Resources

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Benchmarks or Short-Term Objectives (Component of the IEP) - Center for Parent Information and Resources

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Current of September 2017 In the past, benchmarks or short-term objectives were required elements in every child’s IEP. No longer, however. Now, benchmarks or short-term objectives are required only for children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards. IDEA’s exact words Purpose of benchmarks and short-term objectives Example For whom are […]

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What You Need to Know About IEPs:
Developing a SMART IEP

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In This Issue . . .

Circulation: 80,086
ISSN: 1538-320
May 11, 2010

You know your child's unique needs and what you want him to learn and achieve during the academic year. What's next?

You can help your child get and stay on the right path by designing a SMART IEP with SMART goals.

In you'll learn how to use IDEA to improve educational outcomes for your child. You will also find an IEP Game Plan that will describe how to create this issue of the SMART IEPs, step-by-step. Special Ed Advocate,

Previous issues in the series What You Need to Know About IEPs featured:

P lease don't hesitate to forward this issue to other friends, families, or colleagues.

Not a subscriber? Sign up free today! l Read previous issues

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Raising the Bar for Educational Outcomes

When you read the Findings and Purposes of IDEA 2004, you will see that Congress raised the bar when they added "further education" to the Purposes of IDEA 2004. Congress established a new outcome for special education, an outcome that had never been identified before.

Attorney Wayne Steedman gives us 10 Tips on How to Use IDEA 2004 to Improve Your Child's Special Education Program.

Publishers's Special!
FREE! Law E-Book when you order Law, FETA and AAIEPs Combo

Your Game Plan for SMART IEPs

Your Game Plan includes three elements. To get the services your child needs you need to learn about:

test scores

SMART IEPs

how to use advocacy strategies

Read Chapter 12 about SMART IEPs in Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd edition by Pam & Pete Wright. You may also download a free copy of the chapter about SMART IEPs from Wrightslaw for your personal use.

How Can I Get an Appropriate Program?

IDEA 2004 places schools under increased pressure to use educational programs that work - programs that have a track record of success.

Read one parent's journey from emotions to advocacy as she learns to negotiate for the services her son needs. How Can I Get the School to Provide an Appropriate Program?

SMART IEPs for Behavior Problems

The SMART process is the same for any goal - academic or behavioral.You need to clearly define the target behavior. Gather baseline data on the behavior before developing specific measurable goals.

SMART IEPs include " R"ealistic and " M"easurable Goals. You make behavior measurable by defining the factors surrounding the behavior. Learn more in How Can I Develop SMART IEP Goals for Behavior Problems.

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research based instruction special needs learning disabilities advocacy resources add dyslexia no child left behind act regulations nclb services ld methodology peer reviewed research   parenting parent-school relationships iep individualized education plan resources idea 2004 section 504 response to intervention rti advocacy strategies peter wright pamela wright wrightslaw

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In this issue of The Special Ed Advocate you'll learn how to use IDEA to improve educational outcomes for your child. You will also find an IEP Game Plan that will describe how to create SMART IEPs, step-by-step.

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What is Five Moore Minutes? Inspired by a little bowling video...Five Moore Minutes is a website with videos dedicated to empowering schools and classrooms to support ALL Learners! Created by Shelley Moore, this website is designed with teachers in mind.

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BENEFITS TO STUDENTS WITH SIGNIFICANT DISABILITIES

From the Perspectives of Teachers Students with significant disabilities:

Were more aware, responsive, and actively engaged in the general education classroom

Had increased skill acquisition when educated in a general education class

Were part of the class and accepted by peers

Developed more appropriate social and behavioral skills

Developed a sense of belonging to the group and were aware of their classmates as demonstrated by smiles, high fives, eye contact, and reaching toward them

Were provided more opportunities for friendship development in a general education classroom

Had progressed in the area of physical skill development, had increased appropriate behaviors; decreased inappropriate behaviors

IEP’s of included students contained more instruction in basic skills and more participation with peers without disabilities and overall quality of the IEP’s were higher

Participated in more academic activities and fewer recreation and leisure activities than in self-contained classrooms

Were given one-to-one instructional time in general education classrooms equivalent to one-to-one time in a special education classroom

Were provided more ongoing stimulation than possible in a self-contained special education classroom

From the Perspectives of Students without IEP's:

Students noted positive changes in the SwD as a result of being included

Social changes – more fun, happier, more creative, more cooperative

More friends

Reduced levels of inappropriate behaviors

From the Perspectives of Parents:

Aware of challenges of inclusive education; yet were enthusiastic about the impact on their child’s development

Parents reported that students with significant disabilities had acquired academic, communication, social and behavior skills as well as developed friendships and a sense of belonging

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS WITHOUT DISABILITIES

From the Teachers’/Parents’/Students’ Perspectives:

Children without disabilities

Became more accepting of individual differences

Were more aware of other children’s needs

Were more comfortable with individuals with disabilities

Were more helpful in general to other children

Were less prejudiced about people who are different

Acquired appreciation for and demonstrated acceptance of students with significant disabilities

Acquired leadership and enhanced self-esteem

Will be the next generation of adults and can affect change

Barriers to Inclusive Education

FEAR

ATTITUDES

Attitude shift is necessary: From “You can’t do it, so you can’t be a part of it” to “You have a right to access, and you can’t do it now, so I must find a way to help you be a part of it”.

OVERVIEW OF SUCCESSFUL CURRICULUM ADAPTATIONS

1. Change the instructional grouping or arrangements

2. Change the teaching format

3. Change the environmental conditions

4. Change the curricular goals or learning outcomes

5. Change the instructional materials

6. Change the level or type of personal assistance

7. Create an alternative activity

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What are Social Skills

A collection of isolated and discrete learned behaviors that are rule governed, goal oriented, and directly observable. These skills are situation specific, and vary depending on social context. Social skills could include friendship-making skills, classroom survival skills, skill alternatives to aggression, and skills dealing with stress.

What is Social Competence?

The smooth sequential use of these skills to establish ongoing social interactions.

DOES RESEARCH SUPPORT THE CONCEPT OF INADEQUATE SOCIAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT in STUDENTS WITH a CI or SXI? YES

Individuals with Cognitive Impairments or multiple disabilities: (please remember that these are a collection of possible characteristics for our educational purposes, an individual with a CI or SXI is first an individual and may or may not express any of these characteristics).

may be more likely to demonstrate socially unacceptable behaviors in social situations

may be less able to solve social problems

may be less likely to predict consequences for their social behavior

may be less likely to adjust to the characteristics of their listeners in conversation

may be less able to accomplish complex social interactions successfully (persuasion, negotiation, resisting peer pressure)

may be more likely to be rejected by peers

may be more often the objects of negative statements, criticisms, warnings

may be less able to adapt to new social situations

may be more likely to be judged negatively by adults after informal observation

may have less tolerance for frustration and failure

may have difficulty using oral language

may have difficulty interpreting or inferring the language of others

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIAL SKILL DEFICITS:

Cognitive Traits: Severe language processing deficits or significant cognitive limitations

Severity: More prevalent among individuals with significant cognitive disabilities

Gender: Females are more likely to experience social adjustment problems

Hyperactivity: Individuals with ineffective impulse control tend to have more social problems

What the research says...

The prevalence of challenging behavior is not unique to individuals with significant disabilities, however, according to Sigafoos et al. (2003) individuals with significant disabilities are at least two to three times more likely to experience challenging behaviors than those without a significant disability. It is believed that individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities may experience greater numbers of challenging behaviors because they lack an extensive behavioral repertoire (Sigafoos et al., 2003). Behavioral Repertoire refers to all the responses or behaviors available to an individual. An individual’s deficits in adaptive behavior functioning may cause the individuals behavioral repertoire to be relatively small and restricted. Sigafoos et al. (2003) suggest that the degree of intellectual impairment, physical and sensory capabilities, syndromes, and the opportunities and experiences afforded to individuals to learn affects the behaviors an individual has available to them in their behavioral repertoire and can result in fewer and more restricted forms of behavior in their repertoire.

WHAT CAN A TEACHER DO?

Explicitly teach social skills and appropriate replacement behaviors

Provide students with the opportunity to practice (and be rewarded for) social skills and replacement behaviors

Model, Model, Model

Determine specific interests or strengths of the rejected child. Celebrate them in a public manner. By playing the expert role, a child can greatly increase his status.

Assign child to “leadership” position where classmates are dependent on him/her... This will increase his/her status and acceptance

Clearly demonstrate acceptance of and affection for the isolated or rejected child

Convey the constant message that the child is worthy of attention

Assign the rejected child to work in pairs with a "high-status" child who is accepting and supportive

Search for opportunities to promote and encourage appropriate social interactions

Pre-select teams when using learning groups

Use board and card games to promote social interactions

Use an unobtrusive “signal system” with the child to use in social situations

Establish a reward system to reinforce and recognize appropriate social behavior

Make transitions easier for the child by providing a warning signal several minutes prior to the end of an activity

Work on one behavior or social skill at a time

Teach empathy

Utilize “real life” or television shows to teach valuable social skills

Provide the child with choices whenever possible (fosters problem solving skills)

Provide the child with a positive model of appropriate social skills (temper control, courteous listening)

Recognize the crucial role that child’s parents and siblings can play

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The effects of inclusion on academic achievement, socioemotional development and wellbeing of children with special educational needs

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Considering the rapid global movement towards inclusion for students with special educational needs (SEN), there is a surprising lack of pedagogical or didactic theories regarding the ways in which inclusive education may affect students with SEN.…

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Benefits of Inclusion: Success Stories from a Special Education Teacher | ACE Blog

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Inclusivity is paramount as it pertains to students with unique needs. Hear from Kendra Perkins, an ACE alumna and special education teacher, about how to create an inclusive classroom.

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"Equally important are the social benefits. In an inclusive classroom, students with disabilities build relationships with other children. These friendships help both groups develop empathy and understanding. Non-disabled students also benefit by learning about diversity early on, which promotes acceptance and inclusion within society as they grow up."

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The Benefits of Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities

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Inclusive education for children with disabilities unlocks academic and social benefits, reducing stigma. Explore effective strategies and supports.

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Educators going back into classrooms right now will face a dizzying array of learners looking up at them. Nearly every teacher has to juggle the sometimes dramatically varied needs of all their students, and it can be one of the most challenging parts of teaching. Though it's only a small drop in the vast bucket of this complex topic, I've collected some videos and resources to help explore and explain some of the difficulties faced by many kids, and some strategies teachers and schools are using to engage them.

Video Playlist: Special Education, Inclusion, and Learning Differences

Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on YouTube.

1. Teach Special Education (05:33)
This moving call-to-action video from Teach.org surfaces the voices of the spectrum of kids, parents, and educators that are touched by the world of special education.

2. What Are Learning Disabilities? (01:46)
The animation on this piece is a little simple for my taste, but it does a great job explaining quickly what learning disabilities are if you're looking for a primer-type video.

3. Chimes for Autism: Tyler's Story (08:18)
Often kids with learning differences have hidden talents we could never imagine. I was really moved by this beautiful video about a boy with autism who had a special knack for identifying windchimes by sound.

4. Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In (11:14)
Edmonton Public Schools has committed to being an all-inclusive school district. They've produced a video series and supplementary materials to highlight strategies from their schools.

5. What is Special Education? (02:24)
Although it's ultimately an ad for GreatSchools, this animation is nice because it's from the parent perspective and explains some of the confusing terminology around special ed.

6. Engaging Students With Learning Differences Early (09:47)
PBS NewsHour explores how one full-inclusion school in Boston is using art and technology to reach kids with learning differences in order to offset the higher instance of dropouts.

7. "We ALL Fit" by The Figureheads (04:39)
This fun music video was made by autism spectrum awareness org Good Friend, Inc. and hip-hop band The Figureheads to encourage kids to accept differences among their peers.

8. ADHD Classroom Strategies (06:29)
Though on the dry side, this video offers some very tactical strategies for managing ADHD in the classroom, offered by educational website Inside ADHD and fifth grade teacher Jon Weinberger of the Lawrence School in Brookline, MA.

More Resources on Special Education and Learning Differences

Whether you are a general or a special educator, and whether your school has full inclusion or separate classes, there are lots of resources available to help you make sense of the complicated issues around teaching kids with differences. Please share your favorites in the comments below!

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5-Minute Film Festival: Reaching Learners of All Abilities | Edutopia

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Educators going back into classrooms right now will face a dizzying array of learners looking up at them. Nearly every teacher has to juggle the sometimes dramatically varied needs of all their students, and it can be one of the most challenging parts of teaching.

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Includes a downloadable template to help teachers.

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Teacher Collaboration That Supports All Students

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These 3 strategies can help new general education teachers work collaboratively and productively with special education teachers.

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Videos of inclusion on the playground.

Going beyond access....

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"Alone, isolated, left out: This is the way most students with special needs feel in school," says Jayne Clare, a veteran special education teacher. A study published in 2001 suggested that it's not just a feeling: Students with disabilities are often deliberately excluded by their peers in academic and extracurricular settings.

Ellen Stumbo, who is the mother of a child with Down syndrome, wrote in 2019 that at her daughter's school, students with disabilities were not included in the yearbook. Being excluded or separated from their peers at school events like field trips, award ceremonies, and dances was all too common, Stumbo noted.

Going Beyond Access: Reaching Inclusion

That's not the case at all schools, of course: Some, like McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica, California, prioritize social inclusion throughout the school day, in part by focusing on how students interact in unstructured time like recess.

To meet the needs of students with disabilities-in particular their need to feel like they belong in the school community-McKinley has partnered with Inclusion Matters by Shane's Inspiration, a nonprofit that aims to eliminate bias toward children with disabilities through play.

The team at Inclusion Matters started out thinking that their mission was simply to remove the physical barriers to play for children with disabilities. But they quickly realized that they would have to address a variety of social barriers as well in order to help those children feel included.

"For children with disabilities to feel truly included, it requires looking at what the invisible barriers are-the misconceptions, the perception that they are somehow less capable, seen as less valuable than their peers without disabilities," says Marnie Norris, director of programs at Inclusion Matters.

To facilitate social interaction between students with and without disabilities, Inclusion Matters orchestrates field trips between general and special education classes to inclusive playgrounds, which are designed so that children with and without disabilities can play together throughout the whole site. It's a free program for public schools that has served over 45,000 students in more than 250 schools around the world.

Play is something that all kids-regardless of ability-can enjoy together, but simply throwing them together on the playground won't ensure that they play together. Inclusion Matters created an ability-awareness workshop to help general education students acknowledge and challenge their biases toward people with disabilities, as a way to remove one barrier to social inclusion.

Grouping two general education students with one special education student as buddies bypasses another roadblock by ensuring that students interact with each other. And by letting the general education students know their buddies' interests, abilities, and limitations beforehand, the workshop guides the students to enjoy each other and have fun.

After the field trip, general education students participate in a 45-minute reflection workshop in which they consider how their beliefs changed and how they'll interact with their peers with disabilities in the future.

"We've seen this program transform school campuses," says Norris. "We've seen schools go from having children with more severe disabilities who've never interacted with their peers to organically interacting with each other. It's transformative, and not as complicated as people might think it is."

Play is not the only way schools foster social inclusion, though. In February 2020, the 15th annual Super Kids Bowl in California's Hemet Unified School District featured cheerleaders and the marching band celebrating elementary special education students as they ran down the field and scored a touchdown with the football team.

Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia brings middle and high school students with and without disabilities together to engage in service projects, giving them all a chance to develop relationships with their peers and do something useful for their community. Inclusion efforts can be simpler than that, too: Special and general education students at Salem Junior High and Salem High School in Ohio meet once a month in the library to have lunch and do activities together.

Working toward social inclusion can be as simple as talking with general education students about students with disabilities. "It's important that we be models for our students, and if we're afraid to talk about something, they'll think that means that something is wrong," says Ashley Benjamin, the principal of McKinley Elementary School.

Improving School Climate

Inclusion Matters' program has had a wide-reaching impact at McKinley Elementary. Parents of general education students have asked McKinley special education teacher Keylee Cubillas how they can include her students and their families at events and holiday parties. And the parents of Cubillas's students have told her that they're happy with the inclusion efforts. They want their children to be happy and to develop their social and adaptive skills, says Cubillas, and being included in the school community helps achieve both goals.

The buddy relationships deepen with time: "If any of Keylee's students pass us on campus, you would think they were a rock star with how excited my students are to see their buddies and interact with them," fourth-grade teacher Katy Buckner says.

Buckner also points out that the buddy relationships are not a form of charity, telling her students, "This isn't about you helping someone. That can be part of it, but it's also about what gifts do both buddies on both ends have to bring to each other."

Buckner has noticed her students learning sign language to communicate with their buddies and using person-first language instead of ability-centered language when talking about students or fictional characters with disabilities-they have developed greater empathy through their interactions with their buddies.

That's a process that takes time. Even when schools partner with organizations like Inclusion Matters, working toward inclusion is "not just one quick trip. It's something that has a lasting impact. It shapes how students act, think, and feel about differences. It's shaping who children are and how they're going to interact with others in the world and society," says Benjamin.

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How to Improve Students With Disabilities' Sense of Belonging

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"Alone, isolated, left out: This is the way most students with special needs feel in school," says Jayne Clare, a veteran special education teacher. A study published in 2001 suggested that it's not just a feeling: Students with disabilities are often deliberately excluded by their peers in academic and extracurricular settings.

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There are a couple of articles about communication and inclusion.

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With the right support, students who cannot rely on natural speech to communicate can do well in integrated classrooms.

Thad Alton / The Capitol-Journal / AP Photo

My first exposure to a student who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) was when I taught in a self-contained disability-specific special education classroom. The student, Ringo, had a device like a small laptop that he used to type words and sentences, which were spoken aloud by the device. When Ringo received the device, I didn't get much training other than a few consultations with the speech and language pathologist and a pat on the back for good luck.

After 13 years in the classroom, I realize now what I wish I knew then: Students who cannot rely on speech to be understood don't have to be educated in segregated classrooms. And for educators who have students who require communication supports, training or preparation doesn't have to be complex.

Here are four ways educators can prepare for students who need AAC.

1. Get Familiar With AAC

According to the nonprofit Communication First, AAC is any method of communication used by people with speech or communication disabilities to supplement or take the place of verbal speech. This can include no-tech aids (like pointing, gesturing, or signing), low-tech options (such as a paper board with words, letters, and symbols on it), or high-tech solutions (such as a computer with text-to-speech software).

Some students will use AAC all the time, others only in certain situations. And while some people think that the use of AAC may limit students, using a communication system only empowers people who would not otherwise express themselves reliably.

2. Watch AAC in Action

There are examples in TV and movies of people using AAC that the disability community has universally panned, but fortunately there are also some authentic portrayals. One of the best ways to learn more about people with disabilities is to hear directly from them or interact with media heavily influenced by their voice. Here are a few movies and short films to get you started.

Listen (2021): A short film made by and with nonspeaking autistic people.

The Reason I Jump (2021): A feature-length film based on the biography of Naoki Higashida, who is autistic and nonspeaking.

Loop (2020): A short film by Pixar and Disney highlights Renee, a nonspeaking autistic girl who makes friends with Marcus, a speaking boy, when the two go canoeing together at camp.

Thasya (2012): This powerful short film is a profile of Thasya Lumingkewas, an 8-year-old autistic girl.

Carr Brackett (2008): In this short film, Carr, a young man with Down syndrome, uses his AAC to support his communication needs in a general education classroom.

3. Use the Communication Bill of Rights as a Guide

First published in 2016, the Communication Bill of Rights from the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities states that "all people with a disability of any extent or severity have a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence." The list of rights, which consists of 15 points for educators to consider, focuses on the dignity and respect of the person with communication support needs.
Reproduced with permission from Tobii Dynavox, LLC ©2020 Tobii Dynavox. All rights reserved.
The first point, "to interact socially, maintain social closeness, and build relationships," is an important one for teachers to implement. Teachers can be intentional about including AAC users in groups where there are students accepting of differences to help facilitate friendships.

If you include planned interactions in lessons where the AAC user can "make comments and share opinions," you can align with the bill of rights' goals. For example, during a class review of a reading passage, give the AAC user time to craft their answer to a question and call on them at a predetermined time. When you give them time to process, they can be prepared with their answer. Wait time benefits all students, so this is a good idea in any classroom.

Another critical thing to consider is a student's right to "refuse or reject undesired objects, actions, events, or choices." Like students who use natural speech, if an AAC user refuses to participate in a class activity, there's typically a reason. Educators can make an effort to ask the student directly about how they can be more comfortable participating in the activity.

Students should always have access to their communication systems.

Students are more likely to communicate and participate when activities are motivating or connect with their passions and interests.

Frequent opportunities to practice using their AAC helps children learn to communicate in various contexts and with various people.

People who use AAC may require more wait time to prepare a response, so make sure to be patient.

When teachers honor students' communication, it teaches them and the other students that we respect them and their voice.

Talk directly to the AAC user, not to their support person (if they have one). And if students work in groups, guide everyone in the group to talk directly to the person using AAC.

4. Practice Strategies for Promoting Communication for All Students

Students who cannot rely primarily on speech to communicate are often the first to be placed in segregated special education classrooms. But what I learned from Ringo is that supporting communication can happen in the general education setting-it just takes a willingness to listen.

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Students With Limited Verbal Capabilities Can Thrive in Inclusive Classrooms

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With the right support, students who cannot rely on natural speech to communicate can do well in integrated classrooms.

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A Landmark Study Strikes a Resounding Note for Inclusion

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New research confirms that the best way to serve students with disabilities is in general ed—not siloed in special education classrooms.

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DeafBlind Literacy Resources | DeafBlind Central

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Learn more about deafblind literacy resources, including our Story Time kit.

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Mathematics Sample Lessons to Support Intensifying Intervention

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Mathematics Sample Lessons to Support Intensifying Intervention

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Teams are a vital part of an effective multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) across both academics and behavior as well as special education. Making connections across the various teams used in MTSS and special education can be challenging. This resource from NCII and the PBIS Center, provides information about how DBI can support IEP implementation and provides a table with key considerations for teams working across the MTSS system.

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How Can We Ensure IEP Teams Provide the Most Intensive Supports?

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Teams are a vital part of an effective multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) across both academics and behavior as well as special education. Making connections across the various teams used in MTSS and special education can be challenging.

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Modules 1-8: Behavior Support for Intensive Intervention

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Modules 1-8: Behavior Support for Intensive Intervention

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There are 8 modules within this course. Each course has an introduction, sub-parts, and a conclusion.

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Intensive instruction was recently identified as a high-leverage practice in special education, and DBI is a research based approach to delivering intensive instruction across content areas (NCII, 2013). This course provides learners with an opportunity to extend their understanding of intensive instruction through in-depth exposure to behavioral theory and instructional strategies that may enhance academic intervention and/or serve as a foundation for intensive intervention in behavior through the DBI process.

NCII, through a collaboration with the University of Connecticut and the National Center on Leadership in Intensive Intervention and with support from the CEEDAR Center and PBIS Center, developed course content focused on enhancing educators' skills in behavior support for intensive intervention. The course includes eight modules that can support faculty and professional development providers with instructing pre-service and in-service educators' knowledge of behavioral theory and skills in designing and delivering effective behavioral supports for students with intensive needs. The content in this course complements concepts covered in the Features of Explicit Instruction Course and so we suggest that users complete both courses.

Modules 1-8: Behavior Support for Intensive Intervention

There are 8 modules within this course. Each course has an introduction, sub-parts, and a conclusion.

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Behavioral Supports for Students: Training Modules | NCII

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Explore eight in-depth training modules on behavioral theory, instructional strategies & delivery of effective behavioral supports for students with intensive needs.

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Essential Elements with Michigan Range of Complexity

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Essential Elements with Michigan Range of Complexity

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Essential Elements with Michigan Range of Complexity

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Please Note: Michigan’s Alternate Content Expectations/Essential Elements are designed only for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.”

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Developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEEDAR Center, high-leverage practices are 22 essential special education techniques that all teachers of students with disabilities should master for use across a variety of classroom contexts. Six of these practices are referred to as pillar practices—those most essential for educators to implement; and the remaining sixteen are embedded practices—those required to effectively support pillar practices. As noted in the graphic below, both pillar and embedded practices are categorized under four domains: Collaboration, Data-Driven Planning, Instruction in Behavior and Academics, and Intensify and Intervene as Needed.

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Developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEEDAR Center, high-leverage practices are 22 essential special education techniques that all teachers of students with disabilities should master for use across a variety of classroom contexts. Six of these practices are referred to as pillar practices-those most essential for educators to implement; and the remaining[.....]

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This page contains information about Licensure, Tuition Reimbursement, ECATS, Accessible Educational Materials and Disability Specific Resources.

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Quick-Jump Links

Summarizing LRE

The core of IDEA’s LRE provisions

Key terms in LRE

Considering the meaning of “regular educational environment”

Considering the meaning of “satisfactorily educated”

Considering “supplementary aids and services”

What other settings can be considered?

Who decides placement?

How does the group decide placement?

Notifying parents

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Current as of September 2017
About LRE in Spanish | Sobre LRE en español

Least restrictive environment, or LRE as it is more commonly called, is one of several vital components in the development of a child's and plays a critical role, influencing a child spends his or her time at school, how services are provided, and the relationships the child develops within the school and community. Indeed, LRE is a foundational element in building an appropriate IEP that can improve outcomes for a child-in school and in life.

Summarizing LRE

In basic terms, LRE refers to the setting where a child with a disability can receive an appropriate education designed to meet his or her educational needs, alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate. As the Department explained in the Analysis of Comments and Changes to the final Part B regulations in the Federal Register:

The LRE requirements in §§300.114 through 300.117 express a strong preference, not a mandate, for educating children with disabilities in regular classes alongside their peers without disabilities. (71 Fed. Reg. 46585)

LRE has been a part of federal special education law from its inception in 1975. LRE's basic statutory provision has remained intact for the past 30 years.

The Core of IDEA's LRE Provisions

IDEA's LRE provisions are found at §§300.114 through 300.117. We'll be looking at these throughout this discussion. To begin, though, let's look at the core of what IDEA requires.

Each public agency must ensure that-

(i) To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled; and

(ii) Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. [§300.114(a]

Key Terms in LRE

The core of IDEA's LRE provisions contains many key terms and phrases that, together, reveal the law's strong preference for where children with disabilities are to be educated: the regular educational environment. Consider the specific wording and phrases in the provision:

Special classes

Separate schooling

Other removal from the regular educational environment

Since its earliest days, the law has displayed a strong preference for children with disabilities to be educated alongside their peers without disabilities, to the maximum extent appropriate. It recognizes that, in many cases, supplementary aids and services must be provided to a child with a disability to enable him or her to be educated in the general education classroom. Supplementary aids and services can play a pivotal role in supporting the education of individual children with disabilities in the regular educational environment.

Simply put, removal of a child with disabilities from the regular education class may occur only if the child cannot be satisfactorily educated in the regular educational environment with the use of supplementary aids and services.

Considering the Meaning of "Regular Educational Environment"

The use of the term "regular educational environment" is longstanding in IDEA's regulations. In response to a public comment on the scope of the LRE provision, the Department explained that the term "encompasses regular classrooms and other settings in schools such as lunchrooms and playgrounds in which children without disabilities participate" (71 Fed. Reg. 46585).

The settings in a school where children without disabilities participate are many and varied; all are considered part of the "regular educational environment."

Considering the Meaning of "Satisfactorily Educated"

There isn't a specific standard or level established within IDEA for determining what it means for the education of a child with a disability to be "achieved satisfactorily." Rather, each child's IEP is the measuring tool. The IEP team determines if a child's education is appropriate and if it is being achieved satisfactorily.

The IEP may be reviewed and revised, enabling the IEP team to respond to concerns that the child's education in the regular educational environment "cannot be achieved satisfactorily" and to make necessary and appropriate adjustments or modifications, especially regarding the type of supplementary aids and services provided to support the child's education in a regular classroom setting.

Considering "Supplementary Aids and Services"

Providing supplementary aids and services is essential for many children with disabilities to progress and learn. But just what are supplementary aids and services?

The term "supplementary aids and services" is defined at §300.42, as follow:

Supplementary aids and services means aids, services, and other supports that are provided in regular education classes, other education-related settings, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with §§300.114 through 300.116.

Supplementary aids and services can be accommodations and modifications to the curriculum under study or the manner in which that content is presented or a child's progress is measured, but that's not all they are or can be. Supplementary aids and services can also include direct services and supports to the child, as well as support and training for staff who work with that child. Determining what constitutes appropriate supplementary aids and services for a particular child is made on an individual basis. If you'd like to know more about these vital supports, please read our separate page, Supplementary Aids and Services. Examples can include:

providing students with extra time to take tests or complete assignments

giving shorter or different assignments

providing feedback more frequently than other children

providing slower-paced instruction

providing physical adaptations

providing a note-taker or another assistant to a student

equipping the student with a home set of class materials

allowing breaks

preferential seating

digitalized books and class materials

allowing the use of the computer for certain assignments

altering instruction (how it's presented, its pace, or its difficulty)

Supplementary aids and services are intended to be provided in regular education classes, other education-related settings, and extracurricular and other nonacademic settings. This pretty much covers the gamut of school settings where children might be engaged in learning, interaction, and development. As we've said, their intent is to help integrate children with disabilities with nondisabled children in all facets of school.

Suppose a child needs a specific supplementary aid or service that's typically provided in separate environments, not in the regular education classroom? Does this mean that the needed supplementary aid or service doesn't have to be provided? Or that the child's placement may then be somewhere other than the regular educational environment?

No, to both questions. As mentioned above, the school system is responsible for providing the supplementary aids and services that the IEP team determines the child needs and lists in the child's IEP in order to enable the child to be educated in regular education settings. As stated in the language of the LRE provision, supplementary aids and services are to enable the child with a disability to be educated in regular classes with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate. The fact that supplementary aids and services often play a decisive role in whether or not the child can be satisfactorily educated in the regular educational environment makes it all the more important that the school system meet its responsibility to provide them and to educate the child in the LRE to the maximum extent appropriate. If the IEP team has determined that the child can be satisfactorily educated in the regular classroom with the support of a given supplementary aid or service, those aids or services must be specified in the child's IEP and must be provided to the child. Section 300.116 is sufficiently clear that placement decisions must be based on the individual needs of each child with a disability. Therefore, school systems must not make placement decisions based on their needs or available resources, including budgetary considerations and the ability of the school system to hire and recruit qualified staff. (71 Fed Reg. 46588)

What Other Settings Can Be Considered?

As already discussed, the frame within which placement determinations begin is the regular educational environment. If a child can be satisfactorily educated in that setting (with needed supplementary aids and services), then the general education class is that child's LRE. Placing this child in a segregated class or separate program would directly violate the LRE provisions in IDEA.

However, the IEP team may determine that the child cannot be educated satisfactorily in the regular education classroom, even when supplementary aids and services are provided. An alternative placement must then be considered.

This is why schools have been, and still are, required to ensure that "a continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services" [§300.115(a)]. These placement
options include:

instruction in regular classes,

special classes,

special schools,

home instruction, and

instruction in hospitals and institutions.

Provision must be made for supplementary services, such as resource room or itinerant instruction, in conjunction with regular class placement [§300.115(b)].

Having a continuum of placements available "is intended to ensure that a child with a disability is served in a setting where the child can be educated successfully in the LRE" (71 Fed. Reg. 46587). It also reinforces the importance of the individualized inquiry in determining what placement is the LRE for each child with a disability (Id.). As such, the requirement for a continuum of alternative placements supports the fact that determining LRE must be done on an individualized basis, considering "each child's unique educational needs and circumstances, rather than by the child's category of disability, and be based on the child's IEP" (71 Fed. Reg. 46586).

However: Placement is not an "either/or" decision, where children are either placed in a regular education classroom or they're not. The intent is for services to follow, or go with, the child, not for the child to follow services. Schools must make provision for supplementary services (such as resource room or itinerant instruction) to be provided in conjunction with regular class placement.

Who Decides Placement?

The group that determines the educational placement for a child with a disability must include individuals with specific expertise or knowledge:

the child's parents;

personnel who know the variety of placement options available to meet the child's needs, and

individuals who understand the significance of the data used to develop the child's IEP. [§300.116(a)]

Often, but not always, this may be the same group of people comprising the IEP team.

How Does the Group Decide Placement?

A child's placement:

is determined each and every year;

is based on the child's IEP;

is as close as possible to the child's home;

places the child in the school he or she would normally attend if not disabled (unless the child's IEP requires some other arrangement). [§300.116(a)-(c)]

Notifying Parents

Although the parents of the child are part of the group determining the child's placement and are likely to be well informed as to the placement decision, schools must still provide parents with prior written notice about the placement decision a reasonable time before it implements that decision (§300.503).

The notice that the school system provides to parents must be written in language understandable to the general public and in the parents' native language or other mode of communication (unless it's clearly not feasible to do so). The notice must also contain specific information, enumerated at §300.503(b), including (but not limited to):

the educational placement of the child to be initiated, as proposed by the agency;

an explanation of why the agency proposes that placement;

a description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report the agency used as a basis for the placement decision;

a description of other options considered and why these options were rejected;

a statement that the parents have protection under IDEA's procedural safeguards and the means by which a description of those safeguards may be obtained; and

sources that can help the parents understand IDEA's pertinent provisions.

Should the parents disagree with the placement decision, they have recourse to IDEA's procedural safeguards, which include and due process procedures, as a way of resolving the conflict. A parent of a child with a disability can also file a State complaint.

**Highly Rated Resource! This resource was reviewed by 3-member panels of Parent Center staff working independently from one another to rate the quality, relevance, and usefulness of CPIR resources. This resource was found to be of "High Quality, High Relevance, High Usefulness" to Parent Centers.
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Would you like to keep reading about placement issues?

Placement, Short-and-Sweet
Placement, in overview. Here are the basics, if you please.

Considering LRE in Placement Decisions (you're already here)
LRE-least restrictive environment-is a foundational principle in IDEA. What is LRE, and how does it shape placement decisions? This discussion takes a detailed look.

Starter Set of Resources on LRE
Looking for information, resources, and technical assistance to help you and others support children with disabilities in their least restrictive environment in school? Here's a starter list of places to look online.

School Inclusion
Looking for information about, and best practices for, the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms and in the daily activities of school?

Placement and School Discipline
How is a child's placement affected when he or she is being disciplined for a violation of the student code? Find out what authority school personnel have to remove a child from his or her current placement, what authority the hearing officer has, what constitutes a change of placement, and what placement the child will have during any appeal.
Discipline, in Detail

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Current as of September 2017 About LRE in Spanish | Sobre LRE en español Least restrictive environment , or LRE as it is more commonly called, is one of several vital components in the development of a child's and plays a critical role, influencing a child spends his or her time at school, how services are provided, and the relationships the child develops within the school and community.

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Least Restrictive Environment Monitoring Process

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Least Restrictive Environment Monitoring Process

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Least Restrictive Environment Monitoring Process

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires state education agencies (SEAs) to carry out activities to ensure all public agencies are fully informed about their responsibilities for implementing the least restrictive environment (LRE) requirements under 34 CFR §300.114-300.117; and are provided with technical assistance necessary to assist them in implementing compliant policies, procedures, and evidence-based practices consistent with the requirements.

pdfpdfEducational Placement and the LRE Family Matters Fact Sheet

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States must have a reasonably designed general supervision system where each local education agency (LEA) intermediate school district (ISD) is monitored at least one time within a six-year cycle. To be able to effectively monitor all 56 ISDs and four State agencies, which are subrecipients of the IDEA federal flow-through grant, MDE OSE will monitor ISDs and state agencies in cohorts of 10 participants each year. The first cohort was initiated in the fall of 2024.

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A GREAT RESOURCE WITH DOAWNLOADS TO HELP TEACHERS

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Specialized Assessment & Consulting is here to support your special education department with high quality special education assessment and related services.
We can support you with:
📌 Flat-rate assessments: This affordable option allows flexibility to have a single student or many students assessed. Fees are set at a flat rate for each assessment and we provide all testing equipment if needed.

📌 Part-time or PRN services: Counseling or therapy caseloads, consultation and assistance with evaluations of students with low incidence disabilities are handled on an hourly part-time or PRN

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An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the foundation of special education services. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public school districts to provide students with disabilities with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The IEP is legal documentation of how that FAPE is provided for a particular student across a program of special and related education services.

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Annual goals, in a nutshell

IDEA’s exact words

Tie between “present levels” and annual goals

Using prompting questions

Addressing the child’s academic & functional needs

The importance of “annual” and “measurable”

Examples

What about objectives?

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Current as of September 2017
This info in Spanish | Esta información en español

Now let's take a look at annual goals, the second component of the IEP, in the following sections:

Annual Goals, in a Nutshell

In a manner of speaking, annual goals are like a road map. Where's the child heading this year? What will he or she work on, both academically and in terms of functional development? What does the IEP team feel the child can achieve by the end of the year-again, academically and functionally? A well-written goal should be (a) positive, and (b) describe a skill that can be seen and measured. It answers the questions:

" Who ?. . . will achieve?

What ?. . . skill or behavior?

How ?. . . in what manner or at what level?

Where ?. . . in what setting or under what conditions?

When ?. . . by what time? an ending date?" (Anderson, Chitwood, & Hayden, 1997)

IDEA's Exact Words

(2)(i) A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to-

(A) 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

(B) Meet each of the child's other educational needs that result from the child's disability... [§300.320(a)(2)(i)(A) and (B)]

The Close Tie Between the "Present Levels" Statement and the Annual Goals

IDEA uses the terms "academic and functional" to describe the kind of goals that need to be written. If you read the separate article about the " present levels" statement, you'll recognize both terms. Their use here, with respect to annual goals, indicates that the writing of measurable annual goals flows from the content of the "present levels" statement, where the IEP team described the child's present levels of academic and functional performance.

As you can also tell by IDEA's verbatim words above, a child's annual goals must be crafted with careful attention to enabling the child to be involved in, and make progress in, the general education curriculum. Again, we see in IDEA's language the close tie between the "present levels" statement and the annual goals that are then developed. The "present levels" statement must include a description of how the child's disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. This information will be useful to the IEP team in developing annual goals that are mindful of the child's participation in general education (Rebhorn & Küpper, 2016).

But that's not all. As IDEA also indicates, the child may have other educational needs that result from his or her disability. Those needs must be addressed through measurable annual goals in the IEP as well.

Using Prompting Questions

While each state and/or local school district typically develops its own version of the IEP form, the one absolute universal from district to district and state to state is that the IEP must contain the required information described in §§300.320 and 300.324.

It can be a challenge, to say the least, to create on paper a living, breathing, appropriate educational plan and to translate that plan into effective implementation. Some IEP forms lend themselves well to the IEP development process by incorporating descriptive, dynamic, and concrete language. One such example comes from the Implementation Guide developed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2008), portions of which are quoted below as examples of how the development of an effective IEP can be facilitated by prompts that ask probing questions, pose appropriate considerations, and provide a format that promotes the capture of comprehensive information on, and for, a child. On the Massachusetts Implementation Guide, the very first prompt given for the development of annual goals says:

There must be a direct correlation between the annual goal(s) and the present level of educational performance. (p. 4)

The next series of prompts asks:

What can the student currently do?

What challenging, yet attainable, goal can we expect the student to meet by the end of this IEP period?

How will we know that the student has reached this goal? (p. 4)

And finally, the Implementation Guide adds:

In order for the student to make progress in the general education curriculum and life of the school, academic and functional goals should continue to be skill based, measurable and reflect individual student needs based upon the disability. (p. 4)

Using these types of prompts, or posing similar ones, will help IEP teams develop annual goals for children in a logical, sequential, simple, yet comprehensive manner that connects all the related pieces and leads to an effective, appropriate IEP. It's also useful to keep in mind that the crafting of annual goals for a child involves considering each area of that child's needs related to the general curriculum, nonacademic and/or extracurricular activities, and any other educational needs that result from the child's disability.

Writing goals can be one of the most challenging parts of developing the IEP. One reason for this is because the goals may cover so many different areas.

Addressing the Child's Academic and Functional Needs

Depending upon the child's needs, some goals may target areas of the general education curriculum. Answering a prompting question such as "what does the child need to learn or do academically?" indicates what goals might be appropriate for that child. Examples could include learning to identify a range of sight words, write more proficiently, or learn basic number facts or solve more complicated word problems. Other goals may target learning that comes from a special education or individualized curriculum, such as reading Braille.

Another area for goals might be what the child needs to learn or be able to do functionally. These type of goals don't come under a typical "academic" curriculum. But if a child has functional needs that impact participation in the educational environment, such as learning to eat independently, use public transportation, or communicate with an augmentative communication device, then goals to meet these needs would be important to include in the IEP. The same is true of goals to address social or emotional needs, such as impulse control, anger management, or appropriate behavioral alternatives.

The Importance of "Annual" and "Measurable"

Another aspect of writing annual goals is contained in the word " annual." What might the child be expected to achieve in a year? A well-written goal must describe the skill or level of performance that the child is expected to reach by a given time, at least in a year.

And there's something else that's very important. Can you measure whether or not the child has achieved the goal? The 2004 Amendments to IDEA requires that the annual goals be measurable. The IEP team must be able to tell if the goal has been reached, because the child's performance can be counted, seen, heard, or somehow measured.

Not surprisingly, writing IEP goals that are measurable challenges many an IEP team. You may find Wrightslaw's resource on Smart IEPs very helpful. "SMART" stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. To read more about writing IEP goals that are SMART, visit: http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/10/nl.0511.htm

Many states also develop guides for IEP teams, so teams should check with their LEA or State Department of Education to see if such IEP guidance is available. Such guides can provide illuminating examples and/or exercises that people can use to become more proficient at writing these very important elements in a child's IEP.

Briefly here, let's take apart two examples of measurable annual goals and see what their elements are.

Example 1: Including a Performance Indicator
David will achieve a reading score at the 5th grade level or above, as measured by the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI). (Rebhorn, 2009)

Here we see that the goal is for David to be reading at a 5th grade level or above by the end of the school year. The measurable part of the statement comes at the end: " as measured by..." The named reading inventory will serve as the tool for measuring David's progress. This is a common way in which goals are made measurable-by specifying a grade- or age-level performance indicator, especially one that's been established through district or state standards, or within a curriculum, within scope-and-sequence materials that the school/district/state uses.

Example 2: Indicating a Rate
By the end of the year, Elise will be able to use her augmentative communication device to produce a thought, comment, or idea in 3 out of 5 trials with no more than 50% teacher prompts or cues.

Here again, the measurable part of the annual goal is found in the closing phrase. "In 3 out of 5 trials..." There are conditions included to further specify what "acceptable performance" will mean: "...with no more than 50% teacher prompts or cues." Indicating a rate (80% of the time, with 75% success, with 90% accuracy) is another common way that IEPs teams make annual goals measurable.

More Examples of Measurable Annual Goal Statements

Many of our readers and website visitors have asked us for more examples--more, more! So. We will-quoting from the Nebraska Department of Education's (2014) online guide for IEP Teams. (Great guide, BTW.)

The four critical components of a well-written goal are:

Timeframe is usually specified in the number of weeks or a certain date for completion. A year is the maximum allowed length for the timeframe.

In 36 instructional weeks...

By November 19, 2008....

By the end of 2008-09 school year...

Conditions specify the circumstances that prompt the child's performance of an observable behavior. Conditions are dependent on the behavior being measured and involve the application of skills or knowledge.

When presented with 2nd grade level text...

Given a mixed 4th grade level math calculation probe....

Given a story prompt and 30 minutes to write...

Conditions may also integrate a related service:

Given appropriate equipment........

Given assistive technology........

Given a pencil grip..........

Behavior clearly identifies the performance that is being monitored, usually reflects an action or can be directly observed, and is measurable.

Sarah will read...

Claude will write the correct solutions...

Mary will score...

Tom will participate in the group....

Jane will indicate her wants and needs.....

Chris will write......

Criterion identifies how much, how often, or to what standards the behavior must occur in order to demonstrate that the goal has been reached. The goal criterion specifies the amount of growth the child or youth is expected to make by the end of the annual goal period.

96 words per minute with 5 or fewer errors.

85% or more correct for all problems presented.

Earning 4 or better when graded according to the 6-trait writing rubric. (pp. 25-27)

What About Objectives?

You might be asking yourself, why not break the annual goals down into semester goals, or better still, short-term objectives? Little steps along the way, not one bigger annual step. The answer to that question is that, in the past, these annual goals were paired with short-term objectives or benchmarks of progress.

With the 2004 Amendments to IDEA, this requirement has been removed. Of course, the IEP team can always break things down that way, if it chooses, or states can require it in their own right, but IDEA itself no longer requires this...except in one instance... discussed in the separate article on Benchmarks and Objectives.

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References

Anderson, W. Chitwood, S. & Hayden, D. (1997). Negotiating the special education maze: A guide for parents and teachers (3rd ed.). Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.

Massachusetts Department of Education. (2008, September). Implementation guide. Available online at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/IDEA2004/spr_meetings/iep_guideupdt.pdf

Nebraska Department of Education. (2014, March). Measurable annual goals (pp. 25-27) . In Setting goals....achieving results: Nebraska IEP technical assistance guide. Lincoln, NE: Author. Available online at: https://2x9dwr1yq1he1dw6623gg411-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Setting-Goals-Achieving-Results-3-11-14.pdf

Rebhorn, T. (2009). Developing your child's IEP. A Parent's Guide, 12, 1-28. Available online at: https://www.parentcenterhub.org/pa12

Rebhorn, T., & Küpper, L. (2016, June). Content of the IEP (Module 13). Building the legacy: IDEA 2004 training curriculum. Newark, NJ: Center for Parent Information and Resources. Available online at: https://www.parentcenterhub.org/webinar-training-materials-on-iep/#13

**Highly Rated Resource! This resource was reviewed by 3-member panels of Parent Center staff working independently from one another to rate the quality, relevance, and usefulness of CPIR resources. This resource was found to be of "High Quality, High Relevance, High Usefulness" to Parent Centers.
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Would you like to read about another component of the IEP?
If so, use the links below to jump there quickly.
Present Levels
How is the child currently doing in school? How does the disability affect his or her performance in class? This type of information is captured in the "present levels" statement in the IEP.

Annual Goals
Once a child's needs are identified, the IEP team works to develop appropriate goals to address those needs. Annual goal describe what the child is expected to do or learn within a 12-month period.

Related Services
To help a child with a disability benefit from special education, he or she may also need extra help in one area or another, such as speaking or moving. This additional help is called related services. Find out all about these critical services here.

Accommodations in Assessment
IDEA requires that students with disabilities take part in state or districtwide assessments. The IEP team must decide if the student needs accommodations in testing or another type of assessment entirely. In this component of the IEP, the team documents how the student will participate.

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Current as of September 2017 This info in Spanish | Esta información en español Now let's take a look at annual goals, the second component of the IEP, in the following sections: In a manner of speaking, annual goals are like a road map. Where's the child heading this year?

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Education technology for every educator & learner | Everway

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Empower learning with education technology for K-12 classrooms to universities. From personalized learning software to assistive technology for all needs.

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This short video uses a bicycle analogy to explain how a well-designed individualized education program (IEP) provides free appropriate public education and supports progress for students with disabilities. Like a bike, an IEP is composed of required parts that, when aligned to each other and implemented, create an individualized program or vehicle that allows students with disabilities to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.

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What Do a Bike and an IEP Have in Common? Ensuring the Parts Work Together to Promote Progress | Progress Center

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This short video uses a bicycle analogy to explain how a well-designed individualized education program (IEP) provides free appropriate public education and supports progress for students with disabilities.

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Introduction and Rationale

The planning process described below is intended to support the creation and provision of a curricular and instructional program based on the acknowledgment that:

each child is a general education student.

the general education curriculum and routines and the Individual Education Program (IEP) comprise a student's full educational program.

the IEP for a student qualifying for special education services is not the student's curriculum.

Curriculum and instruction based upon these principles are often not in place for students with the most extensive needs, including those with significant cognitive disabilities (Wehmeyer, Shogren & Kurth, 2021). Therefore, this process focuses upon application for those students. Students who qualify to receive special education services, especially those with more intensive needs, have ended up with the IEP being their program and being seen not as a general education student but as a special education student only, when in fact, each and every child is a general education student. In addition, when a student qualifies for special education services, those services are to be provided in collaboration with general educators to support access and progress in the general education curriculum AND on their IEP goals. The IEP is intended to support a student's progress in general education curriculum and routines, as well as other essential skills that support a student's independence or interdependence across school, home, and other community environments. A comprehensive inclusive education program based upon these principles is important because without that focus, a student's learning opportunities and school and post-school outcomes are diminished. In order to create an effective comprehensive inclusive education program, collaboration between general educators, special educators, and families is needed.

This planning process is based on a vision and expectation that each student can actively participate, belong, contribute, and learn in the school and larger community. These expectations benefit each individual student as well as the larger community, resulting in more diverse, vibrant, and caring environments that embrace and celebrate the contributions of each to the whole.

IEP Planning Process

The planning process consists of four parts:

1. An initial collaborative conversation between general and special educators and the family to address the context and content of general education curriculum and instruction, as well as support for students with extensive needs as a member of the general education classroom.

2. A discussion of specific considerations for creating an inclusive IEP. This discussion will include the student's IEP team, including special education, general education, family, specialized instructional support personnel, student, and peers.

3. Based upon the outcomes of the inclusive IEP discussion, an "Education Day-at-a-Glance" is created and shared with all members of the team.

4. The team, including teachers, family members, and specialized instructional support personnel, will agree upon a process for ongoing collaboration during the year and support of one another and the student.

Inclusive IEP Planning Worksheet

See the planning worksheet to guide you and your team through this process.

Part 1: Initial Collaborative Conversation

1. At any time during the year before the team engages in the IEP development process, ensure that there have been initial collaborative conversations between:

general and special educators and the family to ensure understanding of the assumptions underlying the comprehensive inclusive education program and why they are important. Those assumptions are:

Each child is a general education student.

The general education curriculum and routines and the IEP comprise a student's full educational program.

The IEP for a student qualifying for special education services is not the student's curriculum.

general education and special education teachers about the expectations and routines in the general education classroom and the general education standards, units, and objectives that will be addressed across the school year. (It is recommended that this discussion happens prior to the beginning of the school year and is summarized at the IEP meeting).

general education and special education teachers and the family of the student with extensive support needs focused on how the student communicates, their strengths, interests, present levels of performance across general education content areas and other essential skills, and effective instructional strategies including peer support.

the family and teachers to provide an opportunity for the family/student to share their vision related to the student working, living, playing, and contributing to the community now, and in the future.

Part 2: Discussion of Considerations to Create the Inclusive IEP

2a. Identifying Goals based on the Three Major Learning Components

All students, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, have learning opportunities throughout the day related to three major learning components:

Participating in Routines and Transitions

Engaging in Grade-Level Academics and Other Essential Skills

Interacting with Others

These components are important in the education of all students and contribute to supporting the realization of belonging, active participation, contributing, and learning in the short and long term. In order for the student's IEP to be viewed as part of (rather than the whole of) their educational program, use the three major learning components to frame and develop no more than six-to-eight IEP goals that address priorities for the student as a member of general education.

The question prompts for each of the three major learning components in the next table can be useful for developing inclusive IEP goals as well as special education supports, service delivery, and specially designed instruction (SDI). There are also questions to ask the student for their input. The student may also wish to invite some classmates to participate in the discussion. Often friends have perspectives that enhance learning and connection to others.

Participating in Routines and Transitions(1-2 goals)

What are the key routines and transitions in the general education classroom and across the school day?

What skills/goals could the student be supported to achieve that would enable them to independently/ interdependently engage in general education classroom and school routines and transitions? For example:

materials management

transitions between activities

general classroom operation (for example, lunch count, attendance)

being prepared, starting, and ending tasks

going from large group to small group activities

transitions within the building, as well as coming to and leaving school

Student Questions (possibly with help from family or peers)

What does a day look like for you? What is your schedule and routines?

What helps you best be a part of your school community? Home? Larger community?

Are there other activities you would like to join?

Are there other routines you'd like to take on? Why would you prioritize those activities?

Engaging in Grade-level Academics & Other Essential Skills (2-3 goals)

What are the big ideas, essential vocabulary, and skills taught in reading, math, writing, social studies, and science this school year? (Refer to your state standards or corestandards.org )

What big ideas, essential vocabulary, and skills could be prioritized that would enable the student to make the most progress in the curriculum in each content area? See sample goals/ objectives below.

What are essential skills that the student needs that will enable better access to the curriculum and support independence/ interdependence across environments? (For example, foundational academics, technology, self-advocacy, self-agency in terms of behavioral supports needed.)
Student Questions (possibly with help from family or peers)

What are some classes, subjects, or activities you enjoy and feel successful being a part of?

What are some classes, subjects, or activities you think you would enjoy, but maybe have not yet tried?

What are some classes or subjects that feel more challenging?

What makes those classes more successful or challenging?

What helps you best learn and participate at school? At home and in the community?

Interacting with Others (1-2 goals)

What skills/goals could the student be supported to achieve that would enable them to independently/ interdependently interact and communicate with others to:

self-advocate, have their needs met?

engage in learning tasks?

socialize and build friendships?

Student Questions (possibly with help from family or peers)

What do you enjoy most about school?

What activities do you enjoy outside of school?

Share about your friendships and relationships.

Do you feel like you would like more/different friends and relationships in addition to those you already have? If so, why?

What are your interests?

How do you prefer to communicate with others?

If you had a choice, would you prefer doing activities with large groups or small groups of people?

Example of a goal and short-term objective: (goal may be adapted based on individual's strengths/needs and baseline present levels of performance):

Goal: When given a general education class setting, "student" will master a minimum of 2 essential understandings/big ideas, 2 vocabulary words/terms, and 2 facts/concepts/skills within each unit of study in English Language Arts (ELA), across a quarter as measured by classroom assignments/activities and teacher made assessments.
Short Term Objectives

"Student" will demonstrate understanding of a minimum of 1 big idea, vocabulary word, or a fact/concept/skill via probe questions/activities conducted twice per week in the context of daily assignments/activities during ELA, as noted by staff records by ________.

"Student" will demonstrate understanding of a minimum of 2 big ideas, 2 vocabulary words, and 2 facts/concepts/skills via probe questions/activities conducted twice per week in the context of daily assignments/activities during ELA, as noted by staff records by _______.

2b. Do the family, student, or peers see opportunities for addressing any of these priorities outside of the school day?

Overarching Priority Areas:

Participating in routines and transitions

Engaging in grade-level academics and other essential skills

Interacting with others

If so, how, where, and when?
2c. Inclusive Service delivery/LRE Considerations

Are any special education services provided outside of the general education class? If so, why?

The team will want to consider how to creatively offer most special education services within the general education classroom, delivered in a flexible way. (For example, using general education teachers, intervention teachers, peers, paraprofessionals, and special education teachers.)

If special education services are not provided in the context of the general education classroom, are flexible learning environments that benefit all students provided? (For example, general pod areas outside the classroom, small group breakout spaces, individual instruction areas for all students.)

2d. Inclusive Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) /Supplementary Aids and Services

How is data being used to inform instruction?

What are the least intrusive supports that can be provided to allow the student to experience success in the general education classroom?

Things to consider include:

physical accessibility of school/classroom

instructional accommodations (engaging in instruction and activities)

social/behavioral/communication supports

collaborative support (specifically identify any capacity-building support that will be provided to school staff, families, or peers; Kurth et al., 2019)

If personnel supports are identified as necessary (for example, 1:1 paraprofessional support), consider how supports might be systematically faded in favor of more natural supports such as classroom paraprofessional support, assistive technology or natural peer supports.

2e. In summary, as the team considers the whole educational program that has been created, ask these three questions

1. Will the student experience membership?

2. Will the student be actively participating at school?

3. Will the student be learning the grade-level general education curriculum?

Part 3: Develop the Education Day-at-a-Glance

3a. The Education Day-at-a-Glance provides a format for the team to:

connect the IEP goals and data collection opportunities to the daily schedule, with IEP goals prioritized across the whole day, and

assess which supports/accommodations are most likely to be used across the schedule to support access and learning.

The Education Day-at-a Glance supports effective collaboration among all general and special educators, including specialized instructional support personnel. Everyone can work from the same information which is provided in a concise, targeted way, making it easily communicated when schedules/plans change.

3b. Develop a data collection plan

Goals are embedded into the daily schedule on the Education Day-at-a-Glance so that all team members know when and where data collection opportunities exist. The team will want to determine how frequently data will be collected in order to monitor student learning and achievement and to determine the effectiveness of the instruction and support that are provided. See sample data collection sheets.
Sample data collection sheets
Sample Education Day at a Glance

Blank Education Day at a Glance

Sample Data Collection Sheets

Part 4: Ongoing Education and Support
In order to ensure that the work completed in Parts 1-3 of this process is continually reviewed and revised as needed, the following ongoing collaborative conversations and support tools would be beneficial:

Over the course of the school year, the team will also benefit from the participation of the special educator during grade-level planning meetings in order to understand the grade-level content focus, unit expectations, activities, and evaluation strategies that will be used. The special educator will be able to identify IEP goals that connect to each general education unit. The general education team and the special educator will be better able to revise, identify and put into place adaptations and/or accommodations in the Education Day-at-a-Glance, as neede, that will support the student's access and progress in the general education curriculum and the IEP goals.

Use of the 5-15-45 Tool as a template to support co-planning to create accessible lessons for all, whether teachers have 5, 15, or 45 minutes. The classroom environment (curriculum design, instructional strategies) may create barriers that include: (a) reduced student interest or engagement; (b) lack of adequate opportunities for students to gain background knowledge about the topic, or; (c) inflexible options for students to show what they know. As the team reviews student data, and identifies any barriers to learning and strategies for reducing the barriers and teaching the content, other students or the whole class may also benefit from use of those strategies.

Conclusion

School communities that support the belonging, active participation, contribution, and learning of each and every student enhance a sense of community. The collaborative conversations and action planning described above are well worth that outcome.

How These Parts Fit Together

Here are some tips for understanding the flowchart shown below:

The olive green, double-lined boxes are related to the General Education curriculum.

The purple, dashed boxes are related to the individual student strengths, needs, and present levels.

The solid green boxes are the integration of knowledge about the grade-level, general education curriculum and a student's individual learning needs.

The blue boxes are collaborative processes. Here are the links for each process:

Authors

Terri Vandercook TIES Center, University of Minnesota

Jessica Bowman TIES Center, University of Minnesota

Gail Ghere TIES Center, University of Minnesota

Cassie Martin University of Washington Haring Center for Inclusive Education

RinaMarie Leon-Guerrero University of Washington Haring Center for Inclusive Education

Jennifer Sommerness TIES Center, University of Minnesota

All rights reserved. Any or all portions of this document may be reproduced without prior permission, provided the source is cited as:

Vandercook, T., Bowman, J., Ghere, G., Martin, C., Leon-Guerrero, R., & Sommerness, J. (2021). Comprehensive Inclusive Education: General Education & the Inclusive IEP. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, TIES Center.

TIES Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326Y170004) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. The contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government. Project Officer: Susan Weigert

The National Center on Educational Outcomes leads the TIES Center partnership. There are six additional collaborating partners: Arizona Department of Education, CAST, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, and University of North Carolina - Greensboro.

TIES Center

University of Minnesota

Institute on Community Integration

2025 East River Parkway

Minneapolis, MN 55414

Phone: 612-626-1530
www.tiescenter.org
This document is available in alternate formats upon request.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and educator.

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Comprehensive Inclusive Education: General Education & the Inclusive IEP | Comprehensive Inclusive Education: General Education & the Inclusive IEP

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The planning process described below is intended to support the creation and provision of a curricular and instructional program based on the acknowledgment that: each child is a general education student. the general education curriculum and routines and the Individual Education Program (IEP) comprise a student's full educational program.

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This series of tip sheets introduce key components of the individualized education program (IEP). They include brief summaries of federal regulations, tips for implementation, and resources. Check with your state for additional requirements.

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This series of tip sheets introduce key components of the individualized education program (IEP). They include brief summaries of federal regulations, tips for implementation, and resources. Check with your state for additional requirements.

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Page 6: High-Quality PLAAFP Statements

Make sure that all of the student's educational needs identified in the evaluation stage are included in the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance section of the IEP.

One of the fundamental components of an IEP, a present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statement summarizes the student's current levels of functioning. State and district documentation of this information varies. For example, some PLAAFP statements are written as a single comprehensive summary that covers all areas in which the student needs support; others are written as multiple smaller descriptions that address each area of need separately.

Regardless of the way it is organized, the PLAAFP statement must contain information for each identified area of need based on the results of the student's evaluation (the second step in the IEP process). The PLAAFP statement serves as the foundation from which all other components of the IEP will be built.

At a minimum, the PLAAFP statement must contain information that:

Describes the student's needs in an academic and/or functional skill area

States the impact of the student's disability on her involvement in the general education curriculum

Documents the student's current levels of performance, which will serve as baseline data to measure her subsequent progress
baseline data
The measure of the level of a student's academic or behavioral performance before a change (e.g., instructional or behavioral practice or intervention) is implemented. This information can be compared to data collected after the change has been implemented to evaluate student progress.

Informs the annual goals and the appropriate special education services and supports required to meet those goals

Alphabet Soup

Historically, IEPs contained information about a student's present levels of performance (PLOP), also referred to as present levels of educational performance (PLEP) in some schools or districts. When Congress reauthorized IDEA in 2004, this was changed to the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP). The new term highlights the need for special education to address all of a student's needs. The addition of functional performance -nonacademic skills necessary for independent living (e.g., behavior, social skills, communication, independent living skills, and mobility)-reflects an awareness that students with disabilities require more than academic supports if they are to meet their individual goals for long-term success.

PLOP: present levels of performance

Legislation and Litigation

Developing a High-Quality PLAAFP Statement

The IEP team can begin the process of developing a high-quality PLAAFP statement by holding a discussion that centers around the four elements outlined above: student needs, effect on progress in general education, baseline information, and connection to goals and/or services. By doing so, they will begin to assemble the elements that will become the student's PLAAFP statement. The table below poses some questions that can help guide that conversation.

Student Needs

Information on the student's current academic and/or functional needs

What are:

The student's strengths?

The main areas of concern (e.g., academic, functional) and how do these concerns relate to district or state standards and benchmarks and the student's postsecondary interests?

The parents' concerns?

The student's instructional preferences?

The results from the evaluation (e.g., standardized tests, progress monitoring data)?

Ways in which the student's strengths can help address the identified areas of concern?

Effect on Progress in General Education

An explanation of how the disability affects the student's involvement and progress in the general education curriculum

How does the student's disability affect her:

Involvement in general education?

Access to the general education curriculum?

Progress in the general education curriculum?

Baseline Information

Baseline data for monitoring student progress

Are the data being reviewed to determine whether the student is making progress:

And do these data relate to:

Identified areas of concern?

State content standards?

Connection to Goals and/or Services

Bridge between the PLAAFP statement and an annual goal

Is there enough information in the PLAAFP to develop a challenging, ambitious, measurable annual goal?

Is there enough information in the PLAAFP to determine what special education, related services, accommodations, and program modifications are needed?

Note: These are simple "yes" or "no" questions.

When a student's first IEP is developed, much of the information needed for the PLAAFP is collected in the initial assessment. That information is outdated by the time a student's IEP is ready for an annual review, so school personnel will need to collect data prior to the IEP meeting. In this interview, Tamara McLean shares how personnel at her school collaborate to collect the information and draft PLAAFP statements (time: 1:06).

Transcript: Tamara McLean

In my school when we develop the PLAAFP statements, it's a collaboration of many different people. So if it is an O. T. skill, the O.T. is going to develop the wording, but she will send out an information thing to fill out for the gen ed teacher, for the special ed teacher, on those areas so they can see how it plays out in the classroom versus just their one-on-one setting. The case manager is really only going to develop the areas that they serve. So if a child has an IEP that has math service and it has reading service, the person who delivers the reading service is going to be the person who actually fills in that part of the IEP. But they're going to reach out to the reading teacher as well and get information for how that plays out in the general education classroom. Really, it is a collaboration for all areas because whether it's pre-vocational, whether it's social-emotional, whether it's math, whether it's reading, it's not just going to be one person who has information on that.

After the IEP team has discussed the information above, they can begin to write the PLAAFP statement. As they do so, they should keep in mind that this statement should be written in concise, specific, and clear language that can be easily understood by all members of the IEP team. It should not merely identify the student's disability and list the various assessment scores, but instead should provide enough information to inform the development of the student's annual goals. The table below contains portions of one student's PLAAFP statement that relate to his reading skills and shows how each element is addressed.

Student Needs

K is a 9-year-old, 4th-grade student who is eligible for special education services under the category of Specific Learning Disability. K has strong expressive and receptive language skills and a large vocabulary. As a result, he actively engages in class discussions and performs well on tasks that require auditory comprehension (e.g., following multi-step directions, answering comprehension questions about class discussions or about passages that are read to him). His strong communication skills have also earned him the friendship and respect of his peers, many of whom look to K as a class leader.

K's learning disability negatively affects his decoding skills, which are at a low 2nd-grade level. His broad reading scores on standardized tests are:

In addition to school-based concerns, K's parents worry about the effects of his learning disability outside of school. For example, K avoids games that involve even a little bit of reading, resulting in some conflicts during weekly family game nights, which often involve board games. When the family eats out, K prefers one restaurant whose menu he has memorized and protests if a new restaurant is selected due to anxiety about reading an unfamiliar menu.

Effect on Progress in General Education

The 4th-grade curriculum involves many independent reading activities. K's decoding problems affect his performance in the general education setting because he cannot independently read items like written instructions, worksheets, or content area texts. He is self-conscious about his reading difficulties and works hard to hide his reading struggles from his classmates. As a result, he is unwilling to utilize text-to-speech technologies on his tablet, even with headphones, or partner with a peer reader.

Baseline Information

K is currently reading 54 words correct per minute (wpm) on a 2nd-grade reading probe, which is slightly higher than the 2nd-grade fall benchmark of 50 wpm. The 4th-grade fall benchmark is 95 wpm on a 4th-grade reading probe.

Connection to Goals and/or Services

Yes, there is enough information to determine annual goals and/or services and supports.

Did You Know?

For preschool children, the part of the statement describing how the disability affects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum is different. In their case, that portion of the statement describes how the child's disability affects her participation in appropriate activities.

This toolbox describes additional resources related to the information presented on this page. These resources are provided for informational purposes only for those who wish to learn more about the topic(s). It is not necessary for those working through this module to read or refer to all of these additional resources to understand the content.

This IRIS Case Study describes how to clearly define a student's behavior so that when they occur they can be reliably identified, measured, or counted. It goes deeper into the methods needed to collect baseline data and then determine whether the student has made progress.

Present Levels of Academic Achievement & Functional Performance (PLAAFPs)
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) Statements

Both of the Kansas SDE documents above explain each of the elements within a high-quality PLAAFP statement. The first lists additional considerations for infants and toddlers, behavior, severe disabilities, and secondary transition-related issues. The second introduces the connection between the PLAAFP statements and the annual goals, with examples.
Present Levels
This Center for Parent Information & Resources (CPIR) document provides additional detail on both academic and functional skills, as well as examples across a wide range of skill areas.

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IRIS | Page 6: High-Quality PLAAFP Statements

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Make sure that all of the student's educational needs identified in the evaluation stage are included in the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance section of the IEP. One of the fundamental components of an IEP, a present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statement summarizes the student's current levels of functioning.

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1. Presentation Accommodations

2. Response Accommodations

3. Timing/Scheduling Accommodations

4. Setting Accommodations

5. Instructional and Organizational Supports

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List of Accommodations for Students With Disabilities

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Accommodations are adjustments in teaching methods, classroom environment, or assessment strategies that support students with disabilities in accessing grade-level content.

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The Civil Rights of Students With Hidden Disabilities and Section 504

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This pamphlet explains how students with hidden disabilities are protected against discrimination by Federal law.

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Access denied | lifeworksschools.com used Cloudflare to restrict access | lifeworksschools.com | Cloudflare

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Parents’ knowledge of their child with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: An interpretative synthesis

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Parents’ knowledge of their child with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is seen as crucial in the support and care for their child. The aim of this study was to explore the nature and transferability of this knowledge. We…

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Transcript of "Children with disabilities: Mini Parenting Master Class" video

It's normal to feel distressed when you're told that your child has a disability, but here's some useful advice to help your child to reach their full potential.

Hi, I'm Professor Maurine Samms-Vaughan and this is my Mini Parenting Master Class on children with disabilities.

As a parent, what can I do to support my child with a disability? Why is it important to focus on a child's abilities?

Every child with a disability has strengths. These may be in doing artwork, in their personality, or in their motor skills. Every child has a strength. It's more important for us to focus on what children can do, their abilities, rather than their disability. We can use children's abilities to assist the areas that they have most challenges with.

How can I communicate with my child with a disability and how do I know when he/she wants to communicate with me?

Some children with disabilities will be able to speak with you. Others will not be able to speak. But they do communicate, even though they don't speak. For example, when a newborn baby comes into a family that baby communicates without speaking. You learn the baby's likes and dislikes by whether they smile, or laugh, or whether they cry. The same occurs with children with disabilities who can't speak. They tell you what they like by smiling or laughing, and they tell you what they don't like by crying or making an upset face.

What can I do in my day-to-day to make sure I'm stimulating my child and his/her brain development?

Children are stimulated by everything in their environment: by the sounds, by the interactions, by your smile. So, if your child with a disability is around you, you should make sure that you spend time talking with them, explaining in simple language what it is you're doing, smiling with them, telling them all about their environment, making noises around them so they can respond to noises.

Everything that you do, as you are moving about the house, as you are doing your housework, involve and include your child in it. Move your child into the room in which you are working. Tell them what you are doing: you are washing the dishes, you're dipping the dishes in the water. Tell them exactly what you are doing. All of that will stimulate them.

You can also stimulate them by directly playing with them, by making little toys in the home, putting stones in a bottle and shaking it, by waving ribbons in front of their eyes, different coloured ribbons. There are many things that you can do with just things around your house.

Can I breastfeed my child if he/she has a disability?

Breastfeeding is really important for all children, but is especially important for children with disabilities. Breastfeeding is really important for children's growth, children's nutrition, and children's brain development. Many children with disabilities are actually able to breastfeed, only a few are not able to breastfeed. And those who can't, can be fed expressed breastmilk, because breastmilk is really the best.

Why are the early years of every child's life so critical?

The early years of every child, whether they have a disability or not, are critical because when we stimulate the brain during these early years we are ensuring that the brain develops to its full potential. We are making sure that children have the best development that they can have and this happens for children with disabilities and children without disabilities.

How do I play with my child with a disability?

Children with disabilities enjoy being played with just like any other child. They enjoy you reading to them, showing them pictures, tickling them, hugging them, cuddling them. They respond to you with laughter and smiling. If they don't like a particular play that you are doing, they will tell you. They will stop laughing, they'll stop smiling. Try something else. You will find something because you know them best.

If I don't have time to play or money to afford toys, what can I do?

If you don't have a lot of time to play with your child, there may be other family members in your home who will be able to play with your child with a disability. Brothers and sisters are really great around children with disabilities. They stimulate them because they talk to them a lot and they play with them. They don't seem to be concerned about whether a sibling has a disability. They play with them just like anyone else.

What is your advice to parents who suspect that their child has a disability?

If you have a concern that your child has a disability, go to your nearest health provider and let them know your concerns. Some concerns may turn out not to be a problem at all, but some may, and your child may be identified as having a disability.

It's just as important to provide children with disabilities with a loving environment. Children who are shown warmth and love grow up to be loving, warm persons. A child with a disability who is shown warmth and love will grow up to be an adult who may have a disability, but who is a wonderful person to be around.
Maureen Samms-Vaughan is Professor of Child Health, Child Development and Behavior at the University of West Indies in Jamaica. She is an advocate for vulnerable children, particularly children with disabilities and those impacted by violence, and has published significant research in these areas.

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Caring for children with disabilities: Mini Parenting Master Class

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Transcript of "Children with disabilities: Mini Parenting Master Class" video It's normal to feel distressed when you're told that your child has a disability, but here's some useful advice to help your child to reach their full potential. Hi, I'm Professor Maurine Samms-Vaughan and this is my Mini Parenting Master Class on children with disabilities.

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How to support your children and yourself.

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20 Things Every Parent of Kids with Special Needs Should Hear - Abilities Expo

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Twenty words of wisdom and advice from parents of children with special needs.

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Watch This!

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The IEP team meeting has just ended, and the school staff hands you a large document of information about your child's academic plan, otherwise known as the . Reviewing the document, you noticed the words "Intellectual Disability."

Wait, what is this?
Did I miss something in the meeting?
Did they even explain this to me?

You have so many questions, you do not understand what this diagnosis means, and the questions keep swarming through your mind.

You feel like the meeting for your child was in a foreign language.

Where Do Families of Children With Intellectual Disabilities Begin?

If you have been in this situation before, know you are not alone. As a special education educator, I can say that IEP meetings can seem foreign for most parents of children with developmental disabilities.

This is especially true for families who speak more than one language.

No matter how often you explain the meaning, it still causes confusion. I have heard countless expressions like, "why is my child like this, or why aren't they showing improvements faster?"

These are all valid questions, but sometimes they make it seem like something is wrong with your child.

Your child is normal.

He just learns at a different rate than other people. It is okay if you have thought about those questions above, and no, you are not a bad parent. You are human.

My goal today is to remind you that there is hope for you in learning more about your child's disability.

By the end of this blog post, I hope to have shed some light on the characteristics, behaviors, and observations of a child with an intellectual disability.

What is an Intellectual Disability?

An intellectual disability is when someone's brain works differently than most people's. As a result, they might need help learning new things, understanding complex ideas, or solving problems.

For example, when you're trying to assemble a puzzle, sometimes the pieces don't fit as easily as others.

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Children with intellectual disabilities are like everyone else but might need extra help or time to learn and do things. However, it's important to remember that they can still have a fun time, make friends, and enjoy life, just like a typical child!

They might be good at some things and have a more challenging time with others, and that's okay. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and we can reach our full potential with the right support.

It's essential to treat people with intellectual disabilities with kindness and patience, just like we would want to be treated.

They are our friends, classmates, and family members who might need extra emotional support from us. But they are also unique and wonderful people who can teach us a lot.

3 Main Characteristics of Intellectual Disabilities

To better understand intellectual disabilities, knowing the three key characteristics you may see in your child is helpful.

By learning about these key aspects, we can better support and appreciate the unique abilities of people with intellectual disabilities.

#1 Academic Performance

For many families, an IEP meeting can be daunting, not to mention discussing your child's disability.

Most of the time, a psychologist, health professional, or teacher will provide a test to your child to learn his academic strengths and weaknesses for the current grade level.

For example, a student in the 8th or 9th grade may show that he lacks specific foundational skills to progress toward higher math.

Or he may need help to read or understand passages on grade level because he is performing academic skills and knowledge well below their actual age or grade.

Instead of being able to do 8th or 9th-grade material, a student with an intellectual disability may be comprehending reading passages, writing sentences, or performing mathematical reasoning problems at a 3rd-grade level.

In a more severe case of intellectual functioning, a student may only be able to comprehend material at a 1st-grade level and only form a single sentence with a subject and verb.

These signs indicate that your child has an intellectual disability, performing their academic skills below age or grade level.

#2 Emotional Delays

Another characteristic a child with an intellectual disability may experience is emotional delays. Though a student may be 15 or 20 years of age, the emotional or mental age of the student may be years younger.

With these developmental delays, I have often noticed these individuals appear younger than same-aged peers.

For example, a student with an intellectual disability in high school might fixate on Power Rangers. A student of the same age and grade level would think that is childish and odd.

The needs of children change as they age. Therefore, your child may need ongoing support to help cope with these new skills.

A teenager or young adult may express frustration with a parent by yelling or stomping their feet. But typically, children stop doing this in their early years.

If your child experiences emotional immaturity, he might do so because of an intellectual disability and may benefit from support services.

#3 Adaptive Behavior

A third characteristic of a child with an intellectual disability is significant limitations in adaptive behaviors. These are everyday life skills you will likely see in the home environment, such as:

When these tasks become a challenge, your child may act out negatively. This characteristic ties in with emotional delays.

These are often clear signs that something might be off. I have found this a huge concern in many families I have worked with in schools.

Many parents seek answers from their child's primary care physician. Some even get a diagnosis of intellectual disability for their child this way.

A great way to help a child with these types of tasks is by using social stories. Check out these ideas for creating social stories for your child or.

How to Help a Child With an Intellectual Disability

If the information thus far is causing you to breathe heavier, spark anxiety or a sense of failure, do not worry!

Sometimes the path to success takes a little longer than you want.

However, when you provide your child with the right tools and information, you can guide your child with an intellectual disability to positive outcomes.

To help you get started, here are two strategies you can implement in your home, classroom, or wider community to meet your child's specific needs.

Strategy #1: Learning Styles

When a student has an intellectual disability diagnosis, the first key to success is to understand how he learns so you can meet that child's needs.

Provide bright colors and information that is memorable for them to recall. Use contrasting colors that trigger brain neurons to activate and become more interesting for them to remember.

Is your child an auditory learner?

Use music, sounds, and words to express the material when teaching.

Is your child a kinesthetic or tactile learner?

Use the sense of touch and physical movement to provide excitement and entertainment to engage the brain to remember better.

Once you can identify your child's learning style(s), it will be easier to help him grasp material on grade level better.

Strategy #2: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!

Once you know their learning style, the second key is to provide constant, daily, repetitive practice of a given skill.

Repetition is so important in brain development. However, for children with developmental disorders, the ability to retain information is a challenge.

What new information your child learned one day may have been forgotten the next day. Practice makes progress, not perfection.

A typical person has to repeat a skill over and over and over before he has mastered it. Your child with an intellectual disability is no different. They need supportive environments with patience and guidance, and constant practice to learn how to be successful.

The parent's ability to understand how their child learns and the child having the time to practice a skill over and over will make it much easier to master.

Not the End: This is Just the Beginning

Your child with an intellectual disability can learn grade-level material when given appropriate support and guidance.

The more people learn about an intellectual disability, the better they can provide:

Your child wants to be successful, regardless of his disability. He can be successful in every aspect of life. However, they need to know someone is walking alongside them while they do the hard work in their life.

It might be scary for you, and that is okay.

You might be a parent who has never had a child with a disability before, and you don't know where to begin. Or you may be an experienced parent, having had your teenager overcome many challenges.

Regardless of your journey, these strategies and information can be a comfort and help on those difficult days. But this is not the end; it is only the beginning of a beautiful journey that awaits discovery.

Additional Resources for Parents of Special Needs Children

Through dozens of , , , special education resources, and one-on-one special education tutoring, we are here to help you every step of the way.

Would you like support in your child's IEP? Schedule a call so we can chat here.

You might like to check out these articles next:

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Parenting A Child With An Intellectual Disability: What You Need To Know

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Are you parenting a child with an intellectual disability? Here's what you need to know to support & encourage your child's unique abilities

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Supporting Parents of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

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Empowering Families Navigating the Path of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

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Parents with an intellectual disability continue to face a high risk of losing their children. However, there is evidence that innovative schemes and appropriate support can enable them to care for their children.

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Parents with an intellectual disability continue to face a high risk of losing their children. However, there is evidence that innovative schemes and appropriate support can enable them to care for their children.

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Intellectual Disability Advice From Experts and Families

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Intellectual Disability Advice From Experts and Families

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"Your child has an intellectual disability."

In the seconds that it takes to say those words, the whole world has changed for your family. Often, the time immediately after the diagnosis is a tumultuous one. There are many typical feelings, including fear, confusion, and anger-mixed with hope, pride, and love.

Some parents take a while coming to terms with the diagnosis. Many children with intellectual disabilities physically appear no different than anyone else, so it can sometimes be hard at first to believe the diagnosis. Others parents feel relieved that they finally have an answer.

As you get to know your child, you will understand their individual needs. Sometimes you'll make a mistake, but for the most part, you're going to do fine. In fact, your life will be enriched by your child in ways you never imagined.

Special Olympics Chief Health Officer, along with a team of experts, have created Realizing the Bright Future of Your Child: A Guide for New Parents. This guide was written to help you face the new experiences ahead of you more confidently. Although it may not seem like it right now, the future for your child is a bright one-brighter now than ever before for children with intellectual disabilities.

You'll also find words of encouragement from other parents, and the reassurance that your family is not alone in this journey.

This guide for new parents covers a range of topics, including:

how your child got the intellectual disability diagnosis

how to cope with the feelings you might be experiencing

finding the right therapies and supports for your child

intellectual disability resources

a letter from a Special Olympics athlete

Download the free guide: Realizing the Bright Future of Your Child: A Guide for New Parents.

Intellectual disability begins in childhood and includes deficits in:

intellectual functions, such as reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience.

adaptive functioning in activities of daily life, such as communication, social participation, and independent living.

Many children have other conditions that can occur together with intellectual disability, like, spectrum disorders, epilepsy, or cerebral palsy . There is much confusion about the difference between autism (autism spectrum disorders) and intellectual disability. Many children have both. But, in autism, there are deficits in social communication (such as having conversation and making friends). There are also repetitive or restricted behaviors and interests (such as repetitive hand flapping). In intellectual disability, the deficits are in intellectual functioning (learning/ problem solving).

As the guide points out, "What you should know is that having an intellectual disability is not a disease. It is not static or unchanging. It is a condition and its expression can change with therapies and supports."

Learn more about intellectual disabilities .

Special Olympics provides many opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to build confidence and learn new skills. Along the way, they become welcomed and valued members of their communities.

Early Childhood, Ages 2 to 7: Special Olympics Young Athletes™ is a sport and play program for children with and without intellectual disabilities, ages 2 to 7 years old. The program introduces basic sport skills, like running, kicking, and throwing. Young Athletes provides children of all abilities the same opportunities to advance in core developmental milestones. Children learn how to play with others and develop important skills for learning. Children also learn to share, take turns and follow directions: skills that help them in family, community, and school activities.

Childhood, Adolescence and Into Adulthood, Ages 8 and Older: Special Olympics provides over 30 individual and team sports for people with intellectual disabilities, starting at age 8. Some teams join athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to promote understanding, respect, and compassion. Special Olympics sports provide a chance to stay active and healthy, and also allow participants to discover new strengths and abilities.

Learn more about Special Olympics sports programs.

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Parenting a Child With an Intellectual Disability

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Realizing the Bright Future of Your Child: An Intellectual Disability Resource for New Parents

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Fact Sheets by Category

Accommodations, Modifications, Practices and Supports

Dispute Resolution Options

Educational Evaluation, Placement, and Settings

Educational Law, Policy, and Practices

Family Support and General Resources

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How to Collect a Language Sample - Speech And Language Kids

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How to Collect a Language Sample Anyone here dread collecting a language sample? Leia Knight from Language for the Playground joined us LIVE to share 5 quick and easy tips for eliciting a language sample. #speechieshow Join the Hub to Access (Free Trial) Below are the links

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4 tips on how to obtain a language sample:

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4 tips on how to obtain a language sample:

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How to do a Language Sample - 4 Tips for Easily Getting a Language Sample

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We will give you quick tips on how to do a language sample for speech assessments. Language samples yield big results.

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For Individuals

For Organizations

About

Resources

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Speech and Language Assessment for Autism - Speech And Language Kids

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Speech and Language Assessment for Autism How can we assess communication skills in children with autism when they won’t sit down for a standardized test?? Lacee Johnson from Speech Me Maybe joined us to share 5 tips for evaluating children with autism. Check out our best tips for speech and language assessments for autism.

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Welcome to the Communication MatrixOur nonprofit project is devoted to improving outcomes for individuals with complex communication needs around the world.

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Welcome to the Communication MatrixOur nonprofit project is devoted to improving outcomes for individuals with complex communication needs around the world.

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Assessment

The Communication Matrix has created an assessment tool to help families and professionals easily understand the communication status, progress, and unique needs of anyone functioning at the early stages of communication or using forms of communication other than speaking or writing.

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Wecome to the Communication Matrix

Understanding what individuals are capable of today is the first step toward helping them reach their potential.

Assessment

The Communication Matrix is a free assessment tool created to help families and professionals easily understand the communication status, progress, and unique needs of anyone functioning at the early stages of communication or using forms of communication other than speaking or writing.

"I am very excited about using this Matrix as part of our assessment and treatment plan for students with ASD." - Special Education Teacher

Community

Our Community includes an active forum where SLPs, teachers, families, and researchers can connect, share information, learn from the field, and offer and receive support.

"I love a focus on complex communication needs. Frequently I look at sites or information that does not apply to my students. It is great to have a site that focuses on the students I work with." - Parent

Purchase Paper and PDF copies of the Communication Matrix Assessment here.

See who is using the Communication Matrix around the world

© 2023 Charity Rowland, Ph.D.

Site by State33 and Smith & Connors

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The Communication Matrix is a free assessment tool created to help families and professionals easily understand the communication status, progress, and unique needs of anyone functioning at the early stages of communication or using forms of communication other than speaking or writing.

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People have a fundamental right to communicate in all parts of their lives. These communication rights promote full participation across the lifespan. They include:

1. The right to dignity and respect in all interactions.

2. The right to meaningful communication that is culturally and linguistically appropriate.

3. The right to be addressed directly and not be spoken for or talked about as if not there.

4. The right to receive a response to all communication, even when the desired outcome is not possible.

5. The right to participate across settings as full communication partners.

6. The right to interact socially and to build and keep relationships.

7. The right to be given—and to understand—information about objects, actions, events, and people.

8. The right to ask for or refuse objects, actions, events, and people.

9. The right to express preferences and feelings, make comments, and share opinions.

10. The right to make choices from meaningful options.

11. The right to access services and supports for communication across the lifespan.

12. The right to individualized, working augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and other assistive technology (AT) at all times.

This is the third iteration of the NJC Communication Bill of Rights. The NJC originally developed it to ensure the basic rights of persons with severe disabilities to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence (NJC, 1992). In 2016, a second version added three more socially focused rights (Brady et al., 2016).

In response to feedback from the NJC Network—a group consisting of family members of people with severe disabilities and professionals—this most recent iteration consolidates and simplifies the wording of the rights so as to make them understandable to all. In a separate guidance document, the NJC provides information about each right. That document also provides strategies and practices for families, caregivers, professionals, and self-advocates as they interact and communicate with persons with severe disabilities (NJC, 2024).

Download a PDF version of the National Joint Committee's Communication Bill of Rights [PDF].

In This Section

NJC Home Page

History of the NJC

NJC Organizations

Contact Information

NJC Feedback Form

Advertising Disclaimer

Advertise with us

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All people with a disability of any extent or severity have a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence. Beyond this general right, a number of specific communication rights should be ensured in all daily interactions and interventions involving persons who have severe disabilities.

To participate fully in communication interactions, each person has these fundamental communication rights:

1. The right to interact socially, maintain social closeness, and build relationships

2. The right to request desired objects, actions, events, and people

3. The right to refuse or reject undesired objects, actions, events, or choices

4. The right to express personal preferences and feelings

5. The right to make choices from meaningful alternatives

6. The right to make comments and share opinions

7. The right to ask for and give information, including information about changes in routine and environment

8. The right to be informed about people and events in one's life

9. The right to access interventions and supports that improve communication

10. The right to have communication acts acknowledged and responded to even when the desired outcome cannot be realized

11. The right to have access to functioning AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) and other AT (assistive technology) services and devices at all times

12. The right to access environmental contexts, interactions, and opportunities that promote participation as full communication partners with other people, including peers

13. The right to be treated with dignity and addressed with respect and courtesy

14. The right to be addressed directly and not be spoken for or talked about in the third person while present

15. The right to have clear, meaningful, and culturally and linguistically appropriate communications

Download a PDF version of the National Joint Committee's Communication Bill of Rights [PDF].

cite as: Brady, N. C., Bruce, S., Goldman, A., Erickson, K., Mineo, B., Ogletree, B. T., Paul, D., Romski, M., Sevcik, R., Siegel, E., Schoonover, J., Snell, M., Sylvester, L., & Wilkinson, K. (2016). Communication services and supports for individuals with severe disabilities: Guidance for assessment and intervention. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 121(2), 121-138.

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All people with a disability of any extent or severity have a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence.

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Inclusive teaching refers to pedagogy that strives to serve the diverse needs of all students, no matter their background, social identities, or prior educational experiences. The goal is to support student engagement with the course material using evidence-based, equity-minded, and accessible instructional practices. Here we provide resources to support instructors in their efforts to both incorporate diverse perspectives into the curriculum and also to create a welcoming, student-centered classroom climate.

Curated articles supporting inclusive and accessible teaching

Is Active Learning Accessible? Exploring the Process of Providing Accommodations to Students with Disabilities

Article by L.E. Gin and colleagues (2020) published in CBE-Life Sciences Education 19(4): es12. This article usefully mines the familiarity that disability service providers have with accessibility issues that can crop up in the classroom. Focused on active learning strategies in science classrooms, this research lists common access barriers, suggesting ways to design into these practices from the start.

Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-03-0049

Gender Identity in Higher Education: Recommendations for Campus Information Systems

This paper by Larry Borgione and colleagues (2018) published in EDUCAUSE recommends modern identity specifications for campus information systems that can be used to properly and respectfully handle the gender identities, pronouns, and preferred names of students, faculty, and staff in ERP systems at their institutions.

Link to paper: https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2018/4/ewg1802.pdf

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Inclusive teaching refers to pedagogy that strives to serve the diverse needs of all students, no matter their background, social identities, or prior educational experiences. The goal is to support student engagement with the course material using evidence-based, equity-minded, and accessible instructional practices.

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Standards-Based Adapted Curriculum for Students with Disabilities

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enCORE is a standards-based, core curriculum software built on ABA for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Schedule a TeachTown demo today!

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Rubric for Assigning Students to Alternate Standards in Instruction and Assessment Training

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Balancing Functional and Academic Programming
There is some debate in the literature over the benefits of functional life skills programming versus academic programming grounded in the standard curriculum. There are a number of factors to consider when planning for instruction and often the most responsive and robust options are blended from these two distinct approaches.

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Balancing Functional and Academic Programming
There is some debate in the literature over the benefits of functional life skills programming versus academic programming grounded in the standard curriculum. There are a number of factors to consider when planning for instruction and often the most responsive and robust options are blended from these two distinct approaches.

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There are many positive outcomes associated with connecting students with significant disabilities with their peers. These interactions help students with disabilities learn and practice a wide range of social and academic skills and contribute to overall social and emotional development. They access important social skills like companionship, advice from peers and help with decision-making.

Relationships give students a reason to communicate, and authentic opportunities to develop literacy skills. Having friends and being liked by others is an important protective factor against loneliness and isolation.

Although the research confirms all of these benefits, it is really everyday experience that provides the most convincing evidence. When you ask students about the best part of the school day they most often talk about their friendships, the fun things they did with other students.

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“The severity of one’s disability does not determine their level of potential.
The greatest barriers that persons with disabilities have to overcome are not steps or curbs, it’s expectations.” ~ Karen Clay

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The self-paced, online training course includes access to the content you need to become proficient in supporting students with disabilities in inclusive educational environments.

You will learn:

Course 1 - Foundations of Inclusive Education (4 Modules)

What inclusive education is and why it matters - Understanding the foundation and importance of inclusive practices for all students

How to promote belonging - Strategies for creating welcoming, supportive classroom environments

How to identify and maximize learning opportunities - Recognizing teachable moments across school activities and environments

Your role in supporting inclusive IEPs - Collaborating effectively with the educational team and maintaining confidentiality

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Use these "Inclusive Big Ideas" to plan grade-level standards-based lessons for all students, including those with significant cognitive disabilities. Grab your colleague and start by finding the standard that you are teaching and then browse the resource to:

Spark ideas for instructional strategies and activities

Align lesson content and instruction while removing common barriers to student learning

Identify essential content, concepts, and vocabulary related to standards

Integrate cross-curricular connections and evidence-based practices that optimize engagement

Suggested Citation

The Inclusive Big Ideas were adapted from resources created by the NCSC Project , a federal grant from the US Department of Education (PR/Award #: H373X100002), However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and no assumption of endorsement by the Federal government should be made.

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Use these "Inclusive Big Ideas" to plan grade-level standards-based lessons for all students, including those with significant cognitive disabilities.

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Information

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Association for Science in Autism Treatment

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In this installment of our treatment summaries, we provide an overview of the research basis for Natural Language Acquisition protocol to target language development in learners who reported to process language differently, through gestalt language processing (GLP).

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Functional Communication Training (FCT): Building Communication & Reducing Challenging Behavior

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SO HELPFUL! Get a certificate too!

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We are excited to announce that a new module, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Autism, has been launched. This module focuses on selecting and implementing AAC to support autistic learners in their ability to effectively express themselves, develop and maintain relationships with others, and engage in their community.

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These have been THE BEST! They are so valuable and helpful! Schools should have us do them .

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AFIRM for Paraeducator modules are for paraeducators working with elementary school students (ages 5-12) on the spectrum. However, special education teachers, general education teachers, other practitioners, and family members find the video examples and activity-based scenarios helpful. Supplemental materials and handouts are available for download.

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Tools for students and communication. Includes apps to purchase.

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This app is great for people who want maximum flexibility. Out of the box, it has everything for communication and language growth. Yet, if you are an AAC expert, you can tailor it to almost any (accessibility) need.

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Create and share visual social stories and schedules with this app for iOS. Adding your own pictures, videos and recordings to stories you create makes it easier to share information while building literacy skills, as well as confidence in storytelling.

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Our Apps

FTVS HD: First Then Visual Schedule
First Then Visual Schedule
Visual Schedule Planner
Scene Speak

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Featuring our apps for the iPad, iTouch, and Android tablet platforms. Our apps have been created for those with special needs such as: Autism, ADD, ADHD, Down's Syndrome, developmental and commnication delays.

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A visual display that supports the learner engaging in a desired behavior or skills independent of additional prompts.

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Select a State/Territory select Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas

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A visual display that supports the learner engaging in a desired behavior or skills independent of additional prompts.

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Universal Core Vocabulary – Project Core

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The Universal Core vocabulary is a set of 36 highly useful single words that can be used alone or in combination to communicate for a range of purposes on countless topics with a wide variety of communication partners. The Universal Core vocabulary is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 International License. Several formats are available to support student access through direct pointing or touch, eye gaze selection, and partner-assisted scanning. High contrast versions are available to address the needs of some students with visual impairments and 3D symbols are available for students who are blind. Additionally, the Universal Core vocabulary is available on many communication apps and speech generating devices.

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Information on the PECS

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Developed by Andy Bondy, PhD & Lori Frost, MS, CCC-SLP

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BEST ONE YET

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Functional Communication Training – AFIRM

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This website uses cookies and similar technologies to understand visitor experiences. By using this website, you consent to UNC-Chapel Hill’s cookie usage in accordance with their Privacy Notice.

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AFIRM Modules are designed to help you learn the step-by-step process of planning for, using, and monitoring an EBP with learners on the spectrum from birth to 22 years of age. Supplemental materials and handouts are available for download.

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Professional Learning

Communication

All learners have the right to communicate, and communication is a prerequisite for teaching and learning.
Autonomous communication or the ability to say what you want, when you want, how you want to whoever you want, wherever you want requires literacy.
Our goal must be to allow all learners to express what they want to communicate.

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Communication is a prerequisite for teaching and learning. Building Blocks to Autonomous Communication focuses on the what, why, and how of supporting learners with Complex Communication Needs (CCN).

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APA 7th edition Paraphrasing and Citation Activities

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APA 7th edition Paraphrasing and Citation Activities

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A paraphrase restates another's idea (or your own previously published idea) in your own words. Paraphrasing allows you to summarize and synthesize information from one or more sources, focus on significant information, and compare and contrast relevant details.

Published authors paraphrase their sources most of the time, rather than directly quoting the sources; student authors should emulate this practice by paraphrasing more than directly quoting.

When you paraphrase, cite the original work using either the narrative or parenthetical citation format.

Although it is not required to provide a page or paragraph number in the citation, you may include one (in addition to the author and year) when it would help interested readers locate the relevant passage within a long or complex work (e.g., a book).

Webster-Stratton (2016) described a case example of a 4-year-old girl who showed an insecure attachment to her mother; in working with the family dyad, the therapist focused on increasing the mother's empathy for her child (pp. 152-153).

These guidelines pertain to when you read a primary source and paraphrase it yourself. If you read a paraphrase of a primary source in a published work and want to cite that source, it is best to read and cite the primary source directly if possible; if not, use a secondary source citation.

Learn more

Paraphrasing is covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.23 and 8.24 and the Concise Guide Sections 8.23 and 8.24

Long paraphrases

A paraphrase may continue for several sentences. In such cases, cite the work being paraphrased on first mention. Once the work has been cited, it is not necessary to repeat the citation as long as the context of the writing makes it clear that the same work continues to be paraphrased.

Velez et al. (2018) found that for women of color, sexism and racism in the workplace were associated with poor work and mental health outcomes, including job-related burnout, turnover intentions, and psychological distress. However, self-esteem, person-organization fit, and perceived organizational support mediated these effects. Additionally, stronger womanist attitudes-which acknowledge the unique challenges faced by women of color in a sexist and racist society-weakened the association of workplace discrimination with psychological distress. These findings underscore the importance of considering multiple forms of workplace discrimination in clinical practice and research with women of color, along with efforts to challenge and reduce such discrimination.

If the paraphrase continues into a new paragraph, reintroduce the citation. If the paraphrase incorporates multiple sources or switches among sources, repeat the citation so the source is clear. Read your sentences carefully to ensure you have cited sources appropriately.

Play therapists can experience many symptoms of impaired wellness, including emotional exhaustion or reduced ability to empathize with others (Elwood et al., 2011; Figley, 2002), disruption in personal relationships (Elwood et al., 2011; Robinson-Keilig, 2014), decreased satisfaction with work (Elwood et al., 2011), avoidance of particular situations (Figley, 2002; O'Halloran & Linton, 2000), and feelings or thoughts of helplessness (Elwood et al., 2011; Figley, 2002; O'Halloran & Linton, 2000).

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A paraphrase restates another's idea (or your own previously published idea) in your own words. Paraphrasing allows you to summarize and synthesize information from one or more sources, focus on significant information, and compare and contrast relevant details.

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In-text citations have two formats: parenthetical and narrative.

In parenthetical citations, the author name and publication date appear in parentheses.

In narrative citations, the author name is incorporated into the text as part of the sentence and the year follows in parentheses.

Parenthetical citations

Both the author and the date, separated by a comma, appear in parentheses for a parenthetical citation. A parenthetical citation can appear within or at the end of a sentence.

Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler, 2016).

If other text appears with the parenthetical citation, use commas around the year.

(see Koehler, 2016, for more detail)

When text and a citation appear together in parentheses, use a semicolon to separate the citation from the text; do not use parentheses within parentheses.

(e.g., falsely balanced news coverage; Koehler, 2016)

Learn more

Parenthetical and narrative citations are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 8.11 and the Concise Guide Section 8.11

Narrative citations

The author's surname appears in running text, and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author's name for a narrative citation. The author's name can be included in the sentence in any place it makes sense.

Koehler (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

In rare cases, the author and date might both appear in the narrative. In this case, do not use parentheses.

In 2016, Koehler noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

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Parenthetical versus narrative in-text citations

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In-text citations have two formats: parenthetical and narrative. In parenthetical citations, the author name and publication date appear in parentheses. In narrative citations, the author name is incorporated into the text as part of the sentence and the year follows in parentheses.

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Strategy instruction: What you need to know

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Strategy instruction equips students with strategies to acquire, remember, and express information.

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Explicit instruction is an approach to teaching that helps all students, especially those who learn and think differently. Teachers use explicit instruction to teach concepts or skills in a very structured way.

Here's how to use explicit instruction in the classroom.

1. Identify a clear, specific objective.

Write a clear, concise, and correct explanation of the skill in your lesson plan.

Plan how you will explain this learning objective and why it matters to your students.

Make sure the skill or information you choose to teach matches the learning objective for the lesson.

Download: Explicit instruction checklist

Use the printable checklist below to help you plan and reflect on your explicit instruction lessons.

2. Break the information into chunks.

Identify the background knowledge, vocabulary, and skills students need for the lesson. Plan how you will pre-teach this information.

Double-check that you've included all the steps or chunks by sharing them with a colleague. Sometimes an outside perspective can help you identify the gaps.

3. Model with clear explanations.

Plan for multiple examples (some that may be different from each other).

Plan to model the examples in the same way students will practice it.

Include a note in your plan to check for students' understanding after each example.

4. Verbalize the thinking process.

Script how you will verbalize your thinking. You don't need to write out everything, but it's important to have your most important points planned out.

Think of places where students might get stuck. Plan how you'll verbalize working through those tricky spots.

5. Provide opportunities to practice.

How: During guided practice, you might work through several problems as a class and either pre-correct or correct errors as they occur. Guided practice is your chance to make sure every step is clear to students so that they are ready to work independently. If students haven't grasped the skill, you can model or verbalize it again.

Once students are successful with guided practice, move on to independent practice. This is when the skill or strategy becomes fluent. Resist the urge to introduce more difficult material. Instead, focus on independent practice tasks that align with the skill you modeled. Students should master the tasks during independent practice about 90 percent of the time.

After independent practice, do a cumulative review of both old and newly learned skills and knowledge. The review will help students gain and retain automaticity with them. Remember that many students who learn and think differently will need more repetition and opportunities for practice than other students.

Give yourself enough time for multiple opportunities to practice.

Plan for practice that students are likely to succeed with.

Script your prompts, but remember that you may need to adjust your script in the moment to meet students' needs.

Review expectations and the resources students will use before beginning.

Design opportunities that you feel students will be able to work on without support.

Use multiple ways of getting student responses during practice to check for understanding. For instance:

Allow plenty of time for students to practice on their own.

Plan for verbal responses, like choral responses.

Plan for written responses, like "stop and jot" or writing a response on dry-erase boards.

Plan for physical responses, like nonverbal signals (fist-to-five or thumbs up/thumbs down).

Identify the set of skills needed to meet the learning objective.

Plan ways to review previously taught skills that ladder up to the new skills you're teaching.

Plan ways to review the newly acquired skills or information.

Keep the cumulative review brief and focused.

You may be thinking that explicit instruction sounds a lot like "I Do, We Do, You Do." That's because explicit instruction can work within this lesson framework. During the "I do," explicit instruction reminds you to be clear and to verbalize your thinking. In the "we do," explicit instruction helps you plan for multiple practice opportunities. And during the "you do," you'll remember to give feedback.

Make note of times in the lesson when you'll be able to move about the room to make informal observations of students.

Attach a sheet of paper with your students' names to a clipboard. That way, you'll be ready to record your observations of their work.

Leave time to deliver timely, specific feedback to each student.

Make a note in your plan to analyze student data after the lesson. You'll want to use the data to make decisions about what instruction a student needs next.

About the author

About the author

Kim Greene, MA is the editorial director at Understood. A former elementary teacher and a certified reading specialist, she has a passion for developing resources for educators.

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Learn how to use explicit instruction in the classroom. Get planning ideas, an explicit instruction checklist, and more tips on teaching using explicit instruction.

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Developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEEDAR Center, high-leverage practices are 22 essential special education techniques that all teachers of students with disabilities should master for use across a variety of classroom contexts. Six of these practices are referred to as pillar practices-those most essential for educators to implement; and the remaining[.....]

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Popular Posts for K-12 Educators

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EDI Activates 18 of the Top 30 Influences on Student Achievement, As Measured by Hattie

John Hattie, a professor of education from Australia and New Zealand, published Visible Learning in 2009 (with additional books in 2012 and 2015). The purpose of his research was to identify what works and what doesn't in education in statistical terms. It was a groundbreaking analysis because, for the first time, educational methods could be compared in terms of effectiveness. The Times Educational Supplement called Hattie's research "the holy grail of education."

In reviewing Hattie's descriptions of educational influences, Dataworks has found that Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), which was developed by Hollingsworth and Ybarra as a collection of research-based teaching strategies for design and delivery of lessons, actually activates 18 of top 30 effects (out of 195 total). That means the EDI approach to education is a useful system for making learning visible, according to Hattie's research.
Effect Size
Hattie analyzed 900+ meta-studies of educational programs and procedures, and came up with an "effect size" for each of 195 "influences" on learning (138 in 2009 and 150 in 2012). The range is from 0 to 1.62, with the larger effect being more valuable. Hattie found that .40 was the "hinge point" of usefulness.

Hattie said, "There is no fixed recipe for ensuring that teaching has the maximum possible effect on student learning, and no set of principles apply to all learning for all students. But there are practices that we know are effective and many practices that we know are not." He concluded that if teachers are using practices that have a less than .40 effect, then it "may mean that teachers need to modify or dramatically change their theories of action."

Visible Learning and Teaching
Hattie says "visible teaching and learning occurs when there is deliberate practice aimed at attaining mastery of the goal, when there is feedback given and sought, and when there are active, passionate, and engaging people (teacher, students, peers) participating in the act of learning." Mansell (2008) describes this "holy grail" of education as "improvement in the level of interaction between pupils and teachers."
Implications for Schools
Furthermore, Sebastian Waack from Edkimo, who writes the Visible Learning blog, says Hattie's research has two main implications for teachers and schools. " First, teachers are the central aspect of successful learning in schools. Second, Hattie's results suggest that school reform should concentrate on what is going on in the classroom and not on structural reforms." This supports the EDI mission of focusing on instructional excellence in the classroom.

Following are the specific ways that EDI correlates with Hattie's top influences on learning. The effect size and year of publication are noted in the text for each influence .

Summary of How EDI Uses Top Effects of Hattie Research

Details of How EDI Uses Top Effects of Hattie Research

Collective Teacher Efficacy (1.57 in 2015)

Conceptual Change Programs (1.16 in 2015)

Teacher Credibility (.90 in 2015 and 2012)

The Influence: Students' views of a teacher as credible depend on three things. First is building trusting relationships with students so they know you care about them personally and about how they learn. Second is being competent with the subject matter and managing class behavior. Third is being passionate about the subject, about teaching, and about helping students succeed .

Micro Teaching (.88 in 2015 and 2009)

Cognitive Task Analysis (.87 in 2015)

Classroom Discussion (.82 in 2015 and 2012)

Interventions for Learning Disabled (.77 in 2015)

Teacher Clarity (.75 in 2015 and 2009)

Feedback (.73 in 2015 and 2009)

Providing formative evaluation (.68 in 2015) (.90 in 2009)

Concept Mapping (.64 in 2015) (.57 in 2009)

Problem-Solving Teaching (.63 in 2015) (.61 in 2009)

Classroom Behavioral (.63 in 2015) (.80 in 2009)

Vocabulary Programs (.62 in 2015) (.67 in 2009)

Spaced vs Massed Practice (.60 in 2015) (.71 in 2009)

Teaching Strategies (.60 in 2009 and 2015)

Direct Instruction (.60 in 2015) (.59 in 2009)

Repeated Reading Programs (.60 in 2015, .67 in 2009)

Author: Mike Neer

Mike has served as editor and curriculum researcher for DataWORKS since 2010. Previously, he taught English in middle school, high schools, and colleges in Illinois, Puerto Rico, and California. He has edited national trade magazines and presented seminars nationwide for businesses and non-profit organizations. He believes words are a powerful educational tool for reporting, reflecting, and revealing.

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EDI Activates 18 of the Top 30 Influences on Student Achievement, As Measured by Hattie John Hattie, a professor of education from Australia and New Zealand, published Visible Learning in 2009 (with additional books in 2012 and 2015).

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Elementary - It’s all about you! Get to know your IEP OC - I’m Determined

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Elementary school students discuss how being involved in their IEP meetings helps them set goals and get the most out of their learning at school.

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The Benefits of Using One-Pagers (Featuring South River Elementary) - I’m Determined

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Teachers discuss using the One-Pager to help all students think about how they learn best, and how to set goals. They also send the One-Pagers on to the next year’s teacher to help them get to know the student before having them in class (with captions).

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Common accommodations and modifications in school

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Refer to this checklist of common modifications and accommodations to get to know options for struggling students.

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Common accommodations and modifications in school

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Refer to this checklist of common modifications and accommodations to get to know options for struggling students.

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The purpose of this set of Essential Instructional Practices for grades 6 through 12 is to improve Michigan students' academic literacies and content learning at the secondary level. Professional development throughout the state can focus on these research-supported literacy instructional practices for regular use in the classroom.

Expert research suggests that 10 sets of practices outlined in this document can have a positive impact on both literacy development and conceptual learning of content. The consistent use of these practices in every Michigan classroom can make a measurable, positive difference in student learning and improve the state's literacy achievement.

The purpose of this document is to increase Michigan's capacity to improve adolescents' literacy by identifying effective practices that can be implemented at the organizational level in secondary schools. To meet the needs of all learners, organizational practices must support literacy development in ways that systematically impact learning throughout schools. Each of the eight recommended school-wide practices should occur in all Michigan middle and high school learning environments. These Essential School-Wide Practices in Disciplinary Literacy: Grades 6 to 12 should be viewed, as in practice guides in medicine, as presenting a minimum 'standard of care' for Michigan's students; where all efforts, structures, resources, and people involved in creating effective learning environments for students share a clear, common vision for equitable learning and development, and this vision is clearly communicated, understood, and used to drive this work. As rigorous as this resource is, it is not a checklist of activities, a guide to implementation science or change theory, nor is it a how-to on team development. The processes leaders use to enact the Essential Practices will lead to continuous improvement that supports disciplinary literacy.
Essential School-Wide Practices in Disciplinary Literacy: Grades 6 to 12 6-12 Disciplinary Literacy Task Force

This screening tool helps secondary schools identify their current level of implementation of the Essential School-Wide Practices in Disciplinary Literacy: Grades 6 to 12. The results should be used to inform conversations about where to focus the next phase of work in improving building-wide disciplinary literacy practices.

Our students learn the foundations of literacy throughout their elementary school years. As students continue to develop their skills through middle school and high school, literacy instruction must also help them meet increasingly complex subject area demands. These demands include developing the critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills specific to each discipline. Introduction Tool

Michigan's standards for educator preparation require pre-service educators to learn how to introduce and support their students in engaging in disciplina ry thinking and practices in the content areas. To support this goal, the Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy: Grades 6-12 document provides an intentional framework to support the integration of literacy instruction in all of the content areas. The Essential Practices document can be used to proactively develop and/or redesign literacy courses to reflect the changes in educator preparation standards while also meeting the existing general requirements for secondary reading instruction courses. Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy: A Tool to Support Educator Preparation Programs Document

The purpose of the Resource Hubs Drive folder is to support ISD/RESA/RESD consultants, teacher leaders, professional development facilitators, and teachers as they implement disciplinary literacy instructional practices in their districts, schools, and classrooms. This document is not meant to replace teacher collaboration and discussions; rather, it is intended to support those conversations. It is the hope of the Disciplinary Literacy Task Force members that teachers will engage in collaborative inquiry cycles around areas of practice that best fit teachers' current context. Starting points will vary depending on grade level, subject area, current initiatives, and other contextual factors.
Find the Resource Hubs folder here Disciplinary Literacy Essentials: Beyond the Core PLC Quick Start Guide

On-demand webinar featuring Dr. Elizabeth Moje, Dr. Darin Stockdill, and members of the 6-12 Disciplinary Literacy Task Force. This webinar is approximately 45 minutes long and provides a general overview of the purpose and content of the Essential Practices, explanation of how the Practices fit within the statewide literacy framework, description of how the ten Practices were determined, and statements on how the Practices connect to and support current work within each of the four disciplines.
Link to Webinar

Our students learn the foundations of literacy throughout their elementary school years. As students continue to develop their skills through middle school and high school, literacy instruction must also help them meet increasingly complex subject area demands. These demands include developing the critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills specific to each discipline.
For more, please check out our blog

These booklets can be purchased by districts from International Minute Press at (517) 323-7777 or by emailing: lansing-mi@intlminutepress.com. Request the "Literacy 6-12 Packet". Booklets with tabs are $6.48 per book and without tabs, $4.74 per book.

Shipping is not included in these prices but can be easily inquired.

Complete this form to be added to the 6th-12th Grade Disciplinary Literacy Task Force News, Updates, & Events.

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Website for Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators

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Common accommodations and modifications in school

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Refer to this checklist of common modifications and accommodations to get to know options for struggling students.

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This module overviews instructional and testing accommodations for students with disabilities, explains how accommodations differ from other kinds of instructional adaptations, defines the four categories of accommodations, and describes how to implement accommodations and evaluate their effectiveness for individual students (est. completion time: 2 hours).

Work through the sections of this module in the order presented in the STAR graphic above.

Related to this module

Copyright 2019 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

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Accommodations: Instructional and Testing Supports for Students with Disabilities

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This module overviews instructional and testing accommodations for students with disabilities, explains how accommodations differ from other kinds of instructional adaptations, defines the four categories of accommodations, and describes how to implement accommodations and evaluate their effectiveness for individual students (est. completion time: 2 hours).

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Barrier Related to:Accommodation CategoryExamplesThe way information is presented (e.g., text, lecture, video)Presentation accommodations

Allow a student to access information in ways other than standard visual or auditory means

Change the way that instruction, directions, and information are presented

Books and materials with large print

Visual cues (e.g., color-coded text)

Audio books

Closed-captions on videos

The way in which the student is required to respond (e.g., writing, speech)Response accommodations

Allow students to complete assignments or assessments through ways other than typical verbal or written responses

Speech-to-text software

Orally dictate responses (using a scribe or digital recorder)

The characteristics of the setting (e.g., noise level, lighting)Setting accommodations

Allow for a change in the environment or in how the environment is structured

Preferential seating (e.g., near the teacher)

Testing in a separate location

The timing and scheduling of the instruction (e.g., time of day, length of assignment)Timing and scheduling accommodations

Allow for changes to when and how long students have to complete assignments or assessments

Allow assignments to be broken down into smaller sections

Extended time to complete task

Frequent breaks

Shorter testing sessions

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Page 4: Selecting an Accommodation

Identifying and selecting instructional and testing accommodations that will allow the student to access learning is the responsibility of the individualized education program (IEP) team. Before the team can select an accommodation to help a student meet his learning goals, however, they must first identify the barrier affecting his academic performance.
Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team
A multidisciplinary team that develops a student's individualized education program (IEP) and evaluates their progress toward meeting the goals outlined in the IEP. At a minimum, it includes educators, administrators, related service providers, parents, and the student with a disability (when appropriate), among others.

IDEA '04 requires that, at a minimum, multidisciplinary IEP teams include a parent, general education teacher, special education provider, a representative of the school district, and an educational professional who can interpret assessment results.

Parents. The term parent refers to a biological parent, foster parent, legal guardian, or an individual who acts in place of the parent (e.g., grandparent, stepparent, other relative). Parents can provide important information about priorities, strengths, and child needs as well as information about the cultural and developmental appropriateness of goals and intervention strategies.

General education teacher. At least one general educator should be present if the student is participating in general education. As the general education curriculum specialist, this person is responsible for providing the core academic instruction.

Special education teacher or special education provider. At least one special education teacher or provider should be present. An expert in specially designed instruction, accommodations, and curricular modifications, the special education teacher ensures that student performance data are collected and analyzed, and then instruction and intervention are modified accordingly. A special education provider is responsible for implementing the IEP. In addition to the special education teacher, this can include related service personnel, who also provide services outlined in the IEP (see below).

A representative of the school district. This person must be a) qualified to provide or supervise the uniquely designed instruction that will meet the student's needs, b) knowledgeable about the general education curriculum, and c) knowledgeable about available school resources.

Other professional (e.g., school psychologist). This person's role is to interpret the assessment results and explain the instructional implications of those results to the team. This role may be filled by any of the school personnel listed above, as appropriate.

Other relevant individuals. At the parent or school district's discretion, other people who have relevant knowledge or expertise regarding the student can be included, when appropriate.

Student with a disability. Depending on a child's age, maturity, interest in, and willingness to participate, the student should be included in IEP meetings when appropriate.

Additional team members are determined based on the individual needs of the student (see "Additional Team Members" below).

In addition to the required multidisciplinary team members listed in the table above, other personnel are often needed to address the individualized needs of the student. Related services personnel -each with discipline-specific expertise beyond that of the classroom or special education teachers-are frequently part of the multidisciplinary team and provide these supports.
related service providers
glossary

Consider Liam

As you recall from the Challenge, Liam, a middle school student with low vision, struggles to read standard print materials in a timely fashion. Although he reads at grade level, Liam has difficulty finishing science reading assignments in class in the allotted time. At first, his teacher was a bit perplexed: She assumed that Liam's glasses provided full vision correction. However, after paying closer attention to Liam during reading, she noticed that he still needs to hold reading material close to his face, and even then he squints. As a result, it takes him longer to read a passage. She wonders what type of accommodation will help Liam read text faster or more efficiently.

Accommodations are typically grouped into four categories: presentation, response, setting, and timing and scheduling. The table below summarizes the relationship between barriers related to learning and the corresponding accommodation categories, and it also provides examples of accommodations for each category.

The way information is presented (e.g., text, lecture, video)

Presentation accommodations

Allow a student to access information in ways other than standard visual or auditory means

Change the way that instruction, directions, and information are presented

Books and materials with large print

Visual cues (e.g., color-coded text)

Audio books

Closed-captions on videos

The way in which the student is required to respond (e.g., writing, speech)

Response accommodations

Allow students to complete assignments or assessments through ways other than typical verbal or written responses

Speech-to-text software

Orally dictate responses (using a scribe or digital recorder)

The characteristics of the setting (e.g., noise level, lighting)

Setting accommodations

Allow for a change in the environment or in how the environment is structured

Preferential seating (e.g., near the teacher)

Testing in a separate location

The timing and scheduling of the instruction (e.g., time of day, length of assignment)

Timing and scheduling accommodations

Allow for changes to when and how long students have to complete assignments or assessments

Allow assignments to be broken down into smaller sections

Extended time to complete task

Frequent breaks

Shorter testing sessions

Consider Liam

To address the barrier presented by Liam's disability-reading standard print-the IEP team decides to provide him with a digital textbook that allows him to enlarge the text (a presentation accommodation). The team hopes this will help him read more efficiently and complete science reading assignments in the allotted time because he will not have to strain to read small print.

For Your Information

Teachers often have first-hand knowledge of what works with the student in their classrooms. For this reason, they are valuable members of the IEP team, play an integral role in this process, and should be active participants.

In addition to considering the type of accommodation that would best support the student given the barrier presented by his disability, the IEP team might also consider and discuss the following to help identify a potentially effective accommodation.

Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance

Individual strengths and needs

Specific learning goals

Academic or social behaviors that interfere with the student's learning

Modalities (e.g., visual, auditory) that work best for the student

Accommodations that have already been tried (what has and has not worked well)

Some of the challenges presented by the use of these accommodations

How the accommodation will be evaluated to determine whether it is working

Whether the student is amenable to the accommodation and will likely use it

As they try to determine the type of accommodation that will likely support the student, the IEP team should keep in mind that decisions are individualized to the student and should not be based on a specific disability category. Listen as Ryan Kettler, Candace Cortiella, and Martha Thurlow offer suggestions about identifying and selecting accommodations.

Ryan Kettler, PhD
Applied Core Faculty
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Rutgers University

(time: 1:37)

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Transcript
Martha Thurlow, PhD
Director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes
University of Minnesota

(time: 0:52)

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Transcript
Transcript: Ryan Kettler, PhD

Disability status or disability category is not a sufficient way to identify which accommodations will be effective. You really need to dive into the assessment information and find where those functional impairments are that might affect performance or ability to show what one knows he can do on a test. For example, two students might have specific learning disabilities, but one may have a working memory impairment, and that could be addressed through an accommodation like reducing the amount of spread across pages, or reducing the number of answer choices, so that there doesn't have to be as much information that's kept in the working memory. Another person might have a specific learning disability and may have a processing speed impairment or really low processing speed, and that student would benefit from having extra time, or would likely benefit. Accommodations decisions should always be made based on not only the individual strengths and weaknesses of the person but also the access skills that are demanded by the instructional activity or by the test. If the demands change, every time you're considering a new test or a new instructional activity you have to readdress which accommodations are going to be appropriate for that student. Every time that the demands change of the situation-whether it be a test or an instructional situation-there has to be a reevaluation of the access skills that are necessary and whether or not the accommodations are appropriate in that new situation.

Transcript: Candace Cortiella

It's not unreasonable at all to go through some period of testing out accommodations to see if they do help the student with the access skills, and is the student going to embrace the accommodation. Are they actually going to use it or are they going to reject it in a classroom or test setting? The other thing to remember is that this is not an "if some is good, more is better" situation. I have seen through my work as a parent and as a parent advocate it's schools and teachers having a standardized menu of accommodations that they want to give students, dictated by the student's disability category. This is not a good way to go about making accommodations decisions. In fact, it's not a good idea at all to over-accommodate students. There are a lot of dangers in that, and one of the biggest ones is that they really won't be learning the content; they'll just be using their accommodations. And as they grow up and go to college or whatever, they're not necessarily going to have access to all those accommodations, so it's not a more-is-better situation.

Transcript: Martha Thurlow, PhD

The three top ones that I think about: Make sure that accommodations are individualized. That's one. And then two is closely related, and that is don't assume that what works for one student will work for another student. Nor should you assume that what works for a student in one content area is going to work in a different content area. Definitely, the notion of cutting and pasting is something to be avoided. The individualized is really important here when we think about accommodations. And then my third is a warning to not provide too many accommodations. Check out whether accommodations are doing what is intended by charting, by observing to know what's really happening with accommodations. Those are my top three.

After they have chosen the appropriate instructional and testing accommodations for a student, the team should document them on the student's individualized education program (IEP) or 504 plan. Although these vary by state, the forms include several sections where accommodations can be specified: communication and AT special considerations, supplemental aids and services, and assessment sections.

For Your Information

It is important that a student understand his disability and what accommodations can help him in school. By taking part in IEP meetings, the student can begin to learn to speak up for himself and his own needs. A student who is involved in the accommodation selection process tends to use the accommodations more often than one who is not involved. Through this process, the student learns to self-advocate and to make important decisions about his needs that he can then apply on the job or when attending post-secondary education.

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Identifying and selecting instructional and testing accommodations that will allow the student to access learning is the responsibility of the individualized education program (IEP) team. Before the team can select an accommodation to help a student meet his learning goals, however, they must first identify the barrier affecting his academic performance.

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Accommodations: Instructional and Testing Supports for Students with Disabilities

This list provides links to other related resources (e.g., modules, case studies, Fundamental Skill Sheets, activities, information briefs) to supplement the content in this IRIS Module, allowing users to further deepen or broaden their knowledge of topics.

Modules

Assistive Technology: An Overview

Differentiated Instruction: Maximizing the Learning of All Students

IEPs: Developing High-Quality Individualized Education Programs

Universal Design for Learning: Designing Learning Experiences That Engage and Challenge All Students

Case Studies

Effective Room Arrangement: Elementary

Activities

Making Presentation Accommodations

Making Response Accommodations

Making Setting Accommodations

Making Timing and Scheduling Accommodations

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The IRIS Center is a national center dedicated to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities birth through age twenty-one, through the use of effective evidence-based practices and interventions.

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Tips for Identification and Implementation Ensure selection is justified in the present levels statement and aligned with the unique needs of students, not their disability category. Consider aids and services for supporting both academic and functional needs. Consider accommodations before selecting modifications; the latter generally promotes lower expectations. Consider aids and services that may be needed in extracurricular and other education and nonacademic settings necessary to promote access and opportunities with peers. Identify additional supports needed to promote effective use of selected aids and services. Align testing and instructional accommodations to ensure that students have opportunities to use them successfully in the classroom before they are used for an an assessment.   This material was produced under the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Award No. H326C190002. David Emenheiser serves as the project officer. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned on this website is intended or should be inferred. This IEP Tip Sheet was updated as of 2/2024. Notice of Trademark: “American Institutes for Research” and “AIR” are registered trademarks. All other brand, product, or company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. 1400 Crystal Drive, 10th Floor Arlington, VA 22202 202-403-5000 www.air.org www.promotingprogress.org | | Promoting Progress for Students with Disabilities Where Can You Learn More? The What and Why of the Statement of Services and Aids (PROGRESS Center). The course explains the IDEA requirements for the statement of services and aids and the critical role of the statement in the development of a high-quality IEP. Accommodations: Instructional and Testing Supports for Students with Disabilities (IRIS Center). This interactive module aims to increase knowledge of instructional and testing accommodations for students with disabilities. Online Training to Improve Accommodations Decision Making (National Center for Education Outcomes). This training includes case-based video clips and five interactive, multimedia professional development modules to help educators select, adminis

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Rubric for Assigning Students to Alternate Standards in Instruction and Assessment Training

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Adaptive Functioning Domains Directions: Adaptive Functioning refers to the skills used to manage daily living and social interactions at home, school, and in the community, relative to age and normative expectations for independence and appropriate behavior. Below are questions about the student’s overall adaptive functioning from different observers’ perspectives (Teacher, Parent, Clinician), followed by questions about the student’s adaptive functioning in each of three adaptive skills domains (Conceptual, Social, and Practical). Please include ratings from at least 2 observers, one of which should be a parent observer. For each measure of adaptive skills, please rate the student’s current level of functioning, on a scale from Not Limited to Most Significant Adaptive Limitations.