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1. The present level of academic achievement and functional performance
2. Annual Goals
3. How progress will be measured
4. Special education and related services and supplementary aids and services
5. Program modifications for school personnel
6. The extent, if any, where the student will not be participating with peers who do not have a disability
7. Individual Accommodations
8. Start date, frequency, duration, and location
9. Transition goals and plan

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7 Steps In An IEP Process | Special Education Decoded

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I worked as a one-on-one paraprofessional with a student who had an IEP.  I was able to look at her IEP and I remember a few things that were listed.  I saw that it said the student would be able to complete certain tasks by a certain date. I’m guessing that was the annual goals and the date listed was the annual IEP meeting date.  I saw a list of accommodations and modifications for certain tasks such as adaptive scissors or different chairs. I also saw that there were certain hours of speech and occupational therapy that were required weekly.

My next position was as a first-year music teacher.  At the beginning of the year, I was sent many emails that said a document was shared with me, all those documents were abridged versions of every student’s IEP in the school.  I didn’t know any of these students and the special education staff didn’t provide any guidance on the IEPs or the students.  Everything was new and unfamiliar to me as a new teacher, IEPs were the least of my worries and were too overwhelming to look at.  As a future special education teacher, I will take that experience and learn from it, I will make an effort to collaborate and communicate with all teachers that interact with students on my caseload, to help them understand how to implement the student's IEP in their classroom.

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Center for Parent Information and Resources. (2017, November 9). Contents of the IEP. Retrieved from https://www.parentcenterhub.org/iepcontents/

Special Education Resource. (2019, May 1). 7 Steps In An IEP Process | Special Education Decoded [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAmGWsZaJcQ&feature=emb_title

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Definition of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) 

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Definition of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) 

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"A free appropriate public education must be available to all children residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school." - IDEA

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1. IEP or a service plan

2. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

3. Nondiscriminatory Evaluations and Re-evaluations

4. Due Process Procedures

5. Special education services

6. Supplementary aids and services

7. Adaptations and modifications (as appropriate for the student)

8. Appropriate placement

9. Quality of education equal to nondisabled students

10. Participation in nonacademic services or extra-curricular activities

11.  No cost to parents

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I currently work at a school where I have observed the requirement of FAPE in action.  Our special education teacher has evaluated students who attend the private Lutheran school across the street. The students she found that need special education services would walk over to the public school to receive the services they needed to progress in school.

FAPE is extended to the private schools, Minnesota law says, “every district must provide special instruction and services . . . for all children with a disability” from a Minnesota court case arguing what rights private school students and parents have regarding FAPE.  This law means that all students who attend school within the scope of the public school district are entitled to FAPE, this is extended to private school and homeschooling.

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Previously, I worked with a student who required many supplemental aids and services in addition to special education.  I was a one-on-one paraprofessional working with this student. She required hearing aids, a walker, a wheelchair, a talking device, speech therapy, occupational therapy, adaptive physical education, and more.  To the best of my knowledge, all these services and aids were free for the student's mom. The school district also worked hard to get the student in a classroom where she could spend time with other students who do not have disabilities.

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Sec. 300.101 Free appropriate public education (FAPE). (2017, May 3). Retrieved from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/b/300.101

Minneapolis Public Schools v. R.M.M., by and through her parents, O.M. and T.M., No. 16-1601. (2017). Retrieved from https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/17/06/161601P.pdf

Free Appropriate Public Education under Section 504. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html

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Definition of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

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Definition of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

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"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." -IDEA

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In education, the LRE would ideally be the general education classroom.  Being in the general education classroom all day might not always be the best fit for a student though.  The least restrictive environment does not always equal general education. For some students, it is best that they are educated at home, due to certain limitations they may have.  Some students may need to be in the special education classroom all day, and some students may need to only spend a few hours a week in the special education room or resource room.  Wherever a student needs to be educated, there is always the goal of progress toward involvement in the general education classroom, and other activities during the school day, with other students who do not have a disability (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2017).

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I know a student who is scheduled to go to the resource room at least twice a day.  This student needs to spend so much time there because he has difficulty with reading and writing, and those two subjects take up a big part of the day in elementary school.  To help this student spend more time in the general education room, a paraprofessional helps with math or other subjects if necessary.  I also worked with a student who needed to attend an adaptive physical education class, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t also go to P.E. with her class. Some days she would have two P.E. classes, one where she could work on specific skills and one where she could have fun with her peers.

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Sec. 300.114 LRE requirements. (2017, May 3). Retrieved from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/b/300.114

Center for Parent Information and Resources. (2017, September 15). Considering LRE in Placement Decisions. Retrieved from https://www.parentcenterhub.org/placement-lre/

The Arc JCC&GC. (2018, Aug 29). Principles of IDEA: LRE [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFrbfdOTf7o&feature=emb_title

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There are procedural safeguards listed under parts B and C in the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA).  Part B is designed for children ages 3-21 who are generally in preschool to high school and those students have an IEP the school follows.  Part C is for children who are ages birth to 2 years and the family has an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) where they can receive services at home or the child's “natural environment.”

There are some parts of the procedural safeguards in part B and C that are the same, or very similar.  Parents have the right to receive prior written notice for proposals and refusals by the district.  Parents have a right to file a written complaint. Parents and the school can request mediation if there is a disagreement, and parents can request an impartial due process hearing if there is no solution to the disagreement. These safeguards ensure parents have a voice and a say in their child’s education, it also protects the students to make sure they are receiving the education they have a right to.

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Principles of IDEA: Procedural Safeguards

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Procedural safeguard information is important for special education teachers to know.  I am not currently a special education teacher; therefore, I don’t have experience with procedural safeguards.  I will, however, need to know this information if I do end up working as a special education teacher.  I learned many new things about procedural safeguards and a few of them are prior written notice, mediation, and due process hearings.

As a future special education teacher, I need to become familiar with prior written notice. Prior written notice is something the school needs to regularly provide parents if there are proposals or refusals for changes in the IEP, or evaluations for admission to or removal from special education.  Ideally, school district staff and parents would work well together to create the best educational opportunity for the student, that isn’t always the case.  When parents and school districts disagree, they may request mediation or a due process hearing.  Special education teachers and parents need to know that mediation and due process are options to help protect the student's educational progress.

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Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). (2014, Aug 8). Procedural Safeguards.
Retrieved from https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/sped/proc/

The Arc JCC&GC. (2018, Aug 29). Principles of IDEA: Procedural Safeguards [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppq37WCJeAk&feature=emb_title

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When a student with a disability violates the code of conduct there is a disciplinary action.  There are protections in place to prevent extensive suspensions or unnecessary expulsions for students who have an IEP. If the student is removed from school for up 10 cumulative school days then they are disciplined like any other student. If the removal from the school exceeds 10 school days then there needs to be a manifestation determination, this determines if the student's behavior is a result of their disability and if there is a pattern.

The protection in place for students with an IEP is that the student will continue to receive special education services even when suspended or placed in a different setting.  During the manifestation determination, a behavior intervention plan (BIP) should be developed or reworked to better support the student, placement can be changed, or the IEP can be changed in addition to adding the behavior plan.

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Legal Brief: Suspensions, Expulsions, and Manifestation Determinations

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My Experience with Discipline for Students with and IEP

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My Experience with Discipline for Students with and IEP

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I worked at a school that was lacking in appropriate disciplinary actions for all students, both special education and general education.  I worked with two students who, in separate classes, physically hit another person. The response from the principal was different for both students. One student pushed me, that was the first time she had done that to me, but not the first time she has had behavior problems or laid her hands on another person, she was immediately suspended. The other student, twice in the music room, intentionally hit another student. This student was targeting the other student in other areas of the school as well.  The principal was aware of this as every incident was recorded and turned over to her and she sent out emails asking staff to watch out for this behavior. This student received warnings and an in-school suspension.

Those two students were general education students, the discipline for special education students was even more inappropriate.  I saw the same behaviors from many of the special education students, many of which were labeled as EBD (Emotional Behavioral Disorder). The solution from administration and the special education teacher was to talk to them or have them write an apology.  These solutions did not help solve the problem; the students continued with the same behaviors all year long. Not often were they suspended or “disciplined” for continuous destruction of property, throwing things at teachers and other students, hitting, running out of the school and down the street, or bullying other students.

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Discipline and Students with an IEP: Resources

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Discipline and Students with an IEP: Resources

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Overview of Discipline Procedures for Students Receiving Special Education (2017). Retrieved from https://www.nj.gov/education/specialed/info/DisciplineFlowchart.pdf

Special Education Discipline: Suspensions and Expulsions. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://kidslegal.org/special-education-discipline-suspensions-and-expulsions

Disability Rights Center - NH. (n.d.). Legal Brief: Suspensions, Expulsions, and Manifestation Determinations [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZb7rpAS_4

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One area of consideration for culture would be language.  There are students who are first-generation English Language Learners, meaning their parents speak a language other than English at home and the student needs to learn English to communicate at school. Prior written notice for parents needs to be in their native language, this ensures that the parents understand what the school is proposing or refusing, regarding special education.  This is an important consideration because English Learners (EL) are often put in special education if they don’t need it or they are not put in special education when they do.

The first step in the special education identification process is called the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), it can also be called RTI (Response to Intervention).  This is where EL students can get stuck.  It is important to determine if they need special education services early but EL students need to be clearly understood when testing for special education, and the best way to do that is to start with the “Student Background and Intervention Checklist for ELs.” This checklist helps to determine appropriate tests with considerations for culture, language, and the child's experiences. The checklist can be used for other cultural considerations as well, such as American Indian students, African American students, and more.

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My Experience with Cultural Considerations

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My Experience with Cultural Considerations

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I worked at a school with many Hmong-American first-generation English language learners.  These students were very kind and intelligent, but I noticed many were very quiet and some struggled with written work.  I didn’t know much about Hmong-Americans, other than what I read in a book in undergrad.  I also didn’t know which students were ELs, it was hard to know if they struggled with written work until I gave it to them, and they showed frustration.  Because many of them were quiet, they didn’t tell me that they had a hard time reading some of the worksheets.  I was glad to learn that there are guidelines in place to support and test students for special education where culture and linguistics are a factor in their progress. I have recently been learning about intergenerational trauma and poverty, which are often factors in African American and American Indian cultures.  There is always more to learn about other people's cultures, and I will keep learning as I continue my journey in the world of special education.

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English Learner Disability Resources (2012). English Learner Companion to Promoting Fair Evaluations. Retrieved from https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/sped/div/el/MDE087755

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. (2017, May 2). Sec. 303.421 Prior written notice and procedural safeguards notice. Retrieved from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/c/e/303.421