What Is an Individual Education Plan?
An IEP is a written plan describing the special education program and/or services required by a particular student. It identifies learning expectations that are modified from or alternative to the expectations given in the curriculum policy document for the appropriate grade and subject or course, and/or any accommodations and special education services needed to assist the student in achieving his or her learning expectations. (The IEPs of students who have no modified or alternative expectations will focus only on accommodations and services.) The IEP is not a daily lesson plan itemizing every detail of the student's education.
The IEP also helps teachers monitor the student's progress and provides a framework for communicating information about the student's progress to parents and to the student. The IEP is updated periodically to record any changes in the student's special education program and services that are found to be necessary as a result of continuous assessment and evaluation of the student's achievement of annual goals and learning expectations.
The IEP reflects the school board's and the principal's commitment to provide the special education program and services, within the resources available to the school board, needed to meet the identified strengths and needs of the student. The principal is responsible for ensuring compliance with all of the requirements described in this document for the development and implementation of students' IEPs.
An IEP is a written plan describing the special education program and/or services required by a particular student. It identifies learning expectations that are modified from or alternative to the expectations given in the curriculum policy document for the appropriate grade and subject or course, and/or any accommodations and special education services needed to assist the student in achieving his or her learning expectations. (The IEPs of students who have no modified or alternative expectations will focus only on accommodations and services.) The IEP is not a daily lesson plan itemizing every detail of the student's education.
The IEP also helps teachers monitor the student's progress and provides a framework for communicating information about the student's progress to parents and to the student. The IEP is updated periodically to record any changes in the student's special education program and services that are found to be necessary as a result of continuous assessment and evaluation of the student's achievement of annual goals and learning expectations.
The IEP reflects the school board's and the principal's commitment to provide the special education program and services, within the resources available to the school board, needed to meet the identified strengths and needs of the student. The principal is responsible for ensuring compliance with all of the requirements described in this document for the development and implementation of students' IEPs.
Why an IEP?
To identify clearly for parents, school staff, and the Ministry of Education the reason for developing an IEP for the particular student
Requirements of the IEP
An IEP will be developed for one of the following reasons:
To identify clearly for parents, school staff, and the Ministry of Education the reason for developing an IEP for the particular student
Requirements of the IEP
An IEP will be developed for one of the following reasons:
- An IEP must be developed for every student who has been identified as an "exceptional pupil" by an Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC), in accordance with Regulation 181/98.
- An IEP may be developed for a student who has not been formally identified as exceptional, but who has been deemed by the board to require special education programs or services in order to attend school or to achieve curriculum expectations and/or whose learning expectations are modified from or alternative to the expectations set out for a particular grade level or course in a provincial curriculum policy document.
- An IEP must be developed, as supporting documentation, if an Intensive Support Amount (ISA) funding claim is submitted by a school board on behalf of a student who has not been identified as exceptional by an IPRC, but who is receiving a special education program and services.
Individualized education programs (IEPs) outline the specific academic accommodations that parents, teachers, administrators, and ASD students themselves agree will help bring greater success in school.
IEPs can include anything from extra exam time to special seating to homework modifications, and anything in between. Follow these steps to write the best plan for your child with attention deficit disorder or learning disabilities.
Step 1: Know the ASD Symptoms.
Memorize the list of ASD symptoms psychiatrists use for diagnosis. Knowing the list of symptoms such as inattention, forgetfulness, or interrupting can help you prevent your child from being punished or discriminated against when he displays the symptoms of his attention deficit disorder.
Step 2: Know Where Your Child Struggles.
Determine the specific ways that your child's ASD symptoms affect her at school. For example, does she forget to turn in homework? Does she fail to follow directions? Is she impulsively aggressive on the playground? Prepare a list of the specific problems you see, and read up on strategies that address them.
Step 3: Prepare Yourself.
Come to the IEP meeting with the list of your child’s symptoms, as well as a list of interventions such as sitting the child closer to the teacher or instructions that you would like the school to provide.
Step 4: Set Goals for the Year.
While at the IEP meeting, you should also work with the school to develop a list of specific, measurable, and achievable goals for the school year. These goals should be set to time limits: Johnny will improve his ability to respond to the teacher from 1 out of 10 times to 8 out of 10 times by the semester break; Johnny will reduce his interruptions from 10 times a day to 2 a day by month 3; Julie will be able to decode words at the 50th percentile as measured by the "Evaluation of Basic Skills."
Step 5: Get Specific.
Be clear about the ways in which the school will teach your child to achieve the goals you've set together — and include them in the IEP. "Every misbehaviour signifies the need for instruction," says education advocate Dixie Jordan. Have the school write into the IEP exactly how they'll teach Johnny to follow directions or stop interrupting. Which services will help Julie attain higher reading scores? If these strategies aren't written into the IEP, you can't enforce them.
Step 6: Ask for Evidence.
If the school insists on certain interventions, ask for written evidence that what they're suggesting is effective. "If you have an inattentive child and the teacher says, 'Johnny, pay attention,' you're not going to get good results," says Jordan. "Johnny doesn't know how it feels to pay attention. Someone needs to break down the steps and teach the child how to pay attention and how to filter out distractions."
IEPs can include anything from extra exam time to special seating to homework modifications, and anything in between. Follow these steps to write the best plan for your child with attention deficit disorder or learning disabilities.
Step 1: Know the ASD Symptoms.
Memorize the list of ASD symptoms psychiatrists use for diagnosis. Knowing the list of symptoms such as inattention, forgetfulness, or interrupting can help you prevent your child from being punished or discriminated against when he displays the symptoms of his attention deficit disorder.
Step 2: Know Where Your Child Struggles.
Determine the specific ways that your child's ASD symptoms affect her at school. For example, does she forget to turn in homework? Does she fail to follow directions? Is she impulsively aggressive on the playground? Prepare a list of the specific problems you see, and read up on strategies that address them.
Step 3: Prepare Yourself.
Come to the IEP meeting with the list of your child’s symptoms, as well as a list of interventions such as sitting the child closer to the teacher or instructions that you would like the school to provide.
Step 4: Set Goals for the Year.
While at the IEP meeting, you should also work with the school to develop a list of specific, measurable, and achievable goals for the school year. These goals should be set to time limits: Johnny will improve his ability to respond to the teacher from 1 out of 10 times to 8 out of 10 times by the semester break; Johnny will reduce his interruptions from 10 times a day to 2 a day by month 3; Julie will be able to decode words at the 50th percentile as measured by the "Evaluation of Basic Skills."
Step 5: Get Specific.
Be clear about the ways in which the school will teach your child to achieve the goals you've set together — and include them in the IEP. "Every misbehaviour signifies the need for instruction," says education advocate Dixie Jordan. Have the school write into the IEP exactly how they'll teach Johnny to follow directions or stop interrupting. Which services will help Julie attain higher reading scores? If these strategies aren't written into the IEP, you can't enforce them.
Step 6: Ask for Evidence.
If the school insists on certain interventions, ask for written evidence that what they're suggesting is effective. "If you have an inattentive child and the teacher says, 'Johnny, pay attention,' you're not going to get good results," says Jordan. "Johnny doesn't know how it feels to pay attention. Someone needs to break down the steps and teach the child how to pay attention and how to filter out distractions."