Individualized Education Program (IEP)

The IEP must be developed by a team of individuals which minimally includes the parent(s) of the student; not less than one regular education teacher of the student; not less than one special education teacher of the student; the school district representative; and the student, if appropriate. The student must be invited beginning when the student is 14 years of age or younger if appropriate, and postsecondary goals and the transition services to assist the student in reaching those goals are considered. At least one of the individuals on the IEP team must be someone who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results. In addition, at the discretion of the parent or the school district, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student may be invited. For students 14 years of age or older a representative of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services must be invited to attend (§300.321).

In order to afford the opportunity to participate, schools must notify parents ten (10) school days prior to the meeting and schedule at a mutually agreed upon time and place.

The Council for Exceptional Children has identified several High Leverage Practices in Special Education focused on Collaboration. 

In developing the IEP, the team must consider the strengths of the student, his or her academic, functional and developmental needs, and the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child. For students 14 years of age or older, the various assessments, particularly those related to transition planning, are used to inform the student’s development of post-school goals. These goals will be in the areas of education and training, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills (300.320).

This information serves as the foundation of the IEP and much of it is generated from the results of evaluations. These evaluations can be formal, such as the results of testing using curriculum-based measurements; or informal, such as the results of observations, analysis of day to day work samples, interest inventories, etc.

The Council for Exceptional Children has identified several High Leverage Practices in Special Education that focus on Assessment.

All team members should contribute to the development of the present levels of functional performance and academic achievement, especially parents and the student (§300.324). The information from the various sources of data is used by the IEP team to develop the student’s measurable present levels of performance. The present levels of performance are a comprehensive description of the student’s academic achievement and functional performance, and must include information on how the student’s disability affects the student’s involvement and progress in the general curriculum.

In the description of the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, the IEP team must be certain to provide clear, measurable levels of performance. These measurable levels are used as baselines for the development of the measurable annual goals (§300.320).

In the area of academic achievement, the team describes what the student can do in the academic areas of reading, writing, and mathematics and other areas as appropriate. For a student 14 years of age or older, the IEP team is guided by the student’s post-school goals in the areas of education and training, employment, and if appropriate, independent living.

In describing what the student can do in the academic areas, the IEP team will use as its reference point the academic expectations from the general education curriculum for the student’s age appropriate grade. (Common Core State Standards, AAGSEs and the district’s Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements). For preschool age youngsters, the focus is on the child’s participation in appropriate activities for children aged 3-5 and the RI Early Learning Standards. If a student is an English Language Learner, meaning another language is his/her first language and the student is learning the English of communication and academics, the IEP team must also consider the student’s performance level in terms of the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards.

In the area of functional performance, the team will describe what the student can currently do in the nonacademic areas of everyday life, such as communication, interpersonal skills, behavior, organizational skills, etc. In describing what the student can do in the functional areas, the team will use as its reference point the functional expectations for a typically performing student at the student’s age level. For preschool age youngsters, the focus is on the child’s participation in appropriate activities for children aged 3-5 and the RI Early Learning Standards.

For students 14 years of age or older, the IEP team must consider the transition services that will be needed to assist the student in attaining his/her post-school goals. Transition services include instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment, and other post-school adult living objectives, as well as, if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills, and the provision of a functional vocational evaluation (§300.43).

From the present levels of performance, the IEP team determines those areas of need that require specially designed instruction. Using the measurable data or baseline provided for each area of need in the present level of performance, the IEP team will develop measurable annual goals in those areas requiring specially designed instruction. For most students, the measurable annual goal will be based upon each student’s expected performance in a twelve-month period of time. The expected performance is usually determined by one of a number of methods, such as end of the year benchmarks or proficiency levels for the student’s grade or research-based rate of improvement norms. The expected performance will be stated in measurable terms. This measurability enables the team to objectively evaluate, using the data gathered, whether the goal has been met.

For each annual goal, the IEP team determines how progress toward the goal will be measured, such as weekly frequency counts, and how often that progress will be reported to parents. The IEP team will also specify the interim steps (i.e., short term objectives or benchmarks) toward attaining the annual goal.

For more information, please see Strategies for Setting High-Quality Academic Individualized Education Program Goals developed by the National Center for Intensive Intervention (NCII).  This page contains links to a guide and a webinar on this topic. 

Next the IEP team will describe the special education and related services, accommodations and program modifications, and support for school personnel that are required to assist the student in achieving his/her goals and that will be necessary to enable the student to be educated in the least restrictive environment (§300.320).

The IEP team will describe the student’s involvement in state and district-wide assessments. The IEP team decides if the student will take the assessments without accommodations, with accommodations or whether the student will participate in the state’s/district’s Alternate Assessment. If the student requires accommodations, the IEP team determines the specific accommodations for each assessment. If the student will participate in RI Alternate Assessment, the Participation Criteria for the RI Alternate Assessment System form must be completed and attached to the IEP (§300.320).

The Council for Exceptional Children has identified several High Leverage Practices  in Special Education that focus on Instruction.  There is also a video series of these High Leverage Practices, showing teachers modeling and using these practices to instruct their students.

Social and Emotional Learning is important for ALL students.  Please see the SEL page for more information. 

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills are often included in a student's IEP.  Click here for Sample SEL Goals and Objectives.

The Council for Exceptional Children has identified several High Leverage Practices related to Social Emotional Learning and Behavioral Support. 

Options and Resources

• Rhode Island Informal and formal Special Education Options and Resources for Dispute Resolution
• Opciones y Recursos Informales y Formales para la Resolucion de Desacuerdos en la Ensenznza Resolution (Spanish)
• Opcoes e Recursos Formaise e Informals de Educacao Especail paa a Resolucao de Disputas em Rhode Island (Portuguese)
• Rhode Island Informal and Formal Special Education Options and Resources for Dispute Resolution (Cambodian)
  
  ជម្រើសនិងធនធានកោះ -Rhode ជម្រើសផ្លូវការនិងមិនផ្លូវការនិងធនធានអប់រំពិសេសដោះស្រាយជម្លោះ។
• Holding Special Education Meetings with Interpreters

Resources for Aligning Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and IEP Goals

• IDEA Partnership: Common Core State Standards and Assessments Collection
• RIDE: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
• Idaho Training Clearing House Secondary Transition: Self Determination and Advocacy
• American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA): Frequently Asked Questions
• ASHA: Core Commitment article

Webinars

• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD): CCSS Professional Development
• Council of Chief State School Officers: Standards, Assessments and Accountability Resources
• Pearson Education: Common Core Webinars

Sites for Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

• National Center for Intensive Interventions Mathematics Sample Lessons and Activities
• What Works Clearinghouse has information on research-based interventions. It reviews 5 programs in elementary math and also has reviews of middle school math programs.
• Intervention Central has numerous resources to assist teachers who are using CBM.
• www.iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu has modules/case studies on RTI, Classroom management, strategy instruction, teaching algebra, and more.
• www.centeronistruction.org has many resources on effective strategies in reading, math and science.
• The Florida Center for Reading Research provides reviews of literacy programs.
• University of Oregon Reading Research Center
• Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement

IEP Teams must ensure that students with disabilities have an Individualized Education Program that provides for access, involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.  When developing the IEP, the IEP team should keep as its focal point the RI CCSS that all students including students with disabilities are required to meet.  An IEP aligned to the CCSS, connects a student's learning to grade level standards and evaluates progress through the lens of the general education curriculum, standards, assessment anchors and curriculum framework.

View both images in the ELA/Literacy Shifts of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) [PPTX], which was adapted from Achieve the Core and presented to Directors of Special Education on February 6, 2014.

Many of the needs of students with disabilities will be met with well designed instructional practices that consider a Universal Design for Learning (UDL). For those students with disabilities whose needs are not met through UDL, IEP teams will determine what specially designed instruction (i.e. special education) is required and accommodations and modifications necessary to achieve their IEP goals.

The following 6 step process templates can guide IEP teams when aligning academic IEP goals to CCSS and are adapted from National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). Keep in mind that functional goals do not have to be aligned to the CCSS (see Frequently Asked Questions document). The following annotated and blank templates can be used as a resource to guide IEP Teams in the development of IEP goals aligned to CCSS, and for professional development and technical assistant.

• Annotated Template [DOCX]
• Blank Template[DOCX]

Please note that the following samples only represent one goal and supporting information from each sample's entire IEP.

• Early Childhood- Coming Soon!
• Elementary
  • English Language Arts
    • Grade 1 - Decoding and Sound Blending: Sammie
    • Grade 4 - Mathematical Problem Solving: Renaldo
    • Grade 4 - Reading comprehension (NCSC, Alternate Assessment): Laura
    • Grade 5 - Vocabulary (NCSC, alternate Assessment): Jay
• Middle
  • Grade 7 - Writing: Nick
• Secondary
  • Grade 10 - Reading comprehension (Using Star): Brad
  • Grade 10 - Reading comprehension (District Rubric): Barbara