navigating the iep process presented by: natalie vlna and kim smiley
TRANSCRIPT
NAVIGATING THE IEP PROCESS
Presented by: Natalie Vlna and Kim Smiley
WHAT IS RTI?
Response to Intervention Per the Illinois State Board of
Education “Response to Intervention (RtI) is an approach
for redesigning and establishing teaching and learning
environments that are effective, efficient, relevant, and
durable for all students, families, and educators.
*A process that is designed to help provide high quality
instruction and interventions to students who may be
struggling.
MORE ABOUT RTI
Various reasons students may be in RTI or “problem solving”.
Include but are not limited to: speech articulation, reading
concerns, fine motor or gross motor concerns etc.
Interventions should be monitored closely and reviewed
approximately every 4 weeks.
No progress—change intervention!
Interventions changed and still no progress? Look at possible
case study evaluation
IEP ELIGIBILITY
If you request a case study evaluation—you can NOT be denied the
case study due to response to intervention. In other words, if you
request it—the school needs to meet (WITH you) and consider the
need for a case study evaluation.
http://www.isbe.net/spec-ed/html/categories.htm
Areas: Autism, deafness, deaf/blindness, emotional disability,
hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities,
orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, speech and
language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment
SPECIF ICS FOR ANNUAL REVIEW MEETINGS
If you have concerns, this is the time to state them!
There is a specific spot on the paperwork for this
purpose.
Notes—ANY concerns should also be documented
in the notes page of the IEP.
Best practice for schools is to present paperwork
ahead of time in DRAFT FORM for discussion and
review at the meeting. (3-5 days)
ANNUAL REVIEW
Goal areas should match disability areas—e.g. if a
student has a learning disability in reading, math
and written expression they should have goals in
those areas.
Other areas to improve in can also be goal areas
(e.g. executive functioning etc.)
SUPPLEMENTARY A IDS/ACCOMMODATIONS
This area of the IEP refers to all of the
accommodations and supports that aid in your
student’s success.
Always remember that the end goal is to FADE
most of these as we are working toward
independence.
There are MANY accommodations and supports
that schools provide. (examples on next slide)
EXAMPLES AIDS/ACCOMMODATIONS
Preferential seating
Copies of notes
Study guides
Visual support provided throughout day
Break assignments into chunks
Extended time on homework, tests quizzes etc.
ASSESSMENT
This page of the annual review refers to all classroom,
district and state assessments.
If a student has extended time on classroom based
assessments and is utilizing that accommodation, it should
be provided on state assessments.
All of the accommodations for assessments should also
be listed in the supplementary aids/accommodations
section.
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES/PLACEMENT
Special Education teacher minutes
Related services minutes
Placement Considerations:
There are generally 3 discussed at each meeting—one
that does not provide enough support, one that best meets
the students needs and one that is more restrictive than the
student requires.
E D U C AT I O N A L E N V I R O N M E N T
C O N S I D E R AT I O N S
If the student has any special education class, self
contained class or is pulled from the general
education environment—that is listed on this page as
well as the reasoning why.
Does this student attend his/her home school? If
not, it needs to be explained why on this page.
TRANSPORTATION
Specialized transportation around school listed
here, if needed.
Specialized transportation to and from school
listed here, if needed.
Specialized supports for transportation needed
listed here as well –e.g. harness on bus, buckle
guard, transportation assistant etc.
EXTENDED SCHOOL YEAR
Extended School Year—The IEP team determines
eligibility for ESY for a student. Generally speaking,
ESY is an option for students who are not making
adequate progress on their IEP goals and/or will
likely regress on skills if they don’t attend ESY.
If eligible, goals and services are discussed.
RESOURCES
Wright’s Law wrightslaw.com
Council For Exceptional Children……cec.sped.org
Autism Society of Illinois……..autismillinois.org
Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois
Illinois State Board of Education…..isbe.net
