CHAPTER THREE: What is an Individualized Education Plan

*SPAN is in the process of updating this information to reflect changes to IDEA (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the "road map" to your child's education. It is both a process and a product. Specific steps lead to the development of the document. Chapter Three walks you through the steps in the process. It explains what happens at each stage and identifies the participants and their roles and responsibilities.

The process is as important as the product. It begins with conducting tests and assessments, then knowledgeable school personnel and parents meet to determine whether the student needs special education services. The develop-ment of an IEP requires that you think through your priorities for your child deeply and carefully. The process concludes with a lengthy document, an individualized educational plan. The plan is designed to address the individual strengths and weaknesses of the student. But equally important, the IEP is the avenue by which parents become equal partners in educational decisions about their child. By planning together, parents and professionals develop, monitor and evaluate a program that benefits the child.

Step 2: EVALUATION (Parents must sign consent form prior to initial evaluation and all subsequent evaluations and prior to initial "placement" or receipt of special education services)

Step 4: INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP) DEVELOPED (30 calendar days from determination of eligibility)

Step 5: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IEP (90 calendar days from the date that parent signs the evaluation consent form)

1. Identification of the Student

2. Determination of Whether Evaluation Will Be Conducted

3. Identification of the Collaborative Planning Team

4. Evaluation

5. Determination of Eligibility for Services

6. Identification of Student's Strengths, Needs and Skills

7. Development of Goals and Objectives

8. Identification of Supports and Services

9. Identification of Least Restrictive Placement

1. Eligibility Criteria

2. Provision of Ongoing Support and Monitoring

Sometimes parents know at birth or shortly after that their child will need special help and services. At other times a learning difficulty does not become apparent until the child grows older and matures. Each district adopts and maintains its own written procedures for identifying those students ages 3-21 who reside within the local school district who may be educationally disabled and who are not receiving special education and/or related services. Children under age 3 who may experience developmental delays or disabilities must be referred to early intervention programs or other appropriate services.

1. Parents can identify that their child may be experiencing physical, sensory, emotional, communication, cognitive and social difficulties.

2. Parents can initiate the identification process themselves. SPAN recommends that all such requests be made in writing.

3. Parents must be provided written documentation of the interventions attempted in general education settings.

4. Parents should monitor the intervention period closely and see evidence of progress. If not, a formal written request for evaluation by the child study team should be made.

Once a referral is received, within 20 days the district or school meets with the parents to determine whether an evaluation will be conducted. If you do not receive a written response from the school, you should request a meeting with the Director of Special Services in writing.

The Core Team: The members who are involved directly in the day to day educational program which may include the parents; the student, when appropriate; peers; multidisciplinary team; general and special educators; local administrators; related service providers; and support personnel (i.e., paraprofessionals).

The Support Team: Consists of individuals who serve students on a more itinerant basis. They may be social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, nurses, vision specialists, audiologists, behavior specialists, etc.

Members of the teams need frequent access to each other for problem solving, decision-making and support. Planning strategies need to be flexible to meet the changing needs of the student. All team members are encouraged to provide support for each other. Meetings occur on a regular basis and ongoing communication is maintained to keep all members updated.

D. Speech Therapist/Teacher (Children ages 3 to 5 years and children for whom speech and language delays are a part of their disability.) In addition, for every referred child, the School Nurse (Health and Medical):

The Child Study Team will prepare written reports of the results of their assessments. Additional evaluations by specialists (at no cost to the family) may be required, (i.e., if a child is to be classified "neurologically impaired" a neurologist's evaluation is required; or for "emotionally disturbed" a psychiatric evaluation is required).

It is important to seek out a specialist who is knowledgeable about the developmental needs of children and experienced in evaluating children with disabilities with an eye on what is educationally relevant.

Parents are a part of any decision-making team throughout the special education process.

After it has been determined by the parent and the Child Study Team that an evaluation is needed, the child study team notifies the parents in writing. The team determines the pupil's communication skills and dominance in English or other native language. Written consent must be obtained prior to conducting the initial evaluation and all subsequent evaluations.

All evaluations must be completed in a timely manner. After receiving parental consent for initial evaluation, the school district has 90 days to complete the evaluation, determine eligibility and, if the child is eligible, develop and implement the IEP.

When a child turns three years old before the end of a school year, your school district may opt to contract services with your Early Intervention provider for the remainder of the school year including an extended school year program, if appropriate. There should be no interruption of services.

Parents have the right to ask for written documentation of the law to verify what a Child Study Team or district tells them. Sometimes parents are told that districts don't offer a program or they just don't "do" certain things in the district. Request in writing to receive a copy of citations they refer to. Also, it is wise to bring a copy of the New Jersey Administrative Code 6A:14 to meetings so that accurate references can be made.

If a parent withholds consent for evaluation and the school district feels strongly enough about the need for testing, the school district may request a due process hearing to try to get authorization from the Office of Administrative Law to carry out testing without parental consent.

An initial evaluation must include at least two of the following areas: a) health, b) psychological, c) educational and d) social.

Standardized tests are typically used during evaluation procedures. The law requires that where appropriate, or required, the use of a standardized test(s) shall be:

Tests are selected and administered to ensure that when a test is administered to a child with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test accurately reflect the child's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factors the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the child's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, except where those skills are factors which the test purports to measure.

The educational evaluator (usually the Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant) evaluates your child's achievement and related areas. These tests diagnose difficulties in reading, spelling, mathematics, and spoken language. The evaluator looks for an indication of learning disabilities or for consistently delayed performance, such as a child with reading scores two or three years below his/her actual grade level. Scores on tests given by the educational evaluator are reported in terms of grade equivalents ("G.E.") or mental age ("M.A."). An "M.A." of 6.1 means that the child performs at a level equivalent to a child 6 years and one month old. The educational tests usually given are: the Wepman-Auditory Discrimination Test, the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, the Illinois Test of Linguistic Abilities, the Wide-Range Achievement Test, the Woodcock, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.

1. IQ Tests: The "Intelligence Quotient" test is interpreted as a measure of a child's potential for academic achievement. The IQ test compares the child who took the test to an "average" child of the same age: a full scale of 100 indicates that the child is exactly "average." The law prohibits placing students in special education programs based solely on IQ scores alone. The IQ test has also been determined to have a disproportionately negative impact on African-American and other children of color, so its use must be carefully determined and implemented.

2. Psychomotor Tests: These tests measure a child's ability to copy designs, which is interpreted to indicate whether s/he has problems in visual perception.

3. Projective Tests: Projective tests are used to identify personality disturbances and are used by psychologists to evaluate a child's personality characteristics such as mood, attitude, anxiety, self-image, imagination, maturity, and perception of reality. There are no right or wrong answers; the child's responses are interpreted subjectively by the psychologist who administers the test.

Adapted from: Securing An Appropriate Education for Children with Disabilities in New York City: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, by Advocates for Children of New York, January 1992.

In an effort to focus more closely on the educational needs of the pupil, functional assessments have been added as an additional component to the evaluation process. They must include:

The functional assessment may include one or more of the following: surveys and inventories, analysis of work samples, trial teaching, self-report, criterion-referenced tests, curriculum-based assessment, informal rating scales, and other appropriate tools.

A functional assessment is another tool for assessing the skills and needs of students that primarily consists of interviews and observation. An IEP should include goals and objectives that reflect functional and chronological age appropriate activities across a variety of integrated environments. Always include a discussion of the student's strengths (see Positive Student Profile in Appendix C) when discussing assessment results.

1. Find out who are the members of your Child Study Team. Identify the professional who serves as your case manager. Provide information about your family that is educationally relevant (some personal matters have no bearing upon the child's education).

3. You have a right to receive a copy of all of the test and assessment results. Be sure to request copies of these results prior to IEP meetings to allow time to read and understand them. Make sure they accurately reflect your child's strengths and needs; correct any inaccuracy or discrepancy [N.J.A.C. 6A:14-2.9]. Have a copy of your child's entire pupil record and ensure that every document is accurate, signed and dated.

4. The testing and evaluation must be completed by a multidisciplinary team using two or more evaluation procedures [N.J.A.C. 6A:14-2.5(a)]. You can and should review testing procedures and can ask for modification of, revision of, or additional procedures. A minimum of one structured observation by a child study team member in an environment the child is comfortable in is required. [6A:14-3.4(d)6]

5. Monitor the evaluation process. Attend all scheduled evaluations with your child, particularly younger children. Children are inherently different. Settings for the testing environment should be applicable to that child's learning style. Be sure that the method of testing is conducive to your child's needs, i.e., psychological tests should be performed in a small room with no distractions for a child with attention deficit disorder.

6. Assessments drive the outcome of the curriculum and if only pen and pencil tests are used, they may not accurately reflect the true ability of the child. Functional assessments are new ways of evaluating students and are one of the components required as part of the evaluation process. Observing the child in real environments in and out of school will reflect his/her true abilities. Assessments also drive the day-to-day classroom instruction.

7. When consent for the initial evaluation is requested, the district must provide parents with a copy of their Procedural Safeguards which are found in Subchapter 2 of N.J.A.C. 6A:14. These are rights and protections for parents, pupils and school districts.

Parents should be aware that there are new views of how to assess intelligence, which do not rely solely on IQ scores. Traditionally, intelligence has been conceptualized as a single overall measurement of cognitive processing that changes very little with age and experience. A newer theory by Howard Gardner redefines intelligence as the ability to solve a problem or to create a product in a way that is considered useful in one or more cultural settings. Instead of accepting the notion of intelligence as a single entity, no matter how simple or complicated, Gardner points to the existence of several separate "families of abilities." According to his theory, intelligence is not adequately captured by the ability to answer items on standardized tests. Instead, the educational evaluation must encompass a broader range of abilities.

See Appendix B for more information on Multiple Intelligences, including tests and strategies. Use the information you gather about your child when completing their Positive Student Profile, found in Appendix C.

You have a right to ask for an independent evaluation if there is a disagreement with the evaluation provided by your district. This should be provided at no cost to you. This testing may involve either a new set of all child study team evaluations or just one or two areas of testing. The district must either agree to pay in a timely manner or request a due process hearing to prove their evaluation is appropriate (within 20 calendar days).

Getting a second opinion can often be helpful when there is disagreement with the evaluation(s) provided by your district. Disagreements may be due to inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information. An independent evaluation can provide a positive step in resolving conflicts at an early stage. There is a formal procedure outlined in N.J.A.C. 6A:14 for parents who want an independent evaluation paid for by the district. Following are some important steps:

When the initial evaluation is completed, a meeting is held including the child study team and the parents. The purpose of the meeting is to determine whether the pupil is eligible for special education and related services.

Whether or not a pupil is eligible for special education and related services, the parent(s) and the referring staff member must be given a written summary, signed by the child study team, of all decisions and recommendations. If your child is determined to be not eligible for special education services, you can appeal this decision.

1. Usually the eligibility meeting leads directly into the IEP meeting, so prepare yourself for participation in the development of the IEP. If you feel you need more time to discuss the IEP you can request another meeting.

2. We recommend strongly that once your child is determined "eligible" that you postpone discussion of the classification until your child's needs, annual goals and objectives, and appropriate services are discussed. This avoids the problem of classifying a child, then having that classification drive the planning process. Every child is entitled to have a unique program developed to address his/her specific learning abilities and needs.

If the team determines, after the evaluation cycle, that your child is not eligible to receive special education services the process ends here, unless you do not agree. The team is responsible for determining if the student is eligible to receive services through Section 504 or referring you to the Section 504 team. Read Chapter 2 on Section 504 for further information.

Schools often identify and focus on a student's deficits, and fail to look at the total child. All children possess strengths and gifts that need to be identified as well. Parents can play an important role in ensuring that their valuable knowledge and understanding of their child is reflected.

See information on Multiple Intelligences in Appendix B and fill out Positive Student Profile and Goals-At-A-Glance in Appendix C in preparation for this step.

For all children, we need to think about why we choose specific goals. When considering goals and objectives that reflect your child's individual needs and abilities, keep in mind the following:

a. The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards: All children with disabilities must have goals and objectives that are tied to the CCCS, the information that all children are supposed to learn.

b. Student preference: Teach the student responsible decision-making and provide opportunities to make choices every day - ranging from what to wear to how to use leisure time. Respect your child's interests and preferences.

c. Parent preference: We know our children well. When developing goals our values and visions should be respected.

d. Chronological age appropriate: Jim and Paul are 13 years old. The skill to be learned is stacking. Jim stacks dishes as he empties the dishwasher, a chronologically age-appropriate activity, as contrasted with Paul who stacks nesting cups, not chronologically age-appropriate.

e. Applying skills in new places: Often skills learned in one setting are not applied to others. If a child learns to say, "Milk, please" in speech class, but does not use this skill in the cafeteria, then the goal will not be achieved.

f. Physical enhancement: Consider any activities that maximize physical development.

g. Social Contact: Select a skill that will increase appropriate social interactions. For example, a child learns to shake hands when s/he meets someone.

h. Expanding horizons / Increasing the number of environments: Look at the contrast between a child who is picked up at home by mini-bus, goes to school, and as soon as school ends is delivered directly home versus the child who learns about public transportation and a set of socialization skills through participation in after school programs that enable him/her to attend a movie, go to church, or join a cub scout troop.

i. Functionality: Select skills required for daily living (i.e., learning to load a dishwasher instead of stacking blocks).

Using these dimensions as guides, we can work toward improving the quality of life of students with disabilities. We can help them to acquire useful and productive skills to enhance independence and work potential, and also to enlarge their circle of friends and expand their opportunities for community interaction.

Adapted from: Dr. Lou Brown et al, The "Why Question" in Education Programs for Students Who Are Severely Intellectually Disabled, University of Wisconsin under a U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education, Division of Innovation and Development Grant, 1985.

A dilemma often results when an attempt is made to translate test items failed at particular levels or mental ages into actual tasks to be taught. These evaluation tools were never intended to be used in this manner, and the result is that students end up spending most of their school day being taught skills that are totally artificial and/or extremely age-inappropriate. Given the time it takes students with moderate to severe mental disabilities to acquire even functional skills, there is no justification for devoting instruction to teaching items selected from a developmentally-based hierarchy of supposed "pre-requisite" skills. A scenario of the outcome for one such student is shown below.

My Older Brother Daryl

18 years old, Trainable Mentally Retarded. Been in school 12 years. Never has been served in any setting other than elementary school. Had many years of “individualized instruction.” Learned to do lots of things!

Daryl can now do lots of things he couldn’t do before! He can put 100 pegs in a board in less than ten minutes while in his seat with 95% accuracy. But he can’t put quarters in a vending machine.

He can do a 12-piece Big Bird puzzle with 100% accuracy and color the Easter Bunny and stay in the lines! He prefers music, but was never taught how to use a radio or cassette player.

He can fold primary paper in halves and even quarters. But he can’t fold his clothes.

He can sort blocks by color, up to 10 different colors! But he can’t sort clothes for washing.

He can roll Play-Dough into wonderful clay snakes! But he can’t roll bread dough and cut out biscuits.

He can string beads in alternating colors and make a pattern on a DLM card! But he can’t lace his shoes.

He can sing the ABC’s and tell me the names of all the letters of the alphabet when presented on a card in upper case with 80% accuracy. But he can’t tell the men’s room from the ladies’ room at McDonald’s.

He can be told it’s cloudy/rainy and take a black felt cloud and put it on an enlarged calendar (with assistance). But he still goes out in the rain without a raincoat or hat.

He can identify with 100% accuracy 100 different Peabody Picture Cards by pointing! But he can’t order a hamburger by gesturing.

He can walk a balance beam front-wards, sideways, and backwards! But he can’t walk up the steps or bleachers unassisted in the gym to go to a basketball game.

He can count to 100 by rote memory! But, he doesn’t know how many dollars to pay the waitress for a $2.59 McDonald’s coupon special.

He can put the cube in the box, beside the box, behind the box. But he can’t find the trash bin in a McDonald’s and empty his trash in it.

He can sit in a circle with appropriate behavior and sing songs and play “Duck, Duck, Goose.” But nobody else in his neighborhood his age seems to want to do that.

I guess he’s just not ready yet.

A functional assessment is an important tool for assessing the skill repertoire and needs of students that primarily consists of interviews and observation. Following an assessment, an IEP should be developed which includes goals and objectives that reflect functional and chronological age appropriate activities across a variety of integrated environments. Always include a discussion of the student's strengths (see Positive Student Profile in Appendix C) when discussing assessment results.

Once the assessment process has been completed, a plan is written that consists of goals and objectives that will have desired outcomes for the student and family. The following criteria need to be considered in setting priorities across skill areas:

2. Will the goals result in more opportunities for interaction with non-disabled peers?

Throughout meetings with the student, parents, family members, educators, child study team, and other pertinent and interested parties, discussion must be centered around prioritizing goals established as a result of completed assessments. In developing the goals, the question to continually ask is, "Are these goals and activities relevant beyond the student's school years?"

Adapted from Falvey, M.A. Community Based Curriculum: Instructional Strategies for Students with Severe Handicaps, Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1989)

Following are some important areas for discussion. Some of these may be incorporated as goals or activities in the IEP. Not all items will be relevant to all students and some students may have needs not reflected here.

1. Parent Roles in Implementing the Plan: Parents should be given sufficient notice to attend meetings.

2. Home/School Communication: A communication notebook may be used between the parent and the teacher(s).

3. Physical Education: Are accommodations needed in gym or is adaptive physical education needed?

4. Enrichment Classes and/or Electives: Can all students enroll in elective courses?

5. Extracurricular and Leisure Activities: Are there after-school activities that may be appropriate?

6. Social Skills: Are there opportunities for interaction with peers in non-academic environments?

8. Vocational Skills: Does the student have an opportunity for job sampling?

9. Counseling: Would the student benefit from counseling by the school psychologist or guidance counselor?

10. Medication: Does the school nurse need to administer medication during the day?

12. Field Trips: Will medication need to be administered on the trip? If so, who will be responsible for this? (NOT the parent!)

13. Transportation: Will a special bus be necessary? Is a child restraint system required? Is an aide needed on the bus for safety/health issues?

Remember: IDEA requires that children with disabilities be provided the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the school's program, including non-academic and extra-curricular activities, with supports and accommodations if needed.

Once the team has determined the goals and objectives, they are ready to make recommendations concerning services, supports, accommodations and modifications.

Analyze each classroom option available and determine which is appropriate. Choices to be considered should be in the least restrictive environment and age-appropriate. Other factors to consider are location, class size, instructional strategies, teaching styles, and materials used.

For those students who are already in a general education classroom and it is determined that it is still the least restrictive environment, then the supports and services that are necessary need to be determined.

Once the placement has been determined the next important step is developing a schedule of activities which describe in detail: needed adaptations, materials, location of services, people responsible for providing those services, and any other resources needed. (See IEP Goal/Activity Matrix and Classroom Activity Analysis Worksheet in Appendix C.)

Determine which activities may be needed to prepare for the student's arrival to the new placement (i.e., a visit to the new classroom by the student). In addition, any special instructions that may be needed to prepare the student for placement should begin (i.e., a student going into Junior High will need to know how to operate a locker). Advance preparation should be made to acquire the resources that have been determined to be necessary (i.e., hiring an instructional aide, or developing a peer tutoring system). If technical assistance is needed the team must decide who will provide it, exactly how it will be implemented and how often it will be provided.

The team should develop a system for parent/teacher communication. Determine who will be responsible for communication (i.e., teacher, instructional aide, case manager) to be the primary contact person. Parents' input should be encouraged and seriously considered throughout the planning process. Parents should never be denied their rights to have high expectations for their son or daughter.

Placement should be determined after IEP goals and services have been designed. We suggest, however, that parents visit all appropriate programs as soon as possible after evaluations have been completed. These are described in subchapter 4 of N.J.A.C. 6A:14. Use the Classroom Observation Checklist in Appendix E to guide your assessment of each program you visit.

"Teachers who believe in students' abilities actually create an atmosphere in which it becomes easier to succeed."

These program options reflect new changes in the New Jersey Administrative Code. A full continuum of alternative placements shall be available to meet the needs of pupils with disabilities for special education and/or related services. These options include the following:

1. Regular class with supplementary aids and services including, but not limited to, the following:

7. A New Jersey approved private school for the disabled or an out-of-state school for the disabled in the continental United States approved by the department of education in the state where the school is located;

11. Individual instruction at home or in other appropriate facilities, with the prior written approval of the Department of Education through its county office;

12. An accredited nonpublic school which is not specifically approved for the education of students with disabilities according to N.J.A.C. 6A:14-6.5;

13. Instruction in other appropriate settings according to N.J.A.C. 6A:14-1.1(d); and

14. An early intervention program (which is under contract with the Department of Health and Senior Services) in which the child has been enrolled for the balance of the school year in which the child turns age three.

The term "resource room" has been amended to "resource center" to reflect the more flexible program options now available. Resource center programs offer individual and small group instruction. Pupils may receive either support or replacement resource center instruction in either in a general education classroom or a separate room. The resource center teacher shall hold certification as "teacher of the handicapped."

The amount of time a pupil may receive resource center instruction has been expanded to include up to the pupil's entire day for replacement or support instruction in the general education classroom, and up to one-half of the pupil's instructional day in a separate resource center.

This is a program of instruction where the general and special education teachers are collaboratively involved in planning and implementing special strategies, techniques, methods, and materials to address learning problems of pupils with educational disabilities engaged in the general education classroom lesson. Instructional responsibility for the pupil shall be shared between the general education class teacher(s) and the resource center teacher as described in the pupil's IEP. Support instruction provided in the pupil's general education class shall be at the same time and in the same activities as the rest of the class. Students who receive in-class support are classified and enrolled on a general education class register.

The intent of in-class replacement service is such that the subject being taught which is being replaced should be appropriate to the child's needs but also be aligned and related to the subject being taught in the general education classroom. A pupil receiving in-class instruction shall be included in activities such as group discussion, special projects, field trips, and other regular class activities as deemed appropriate in the pupil's IEP.

NJ State Special Education Code Class Types and Sizes
New Name	Old Name	Preschool / Elementary		Secondary
		No Aide	Aide	No Aide	Aide
Support In-class		6	-	9	-
Pull-Out Single Subject		6	7 - 9	9	10 - 12
Multiple Subject		6	7 - 9	9	7 - 9
Replacement In-Class		3	-	3	-
Pull-Out Single Subject		6	7 - 9	9	10 - 12
Multiple Subject		4	-	4	-
Combined Support/ Replacement In-Class		3		Not applicable in HS
Team Teaching In-Class Resource Program (full-time general and special educators)		Maximum of 8 students receiving resource instruction		Not applicable in HS
Special Classes
Auditory Impairments	Auditorily Handicapped	8	9 - 12	8	9 - 12
Autism	Autistic