The history before an IEP is written would consist of a student who is

identified as having a special need by regular education teacher. That

teacher would refer the student with parent consent or the parent could refer
the student to be tested. Then I would administer tests and our school
psychologist would administer tests depending what the issue might be.
There could be issues with behavior, emotional problems, academic
problems, or others. Issues are normally recognized early but some academic
issues may not arise until second or third grade when students start reading
and writing more. Now the system is different. Students can no longer be
simply referred for testing by a teacher. The teacher has to document an
attempt to provide interventions prior to referring a student to qualify for a
Significant Learning Disability. A parent can still request testing for special
education. Response to Intervention is in effect for all school districts and
this means that the student must go through three tiers of help before they
can qualify for special education services. The intervention have to be
research based and formally assessed through testing. My school has two
different computer tests we use to track student progress. The abbreviated
example would be that the school has a student body, within the student
body there is a percentage who may need some help to achieve at grade
level that is tier one, within tier one there is a smaller percentage who needs
more help or does not respond to help in study hall etc. These students move
to tier 2 and will experience intensive interventions in small group with the
schools accepted curriculum. If the students do not respond to these
intensive interventions they move to tier one which is individualized,
specialized maximum interventions. If the student does not respond to that
intervention they move to special education referral.
Now once the student is in special education there is a meeting and I
take notes on all concerns the parents and regular education teacher have. I
usually have a draft of the IEP written before the meeting then I will discuss
the process of writing the final draft. The IEP starts with the Present Level of
Academic Achievement and Functional Performance. I first discuss all of the
students strengths. They are pleasant in class, a hard worker, excellent at
Math, etc.
The next part of PLAAFP is how what the student struggles with or how
they need help. How does the students disability affect him or her? It is
important to discuss how the disability affects his or her performance in the
classroom or outside area. I would explain how the student is or should be
involved in the regular education classroom. I would discuss problems that
may have occurred in the lunchroom, at recess, or in special classes such as
gym or physical education. Some students I have worked with in the past
had the most problems in these types of classes. Some of the effects of
autism are that the affected student may not be able handle abstract

thought or chaotic situations, which happen often in the classes I mentioned.

The most important part of writing is to include data, both academic data
and behavioral data so that the discussion with the paper is supported with
data. This would be the place that I would include the information form MAPS
testing, attending data, and other test scores. I also would write about any
accommodations or technology that may help the student to achieve
academic success. This is the main reason why I wanted to be a special
education teacher. I want to help each student that I have a chance to work
with. I love to think of different programs or methods that I can do to help
students. I often include structured study hall or different note taking
strategies. I have been dealing a lot with programs and technology that
assists with text to speak and other apps. that help with writing. There are
many accommodations to help students stay organized and keep track of
things.
The next part of the IEP, which is directly related to the Present Level
of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, is the goals. The
district that I work at strives to set high goals. The students must push
themselves and the ultimate objective is to get each student to rejoin the
regular education classroom. Goals must be measurable by a research based
testing method. I set high goals but also keep in mind the fine line between
challenging and frustration. It has been my experience that many students in
the special education department have a predisposition against school. Many
students simply have been frustrated to point where they hate school. One
of my main goals as a teacher is to change this attitude. I never want
student to feel so frustrated that they doubt themselves and give-up. Some
examples of IEP goals would be things such as; write a five sentence on topic
paragraph, increase reading fluency to 80%, and keep major behavior
infractions under two for month. I always try to limit the number of goals.
The goals must be student specific and be things that will help the student to
achieve academic success.
The next part of the IEP explains what the student will do to attain the
goals and what the special education teacher/school will do to help the given
student. I try to keep these things as simple and effective as possible. There
is a component about short term benchmarks and goals. These are required
for each annual goal and is basically showing the steps that being taken to
reach the desired outcome. I relate this to progress monitoring or a progress
report. Benchmarks are similar to a checklist of things that must be
completed. The IEP then moves to showing how these benchmarks and goal
are being or will be met. It shows when goals are reached and describes
whether goals are or are not being met. I make sure to inform parents when
benchmarks are reached or if I see that we are not making progress or we
feel that we are spinning our wheels. I try to write IEPs that give me

options so that I can make minor changes without having an entire new
meeting. Progress must be monitored through state, school, and other tests.
I make sure never mention any topic that is objective. I do not want any
objectivity in the IEP. This is a legal document and is not opinion, it must be
something that is measurable and cut and dry. The goal is attained or the
goal is not attained. This way I can provide the student services to improve
academic success while legally showing that I am doing this. If the IEP is not
measurable, someone could say that the services are not being provided and
the school or myself could get sued.
The IEP provides specific accommodations that need to be provided
during high stakes testing. I write in extra time for students in on these high
stakes testing and also extra breaks, along with others. This provides a
safety net for the student to achieve as high as he or she possibly can. I
think that high stakes testing must be a complete nightmare for special
education students. The tests encompass everything that causes trouble for
most special education students. I want the students to feel as comfortable
as possible with tests since they will have to deal with them throughout their
academic careers.
The next part of the IEP is a state of transition service needs which is
getting students ready be successful beyond the IEP. This is a point that hits
home with me and actually something that I keep in mind while am writing
the annual goals and working with the student. When the student leaves me,
what will help him or her to have a happy and successful life. I think that is
the main goal of education. Teachers need to give students the tools and
knowledge needed to have achievements in the future. The transition service
statement starts for older students, at age 14, so I do not include them. I still
remain cognizant of them.
The last part of the IEP is the summary of services, placement, and
participation in activities in and out of the classroom. I include things like
field trips in this part since I have learned that many students may need
extra support on field trips. I also feel extremely passionate about the Least
Restrictive Environment aspect of placement. I think those words extreme
weight least restrictive environment, there should be no restrictions on a
students education. It is my opinion that pulling students from regular
education classes of their peers is putting heavy restrictions on their learning
environment. I cant imagine how special education students must have felt
when it was considered best practice to pull them out classes completely.
They must have felt isolated, ostracized, and labeled. It would have to come
with a stigma and would guess the education experience would have been
difficult. I want students to be included as much as possible. I am a huge fan
of structured study hall, fifteen minute pull outs (after instruction), and other

things that promote special education students involvement in the regular

education classroom while providing services at other times. I think it great
that LRE has caused the special education teacher to move into the regular
education classroom with the student who needs to be provided the service. I
have had some great opportunities to work with regular education teachers.
If the students IEP is allows I also have gotten to team teach in the regular
education classroom.
There are many legal issues and laws that we must follow while
teaching special education so I make sure to follow all while writing the IEP. It
can be a daunting task when you consider how far reaching an IEP is. I also
had a hard time with the first IEP that I wrote since I had to take so many
different things into account. The IEP has to consider all the different laws,
what the student needs, what the parent wants, what the regular education
teacher may suggest, how technology fits in, and even more. I found that
one underling thing helps me in writing the IEP, keep it as simple as possible.
I found that keeping wording as simple as possible is always the best option.
I gives all parties involved the best chance at being successful.