Glossary of Acronyms:

2008-2009:
APPENDIX A

CASIa reading assessment tool used for students in grades 48.

Questions
If you have questions about SMART
IEPs, please contact your school
team: classroom teacher, Special
Education Resource Teacher, and/
or Administrator.

Resources
Please check out the following
resources for more information:

IEP Guide for Parents

(http://www.scdsb.on.ca/media/
files/about-us/publications/
IEPbroch%5F0903.pdf)
Special Education Advisory
Committee Members
(http://www.scdsb.on.ca/boardhighlights/board-committees/)
SCDSB Special Education Plan
(www.scdsb.on.ca)
Ministry of Educations guide to
IEPs (www.edu.gov.on.ca)
Ontario Curriculum documents
(www.edu.gov.on.ca)

IEPIndividual Education Plan

MODindicates that the expectation has been
modified from the Ontario Curriculum
PM Benchmark a reading assessment tool
used for students whose reading ability is at the
Kindergarten to Grade 3 level
PRIME Math a diagnostic math assessment
tool for number sense and numeration
SCDSBSimcoe County District School Board
SNC Strengths and Needs Committee
Glossary of Terms:
Accommodations: are the special teaching and
assessment strategies, human supports and/or
individualized equipment required to enable a
student to learn and demonstrate learning. Accommodations do not alter the provincial curriculum expectations for the grade.
Modifications: are changes made in the ageappropriate grade-level expectations for a subject or course in order to meet a students
strengths and needs.
SNC: a school-based on-going problem-solving
team. Through a collaborative process the team
provides strategies and assistance for supporting individual students. Core members participating in a SNC meeting may include: parents
(s) and/or student; principal or vice-principal;
classroom teacher; referring teacher (if different
from classroom teacher); SERT
Modified program: identifies subjects or courses
from the Ontario Curriculum in which the student
requires expectations that differ in some way
from the regular grade expectations.

2008/09

Alternative program: is developed to help students acquire knowledge and skills that are not
represented in the Ontario Curriculum. For example, social skills or personal care.

What makes an
Individual Education
Plan (IEP) SMART?
This pamphlet is designed to assist
parents in understanding the changes
to IEPs in the Simcoe County District
School Board.

SMART Individual Education Plans

WHAT IS AN IEP?
An IEP is a written plan describing the special education programs and/or services required by a particular student based on a thorough assessment of
the students strengths and needs that affect the
students ability to learn and demonstrate learning.
Source: SCDSB Special Education Plan, 2008/09

In 2007/08, the SCDSB introduced SMART

learning expectations to IEPs.
SMART learning expectations are:
Specific:

Specific expectations target areas of academic

achievement (e.g. literacy) or functional performance (e.g. social skills).
They include clear descriptions of the knowledge and skills that will be taught and how the
childs progress will be measured.
Learning expectations are individualized and
are created based on the assessed strengths
and needs of the student.

Measurable:

Measurable means you can count or observe it.

Measurable goals allow parents and teachers
to know how much progress the child has made
since the performance was last measured.

Action Words:

SMART expectations use words to describe

what the child will be able to do and how they
will demonstrate their learning.
Examples of action words: apply, explain, point

Realistic & Relevant:

The expectations outlined in a SMART IEP are

realistic for the child to be successful and are
relevant to the childs assessed learning
strengths and needs.

Time Limited:

Time limited expectations enable progress to

be monitored at regular intervals.
Expectations are usually written so they can be
achieved within one term or semester.

Examples of Annual Goals & SMART expectations:

ELEMENTS OF A SMART IEP:

1.

A s s es s ed s t r en gt hs a nd ne eds ar e a dd res s e d
t h ro ug hout t he d oc um ent .
2. A c c om m odat i o ns l i s t ed are i ndi vi dua l i z ed t o
m eet t he nee ds of t he l ea rne r.
3. C u rre nt l ev el of ac hi e vem e nt i s o bt ai ne d f r om
e i t he r t h e pr evi ous ye ar s re po rt c ar d and/ or
c u rr ent as s es sm ent dat a. T he s o urc e f o r t he
c u rr ent l e v el of ac h i e vem ent i s i d ent i f i ed.
4. T he an nua l p ro gr am goal i s o bs e rv abl e, m eas u ra bl e an d at t a i na bl e b y t he en d of t h e s c ho ol
y e ar/ s em es t er.
5. T he s pec i f i c l e ar ni n g e xpec t at i o ns br eak do wn
t h e a nn ual g oal i nt o ac hi ev a bl e s t e ps a nd ar e
wr i t t e n i n S MA RT f orm at .
6. T he n um ber of l e ar ni n g e xp ec t at i ons pe r s t ra nd
a nd/ or s u bj ec t s p ec i f i c pl an v ar y d ep end i n g on
t h e s t ren gt hs and n ee ds of t he s t ud ent . It has
b ee n rec om m end ed t o s c ho ol t eam s t hat c onc e nt rat i ng o n f e wer e xpec t at i ons at a t i m e wi l l
g en er al l y b e m or e s uc c es s fu l .
7. A s s es sm ent m et ho ds and t eac h i ng s t rat egi es
a re s p ec i f i c t o t he l ea rni ng e xp ec t at i ons .
8. A s s es sm ent m et hods ut i l i ze c om m on bo ar d as s es sm ent s ( e. g. P M B e nc hm ark s , CA S I , P RI ME
M at h, O nt a ri o Cu rri c ul um D oc um ent ru bri c s ,
O nt a ri o C ur ri c ul um e xem pla rs , et c . ) or what i s
m os t ap pr op ri at e (e. g. beha vi ou r t rac k i n g, wo rk
s am pl es , et c . )
9. T he i ni t i al I E P dev el o pm ent , as wel l as s ubs e q ue nt u pd at es , i s d on e i n co l l a bo rat i on wi t h t he
s c ho ol t e am an d pa re nt (s )/ s t ud ent .
1 0. T he I E P i s upd at ed eac h re po rt i n g pe ri od a nd
c h ang es are m ade i n c ol l ab or at i o n wi t h p ar ent
(s )/ s t ud ent . P ar ent s c an as k f or a n I E P re vi e w
b y c o nt ac t i n g t hei r s c hoo l te am .
1 1. I E P s are m ea nt t o be up dat ed o n an on goi ng
b as i s , bas e d on t h e s uc c es s of t he p l an. E xp ec t at i o ns wi l l c h an ge as pr og res s i s m eas u re d.
Please note: IEPs are individualized per student, therefore some
of these elements may not be relevant to your childs IEP.

Elementary Alternative Program

Annual Goal
In social skills, [student] will employ Stop, Think, Do, or a
similar technique at a rate of 7 out of 10 possible situations.
Learning Expectation
In social skills, [student] will demonstrate, through roleplaying, the Stop, Think, Do technique and employ it or a
similar technique at a rate of 4 out of 10 possibilities.

Secondary Modified Program

Annual Goal
In science, [student] will demonstrate improvement in her
ability to recall and communicate basic concepts, her inquiry
skills and her ability to relate science to the world outside the
school. [Science, Grade 10, AppliedModified]
Learning Expectation
[student] will demonstrate achievement of all of the Science
expectations relating to the topics of Chemical Reactions and
Weather systems as given in the curriculum document with
the following changes:
classify substances and acids, bases, or salts based on
names and formulae [characteristic properties not required];
Outline experimental procedures to answer questions
about acid-base neutralization reactions [formulation
questions not required];
List a variety of economic activities in Canada that are
affected by weather [rather than assess the impact of
weather on a variety of...]
(Science, Grade 10, Applied Modified)

High-Achieving/Gifted Students
Annual Goal:
Jonathan will complete 3 extension activities per term in math
Learning Expectations:
During the probability unit, Jonathan will design a game
that demonstrates equally likely outcomes.
During the numeration unit, Jonathan will access 5- 8
provided math websites (ie. National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives) and complete three activities per site,
and provide a description of each activity in his math
journal.
During the measurement unit, Jonathan will complete a
scaled 2-D or 3-D diagram of a chosen building
(ie.home, school, fort) .

Adapted from the Ministry of Education and Training, IEP Resrouce

Guide, 2004

Please note: these are only examples. SMART goals and

expectations will be different for each student.