Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Help GradStudent Understand IEPs Better (please!)

Hello,

I am a graduate student in Maine. I am studying to become a teacher. As part of a course on exceptional learners, I have an assignment to interview people about the IEP process. I would appreciate any insight people could give me by answering these 5 questions. Thanks for your help!

1. What has been your involvement with IEP meetings? How long have you
been involved with IEP meetings? Have you been involved with IEP meetings
at different schools or in different roles (IE social worker, teacher, parent,
etc.)?


2. How many others are involved with the IEP meetings you attend? What are
their respective roles in the child�s plan?

3. Is it usually clear which goals should be set in the IEP?

4. Does the IEP team generally agree on ideas that should be implemented for
the IEP? How are disagreements resolved?

5. Do you feel the IEP goals and their implementation are effective?

quote:
Individual Education Plan (IEP)
An IEP is a document that delineates special education services for special needs students. The IEP includes any modifications that are required in the regular classroom and any additional special programs or services. Federal law and the majority of states (including Texas) do not require IEPs for gifted learners.

end quote.

http://m.txgifted.org/gifted-glossary

Take a look here... http://wrightslaw.com/

Our family has participated in this process. What I've learned is that no matter what is agreed to and written down, it's up to the integrity of the teacher to follow through, and the parent to monitor if it is actually being followed through.

7 years as a parent


Anywhere from one to 11 - from the special ed chairperson to evaluators, speech therapists, occupational therapy specialists, teachers, and administration


No. Rarely are the goals of the parent, the specialists, the teachers, the administration and the evaluators all aligned in agreement.


No. They are resolved through long discussions and compromise, fact-finding, additional testing, specialist's reports, and far too often through either the threat of litigation or initiating litigation.


They can be when teachers are willing to follow through. When a teacher is combative, at least it gives the parents and the school recourse to require accomodations - but this often has to be weighed against the potential ramifications to the teacher/student relationship if the teacher becomes punitive.

When teachers believe there is a need and embrace the accommodations, it is a beautiful experience for all involved.

1. What has been your involvement with IEP meetings? How long have you been involved with IEP meetings? Have you been involved with IEP meetings at different schools or in different roles (IE social worker, teacher, parent, etc.)?

Parent and advocate (unpaid and unofficial, which is an important distinction), 7 years IEP and a few more years of gifted EPs (which in our district are technically not individual), four districts, nine schools.


2. How many others are involved with the IEP meetings you attend? What are their respective roles in the child’s plan?

I think IME the max was sixteen. Usually more like six to eight. Parent(s), classroom teacher(s), athletics coach, ESE teacher, case manager, LEA representative, assorted therapists, principal or vice principal, advocate, and occasionally, attorney(s).

3. Is it usually clear which goals should be set in the IEP?

One would think so. Sometimes. But IME, it's often the case that a couple of individuals each think it's clear, and they have conflicting opinions.

4. Does the IEP team generally agree on ideas that should be implemented for the IEP? How are disagreements resolved?

Not always. That having been said, even with disagreement it can still be respectful and productive. Sometimes disagreements are resolved through compromise, sometimes through one party or another deciding it's not the hill they want to die on, sometimes with a continuance, and sometimes with a lot of acrimony. Usually it doesn't require attorneys, but I've been a sort of "interested bystander" to one that ended up in court.

5. Do you feel the IEP goals and their implementation are effective?

They're as effective as the people involved want them to be. My biggest complaint about my child's district is that the goals almost never are measurable and specific, and there's never a plan progression. I don't think teachers are taught how to write effective interventions. FWIW, my background involves medical case management, and everything had to be specific. So that may be a source of my frustration with vague generalities like "student will decrease drawing in math class". (How much of a decrease? By when? And define decrease-- fewer pictures, less time spent? Or just smaller drawings? Are we talking about during instructional time or after she's finished her test and has nothing to do? What do we replace the behavior with?)



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1) Three years as parent advocate.

2) We've had several meetings with a horde of attendees, but we eventually figured out that those were not IEP meetings. The actual IEP meetings featured a select cast of characters: parents, the G/T teacher, and the principal or vice-principal. That's it.

3) It's clear to the school, because they control the process. It's absolutely unclear to the parents, and no attempt is made to make it so. The G/T IEP is a joke, because it's a cookie-cutter form, filled in with what their program is prepared to provide. It's a best-offer, take-it-or-leave-it situation.

4) No. Disagreements are not resolved. Parental input is ignored, though they are willing to schedule meetings where they smile at you and try to make you feel better about ignoring your input.

5) No. See above.

Something which may be important to note is that not all states/districts mandate gifted education under Exceptional Student Ed. So the administration's approach to gifted ed will vary from place to place. In my area, it is quasi-sorta-kinda ESE. Gifted students who are not otherwise exceptional have EPs. These are one-size-fits-very-few forms, rather than the (supposed-to-be) individualized ones mandated for kids with learning disabilities. So a meeting to finalized an EP is generally "here Mom, sign this" (like what has been mentioned above and previously), rather than a three-hour hash-out-the-details ordeal.