IDEA and the IEP Process

.docx

School

Grand Canyon University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

200

Subject

Sociology

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

7

Uploaded by brittaniewaldrop

Report
1 IDEA and the IEP Process Aaron Leon Snell III Grand Canyon University, College of Education SPD-200: A Survey of Special Education: Mild to Moderate Disabilities Dr. Holly Love May 14, 2023 IDEA and the IEP Process The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA) is an essential piece of legislation when discussing Individualized Education Plans(IEPs) and the process by which they are established for individual students. Without it students with disabilities would not be entitled to the various accommodations and services guaranteed to them in IDEA. What follows is an overview of IDEA, the IEP process, and how the two work in synchronicity to provide students with disabilities all they need to succeed in school.
2 Individuals with Disabilities and Education Act (IDEA) IDEA is the current federal special education law. Put into place in 2004, it assures specific rights and safeguards to children with disabilities and their parents. (What’s the Big IDEA?, n.d.) There are six tenets that are the foundation on which special education services are designed. Of these six, four are especially important during the IEP process: appropriate evaluation, parent and student participation in decision making, procedural safeguards, and of course the individualized education program (IEP). Appropriate evaluation ensures that any evaluations done to determine a child’s need for special education services and accommodations includes current and pertinent information from multiple sources, and that the assessments are done by a team of evaluators who are specialists in the appropriate types of evaluations. (What’s the Big IDEA?, n.d.) IDEA also ensures that parents are full, equal participants in all aspects of their child’s special education program, including participating in all meetings, giving or withholding consent before any initial evaluations and consent before the release of any of their child’s information. Some of the procedural safeguards set in place by IDEA consist of a parents right to receive prior written notice regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of their child, requesting mediation and an impartial du process hearing, and participating in all decisions regarding their child’s education. Finally, the individualized education program (IEP) is the primary tenet of IDEA, referring to both a meeting and a legal document. The document is a written record of the IEP meeting where a team analyzes evaluations and present levels of performance to develop a program which will meet the students unique educational needs. (What’s the Big IDEA?, n.d.) Importance of Collaboration in the IEP Process
3 The Family-professional partnership, as defined in educational literature is an alliance in which families and education professionals confidently build on each other’s word, judgment, and wise actions ensure the maximum benefit for students and themselves. (Gershwin et al., 2022) Through this partnership, parents and students(at the high school level) are able to be part of the decision making process. That takes care of the family portion of the family-professional partnership, now for the professionals that are involved in the IEP process the number and type varies based on the student’s disabilities. There is the special education teacher and the principal at the meetings, but other professionals that may be present are numerous. There could be a behavior specialist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and even the school psychologist. If the child is not in a self-contained special education classroom, then their general education teacher will also be present. The specialists that are directly related to the child’s disabilities, the special/general education teacher(s), and the parent(s) are required to attend the IEP meetings. CEC Ethical Principles and Professional Practice Standards are essential to the IEP Process. They ensure the members of the IEP team are doing everything they can to ensure that the goals in the student’s IEP are within their ability to achieve, while also pushing them forward to reach new, higher goals. The ethical principles and standards also ensure that nothing in the IEP is harmful to the child. In essence, the ethical principles and standards keep everyone involved in the IEP process honest and focused on the child’s best interests. The IEP Process in Detail The process of getting a student an IEP is quite involved. First is the collection of information to determine the student’s performance level. In an effort to get to know the student, all records are collected, filed, and reviewed. These include medical reports, school
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
  • Access to all documents
  • Unlimited textbook solutions
  • 24/7 expert homework help