Iep Reflective Report

These families may have moved to the United States from a foreign country and are unfamiliar with the education system or some may hold different values about education. Many families from different countries are not aware of the special education process and enter an IEP meeting expecting the usual parent-teacher conference and instead are overwhelmed by the large amount of professionals in one room. These parents could greatly benefit from receiving background information or watching a video explaining the process before attending their first IEP meeting (Lo, 2012).

IEP stands for an Individualized Education Program, it is a document, that was developed in conjunction with the parent/guardian, is an individually tailored statement describing an educational plan for each learner with exceptionalities There are five major points that are to address the present level of academic functioning personnel as present level of performance, annual goals and accompanying instructional objectives, educational services to be proved, the degree to which the pupil will be able to participate in general education programs, and plans for initiating services and length of services and length

As in any research based program there are benefits and challenges. One of the biggest benefits of RTI is it has the ability to transform how we educate all students. When implementing Response to Intervention it helps to treat learning disabilities, identifies students with disabilities, classifies every student’s strengths and targets the specific disability. Perhaps the greatest benefit of an RTI approach is that it eliminates a “wait to fail” situation because students get help promptly within the general education setting. As soon as assessment data indicates a problem area for a student, interventions are put into place to address these concerns. One of the biggest challenges that are occurring is that RTI is still uneven; some districts use it and some do not and because of this it becomes a challenge. There is confusion as to what RTI is and whether schools are required to use. In addition, the evidence based and differentiated instruction is one of the issues in response to education. “Interventions that are research based but not feasible are not likely to be implemented with fidelity, which would undercut the validity of RTI decision making” (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2010,

One of the two requirements from indicator 13 that is missing is the teacher did not inviting Lisette to her own IEP meeting. The teacher mentioned that the reason for not inviting Lisette was because she knew basketball practice. Regardless, indicatory 7 states that the students must be invited to their own IEP meeting where transition plans will be talked about. Their must be proof that an attempt was made to invite the student to attend the IEP transition meeting. If I was the facilitator of the meeting I would try to make an arrangement that worked with everyone schedule involved and also Lisettes. Having the student involved at the IEP transition planning is important, because there are discussions about her future and plans

This three-tier RTI system is wonderful at the early stages of education because it allows teachers to identify at-risk students and move them through the intervention process. However, in the later stages, it is often too late to evaluate students for learning disabilities as these should have been recognized early on in a child’s education. It should be noted that students at this stage do still need interventions, but in a different format.

In the American system the curriculum serves 5, 000 students and more than 20 countries and we need to review and look at the IEP process. The question that has spark concerns is to look at students direct IEP and how we can look to evaluate it? How students benefits from an IEP and what would be the first logical steps to change the process. We have a mixture of students who are not all English speaking students from all backgrounds and have some disabilities. I’m not here to complain about the teachers in your system, you have wonderful teachers who capture student’s interest and encourage students learning. But we are here to address the IEP’s process issue.

As a special education teacher I am involved in numerous meetings, in some of those meetings I have noticed that words, cultures and back grounds can impact the tone and outcome of the meeting. For some parents meeting with a room full of teachers can be intimidating. All too often the meeting consists of educated, white females. I am often the first African American teacher the student or parents have had interactions with. I can remember sitting in an IEP meeting for an hour when everyone had left the room besides me and the parent, I asked again if she had any questions or concerns. The parent asked, “What does all this mean for my child?” This parent sat in a meeting for an hour and had no idea what was being said nor did she feel comfortable

On Monday, September 25th, I was invited to sit in as the general education teacher in an IEP team meeting. The meeting was held for a student with down syndrome, identified at birth, who qualified for services under the category of intellectually disabled. This student is in a self-contained classroom, therefore, his current teacher, served as the special education teacher for the purposes of this meeting. Meeting participants included: Mrs. Fields (ARC Advocate), Dr. Neiman (Main speech therapist, participated over the phone), Mrs. Bennett (LEA representative), Mrs. Diggs (ACS EC Director, as a precaution because the parents expressed concerns for the education of their child), Mrs. Sikes (General Education Teacher), Mrs. Bernard

Next the webinar described the steps taken by the school district to ensure participation in the IEP meeting. The individual components of the IEP were described. Finally Extended School Year (ESY) and the reevaluation process was described in the webinar.

“The IEP, Individualized Education Program, is a document that is developed for each public school child who is eligible for special education” The IEP describes how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively. When developing an IEP the team will consider how their students specific disability affects their learning and come up with goals and objectives that will accommodate those needs and place the student in the least restrictive environment to achieve the goals and

Although knowledge provided by textbooks is essential, being able to receive advice from someone whose daily life is spent teaching and interacting with students with exceptionalities is also very valuable. When I asked for advice that would be helpful for new teachers who will work with students with special needs, I received a plethora of suggestions. Ms. Moos said that a new teacher needs to have high expectations for all students, including those with exceptionalities. She also said that it is important to keep in contact with special education teachers and the students’ parents. The one piece of advice that stood out to me was to no believe everything within an IEP. Ms. Moos said this with caution. She noted that the information provided within an IEP is important and useful, but if not read with proper thoughtfulness one may understand the student differently than they may be. To combat such a situation, Ms. Moos, first, recommended that we get to know the student first before we judge them based on their IEP. She also suggested that the circumstances in which the parts of the IEP were based on may be different than circumstances a student could currently be in. This piece of advice, along with tips, gave me a new perspective on approaching an IEP.

RtI works at its best when personal from across the school, including administrators, general education teachers, special education teachers, supplemental specialists, music and gym teachers, and counselors all collaborate to support the framework, because each staff member shares equal responsibility for the success and failure of all students (Shapiro 2011). RtI needs the full support of all staff members, because it does not show immediate results and could take between 3-5 years to see its positive impact. RtI gives schools the chance to correct literacy issues, and fix the problem early, before students’ progress forward where they pay for it long into their future.

On September 18, 2017, I received the opportunity to observe a triennial IEP meeting for B.T., a 13-year old male who attended the 8th grade at Northern California Preparatory, a non-public school. The IEP meeting consisted of a few key members such as the program specialist, a representative-special education teacher, school psychologist, B.T. and his parent, their advocate, and another member of the school. The reason for this meeting was to reevaluate the student’s special education placement and if B.T. could transfer back to a public school.

Task 5 Outline the role and purpose of IEPs, and the importance of the multidisciplinary team in devising Individual Educational Plans. The purpose of the general educator's role on the IEP team is to get accurate, reliable data on the student's behaviour and progress toward meeting her annual goals. The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. An IEP should be a detailed plan of action, a tool for communication and collaboration, a record of progress and a framework for decision making.

While working in a school setting, I’ve worked with many different students. Upon working with these students, I have noticed that many of them have different psychological, physical, and social experiences because of their diagnoses. Many of the students receive Individualized Education Programs (IEP) to assist them within the classrooms. Depending upon the progress within the modifications made, many students receive more assistance through positive behavior support plans. Within my experience in urban settings, I noticed that many students with IEP plans or behavioral issues are easily diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Due to cultural, lifestyle, and value differences many students with behavioral problems have