Learn about the IEP process by clicking Special Education and IEPs (https://www.ecac-parentcenter.org/parent-training-info-center/special-education-and-ieps/)Links to an external site.. There you will find information on the special education process, an IEP checklist, and IEP tips and tools. Individualized educational programs (IEPs) are legal documents designed to ensure that students with disabilities who are age 3 to 21 receive special education and related services appropriate to their needs. IDEA requires specific guidelines regarding the content and management of all IEPs. Below is a case study for your consideration followed by some questions for you to consider.The Debate Special education teachers spend many hours creating and documenting progress on each students Individualized Education Program. This is in addition to the lesson planning and everyday paperwork every teacher must keep. Many teachers in special education feel that this paperwork takes too much time away from instruction. As you read this case study think about why IDEA requires the different components to each IEP and why this is important for students, teachers, and parents.The Case Mrs. Taylor, a seasoned special education teacher, views the development of the Individual
Education Program (1EP) as routine and cumbersome. She encounters a situation that requires her to focus, once again, on the true intent of an IEP.
Mrs. Taylor has taught special education for over fifteen years. The last ten of these have been at the middle school level. She is a skilled classroom teacher, has a motivating classroom environment, and provides quality direct instruction to her students. Mrs. Taylor likes to focus her efforts on what is going on inside the classroom. Given her experience, she has developed an instinct about what students know and need. She creates instructional experiences to meet these needs. Mrs. Taylors teaching peers consider her a good teacher.
Recently, she told a colleague that she must have attended literally hundreds of IEP meetings and written just about as many IEP documents. These things take away too much of my time from the classroom, she mused. In fact, I call them Individualized Extra Paperwork, if you know what I mean. I’ve been teaching long enough to be able to tell you what a student can do or needs. I don’t need fourteen pages to tell me. Besides, who really reads these anymore or even cares?
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Because it was now spring semester, it was time for Mrs. Taylor to prepare once again for the annual IEP meetings for her twelve students. During her preparation period, she pulls the IEP documents out of her file cabinet and begins to scan through them. She nods her head as she notes that many of her students have made gains on the identified goals on the IEP’s. She pulls out her triplicate forms and begins to write the new IEP’s in preparation for the upcoming meetings. She uses a sort of generic list of IEP goals and objectives that address general reading, written language and mathematics areas. She addresses letters to the parents, informing them of a specific meeting date and time for the upcoming meetings.
Mrs. Taylor doesn’t notice as one of her sixth-grade students, Sandra, enters the classroom unexpectedly. “What are you doing, Mrs. T? she asks. “Oh, paperwork stuff. You know those extra things teachers have to do,” Mrs. Taylor responds. As Sandra leans towards Mrs. Taylor, she notices her name across the top of the scattered paperwork. She observes, “Well, it looks like this paperwork is about me, isn’t it? What’s it about?”
“It’s about your annual IEP and setting up a meeting to discuss it. You know we have a meeting once a year with your parents to talk about what you did on the areas we put on the paperwork. We also talk about things we’re going to do next year,” Mrs. Taylor answers.
“Oh, that’s what it’s called. I never really knew. My mom says those meetings are pretty boring and nothing different really happens anyway. She says it’s the same old stuff and everyone just talks at her. She told my dad she doesn’t know what those papers say, either. That’s why she never comes, you know. Is that why I’m in still special ed, because I don’t pass my paperwork? Can I come to the meeting?” Sandra queries.
Mrs. Taylor pauses thoughtfully. Her students weren’t usually so inquisitive or eager to participate. It was apparent to her she’d become too mechanical in the way she approached IEP development and annual reviews.
After reading the case study, answer the following questions
