Katie: My IEP Pet Peeves

I…E...P…dundundun! These are three often intimidating letters for students, parents, and (new) teachers. IEPs are supposed to help our students make individual gains. However, I am starting to find that many schools’ faculty are creating and implementing these individualized tools for an assortment of inappropriate reasons.

Through my coursework (which included a class called IFSP/IEP Development for Young Children) I have learned that IEPs are to follow some general rules:

• Goals should be developed for Tier III needs (those that require specific systematic intervention).
• Skills that are newly introduced in the general curriculum or skills that same-age peers may struggle with due to age appropriate difficulties should not be targeted unless specific adaptations and modifications will be used in intervention. 
• Goals should follow a logical sequence according to the hierarchical manner in which they are to be learned.
• Goals should aim to assist students in their academic, social, and functional skills as appropriately needed.
• Parents should be involved with development and decision making and must be able to understand what is on the IEP.
• Goals should be INDIVIDUALIZED.

However, I have recently seen (and argued against) IEP goals that included:

• Skills that are targeted, and still being learned, in the general curriculum. Example: a three-year-old using scissors in a thumbs-up position to cut out a circle/curved line (all of my kiddos, typical peers and those with autism, are still not mastering this one).
• Goals that aim far beyond the sequential learning process and are not individualized to the student’s needs. Example: expecting a nonverbal child to use words to communicate (gestures/pictures/word approximations/assistive technology tools NOT allowed) and no “plan” to get the child to suddenly, magically speak.
• Goals that are not functional to the child’s needs relevant to his or her diagnosis. Example: a three-year-old with autism is expected to carry a tray, yet there is no goal for interacting with others.
• Parents who have no idea what an IEP is (handing them “Whose IDEA is it Anyway” does not guarantee a clear understanding).
• Parents who are expected to just sit, listen, and comply . . . don’t ask questions, there’s no time.
• IEPs/goals that are blatantly copied and pasted from other students’ IEPs (PLEASE do NOT white out a name and WRITE in the “new” student’s name).

These flaws in the IEP process make me cringe! I know that IEPs are time consuming. I know it’s difficult to write them when you don’t have a clear picture of where the student is in his or her development. I know it can be difficult to think of “what’s the next step.” I know that it’s sometimes difficult to communicate effectively with parents.

I know it’s hard, trust me! BUT I can not know what it’s like to cast aside such an important tool with wonderful intentions. Special education means special services delivered by special people (who are some of the most overloaded, underpaid, stressed-out people, too). If you don’t love what you do, then don’t do it. If you are burnt out or unclear of the “rules,” ask for help. Please don’t take it out on the students you are meant to be helping (even when it’s unintentional).

I’m not the best goal writer, and I’m not always sure what’s next for my student’s targeted skills. But I will definitely try my best to ensure that each student has individualized and meaningful goals and that their parents (because my kiddos themselves aren’t involved yet) are part of the process, understanding every step along the way.

P.S. Regarding my last entry: I definitely felt like a professional last week during an IEP meeting! I advocated for my student, his mother, and my center by speaking up and ensuring that the goals were what WE wanted and needed. Still lots to learn, but I’m making AP (adequate progress)! I’ll have an “M” for mastery by my Professionalism Goal soon enough!

Comments

[JimmiLynn]

Katie,
Thank you for identifying some of the major issues seen throughout the Special Education world. It is good to know that others see similar issues, although we try desperately to make sure that all IEPs are very individualized, I think that sometimes the easier route is chosen. It is very reassuring that people advocate more and more for their students needs.

[Betsy anderson]

Katie, it was great to read what really should be apart of an IEP. I teach in New Zealand, though I am an American. Your pre-school sounds interesting. I wish our Autistic kids were able to choose a program like yours. Autistic students in NZ are fully immersed in regular education classes. They receive very little government support, so general ed teachers, like myself, are completely responsible for them. Administering IEP's is tough when you have to do it alone.

[Katrina Lastinger]

Actually all the paperwork in the special education field is what kept me from getting my degree in this area to begin with. I was a SPED para for four years and said I would never major in Special Education because of all the paper work. After teaching inclusion and loving the interaction and seeing their accomplishments, I decided to get my Masters in Special Education. I Love these kids and would do any amount of paper work to continue working with them.

[Nicole Roach]

I have been in the special education field for approximately thirteen years. Throughout my teaching experience and my experience writing IEP's, I can say that it is a very difficult task to complete an IEP correctly. Since the forms are constantly changing, codes and labels change, not to mention any changes in programming that legislation pushes through. Personally, I feel that as soon as I can award myself the "M" for mastered, changes are made in one way or another and the learning process begins again. Being a teacher is a task of always being a learner. When it comes to creating a good IEP, remember that it is only good until change is needed.

[Lauren]

While student's IEPs should be inividualized-- it is difficult to teach a class of 5 or even an inclusion student in a class of 25 (where 10 students may have an IEP)-- where all students may have completely different IEP goals/objectives requiring different sets of data collection. Lesson "plans" are required to be matched to student goals/objectives (not just the state standards). If students are working on the same skill, it may make sense for some goals/objectives to be "copy and pasted" (i.e. writing a sentence, a paragraph, etc.---)so as to best match curriculum to all students in class.

[Penny]

I gave up on public school because of a lot of the problems getting appropriate goals and objectives into the IEP and am homeschooling my child w/ special needs.

Sadly, I just learned that our state CEC group discriminates against homeschoolers -- children must have an *active IEP* in order to qualify for a campership. Does the CEC discriminate against homeschoolers or is it just our state chapter?

[Michele]

Katie-
Thank you for "spelling out" what should "really" be included in an IEP and what you should look for. I am currently in my second year of teaching and was kind of thrown into the mix last year. Within a month of teaching, my first year remind you, I was asked to come up with goals and objectives of a child I just met. I had no clue what to do or where to go. I was given a thick book and told to look through the sixth grade curriculum and pick objectives for the student. I did what I was told but did not agree with it. Fortunately this year we have new people that are helping with the IEP's and paperwork. However, I still see a lot of glitches that I hope are fixed in years to come. Thank you for your help and insite and for information that I will keep in mind when doing my next IEP.

[Christine Guenette]

Katie,
I completely agree with you. Although I am not officially teaching yet, I have seen MANY "cookie cutter" IEP's generated. A few of them even had a childs' name written over a whited-out name! With that being said, I totally concur that if a teacher is burnt out, or just tired of the profession, they should resign; our children are too important for this apathetic behavior!

[Crystal]

Katie-

I really enjoyed reading you blog. I am a new teacher and I started in the middle of the year. I think a lot of my colleagues forgot that I was new and weren't willing to help with my questions pertaining to IEP's. It was nice to read what you said about the IEP's and the items that continue to frustrat or confuse you. I look forward to reading more of your blogs. Thanks!

[Taeja]

I am noticing that my clients who have IEP's do not necessarily have behavior intervention plans included; if they do, they are certainly not complete. I feel that this may be due to lack of experience in creating behavioral goals and interventions. Have any of you experienced this with your students? How did you handle the situation?

[Kelly Studnicki]

Dear Katie,
I was really excited to read your blog. I am a second year elementary teacher at a small Catholic school where there is not a special education department let alone a special education teacher. I decided to get my Masters in Special Education to help benefit the school. In my undergraduate studies I was introduced to IEPs briefly, but never had formal in depth training. Now at this school we are not allowed to have IEPs, however we do have Instructional Support Team (IST) which helps to accommodate the student’s learning. The IST meets once every three month to review and revise the accommodations. This includes the teacher, the principal, an IU representative, and the parent. After the meeting the teacher is given a list of accommodations for the student. There are little individualized requirements, so upon reading you posting, I realized that this help may be the least we could do. I was really happy to learn from you posting that the students were to be helped on an individualized level, not generally. As this masters program continues, I hope that I will learn the correct use of IEPs and be able to better accommodate the individual students that I teach. Good Luck.

[Stacy Russell]

Katie,
Thank you for pointing out general rules for IEP writing. I am returning to teaching after years of staying home with my children. I am currently working on a Masters in Special Education ( I have a BS in special education) and am viewing IEP's in a new light. My youngest son has an IEP for speech and is currently receiving Tier II services. Up until the last meeting, it seemed I did not say more than 20 words in the meeting. The last meeting, I made sure my feelings and actions I would like to see were listened to.

[Angie Clarke]

I am a general education teacher currently working on a masters in special education. I found your blog on IEPs to be very intersting. This is an area that I feel I don't have adequate training on so far. I am hoping that it will be covered more in depth in one or more of my courses. Writing a good IEP takes time and practice. As a busy teacher this can be challenging and overwhelming. Have you found ways to streamline the process and still maintain the general rules that you listed?

[Katie Woodburn]

Miss N, thank you for your support and your advocacy for parents and children (we need more positive advocates like you!)
Ted, I appreciate your concern and advice. For me things are a bit different because I am a teacher at a private Autism Scholarship provider preschool. So, I don't necessarily have an administration to please or get support from. Parents have the right to choose to send their child to my preschool, and I am able to act as an advocate for them and their child when we go to IEP meetings in their home school district. This, I think, makes it easier for me to "rock the boat" and stand up for what I know is right regarding the education of my students and development and implementation of their IEPs.
I agree with Murray that we should not allow administrators interests to take precedence over the needs of our students and the best practices that will ensure proper procedures and intervention. I think that many of us can agree that administrators often have a misunderstanding of special education and IEPs, have busy schedules that lead to rushed meetings, and may sometimes have priorities that are not focused on the success of our students, but rather have a lack of knowledge in the process or selfishly based priorities.
The topics that I addressed in this blog are things that should be implemented regardless of child need AND administrative preference. These areas that I am concerned about are things that we in the special education field may be slacking on- though they are things that should NEVER be compromised.

[Murray Fleckner]

The moment you allow the interests of an administrator supercede the needs of the child you officially become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

[Tedmauro]

Please be careful in your advocacy- I have looked at the effects of challenging school systems too early in a person’s tenure as a teacher and see data that suggest that it lowers administrative support for new teachers. Pick your battles carefully and think of the long term interest of yourself and the program (plus the parents and student's long term interest.) Advocacy is important however; your ability to work with administrators and general educators is a major factor in the long-term support of program effectiveness as well as your long term happiness. Advocacy is a marathon not a sprint- programs and teachers next several years to build the ground support needed to reach peak program efficiency. Do not lose your ADM trust because you will need it to implement programs and instruction that can make all the difference-remember you don’t want to rock the boat you want to MAYBE change its course!

[Miss N]

Bravo Katie...I went to school twice to teach children with special needs..first as a speech therapist and then a MS Ed, LD, EE, and after two years tired quickly fighting my own administrations to do the right thing. I can spot a drop down menu written IEP in 5 seconds. If you write your IEP based on results of evaluation and performance (PLEP) and forget about the drop down menu, your kiddos will succeed. And don't forget to include: Given direct instruction or whatever method will be used that is different than the norm as the first piece of your short term objectives!!! I now work as an advocate for parents and children that do not get what they need in the system. Bless you for doing what you do.