Resources on IEPs for Children with Disabilities

Resources Related to Individualized Education Program (IEP)

• News and information on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) is available from the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). (Outside Source).Topic briefs include a summary of all relevant statutory language around that topic, along with citations and cross-references to other related briefs when applicable.
• Individualized Education Program (IEP), Team Meetings and Changes to the IEP (PDF; Outside Source) explains changes in procedures for IEP meetings, including information about membership, attendance, and making changes to the IEP.
• A Guide to the Individualized Education Program (Outside Source)
  United States Department of Education guidance to assist educators, parents, and state and local educational agencies in implementing the requirements of Part B of the IDEA regarding IEPs .
• Standards-Based Individualized Education Program Examples (Outside Source; PDF)
  A seven-step process to be used in developing a standards-based IEP. Each step is followed by guiding questions for the IEP team to consider in making data-based decisions.
  • A Seven-Step Process to Creating Standards-based IEPs (Outside Source; PDF)
    This companion document provides the steps and guiding questions in a brief two-page document.

California

• Training on Writing IEP Based on State Standards (Updated 10-Mar-2009)
  Writing measurable annual goals and objectives in the IEP related to California Content Standards.
• Standards-Based Instruction: Could it Happen in Special Education? (Outside Source)
  In this archived WestED Web cast presentation, learn how special educators can implement standards-focused instruction and how appropriately written IEPs can support the attainment of grade-level standard skills. Includes information on how teachers can "unpack the standards" to drive instruction that will meet standards-based IEP goals.
• Learn to Connect Curriculum to the Standards Web cast Series (Outside Source)
  The eight six-hour sessions focus on important aspects of connecting special education curriculum to the California content standards including handouts and materials. This project funded by the CDE.
• California Standards Test (CST) Proficiency Charting Tool (Outside Source)
  Excel files can be downloaded and used to generate an English-Language Arts (ELA) California Standards Test (CST) chart for any California school or district.
• Standards-Based IEPs: Implementation in Selected States (PDF; Outside Source)
  Analysis of the most recent developments in some states that are implementing standards-based IEPs.
  

Resources Related to IDEA 2004

• Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities (Outside Source)
  Information, including research briefs and resources designed to improve instruction, assessment, and accountability for students with disabilities. The Tool Kit is intended to assist state personnel, schools, and families in their efforts to ensure that all students with disabilities receive a quality education.
• IDEA Parent Guide (Outside Source)
  This guide describes the special education process with special emphasis on the category of specific learning disability and includes parent perspectives, terms helpful to know, and practical materials for parents (e.g., checklists, sample letters, charts, and questions to ask). This guide produced by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD).
• Response to Intervention (RtI): Training for California Educators Web cast Series (Outside Source)
  Learn how to match high quality instruction to students’ needs and use rate of learning to make important educational decisions. Top educators from across the nation provide information on implementing a multi-tier RtI system aligned with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that is designed to improve child academic and behavioral outcomes including handouts and materials. This project funded by the CDE.

Federal Law and Regulations

• Final Part B Regulations of the IDEA (PDF, Outside Source)
  The official copy was published in the Federal Register on August 14, 2006.

California Issues

• Standardized Testing and Reporting Program: Approval of Revised Blueprints for the California Alternate Performance Assessment (Posted June 2006)
  • State Board Summary (DOC; 62KB; 4pp.)
  • Attachment 1 (PDF; 409KB; 12pp.)
  • Attachment 2 (PDF; 221KB; 16pp.)
  • Attachment 3 (PDF; 2583KB; 12pp.)
• California Modified Assessment, part of the STAR program, is an assessment based on modified achievement standards. The assessment will be operational in Spring of 2008 for grades 2-5. Test items for additional grades are currently being developed.

Federal Regulations, released on April 9, 2007, state that "there is a small group of students whose disability has precluded them from achieving grade-level proficiency and whose progress is such that they will not reach grade-level achievement standards in the same time frame as other students. Currently, these students must take either a grade-level assessment or an alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards. Neither of these options provides an accurate assessment of what these students know and can do. A grade-level assessment is too difficult and, therefore, does not provide data about a student's abilities or information that would be helpful to guide instruction. An alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards is too easy and is not intended to assess a student's achievement across the full range of grade-level content. Such an assessment, therefore would not provide teachers and parents with information to help these students progress toward grade-level achievement. "

The regulations further state that "modified academic achievement standards are challenging for eligible students, but are a less rigorous expectation of mastery of grade-level academic content standards. Notably, modified academic achievement standards must be based on a State's grade-level academic content standards for the grade in which an eligible student with disabilities is enrolled. In other words, a State's academic content standards are not what are modified. The expectations for whether a student has mastered those standards, however, may be less difficult than grade-level academic achievement standards."

The regulations also require that "IEPs include goals that are based on grade-level content standards and provide for monitoring of the students' progress in achieving those goals." These students are "not precluded from attempting to complete the requirements, as defined by the State, for a regular high school diploma."

Regulations further stipulate "that up to 2.0 percent (approximately 20 percent of students with disabilities) of the proficient and advanced scores from alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards may be included in calculating AYP. The full text of the Federal regulations can be found in the April 9, 2007edition of the Federal Register. (PDF; Outside Source)