IEP Intensive: Leveraging the IEP for Improved Teaching and Learning
Updated: Oct 6
Available as a Four-Day Institute by Carol Kosnitsky
Designing high-quality IEPs can be a daunting process with many moving parts.
This in-depth 4-day Institute will provide participants with all the tools needed to develop strong IEPs that “tell each student’s story” and emphasize effective use of data to monitor and report progress.
Participants will learn how to:
Collect and synthesize all data necessary to develop a plan
Develop relevant student profiles
including student strengths, the impact of the disability, and current performance levels
Utilize data to create measurable goals, monitor progress, and make data-driven instructional decisions
Align the IEP to grade-level standards
Increase engagement of students, parents, and teachers in the IEP process
Plan appropriate accommodations for instruction and assessment
Participants will actively reflect upon the IEPs they have written, make revisions, and practice the alignment process throughout the 4-day Institute.
This 4-day Institute will include the following modules (each also available separately):
Day 1: Write Present Levels: Telling the Right Story in the IEP
Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) provide the foundation for every effective IEP. This 1-day session will delve into the essential information necessary to inform a current and relevant PLAAFP. With a more intentional approach to collecting and analyzing input from key stakeholders and formal and informal data, IEP writers will have all the necessary information to describe the student’s strengths as well as how disability affects both involvement in the curriculum and the student’s needs. Equipped with this information, the PLAAFP can paint a picture of the necessary specially-designed instruction and supplementary aids and supports each student needs. Participants will review models and reflect upon their own IEPs and leave with a renewed enthusiasm to “tell the right story.”
Day 2: Write and Monitor IEP Goals: Taking FAPE across the Finish Line
Consider this: IEP goals are not about what you will teach the student; rather IEP goals are about what you will count in order to know if you’re teaching effectively. Based on this premise, participants will work through a systematic process to consider “the right tool” prior to developing a measurable goal. From baseline to performance criteria, participants will develop an effective and efficient progress monitoring plan on the front end, rather than on the tail end of goal writing. Participants will consider the tools necessary to expand their monitoring toolboxes, increase efficiency in collecting data, and, ultimately, improving communication with parents about their student’s progress.
Day 3: Standards-Based IEPs: Aligning Relevant IEP Goals
Let’s stop asking if students with disabilities can meet state standards. The more appropriate and empowering question is this: What will it take for the student to have meaningful engagement with the content? The possible answers are infinite. This not so subtle change in thinking is the key to creating IEPs designed to assure students with disabilities are involved and progressing in the general education curriculum. The session will provide a step-by-step “gap analysis” that will lead to aligning all students’ academic IEP goals to the Common Core or any other set of standards.
Day 4: Level the Playing Field: Writing Relevant and Feasible Accommodations
Accommodations are essential to ensure students with disabilities have access to the general education curriculum and become engaged and resourceful learners. There is a delicate balance between “leveling the playing field” for full access and not creating helpless learners. This session will focus on sound educational practices on the selection, implementation and monitoring of instructional and assessment accommodations.
Target Audience: special education teachers and administrators
