The IEP Process

The IEP process brings together a team of people who are closely involved with the student to plan a programme to meet that student's needs.

The process is based on the basic teaching model of assessing, objective setting, teaching, monitoring, evaluating, re-assessing and further planning. It provides a systematic approach to programming for a student with special needs. (See diagram in the Photocopy Masters section.)

The core IEP team

Student

Contributes energy and information. Effective implementation of any plan depends on the involvement of the student. 

Parent/caregiver

Knows the student in a range of settings and situations. Often the parent is the first to notice small but significant changes in skills and behaviours. Sometimes professionals are concerned that parents may hold unrealistic expectations of their child's abilities, because students often demonstrate skills within the familiar surroundings of their home before they appear in the school setting.

Classroom teacher

Links the curriculum learning areas, essential skills and classroom programme to the abilities and characteristics of the individual student. The teacher orchestrates the overall planning and classroom programme, monitors student progress, and provides direction to the teacher aide, if there is one.

Key worker

This role may be held by any member of the IEP team who has key responsibility for the programme. The key worker:

• is crucial to the success of the process and programme
• provides the continuity between the IEP meetings and the implementation of the programme
• co-ordinates services across agencies and settings.

The wider IEP team

Family, whānau support

This may include kaumatua, whānau member, friend, relative or parent advocate.  These people will be chosen by the parents.

Other school personnel

May include the principal, assistant principal, teacher with responsibility for special needs and other subject teachers.

Specialist teacher

Such as a Resource Teacher of Students with Hearing Impairment, or the Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB). This person has specialist qualifications or expertise in assessment, programming and teaching strategies for students with special education needs. 

Specialist service provider

Includes Ministry of Education special education staff and other disability, rehabilitation and special needs specialists. They bring in-depth expertise in identification, assessment, programme planning, delivery and evaluation. Some have highly specific expertise in such services as assistive technology (equipment), and rehabilitation after brain injury. They also hold a key role in co-ordinating services across agencies and settings.

Therapist

Includes speech-language therapist, occupational therapist, and physiotherapist. Therapists will provide both hands-on therapies for students, and supervise others (such as parents, teacher aides) in implementing the programme. The key task for education therapists lies in assisting the student to overcome barriers to learning, rather than in achieving clinical outcomes.

Teacher aide

Supports the classroom teacher in implementing the student's programme. Interactions with the student include physical assistance eg, for personal care, and learning assistance such as providing cues and task organisation. The teacher aide does not have the training to develop individualised teaching strategies, nor to select appropriate learning objectives.

Gathering information

Assessment

Both the identification of students with special needs and the development of an appropriate programme for these students are dependent on sound assessment. The planning and assessment cycle will first occur at the school, syndicate, or class-wide levels, and will then concentrate on the student and on identified goals.

Two excellent sources of guidance and strategies for class-based planning and assessment are: Assessment: Policy into Practice and Planning for Assessment in English.

The key principles of assessment are:

• the purpose of the assessment will always be explicit
• the best interests and progress of the student will be paramount
• where possible, the assessment will be an integral part of the learning process
• assessment information will be shared with the student / family / whānau at the time of the event or as soon as possible afterwards
• assessment will take many forms, gather information from many contexts, and use a variety of methods according to the needs of the student and the specifics of what is being assessed
• assessments will be carried out only by those with the appropriate skills
• no single assessment procedure will be used as the sole means of identifying the needs of the student
• the forms of assessment will be appropriate and validated for the specific knowledge, skills, or attitudes to be assessed
• effective assessment takes into account diversity of belief systems and cultural expectations
• assessment, testing and evaluation materials will be provided in the student's primary language or mode of communication
• the assessment activity will be appropriate to the age and developmental level of the student
• the assessment activity will have credibility with all those involved.

Assessment strategies

There are plenty of standardised tests and screening tools and it may seem convenient to administer these to a student and base their programme on the results. However, tests alone do not give a comprehensive picture of the student's knowledge and skills, nor are they effective predictors of functional abilities.

Assessors will use a variety of tools and approaches to assess the student - here are some of the most useful:

• structured observations (in different settings)
• anecdotal records
• checklists
• interviews with the student and those closely involved
• formal, standardised tests
• curriculum-based assessment, directly derived from specific curriculum materials, using exemplars and rubrics
• ecological assessment (environmental)
• task analysis
• outcome-based assessment which is linked to teaching strategies
• assessment of learning style
• review of records, including school attendance
• portfolio of student's work.

This process will lead to a comprehensive educational programme for a student with special education needs. This will address their present and future needs and will be implemented during the following term.

Meeting together

Following assessment the team members meet to pool their knowledge and ideas and make decisions about the student's programme. Depending on the wishes of the parents this process can take different forms:

• a meeting of the core members of the team plus other members who will provide key information and skills and/or support for parents/student
• a meeting with the parents and student and the student's teacher or key worker who will bring information from other team members to share and discuss.

The parents should be consulted on the venue and time of the meeting. Venues could include:

• parents' home
• marae
• school
• community centre
• support person/friend/whānau/home.

Serious consideration should be given to including the student in all or part of the meetings whenever possible. Consideration should also be given to the existing commitments of school staff.

Effective IEP meetings have two main functions: task activities and people activities.

The task activities are those that ensure the work of the meeting is achieved. For the IEP meeting these:

• identify the present needs of the student in relation to the important aspects of their life
• identify the achievement objectives and specific learning outcomes that will address these needs
• allocate the roles and responsibilities for planning and implementing programmes to help the student achieve the outcomes
• set a review date where the programmes will be evaluated and further planning will take place.

The people activities of the meeting are those that help the group develop as a team with a common purpose. These:

• ensure everyone has a chance to speak
• ensure everyone understands and is understood
• value and respect all members of the team
• deal with differences of opinion and concerns.

It will be vital to the success of the meeting that team members leave feeling they and their contribution have been valued and included.

Roles and responsibilities

Facilitator/co-ordinator

It is helpful to have a facilitator. This may be a member of the team or another person who is not a member but has good facilitation skills. This should be decided by the team.

This person is responsible for ensuring the meeting achieves its aims within the agreed timeframe. They should also make necessary arrangements before the meeting such as notifying people, arranging the venue, refreshments and anything else that will facilitate a successful meeting. This may include distributing written reports, information about key tasks or purposes for meeting.

Recorder

The IEP plan is a record of the key information and decisions from the meeting. The person who keeps the notes needs to take responsibility for keeping an accurate record and making these available to the facilitator on the final form promptly after the meeting.  As a team member needs to record the programme details on the form following the meeting, it may be helpful if this is the person who keeps the notes.

A checklist of what content the meetings should include is given in the Photocopy Masters section.