INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN

Special education and the usage of individual education plans

CAROLINE CHENG writer

Fremont Union High School District offers students the opportunity for an Individual Education Program. An IEP is one of the many special education options in the district, which is guided by national legislation called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. If a school has tried different changes in general education and they have been ineffective, the student will be referred for a special education assessment to receive an IEP. Parents can also request an assessment at any time.

The next step would be the assessment plan, which notes areas where the student will be evaluated. However, the district may also decline to assess with reasons given, which the parents can appeal. The AP may include, but is not limited to, areas of academic achievement, health, intellectual development, language and speech communication, perceptual Motor Development, social emotional, adaptive/behavior and post-secondary. Staff or service providers use standardized tests to assess the areas of concern in an initial IEP.

Cupertino High School’s Lead Resource Specialists, Angelica de Koning and Leslie Soto, test and evaluate students for an initial IEP and support the transition for other students transferring in with an IEP.

“The assessment plan [...] in - cludes all suspected areas of concerns,” said de Koning in an email interview. “In some cases, parents provide insight into potential areas in addition to the areas identified by staff at the school.”

Within 60 days of receiving the signed Assessment Plan, all assessments will be completed, and an IEP meeting will be held to discuss the student’s eligibility. The AP itself can adapt throughout the assessment window. With parental consent, the resource specialist team working on the plan can add new areas needing assessment or some areas needing more in-depth testing.

“The assessment process is very thorough and comprehensive,” said de Koning. At the same time, it continues to improve. “The assessment tools change every few years as new assessment tools develop.”

If the student is eligible, the team will develop the IEP. An IEP will include specific goals to address the student’s needs, and services to support those goals.

“The most common accommodations involve extended time and testing in an alternate setting. However, there are many accommodations based on student needs including providing visuals, graphic organizers, checks for understanding, presenting information verbally and in writing, word processing, audio books and preferential seating. Accommodations are always based on the needs identified in the assessment of the student,” said de Koning.

The resource specialist team reevaluates students with existing IEPs every three years, but also takes many other factors into consideration.

“Present levels of student performance and classroom observation are important areas of the process. Teacher feedback is critical, so it can be challenging when students are new or when it is the beginning of the school year to get adequate feedback,” said de Koning. “Student attendance can also affect this information, which can be tricky to untangle from academic classroom performance.”

Regarding the IEP, the process is in-depth and offers a wide range of support services. In addition to the IEP, Cupertino High School offers the 504 support plan and other academic interventions for students. Said de Koning, “our program supports a variety of learners”