Writing Meaningful IEPs
Deep Dive Master Class
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Session-by-Session Resources
Session 1 IEP worthy goals
- Optional Flipped Learning Activity
- Review the IEP Makeover Tips and Tools eBook and/or watch this video about a proven formula for writing IEPs from the Pre-K Teach & Play IEP toolkit.
- Identify from the eBook, the video, or real-life, an example of an IEP goal statement that you like, that confuses you, and/or that you aren't a fan of. Be ready to share your examples during the Zoom call.
- Listen to this Pre-K Teach and Play podcast episode on three types of sequences and why they matter when writing meaningful IEPs [link]
- Download and use this planning form as you see fit (before, during, and after each session).
Session 2 Difference, delay, or disability
- Optional Flipped Learning Activity
- Listen/read this Pre-K Teach & Play podcast about “what children really need” and take time to journal and/or reflect on any of the following prompts:
- Have you thought about wants and needs as different before?
- Can you tell the difference between a want and a need?
- How does knowing the difference serve you in identifying meaningful IEP goals?
- Review the handout titled “Disability, Delay, Disorder, Difference” and take time to journal and/or post to FB how confident you are in knowing the difference. If you feel confident, why and how much do you rely upon test results? If you don't feel confident, are you sure the etiology or “truth” really matters.
- Listen/read this Pre-K Teach & Play podcast about “what children really need” and take time to journal and/or reflect on any of the following prompts:
Session 3 Identifying accurate criteria
- Optional Flipped Learning Activity
- Review pages 4-6 and 10 of the IEP Makeover eBook [pdf]
- Read this blog and explore any of the hyperlinked references/resources.
- Take time to journal and/or reflect on any of the following prompts:
- Do you see a difference between the phrase progress and performance?
- Where are you, your team, your agency, and/or even state getting stuck when it comes to measuring children's performance on IEP goals and/or their response to intervention?
- What ways can we think more broadly about a child's performance other than using criteria such as 3/4 trials or as measured by X type of rubric?
- Read chapter on performance monitoring from our text, “Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach (this chapter is also hyperlinked in the performance vs. progress blog)
- Listen to the Pre-K Teach and Play podcast on the three types of sequences [link] – how does knowing about the sequences help us write more meaningful IEPs and think more clearly about the criteria we use?
Session 4 What to do when children struggle
- Optional Flipped Learning Activity
- Watch/listen to this video on how to identify patterns and trends to “peal” back and find what is really keeping a child from accessing, participating, and making progress [video]; for those who would rather read, here is the transcript [pdf]
- Explore any of these resources about the zig zag process [pdf]:
BONUS
All participants also receive access to my full Pre-K Teach & Play IEP Toolkit, which is an ECE Solutionary Member's Only resources. Note, some of you have these resources because you have the free version of the toolkit or they have been previously shared in our master class.
- Basic training video [YouTube]
- “Four Filters” printable [pdf]
- Can Do Planning printable [pdf]
- Zigzag printable [pdf]
- IEP Samples: A Google DRIVE document with sample IEP goals/objectives for preschoolers [DRIVE]
- Revised Goals and Objectives Rating Instrument [pdf]
- Dimensions of Behavior Unpacked [pdf]
- Tutorial on how to use the Can Do Planning form to identify priorities when developing IEPs [mp3]
- Disability – Delay – Disorder Guide [pdf]
- Free eBook – IEP Makeover Tips and Tools [pdf]
Other Recommended Resources on Writing IEPs:
- Enhancing the Quality of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Goals and Objectives by Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak and Dr. Diane Bricker – published in the Journal of Early Intervention
- Case Law Summaries – Prepared by Wrightslaw
- How to Develop Legally Correct and Educationally Useful Programs by Barbara Bateman
- The IEP Checklist Your Guide to Creating Meaningful and Compliant IEPs [pdf]
- Reclaiming the spirit of IEPs – by Janice Fialka [link]
- Sample IEP goals from “Making Preschool Inclusion Work” by Anne Marie Richardson-Gibbs and Diane Klein [twitter link]