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Assessment
IEPs
Assessment for Developing Standards-based IEPs
Multiple Choice
Attention: ONLINE RESPONDING IS DISABLED
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1.
What does it mean to have an IEP that is ´legally correct´ and ´educationally useful´?
example:
IEPs must be both legally correct and educationally useful. To be
legally correct
, an IEP must have been developed according to IDEA regulations, that is, the appropriate team members must be present at an IEP meeting, the IEP team must create PLOPs, goals and objectives that are measurable, and design individualized special education and related services that address a child´s unique needs.
Educationally useful
IEPs are just that: they are useful to parents, teachers, and students. They are clearly written so that it is readily apparent to anyone who reads the IEP what services will be provided to the child and what goals and objectives the child´s individually designed instruction will address.
Neither legally correct nor educationally useful IEPs alone will suffice. Legal correctness of the IEP is not by itself sufficient to guarantee FAPE. That IEP also has to be implemented and effective in the real world. It is also possible that a child could be receiving an educationally adequate program and yet not be receiving FAPE because vital legal requirements had not been met. For example, if parents are not allowed to participate fully in developing the IEP, then FAPE has been denied, even if the school personnel unilaterally developed an otherwise adequate program (
Rowley, Hall
). This, too, can be said concisely - IEPs must be both
procedurally
and
substantively
sufficient in order to provide FAPE.
2.
What are parents´ roles and responsibilities in regard to IDEA and IEPs?
example:
Parents are team members and ´equal participants´ with school personnel in decision-making about their child. When a parent first suspects his or her child might have a disability, the parent may initiate a referral for evaluation of the child. If the district refuses to perform the evaluation, the parent may request mediation, file a complaint with the state education agency, or request a hearing to compel the evaluation. If the parent disagrees with an evaluation done by the district, the parent is entitled to an independent evaluation of the child at public expense. The district may avoid paying for the independent evaluation only by going to a hearing and proving its own evaluation was appropriate.
The parent is a member of the team which determines, based on the evaluation, whether the child is IDEA eligible. Parents are able to contribute valuable information about their child´s developmental history, learning outside of school, and other such personal information to which the school may not have access through their evaluation. Some parents want the child to be found eligible because of what they perceive to be the benefits; other parents want to avoid eligibility. Interestingly, district personnel also frequently lean strongly one way or the other, for a variety of reasons.
If the student is IDEA eligible, the next step is IEP development, of course with full parent participation. After the IEP is completed, the placement decision should be made, again with the parent as a full and equal participant.
When a special education student is involved in misconduct that could result in more than 10 days of suspension, the IEP team must conduct a "manifestation determination" (MD) to ascertain whether the disability was related to the misconduct. This is one of the most important times for full and knowledgeable parent participation because the outcome of the MD meeting can greatly affect the child´s status and opportunity to continue to attend school. In some states parents are not even invited to participate in the MD meetings and in others, the parents have little voice in the MD decision. All parents should know that the IEP team, of which they are full members, conducts the MD.
The parent also has a right, as does the district, to request mediation or a hearing over any disputed matter related to identification, evaluation, program or placement of the child. The parent may also file a complaint with the state education agency.
3.
I know the IEP has to provide a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) for the child, but how do I know whether or not it does that?
example:
From the day IDEA first became law, one of the most important issues has been ´What
is
this free appropriate public education (FAPE) that we must provide to every child who has a disability?´ IDEA itself defines FAPE as:
Special education and related services
that-
(A) have been provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge;
(B) meet the standards of the State educational agency;
(C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or secondary school education in the State involved; and
(D) are provided in conformity with the individualized education program required under section 1414(d) of this title. (20 U.S.C. §1401(8))
To paraphrase the U.S. Supreme Court in
Rowly
and scores of lower court decisions, FAPE means:
An
individualized
program (IEP) addressing all the child´s unique education needs, which is
Reasonably calculated to allow the child to receive
educational benefit,
and which is
Developed and implemented in
compliance
with the procedural requirements of IDEA.
