Mrs. Esperanza, a 3rd grade teacher at Arden Elementary School, and Mr. Wilson, the school's special education teacher, are conversing in the teacher's lounge. Mrs. Esperanza has taught 3rd grade for 10 years, and Mr. Wilson has just graduated from the local university. They are discussing Jamal's upcoming IEP meeting.
| Mr. Wilson: |
You know, this is my first real IEP meeting. I'm a little nervous about chairing the meeting. We learned about IDEA in my courses at the university, but it's not the same as having to actually run an IEP meeting.
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| Mrs. Esperanza: |
I'm sure you'll do fine. I've been through lots of these types of meetings, and I'll be there to support you. Jamal's parents are very nice people, and I'm sure they'll work with us to figure out a good program for Jamal.
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| Mr. Wilson: |
That's another thing. I know we have to write goals and objectives and decide on services, but what if Jamal's parents want some service that we can't provide or that's too expensive?
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If you were Mr. Wilson, would you have the same questions about IEP development? If you were Mrs. Esperanza, would you be able to answer his questions? The purpose of this module on IEPs is to provide you with the knowledge and skills to be able to develop legally correct and educationally useful IEPs. As you work through the five lessons in this module, you will learn what is legally required of school personnel in the IEP process. You will also learn about the roles and responsibilities of parents of children with disabilities, and you will learn how to write present levels of performance, annual goals, and objectives that are educationally useful as well as legally correct. By the time you have completed this module, you should be able to provide Mr. Wilson with some concrete suggestions about how to work in partnership with parents and other professionals to ensure that each child with a disability receives a free, appropriate public education.
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