Special Education for School Age and Adolescents
During school age and adolescence, students receiving special education services from the school district are provided with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP (Individualized Education Program) is a document that outlines the specific special education services a student will receive. It is a plan that includes appropriate positive behavioral interventions and supports, educational strategies for the student, the services to be provided, and decisions about program modifications and supports.
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The IEP has two general purposes:
1) to establish measurable annual goals for the child; and (2) to state the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services that the public agency will provide to, or on behalf of, the child. When constructing an appropriate educational program for a child with a disability, the IEP team broadly considers the child’s involvement and participation in three main areas of school life:
- The general education curriculum
- Extracurricular activities
- Nonacademic activities
By general education curriculum, we mean the subject matter provided to children without disabilities and the associated skills they are expected to develop and apply. Examples include math, science, history, and language arts.
When we talk about extracurricular activities and nonacademic activities, we’re referring to school activities that fall outside the realm of the general curriculum. These are usually voluntary and tend to be more social than academic. They typically involve others of the same age and may be organized and guided by teachers or other school personnel. Examples: yearbook, school newspaper, school sports, school clubs, lunch, recess, band, pep rallies, assemblies, field trips, after-school programs, recreational clubs.
The IEP can be understood as the blueprint, or plan, for the special education experience of a child with a disability across these school environments.
The IEP is developed by a team consisting of school staff and the child’s parents, and this team meets at least once a year, or more frequently if needed. Team members work together to address the child’s individual needs and to create an educational plan that enables the child to participate in general education and school activities, and to learn alongside non-disabled peers to the greatest extent possible. The IEP team then writes the plan in written form, creating the IEP that guides the provision of special education and related services for the child.
Before diving into the specifics of what must be included in an IEP, it’s important to consider the “Big Picture” of the IEP—its purposes, how it serves as a blueprint for the child’s special education and related services under IDEA, and the scope of activities and settings it covers.
What an IEP Must Contain
When the members of a child’s IEP team sit down together and consider how the child will be involved in and participate in school life, they must be sure that the resulting IEP contains the specific information required by IDEA, our nation’s special education law. Here’s a brief list of what IDEA requires:
A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the child’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum;
A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals;
A description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured, and when periodic progress reports will be provided;
A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child;
A statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and to be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children;
An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in extracurricular and nonacademic activities;
A statement of any individual accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and districtwide assessments;
(Note: If the IEP team determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular State or districtwide assessment of student achievement, the IEP must include a statement of why the child cannot participate in the regular assessment and why the particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for the child; and
The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications, and the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services and modifications.
The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
is a family-centered plan that details early intervention services and supports clients from birth to age three. The client’s initial IFSP is completed within 45 days of the family’s first contact with the Regional Center. The IFSP identifies and documents the outcomes desired by the family and clearly outlines how the IFSP team will work to achieve these goals. The IFSP comprehensively addresses health and safety-related issues, including the following:
- A record of the current physical development levels, including vision, hearing, and health status
- A description of the current cognitive, communication, social, emotional, and adaptive developmental levels
- A description of the family's concerns, priorities, the specific supports the child needs, and how these will be met
- A plan detailing the types and amounts of services and supports, the providers, and the locations of service provision
- Criteria, procedures, and timelines for assessing progress
- Procedures to ensure a smooth transition from Early Start to the next stage at age three
