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In the last lesson you learned how to create the heart of the IEP which consists of what the child needs (expressed as PLOPs), what services will be provided to address those needs (in a statement, not a checkmark), and what the child can be expected to accomplish if the services are effective (goals and objectives or benchmarks).
In this lesson, the remainder of the required IEP content is presented. One of the major new emphases in IDEA 1997 is on assessing and ensuring the effectiveness of educational services for children with disabilities. There is also increased emphasis on parental involvement, participation, and rights. These two emphases have coalesced in the new statutory requirement that every IEP must contain a statement of how progress toward the annual goals will be measured, how parents will be informed of the progress (at least as often as parents of nondisabled children are so informed), and the extent to which that progress is sufficient to enable the child to achieve the goals by the end of the IEP year.
In addition to PLOPs, goals and objectives, the IEP team must (1) determine whether or not a child with a disability will participate in district and statewide assessments, (2) consider whether a behavior intervention plan is needed, (3) address a student's transition needs when the student reaches the age of 14, and (4) consider the additional needs of children who have limited English proficiency, need instruction in Braille, require modes of communication other than verbal English, and the need for assistive technology.
This lesson ends with a discussion of how to avoid disagreements between parents and school personnel around IEP issues and what to do when disagreements do arise.
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