THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING EFFECTIVE INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS, AND THEIR ROLE IN THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-DETERMINATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

Literature Review by Juliet Grimmer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction Overview: What Does the Literature Tell Us? Key Points

Writing IEP’s: Legal Components and Specific Needs IEP Process: Including Both Students and General Education

Teachers Effective IEP’s: Fostering Self-Determination and Academic

Success Conclusion References

INTRODUCTION IEP’s are an important tool used by special education teachers in school

districts around the world. They help facilitate the best learning environment for students with special

needs because they are inputted in an effort to account for the specific needs of each child.

There is a variety of disabilities that entail the need for IEP’s among classroom students including emotional, psychological, learning, and behavioral disabilities.

This literature review focused on ten scholarly articles, all unique, yet similar in their general arguments and points of view relating to special education children.

The most dominant theme found was the overall importance of IEP’s for special education students and their need to foster self-determination by being effectively developed and written with the help of both teachers and students.

OVERVIEW: WHAT DOES THE LITERATURE TELL US?

IEP’s are incredibly important to the overall academic success of Special Education Students

The main factors relating to gaining effective IEP’s and Academic Success: Balancing legal components with the specific needs of each

child when writing IEP’s Including both the students and their general education

teachers in the IEP process Fostering self-determination and academic success in special

education students with the help of effective IEP’s

WRITING IEP’S: LEGAL COMPONENTS AND SPECIFIC NEEDS

In order to effectively write IEP’s for students, there must be a balance between legality and individual needs. Educators must follow the process of considering student needs and state standards:

IDEA of 1997 and 2004 No Child Left Behind Act Students’ symbolic levels

Standards-based IEP’s are the typical driving force for classroom instruction and implementation of IEP’s, but there is still a need to also focus on curriculum-based professional development in order to increase the content knowledge of special needs students.

The assessment data collected by studying all of these key features provides a starting point and guide by which to:

Develop annual goals Provide structure to a student’s educational program Allow the IEP team to meet legal and ethical issues Evaluate each student’s progress monthly for needed modification.

Following logical writing and sequencing strategies provides educators the opportunity to improve IEP’s for their students while still adhering to the amendments of the 1997 and 2004 IDEA.

The four essential parts to this process include: Conditions under which the student will perform the behaviors, Name Clearly defined and observable behaviors, Performance criteria

IEP PROCESS: INCLUDING BOTH STUDENTS AND GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS There is a need to include general education teachers and the special education students in the IEP process, from

development to implementation. Student-led IEP’s have positive outcome on a students’ academic success as well as their self-determination,

personal direction, and self-confidence. Student inclusion in the IEP process has been linked in numerous studies to the improved development success

of special education students. Sixteen studies in terms of: Purpose Participants/setting Design, Dependent variables and independent variables Results: Results were substantiated through three routes; feedback from participants, parents, or teachers;

scores on measures of self-determination; and/or direct observation, and their Findings concluded that a range of students with varying disabilities can and should be actively

involved in the IEP process Increasing the general education teacher participation in the IEP development process would better serve both

the educators and the students Surveys were taken involving over 1500 IEP members

Most teachers felt that there needs to be more of a focus on team connection, time, training, preparation, and IEP relevance

Teachers and students need to feel connected and important to the IEP process, which in turn increases the likelihood of further success of the programs and for the students

EFFECTIVE IEP’S: FOSTERING SELF-DETERMINATION AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Importance of fostering self-determination and academic success in special education students with the help of effective IEP’s.

In order to help with this process the Self-Determination Synthesis Project (SDSP) was funded in 1998 to synthesize and disseminate best practices related to promoting self-determination for students with disabilities.

Offers information such as: Skills that comprise self-determination How to teach these components Deciding which skills to teach How to comprise everything to reach the ultimate goal: writing self-determination goals and objectives

that will foster self-determination skills through IEP’s for special education students The views of both parents and teachers in relation to self-determination among students with high-and low-

incidence disabilities revealed several factors related to developing self-determination among special education students including:

Student participation in IEP meetings Teaching self-determination Student opportunities to make choices and express their own interests Familiarity with self-determination Student opportunity to learn and practice self-determination

Overall opinions revealed that they both agree that fostering self-determination is an important part of their academic success.

CONCLUSION

In order to reach the final goal for special education students, there must be a focus on all factors relating to that development along the way

The prevailing arguments of this literature review provide the stepping stones for a special education students’ journey

They all need to have an effective IEP in order to reach the end of the road, but how do they get one? According to the reviewed literature, the established point of views

center on the following: Balancing legal components with the specific needs of each child

when writing IEP’s Including both the students and their general education teachers in

the IEP process Fostering self-determination and academic success in special

education students with the help of effective IEP’s

REFERENCES Adams, P. and Lynch, S. (2008). Developing Standards-Based Individualized Education

Program Objectives for Students with Significant Needs. Teaching Exceptional

Children, 40(3), 36-39. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/

docview/201011873?accountid=34899 Algozzine, B., Browder, D., Karvonen, M., Test, D., and Wood, W. (2004). Promoting

Student Self-Determination Skills in IEP Planning. Teaching Exceptional

Children, 36 (3), 8-16. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/

docview/201152712/abstract/12DF35073A67385D55B/13?accountid=34899 Anonymous. (2007). Understanding, Developing, and Writing Effective IEP’S: A Step-

By-Step Guide for Educators. Adolescence, 42 (167). Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/195937332/fulltext/

12DF33953F538F2DA4E/6?accountid=34899 Capizzi, A. (2008). From Assessment to Annual Goal: Engaging a Decision-Making

Process in Writing Measurable IEP’s. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(1),

18-25. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/

201186268/abstract/12DF35073A67385D55B/6?accountid=34899 Eisenman, L. and Myers, A. (2005). Student-Led IEP’s: Take the First Step. Teaching

Exceptional Children, 37 (4), 52-58. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.

edmc.edu/docview/201153685/abstract/12DF35073A67385D55B/14?accountid=34899

REFERENCES Graham, S., Grigal, M., Moon, S., and Neubert, D. (2003). Self-determination for students

With disabilities: Views of parents and teachers. Exceptional Children, 70(1),

97-112. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/

docview/201093503?accountid=34899 Hudson, P. J., Menlove, R. R., and Suter, D. (2001). A field of IEP dreams: Increasing

General education teacher participation in the IEP development process. Teaching

Exceptional Children, 33(5), 28. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.

Edmc.edu/docview/201146351?accountid=34899 Hughes, C., Konrad, M., Mason, C., and Test, D. (2004). Student Involvement in

Individualized Education Program Meetings. Exceptional Children, 70(4), 391-412.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/

201199686?accountid=34899 Kraft, N., Lignuagris, B., and Martella, R. C. (2001). Writing better goals and short-term

Objectives or benchmarks. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(1), 52. Retrieved

From http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/201178464?account

id=34899 Smith-Woofer, M. (2010). The impact of alternative assessments and standards-based

IEP’s on classroom instruction and student achievement. East Carolina University.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/840553790/

?accountid=34899