Are your IEPs not
worth the paper they're written on?
It's time for an IEP
review. Parents, get out those IEPs. Teachers, I know
you have lots of them in a file
somewhere. Maybe you can take notes for
now.
Are you a parent who
has trouble understanding the alphabet soup of
"eduspeak" during Triennial or Annual
IEP Review meetings? Are you a
teacher dedicated to educating the
whole student but have been drowning
in countless
school district IEP memos year after year?
I think you'll like
what I have to say about S.M.A.R.T. IEPs, a new and
much improved tool that ensures
student success, created by Wrightslaw authors
Pam and Peter Wright. This information is published in
their recent book
From Emotions to Advocacy (FETA) and generously offered
by the Wrights free
to online readers (See "Smart
IEP Chapter" in left column)
S. Specific
M. Measurable Goals
A. Action Words
R. Realistic and
Relevant
T. Time-limited
If you believe a
parent or teacher cannot develop SMART goals and
objectives, it is time to change your
beliefs!
Here is an example of
a SMART goal listed in the Wrightslaw chapter
concerning a student who is learning to
type:
"At the end of the
first semester, Mark will touch-type a passage of text
at a speed of 20 words per
minute, with no more than 10 errors,
with progress measured on a
five-minute timed test."
"At the end of the
second trimester, Mark will touch-type a passage of
text at a speed of 40 words per
minute, with no more than 5 errors, with
progress measured on a
five-minute timed test."
Specific, Measurable,
Action words, Realistic and Relevant and
Time-limited.
D.A.M.N. SMART!!, I'd
like to add.
Don't
Adjourn
Meeting
Neglecting
S.M.A.R.T.!!
Dr. Barbara Bateman
"Founding Mother" of Special Education collaborated
with Dr. Samuel Kirk to
distinguish the category of learning
disabilities in the
1960s. Their efforts led to developing the special
services that would
later serve this population.
Bateman and co-author Mary Anne Linden also wrote
an exceptional book
called Better IEPs, which summarizes the IEP Process in
one very succinct sentence:
"The IEP Process is
the centerpiece, the heart and soul, of the
Individuals with Disabilities
Act (IDEA)."
It should be the goal
of teachers and parents everywhere to banish the
days of vague, no-chance-for-success
IEPs that often are the product of
uncreative "school not student" centered staffings.
Implementing the simple
and effective SMART IEPs format is a great way to get
this to happen. It's time to put IEP
paperwork back to much better use
again.
Some tree died for
it.
