Developing IEP Goals and Objectives Based On State Content Standards
Changes in IDEA 97, require that all children have
IEP's with goals and objectives written based upon the core curriculum and state
and district standards. This is being done to improve upon the service delivery
and quality of education provided to children in special education, and to bring
accountability to school districts to ensure that ALL children are learning what
they need to learn to be independent adults. Goals and objectives that “roll
over”, year after year, are not acceptable. Higher expectations and more
accountability is the best interest of all kids!
This is also related to the requirement that all
students in grades 2-11 must take the Stanford 9, or an alternate assessment,
according to state and federal law: (Star: Per SB 376), and the new requirement
that all students wishing to graduate with a high school diploma must take the,
HSEE, High School Exit Exam, beginning in 2004 including students in special
education.
All special education students must be tested in the
state assessment tests, in either one of the categories below: (Parents may sign
a waiver excluding their children from the testing, however, if we do not start
to assess the kids and get a "baseline" to understand where they are
performing, then we will not know if they are learning, or what they are
learning, and then you cannot hold the school district accountable. That is the
purpose of all of the changes in the education laws!)
Group 1-
Students who receive most of their instruction in regular education programs
take the Star exam, with or without accommodations as described in their IEP.
(This would include most students who are "fully included", and in RSP
classrooms, NPS, but not necessarily exclude all students in an SDC, (some of these students may be able to take the exam one
grade level lower, with accommodations). This would need to be determined by the
IEP team).
Group 2-
Students with severe disabilities who are unable to participate in the
district's regular assessment process should be assessed with alternative
approaches consistent with the criteria for measuring learning progress
described in their IEP's. (This would include most students with severe
cognitive disabilities who are currently receiving services in an SDC or an NPS
or even some students fully included in the general education classroom- again
this needs to be determined by the IEP team, but the child must be assessed by
an alternative method, to ensure that the child is learning and progressing, and
that data can be collected to indicate learning for accountability purposes).
In addition to this, all parents should have a basic
understanding of AB 1639 and AB 2X relating to promotion and retention and how
children are identified to receive remediation if they are not learning and
progressing according to the state guidelines on promotion and retention. The
California Dept. of Education, Special Education, includes a link that can be
found here - http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/pr/
ASK
Suggestions to Prepare for an IEP:
1) Print up your school district standards for your
child's grade level, and/ or 1-2 grade levels above or below, (or the grade
level that corresponds to your child’s present level of performance), to help
you have a more clear understanding of how your child's academic goals and
objectives should be written. You also may want to look at the state standards
if you need any comparison or clarification.
2) Also included below, are the Standards from
Vermont, a full inclusion state, where approximately 90% of all kids with
disabilities receive their education in the general education classroom. Their
standards also cover the following: Communication,
Reasoning and Problem Solving, Personal Development, and Civic and Social
Responsibility, which you can use as a guide to help you write and improve
upon your own child's IEP goals and objectives in these specific areas!
Also, a web site that will assist you in
drafting some goals and objectives in the area of social/emotional
communication, and vocational skills
is http://iep4u.com/.
EXAMPLE: Please
remember that if your want your child to learn to develop and improve upon more
appropriate social skills, then you will need to include language in the IEP
that uses the following phrase, “ With typically developing peers…”. In
other words, if you want your child to receive DIS counseling for social skills
development with typical peers, (in an environment that can be generalized to
real life situations), you will need to request and have written in to the IEP,
that the service will take place during recess or lunch, or typical environments
where the activity normally would occur, including the general education
classroom. This will drive the DIS service and facilitation of the social skills
to be learned by your child, in a group setting with typically developing peers.
Ed. Services for MBUSD. This is where you
can find the standards for English, Math, History and Science, as well as other
services and information listed: http://www.manhattan.k12.ca.us/edsvc/edservices.html
For the standards only: http://www.manhattan.k12.ca.us/edsvc/standards/index.html
This is where you can find the State Dept. of
Education Standards:Curriculum
Frameworks:
Content Standards (K-12)
Curriculum Frameworks &
Instructional Materials
You can access the essential standards in
reading, writing and math, that have been identified for mastery in order for
passage of the California High School Exit Exam, by the California
Association of Resource Specialists: These standards range from K-12, but the
ones necessary for mastery of the CAHSEE begin in 4th grade. We have suggested
to parents to download this and take it to KINKO's and have it bound and take it
to your IEP's!
ACSA and CARS+ Handbook
on Goals and Objectives Related to
Essential State of California Content Standards is now available for download
http://www.carsplus.org/publications.html
For students with significant cognitive
disabilities
Core
Curriculum Access California
Content Standards for CAPA
If your child is in PEP, then you should have
received something from the teacher about what the class objectives and goals
will be targeting. You can also print up the Kindergarten standards so that you
are aware of what will be expected of your child next year, and you can compare
that to how your child is currently performing now and throughout the school
year.
To assist you in understanding how children are
identified for remediation in math or reading, we have included information
below related to promotion/retention and remediation programs that must be
provided to children according to law. It is a good idea to become familiar with
your school district’s policy on promotion and retention and what criteria
they are using to identify children for remediation programs.
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