Question about IEPs

vamos!

This is probably a shameful question to ask considering I've been teaching for a few years and have worked in the 3 main types of secondary schools but can somebody please explain how IEPs impact on everyday teaching in a secondary school. I have read up on the the theory but have never actually had a student with an IEP in my class (that I have known about anyway!). Would it be likely that this is because I teach languages and the very weak are exempted from my classes? I've been reading threads about interviews and it really will look bad if I say I have never been involved in an IEP when I should have!

spurious

IEPs are not only for weak children.

In drawing up my schemes of work I have to itemise what special strategies or alternative resources I will use with the children with IEPs (and IBPs) in my class groups.

This could be as basic as printing wall posters or handouts on a particular colour paper which a child may find easier to read from, to not using a textbook at all, to maximising the use of visual/aural input. I suppose in a watch your back legal way, it is so the school can show that a child's difficulty was taken into regard when planning and that they were not just taught according to the way the rest of the class were taught.

As all schools are at last being told to make their entry policies more equitable, more of these children will be spread fairly around schools, not concentrated in certain schools as has been the case in the past.

The short answer re IEPs is they mean lots of paperwork, but I'm not sure if it all makes any difference, other than covering bottoms higher up.

vamos!

Who makes you aware that a child has an IEP or IBP? I have worked in 3 very different schools, one of which had a high concentration of students who needed extra supports. I have never been made aware of more than X has severe dyslexia and it has been up to me to develop my own strategies to aid him in my class. Same for Y with ODD and tourettes, Z with very basic English etc. Should I, as the class teacher, have been actively engaging with the resource team and year heads to find out this information, or was I right to develop my own ways of differentating and integrating? I really am totally perplexed as to how I never heard of IEPs in action when they appear to be a big part of education.

spurious

In our school the special needs team give year heads and class teachers a list of the children in each group with IEPs or IBPs. We get them fairly early - in time to include them with the schemes of work.

If you were new in a school the resource/special needs team should have sought you out and filled you in. They are in a position to suggest strategies that might work with a child, or ones that other teachers are trying.

vamos!

Thanks spurious. I am on the job-hunt at the moment and was getting a bit worried that I had overlooked something big for the past few years!

gaeilgegrinds1

Truthfully...I think it's useful to write a few words but after a few years pages upon pages...I'm not so sure of the difference it makes, I'll probably get slatted for that here but just my opinion. Best teacher I ever had wasn't the hottest on paperwork!

byhookorbycrook

IEPs are not legally required because EPSEN has not been enacted. Many schools choose to do them anyhow. In primary, it is the class teacher, SEN teacher, parent/s ,possibly the principal and maybe, in an ideal world the SLT/OT or NEPS. It would be difficult to get all teachers in secondary together, but I'd imagine a year head or SEN teacher would give a copy of the IEP and agreed targets to all teachers who have the child, Otherwise, it's pointless paper work and god knows, we've enough of that already!!

evolving_doors

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

IEPs are not legally required because EPSEN has not been enacted. Many schools choose to do them anyhow. In primary, it is the class teacher, SEN teacher, parent/s ,possibly the principal and maybe, in an ideal world the SLT/OT or NEPS. It would be difficult to get all teachers in secondary together, but I'd imagine a year head or SEN teacher would give a copy of the IEP and agreed targets to all teachers who have the child, Otherwise, it's pointless paper work and god knows, we've enough of that already!!

Just to add to that post, you would really want to err on the side of caution if you are going to do a detailed IEP as potentially it could become a legal document. A parent could potentially take the school to court if they neglected to follow their IEP and 'agreed targets' as mentioned above ...Verbal meetings with all the relevant people the way to go ...

E.T.

For primary children IEPS can be very useful for the class and support teacher, as they include targets for the individual child. eg a child with dyslexia in a junior class might have something like this included in their IEP "X make their best effort to identify and use the first 100 Dolch words by 2nd class" or "X will make their best effort to identify the numbers 1-5 and use them in basic concrete addition by the end of Senior Infants"

This puts into perspective what the aim for that child is, as opposed to the general class group. I definitely find them helpful, and generally meet the support teacher to draw them up together. Sometimes parents are included in drawing them up, to give examples of what the child is able for at home, or to share recommendations from professionals that the child attends outside school.

Armelodie definitely has a point about not making the IEPS too detailed. I don't think we use the phrase "agreed targets" in ours - it's something more along the lines of "Aims for pupil X by June 2011".

dandmac

What is typically included in an IEP in Ireland? Would Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, or services similar be included? Just trying to figure out what the norm would be...

byhookorbycrook

If a child has an OT report or an SLT report,showing difficulties in particular area, the school may choose to address those in resource class, once the recommendations were actually possible to implement within the school. Areas of weakness need to be prioritised and specific targets drawn up as a result, that is the idea behind the programmes.

dandmac

Thanks for the quick reply! So, it would be typical for a childs IEP to have only educational needs specified if there are no reports from SLT or OT, etc.? Also, is it typical that the IEP is solely generated from the school, no input from the parents? Just trying to understand the process...

evolving_doors

dandmac wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply! So, it would be typical for a childs IEP to have only educational needs specified if there are no reports from SLT or OT, etc.? Also, is it typical that the IEP is solely generated from the school, no input from the parents? Just trying to understand the process...

Should be all in this document from the SESS website on Page 94 (IEPs)

Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs: Post Primary Guidelines (2007)

Bare in mind these are just Guidelines... the school isn't obliged to copy exactly,, (or do anything really!!)

byhookorbycrook

dandmac wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply! So, it would be typical for a childs IEP to have only educational needs specified if there are no reports from SLT or OT, etc.? Also, is it typical that the IEP is solely generated from the school, no input from the parents? Just trying to understand the process...

We send home a pre-planning form to the parent/s,they return it and then we organise a meeting with parents/SEN teacher/s/class teacher and as I already said possibly the principal and other relevant people. Parents have an input at the meeting, but the final say in targets is left to the school.
It may be appropriate that an older child helps with targets, but we always seek their thoughts about school as outlined in the the NEPS behaviour continuum document.

The co-ordinator draws up the IEP and then sends a copy home to the parents ,who are welcome to seek clarification as needed. From all this it is obvious that the IEP process is very demanding of resources ,so many teachers/parents discommoded. If an IEP is only a paper exercise,then means a shameful waste of time. A good IEP can be of fantastic help to all involved as clear targets are set, time-frames and roles for all parties are made clear.