Link Lines – Profile of a Graduate
Having the Courage to Think Big: Closing Gaps and Planning for the Future
February 2020 Issue
Accommodations are an integral part of a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) when providing access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. Accommodations do not change the content or expectation of performance outcomes. They do allow teachers to assess students on their “abilities, rather than [their] disabilities” (National Center on Educational Outcomes, Overview, para. 1, 2016). Thus, teachers and school staff make accommodations to the environment or curriculum, based on the needs of individual students, not on the disability category or instructional setting. For instance, Braille is not an appropriate or effective accommodation for all students with visual impairments, just as all students with autism do not require augmentative communication devices. With appropriate accommodations, students with disabilities can independently demonstrate what they have learned during instruction (Virginia Department of Education [VDOE], 2017).
Updated by Debbie Grosser, Ed.D. and Susan Jones, M.Ed.
In 2011, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) introduced Standards-Based Individualized Education Programs (SB IEPs). As a result of the Dear Colleague letter issued by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in November, 2015, VDOE updated its guidance document (March, 2016). As noted in this document, all students eligible for special education services are required to have SB IEPs “to ensure that children with disabilities are held to high expectations and have meaningful access to a State’s academic content standard” (p. 9). Use of SB IEPs is viewed as a mechanism for moving students with disabilities forward to on-time graduation with a standard diploma. The focus is on increasing access to the general education curriculum as defined by the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL), as well as providing specialized instruction to address need areas, including functional and basic skills. [Read more…]
By Susan Jones, M.S.Ed., and Shelley Littleton, M.Ed.
Every new school year brings the opportunity to reflect and look forward. If organization, data collection, and designing specialized instruction for your students with disabilities are a challenge for you, search no more. We have two resources that will help in all these areas. [Read more…]
According to guidance provided by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) on November 16, 2015, in the form of a “Dear Colleagues” letter, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) must be aligned with state standards to ensure that high expectations and rigorous academic standards are maintained for all students with disabilities (OSERS, 2015). In support of this guidance, the Virginia Department of Education has revised its document around SBIEPs (March, 2016), as provided on its website.
Students with and without disabilities are expected to master grade-level standards. For students with disabilities who are eligible for special education services, an individualized educational program (IEP) provides academic and behavioral supports designed to level the playing field and create opportunities to succeed in the general education curriculum (Florida Department of Education, 2013). While IEPs should be standards-based, they are not verbatim restatements of grade-level standards or lists of standards from lower grades (Virginia Department of Education, 2011). The annual goals stated in an IEP should be based on the student’s present level of performance and should provide a detailed structure for assisting the student in building the skills required to meet the demands of grade-level standards. This detailed structure is the foundation for specially designed instruction (SDI) (Batsche, 2015). [Read more…]
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