IEPs should be reflective of student needs. That said, there are some important elements to keep in mind:
- IEP teams are charged with determining student present levels, areas of need, and goals that are appropriately ambitious in light of that information.
- After determining goals, the team must identify what services and supports are needed to reach those goals.
- When writing services into the IEP, it is important to consider the individual needs of the student and not use a standardized approach to assigning time.
- For example, if all the students who receive speech get twice a week for 30 minutes, is that reflective of an individualized approach?
- A detailed discussion is recommended with the use of data to determine when a student needs more or different instruction than they get from the regular education program.
- Teams are required to consider the LRE and so the default should be regular classroom with regular instruction unless the team determines something more restrictive is necessary. If more restrictive placement is required, the team should consider if it is needed all the time or some of the time.
- Remember that the purpose of the IEP is to ensure FAPE by enabling access to the general education curriculum.
- It is also a good idea to write the service time in a way that allows for the most flexibility to respond to the variables that may impact student needs.
- For example, if a team decides a student needs specialized instruction outside the regular classroom for reading, the number of sessions and length of each sessions should reflect the number of times that student needs more/different instruction than the other students in the classroom. The student might need all, some or no instruction by the special education teacher in either or both the regular education or special education classrooms.
- Also, services should be written with an eye towards flexibility and responsiveness. For example, if it is determined a student needs OT support, instead of writing one time per week, consider four times a month, nine times a quarter, or eighteen times a semester. Each of those options equal the same number of sessions and the same amount of time but allow for the support to be provided when the need arises instead of on a schedule that is not as helpful.
- Probing questions to consider asking during IEP meetings:
- What services are needed? How frequently are those services needed?
- Are the services individualized or just typical?
- What will the student’s instruction look like on days when services are provided and those when services aren't provided?
- In what ways is ____ days a week helpful and in what ways does it seem to fall short of meeting the student’s needs?
Q & A Adding/Removing Services
- When a student has met all goals in a particular area on their IEP and no longer requires direct services in that area (but are still receives services in another area), what do I do?
Click HERE for the steps to remove one service while other services continue.
- A child is currently being served on an IEP, but the child is struggling in another area. A suggestion has been made to add a related service. What should happen?
Click HERE for the steps to providing an intervention and/or adding a new related service.
- If the IEP team determines that a child needs more/less service time but the most recent IEP has been finalized, what do I do?
Click HERE for the steps to increasing/decreasing service time.
- An IEP meeting is being held (in addition to the formal, annual IEP) to discuss a change in services. If the only thing that's changing on the IEP is services what documentation needs to happen?
Best practice is for all IEP meetings (annual and additional) to have an IEP document that shows the date of the conference. If there are any changes made to the IEP a PWN must be given to the parents.
Q & A Discontinuing Services
- How do I discontinue services if a child has met his/her goals or there are no longer any concerns?
Click HERE for Part B (Kindergarten - age 21) guidance on discontinuing all services.
Click HERE for Part B (age 3-5) guidance on discontinuation of all services.
Click HERE (page deleted, delete or update link) for Part C guidance on discontinuation of all services.
- What do I do if parents revoke their consent for services?
Click HERE for the steps to appropriately document a revocation of consent and subsequently discontinue services for Part B services.
Click HERE (page deleted, delete or update link) for the steps to follow for ending Part C services.
Q & A Services for Students Attending Non-Public Schools
- On the IEP, what location for services do I choose for a student who attends a Catholic school?
The "Private School" option should be chosen for the service location. When "Separate School" is chosen, the district's LRE percentages are impacted-DO NOT choose "Separate School" for students attending non-public schools.
- If a student attends a parochial school but receives services at the public school what should the setting code be?
Setting codes ask for where the child is placed for educational services (NOT special education) so "private school" would be the appropriate setting code.
Q & A Page 6 of the SRS IEP
- Are there differences in the dropdown menu for preK and school-age students?
Yes. Until a child turns 6, the location option will continue to show Early Childhood. Most kindergarten students have "EC program >10 hours per week" for location. After a child turns 6, the options listed below appear in the dropdown menu.
- How do I know which option to choose on the drop-down list of locations for service delivery on page 6 of the IEP for students ages 6-21?
- SEPARATE SCHOOL: receives education programs in public or private separate day school facilities (A school only for students with disabilities - alternative schools are public schools if they include all students). This includes children with disabilities receiving special education and related services, at public expense, for greater than 50 % of the school day in a public or private separate school. Examples include:
- Public and private day schools for students with disabilities
- Public and private day schools for students with disabilities for a portion of the school day (greater than 50%) and in regular school buildings for the remainder of the school day
- Public and private residential facilities if the student DOES NOT LIVE at the facility
- RESIDENTIAL FACILITY: receives education programs and lives in public or private residential facilities during the school week. This includes children with disabilities receiving special education and related services, at public expense, for greater than 50% of the school day in public or private residential facilities. Examples include:
- Public and private residential schools for students with disabilities
- Public and private residential schools for students with disabilities for a portion of the school day (greater than 50%) and in separate day schools or regular school building for the remainder of the school day
- Do not include students who receive education programs at the facility but do not live there
- PUBLIC SCHOOL: receives education programs inside the regular classroom. Examples include:
- Regular class with special education/related services provided within the regular class
- Regular class with special education services provided in the resource room
- Resource rooms with special education/related services provided within the resource room
- Resource rooms with part-time instruction in a regular class
- Self-contained special classrooms with part-time instruction in a regular class
- Self-contained special classrooms with full-time special education instruction on a regular school campus
- HOMEBOUND/HOSPITAL: receives education programs in a homebound/hospital environment. This includes children with disabilities placed in and receiving special education and related services in hospital programs or homebound programs. DO NOT include children with disabilities whose parents have opted to home-school them and who receive special education services at the public expense.
- PRIVATE SCHOOL: have been enrolled by their parents or guardian in a regular parochial or other private school and who's basic education is paid through private resources and who receives special education and related services at public expense from a local educational agency or intermediate educational unit under a service plan.
- Include children whose parents chose to home-school them, but who receive special education and related services at the public expense
- DO NOT include children who are placed in private schools by the LEA
- CORRECTION/DETENTION FACILITY: receives education programs in a correctional facility. These data are intended to be a count of all children receiving special education in a short term detention facility (community-based or residential) or a correctional facility.
- SEPARATE SCHOOL: receives education programs in public or private separate day school facilities (A school only for students with disabilities - alternative schools are public schools if they include all students). This includes children with disabilities receiving special education and related services, at public expense, for greater than 50 % of the school day in a public or private separate school. Examples include:
- How do I calculate the percentages on Page 6 of the IEP?
Click HERE for guidance on calculating special education and related service time to be added to page 6 of the IEP.
- What goes in each section listed on Page 6 of the IEP?
Click HERE for guidance on filling out page 6 of the IEP.
- Is it appropriate for an IEP to list a minimum number of service minutes on an IEP? For example, an IEP states that a student will receive special education services from resource teacher for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week but then the student ends up receiving 40-45 minutes a day?
No, IEPs should reflect the actual time the student needs to reach his/her goals. If it is noted that the child consistently needs more time than what is listed on the current IEP an IEP meeting should be held to discuss a potential need for increasing time. We need to move away from using the statement "this is a minimum" amount of service time.
Q & A Services Provided by Occupational & Physical Therapists
- Our team is considering placing a student on "consult" for OT and PT. Is this appropriate if those are the only service the student is receiving?
There is nothing wrong with providing monitoring/consultation for a student on an IEP unless that is the only service provided and that service is not specialized instruction for the student. Since special education eligibility requires the presence of a disability and the need for specialized instruction, a student who does not require specialized instruction but has a disability would more appropriately be served on a 504 Plan for monitoring accommodations. If a student does not have a disability, SAT would be responsible for monitoring and interventions.
- What should OT and PT services look like in the educational setting?
Click HERE (this link requires access) for guidance on OT/PT services from the Nebraska Department of Education.
- Our OT or PT is unable to participate in an upcoming IEP meeting. Is it appropriate for them to add their input and services after the meeting occurs?
No, what was discussed/decided at the IEP meeting should be reflected in the IEP document. When the meeting concludes, no additions should be made to the IEP document. To the greatest extent possible, related service providers should be made aware of upcoming meetings to prepare and gather the necessary information in advance. This way, if they are unable to participate, related services providers can still give input so the IEP team can discuss the available information and make necessary decisions.- Clerical Errors: Minor adjustments (spelling errors, adding something that was forgotten, etc.) to the IEP document can be made if needed. Dupe the IEP and document that you confirmed all team members are in agreement and aware of the edits using a SRS notes page.
- Changes to IEP Content: If substantial changes are needed (service time, goals, etc.), an IEP meeting should be conducted to accurately reflect what the team discussed/decided. Sometimes after an IEP meeting, conversations continue and people may want to make additional changes that weren't discussed at the IEP meeting. This does not count as a clerical error. A new IEP meeting should be conducted.
Q & A Services Provided by a Special Education Teacher to Students Not Eligible for Special Education
- Can a special education teacher go to classrooms to assist individual students who do not have an IEP? For example, a third grader is struggling academically and a special education teacher is asked to go in the classroom to assist the student.
The special education teacher can serve regular education students, but that time cannot be claimed for reimbursement. To accurately document time spent doing the two separate duties (sped and regular ed), the teacher should maintain a time and effort log. The practice of special education staff serving general education students is not recommended.
