Embedding IEP goals into routine activities

     Embedding learning opportunities into the routine daily activities is an important method of instruction for early educators, particularly those with students with special needs (Cook, Klein, Tessier, 2008).  Although special activities and games are fun ways to learn new skills, the daily practice that is embedded into routines and procedures gives the children a more functional way to learn the desired skills.  For example, if a child has a social skills goal in which she is to greet her peers with eye contact and a verbal or  gestural greeting, then it makes sense to practice this each day when she and her peers arrive at school. Role playing during morning meeting or group times is valuable, but the best time for daily practice - when the greeting makes most sense, is during arrival time.  The same is true for other social skills goals, self care goals, classroom behavior goals and motor development goals.  Specifically teaching these skills during the natural times when these skills would occur will offer the students the best opportunities for successfully learning the skills.
     Other learning opportunities can be embedded into  play centers as the text book suggests.  The dramatic play center is a great venue for practicing dressing skills, manners, turn taking, multi-step play schemes, cooperative play, problem solving... the list is endless.  Generating and expanding language can occur at any center.  If the teacher is in the center playing with the children, she can work on IEP goals relating to social communication, vocabulary and sentence expansion.  Many students have IEP goals relating to problem solving and conflict resolution.  Any center provides a good opportunity for the teacher to facilitate the development of these skills.  
     With my own students, I have found that students socialize and generate language much more on the playground than in the classroom.  It may be because there is less structure and fewer restrictions on the playground.  This gives the teachers many opportunities to facilitate language and social skills.  There are many opportunities for the teacher to help students with self-advocacy skills.  Of course getting ready to go outside is when everyone is working on self-care skills such as putting on coats and buttoning and zipping. And for those students working on gross motor skills, the playground may offer the best place to move freely without barriers and obstructions.
     I have a class of 12 students with developmental delays.  Nearly every moment of the day is an opportunity for these children to practice the skills they are developing.  From the moment they get off their transportation and greet the teacher,  to the moment they get back on their transportation and say goodbye,  the children are practicing daily living skills that come naturally to the rest of us.

Cook, Ruth E., Klein, Diane M., Tessier, Annette.  Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th edition).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Columbus, Ohio:  Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.

The importance of collecting data on IEP goals

After a child has had a comprehensive evaluation made up of a variety of assessments,  it is time for professionals, educators and parents to collaborate on writing educational goals and objectives for the child.   The data collected from these various assessments is what provides the information for making decisions regarding specific goals.  Without the assessments and the data collected from them, the IEP team would not have a comprehensive view of the child.  They would not know the child's present level of performance for each of the domains.  They would not have evidence in which to base their decisions for setting goals for the upcoming year.  According to Cook, Klein and Tessier (2008), "... when quality goals are based on what is learned during assessment better child outcomes are produced."  It is the evidence collected from the assessments that drives the child's education plan.  If we recognize the importance of collecting data in order to write the initial IEP goals, then we must recognize the importance of collecting data as a means for monitoring the progress of the child in meeting his IEP goals.  The IEP goals are written based on the child's current levels of performance.  As the child grows physically, matures socially and emotionally, develops motor and adaptive skills, learns cognitive concepts and expands his communication skills, data must be collected to identify and monitor these changes.  All those involved in implementing the IEP are responsible for collecting data.  The information gathered from the data will help the teachers and professionals determine if the child is progressing in his goals.  If the child is making adequate progress according to the data collected, then the interventions and instructional strategies being used are appropriate to the needs of the child.  If the child is not making adequate gains as evidenced by the collection of data, then the teacher or professional may need to reconsider either the appropriateness of the goals, or the appropriateness of the interventions and instructional strategies.  As Cook, Klein and Tessier (2008) state in the text,  "Instructional strategies should be informed by meaningful assessments and reflect evidence-based practices."  The educator can make adjustments to her teaching strategies, or decide to convene a team meeting to discuss the appropriateness of the IEP goals.  In any case, it is the information gained by monitoring the progress of the child that helps the educators make on-going decisions about the delivery of instruction.

Works cited:
Cook, Ruth E., Klein, Diane M., & Tessier, Annette.  Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs.  (7th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey,  Columbus, Ohio:  Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.

The importance of the IEP and how it is used.

How important is the Individual Education Plan (IEP)?  Well, the IEP is the legal document defining services that are to be provided to a child with special needs.  It incorporates information from a broad selection of sources such as observations, formal and informal assessments, parental input, and medical records.  It reflects the strengths of the child as well as his needs.  It reflects the concerns of the parents.  Before an initial IEP can be written, a significant amount of information must be gathered on the child.  The IEP team should have at their disposal an entire portfolio of information reflecting the child's strengths and weakness.  For a young child coming into special education, all areas of the child's life need to be addressed:  self care skills, communication skills, fine and gross motor skills, social/emotional skills and cognitive skills.  Medical records are examined.  The IEP team must determine to what extent the child's delays are affecting his education.  In addition, the team must determine how to identify the disability.  Do the behaviors of the child fit the criteria for developmental delays, or speech impairment, or autism spectrum disorder, or other health impairments?  In essence, the IEP should provide a comprehensive view of the child.  Then, it can be molded into a plan for driving the child's education.

Writing goals and objectives for the IEP can be time intensive.  First the IEP team must have a good understanding of the skills and behaviors of typically developing children for that age. Then the team can write goals that reflect areas in which the child is delayed and needs extra support.  Depending on the range and degree of delays, there may be only a few goals or many goals.  The IEP is generally written with the expectation that the child will work on these goals for a school year.  The goals may be sequenced to reflect increasing levels of independence and increasing degrees of difficulty.  Each goal or objective must reflect in observable terms:  a) the expected behavior from the child, b) the conditions under which the behavior is expected, c) how frequent the expected behavior must be demonstrated (Cook, Klein, Tessier, 2008).  Once the goals have been determined and written, the IEP must reflect the extent to which the child will participate in a regular education setting vs. a special education setting.   This includes not only time in a special education classroom, but time with specialized services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc.  A clear statement of why a child must be served separate from his typical peers is required.  If any program modifications are necessary or extra supports such as supplemental staffing are required, these must be stated in the IEP (Cook et al, 2008).  The final product should be a working document that reflects the strengths and needs of the whole child and presents a clearly defined plan for how to address the educational needs of the child.

Cook, Ruth E., Klein, Diane M. and Tessier, Anette.  Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs.  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey and Columbus, Ohio:  Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall,  2008.

The importance of family involvement in the individualized plan.

Family involvement in the child’s individualized plan is important on a variety of levels.  First, as stated in the text Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs, “A child with special needs can be understood only within the context of his or her family,”  (Cook, Klein, and Tessier, 2008).  This is such a true statement.  A child is a son or daughter, a sibling, a grandchild, a foster child, and so on.  His whole life has been experienced within these roles.  As the child grows and develops, so do his relationships within the family system.   Only later does the child take on the additional role of being a student and a classmate.  So to understand the child within the context of his family system is to truly understand the source of the child’s perspective. 

When designing an individualized plan for a child, it is important that all those who know the child come together to share their ideas and concerns. Early childhood educators have specialized knowledge in the developmental stages of young children and the elements of early childhood curriculum.  Other professionals such as Speech /Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists have specialized knowledge in areas where the child might be struggling, such as speech and language skills or fine and gross motor skills. Because the child is embedded in his family system, it is understandable that family members know and understand the child better than anyone, including his teachers and other professionals.  So the specialized knowledge that a family brings to the child’s individualized plan is the understanding of the strengths and needs of that individual child.  The plan is not a general plan that can serve any child with delays. It is a unique plan specially designed for one child that serves to meet that one child’s needs.  All sources of information regarding that child need to be involved in the development of his individual plan, whether it is a family service plan, or an individualized education plan.  

            Finally, because the effectiveness of an intervention plan is influenced by the impact of the family (Cook et al. 2008), a “family-centered intervention” may be most effective.  A family-centered intervention recognizes the value of the family through six important tenets (Hanson and Lynch, 2004):

1.     The parents or primary caregivers are the experts on their child.

2.     The family is the ultimate decision maker for their child.

3.     The family is the constant in their child’s life.

4.     The family’s priorities, goals and level of involvement must be respected.

5.     Collaboration and trust between parents and professionals is valued.

6.     Culturally competent services are critical.

If we believe in a family-centered approach and that a child is best served through the support of his family, then we also believe that the family must be involved in the development and implementation of his individual plan.

Cook, Ruth E., Klein, M. Diane, Tessier, Annette.  Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7^th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:  Pearson Education, Inc., 2008