Dear Teachers;
Directors of Special Education in the Caveland region have worked together to provide this guidance document for you as you transition from the current Program of Studies/Core Content to the new Common Core State Standards. Because the Common Core State Standards will be implemented and assessed during the 2011-2012 school year, directors feel that it is important for IEPs to reflect that change. They also believe it is important that districts within the region write IEPs in a consistent format due to the fact that students often transfer from one district to another within our region.
It is important to note several important points:
This guidance is provided as an interim measure only. It is expected that the state will provide guidance during the 2011-2012 school year and that will likely be different than what is provided here. This document is being distributed in the spring of 2011 to guide development of IEPs from now until guidance is provided by the state.
It is critical that the ARC consider all assessment data and carefully identify priority areas for each student. Goals and benchmarks/objectives should be individualized for the student based upon identified priority areas rather than simply selected and copied into the IEP.
The ARC must identify appropriate measurement criteria for each annual goal or benchmark/ objective. Federal regulations require an "annual measurable goal" which would require the addition of measurement criteria.
It is suggested that boxed items in this document be used as goals and items below the boxed items be used as benchmarks/objectives.
Directors of Special Education will provide training for teachers on the use of this document. Contact your director if you have any questions.
-Shelia Baugh