Methacton School District

Overview of Methacton's IEP

1. Student Information & Revisions: On the first page of the IEP, you will find meeting information and the child’s demographics. If a revision was made to the IEP, it would also be included at the bottom of the page.
2. Team Signatures: This page will list all the participants present at the IEP meeting. Each participant should sign this page at the meeting. Anyone who is a part of the IEP team but unable to attend can provide written input for the meeting and will be noted under the signatures box.
3. Procedural Safeguards: The “Procedural Safeguards Notice” is where parents are asked if they have received or currently need a copy of the blue Procedural Safeguards packet. This packet provides information about a parent’s rights in the IEP process. Parents must sign this page acknowledging that they have been offered a packet and currently have one in their possession.
4. Special Considerations: “ Special Considerations” looks at anything that was considered prior to developing the IEP. These questions must be answered and addressed in the IEP if marked “yes.” For example, if a student is visually or hearing impaired, or has limited English proficiency, those boxes would be checked off and those concerns would be addressed in the development of the IEP, either through services, modifications, goals, etc.
5. Present Levels of Performance: “ Present Levels of Performance” is often one of the lengthiest sections of the IEP. All present levels in academic areas (i.e. Reading, Math), social/emotional areas, functional behaviors, etc. are included in this section. This may involve teacher narratives, curriculum based assessments, standardized assessments, any formal testing, progress towards IEP goals, and progress in serviced areas such as speech or occupational therapy. This section will also include parental concerns, how the student’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum and identified strengths and needs of the student.
6. Transition Services: “ Transition Services” will typically only be filled out if a student is older than 14 as the IEP team begins to look at transitioning the student from a school placement to a post school placement (i.e. high school to vocational program). The IEP team should make all attempts to include the student in this IEP process or be sure that their interests are considered prior to development of the transition plan. For any student under the age of 14, this section is typically not completed unless the IEP team determines that is appropriate.
7. Transitions Continued: If the IEP team must develop a transition plan, postsecondary education goals, training goals, employment goals or independent living goals will be developed depending on the student and where they will be transitioning to post high school. Services needed to support the student’s progress towards these goals will also be listed in this section.
8. Participation in Assessments: In this section, the IEP team determines whether a child should take state assessments (such as the PSSAs) without any accommodations, with accommodations (such as “extended time” or “small group setting”) or should take a modified version of the PSSA. This is also where the IEP team may determine that the PASA (an alternative state test) would be a more appropriate fit for a student based on eligibility criteria.
9. Assessment Continued: If the IEP team decides a student eligible for PASA, an explanation will be included and the team will determine how a student’s performance will be documented (video or written narrative). The same considerations for testing will be made for local assessments (i.e. 4 Sight)
10. Goals & Objectives: When the IEP team decides what areas a student needs to work on (academic, social/emotional, functional, speech, etc.), they will come up with annual goals in those areas that can be measured regularly to determine if progress is being made. Progress toward a goal will be reported to parents (usually quarterly). If a student has qualified to take alternate assessments (PASA) they will have alternate achievement standards and short term objectives (benchmarks) that will be tracked on their way to meeting a long term goal.
11. Related Services, Program Modifications & SDIs: In this section, the IEP team outlines the adaptations, modifications or specially designed instruction that they feel is necessary to help the student be successful. These may be things that occur in the general education classroom, learning support classroom, special area classes, etc. Related services, such as speech, occupational therapy, or special education counseling will also be listed in part B. Finally, any supports needed for school personnel working with the student will be noted (i.e. If special equipment training is needed for staff) in part C. The location, frequency and duration of all of these services will be included.
12. Extended School Year: For all students with an IEP, the team will determine whether or not the child is eligible for Extended School Year based on certain criteria. If a student is deemed eligible, specific services/programs (including services such as speech and O.T.) will be selected that best fit that child’s needs and goals will be identified to work on over the summer.
13. Educational Placement: In the Educational Placement section, the IEP team answers a series of questions in order to determine what the best placement is for the student. An explanation will be given for why and when a child may be out of the regular education class or not using the regular education curriculum.
14. Educational Placement Continued: Based on the amount of special education supports the IEP team decides a student needs, the student will be considered Itinerant, Supplemental, or Full-Time. The type(s) of special education supports will be selected (i.e Emotional Support, Life Skills Support) and the location for where the IEP will be implemented will be determined. If for any reason this is not in the student’s home school, an explanation will be given.
15. Service Hours: The last section of the IEP will report the exact amount of hours the student will be spending inside of the regular education classroom once the IEP is implemented. A percentage will also be calculated. An explanation of how this is determined is provided at the bottom of the page.