the collaborative IEP
IEP. Individualized Education Plan or IEP. I have written numerous IEP’s. IEP’s are developed by a team. A team is made up of school individuals, the parents/guardians, and the student. I was never comfortable writing an IEP ahead of time and calling it a draft. A draft we would present and then ask for feedback. Thought being if it was presented as a draft, the IEP was not developed outside of the team process. Unless you involved the whole team, including parents/guardians, in the development of that draft, you are developing an IEP outside of the required team process. Legally, slapping draft across the print does not fly plus it never felt collaborative. When I was offered the opportunity to attend a workshop about a different process, a collaborative process, for developing IEP’s, I took it. Best decision ever.
What is a collaborative IEP? It is an outline of the heart of every IEP. It empowers families, caregivers, and school personal to develop an IEP that is truly a collaborative effort. In it's simplest form you pose four important questions.
Long term goals. What are the long term goals, say 3-5 years, for said child? An often overlooked conversation as an IEP is written for 1 year. Families are often not thinking is such limited terms. In turn, this can make conversations around goals difficult as it may seem like we are not doing enough or the annual goal is not rigorous enough. Stating and recording long term goals makes the process of goal writing more streamlined, more effective. If a family would like their non-verbal child to be able to communicate that is a reasonable long term goal. So how do we get there? That is your short term, or your annual goal. What steps do we need to take now in order to reach that goal? You acknowledge that you want the child to be a successful communicator, and your discuss and agree what needs to happen now in order to reach that goal. Same for other areas of development.
Parent/family concerns. We give the family the time and the space to truly think about and share what are your concerns for your child? We do not limit this to academics, school based, or IEP specific. We listen. We gain insight to the very real, often raw concerns parents/families have for their child. It builds trust.
Strengths. We should be building strengths based IEP's. What are your child's strengths. Instead of stating, as a present level, what a child can not do, we share what they can do. We break down each developmental area and the team takes turns sharing what the child's strengths are. We will use this information to work on skills the child has not yet developed or is developing. We do not focus on the can not, we focus on the what is next? How do we use the child's strengths to develop the skills necessary for goal attainment.
What needs to be provided to meet said goals? What direct services and from who, what supports and from who, what supplemental aids (accommodations) are needed, what do staff need? You discuss, you do not dictate. Most families are not interested in spending time developing the exact wording necessary to support said decisions, they want to know who, they want to know when, they want to know how.
It is that simple. Past practice, I experienced some challenging IEP meetings. I think we all likely have had that IEP meeting. There are a plethora of reasons a meeting may present as challenging. At the root, I believe it is because in the traditional "draft" style of presenting an IEP to a family does not give them a voice, does not give them an opportunity to share, to collaborate, to participate in the development of their child's IEP. Presenting a draft and asking a parent, what do you think or do you have any input or however you are giving them a voice, it is limited, it can feel intimidating, and it may present as not acknowledging their knowledge, their expertise of their child. It can make them feel isolated. In turn, as a way to participate, there is pushback. The uncomfortable kind. You have not given them a voice, so they are using the voice you have left room for.
I can go on about the benefits of this process, from addressing/acknowledging long term goals, basing our conversation on the child's strengths and how we will use these strengths to continue progress toward identified areas, listing goals that will be achievable in a year and move the student closer to achieving the long term goals, or that fact that parents are an active participants. Not only do many parents pretty much write the IEP, but it gives them an active voice and we often discover we are on the same page which is a win win for all when it comes to a successful meeting. It builds trust.
The most compelling reason for adopting this model happened during what I considered my pilot period. I was still in the Early Childhood classroom and had some pretty solid relationships with my families. I approached one family ( I had all 6 of their children) and explained the process and shared that I wanted to implement it for A.’s next IEP. Their 5th child, A., was born at 25 weeks gestation. He was not expected to live. He did. His needs were significant and at the time he was still considered medically fragile. In a collaborative IEP, the very first statement we consider is long term goals. Where do you see or what do you want for your child in 3-5 years? Because this process was new, I sat down with the family ahead of time. I asked this question. The child’s father responded, “I just want him to be alive.” There are no words to describe the impact behind that honest and equally raw response. It changed my whole approach to their child’s IEP. Insight otherwise left unsaid. I just want him to be alive.
