COACH: Choosing Options and Accommodations for Children
A Guide for Planning Educational Programs for Students with Disabilities
I. History of COACH Development
II. Guiding Principals of COACH (p.12-28)
1. Pursuing Valued Life Outcomes Specific to Families
A. Being Safe and Healthy-medical concerns, personal boundaries
B. Having a Home Now and In the Future-learn partial participation skills
C. Having Meaningful relationships- communication skills, developing friendships with peers
D. Having Choice and Control
E. Participating in Meaningful Activities in Various Places
2. The Family is the Cornerstone of Educational Planning
-extended family interview for IEP development and programming
-importance of including family priorities and knowledge in developing the educational plan.
-allow family to have a voice
3. Collaborative Teamwork is Essential to Quality Education
-each team member works together, they need to believe in the 6 principals of the COACH to help create an appropriate educational plan for the student
4. Coordination Among Support Service Providers is Essential
5. Using Problem Solving Methods Improves Effectiveness of Planning
-systematic way to address problems and come up with solutions
6. Special Education is a SERVICE, Not a place
-special education provides service to assist student to make progress, thus a student shouldn’t be put in a specific program (place) based on his/her disability; specially designed instruction should be provided for meet each child’s needs
III. Purpose of COACH Assessment
A. Identify family priorities
B. Identify current level of performance
C. Identify general supports
D. Develop IEP goals
E. Guide in participation in the general curriculum
F. Guide planning and adaptation of lessons
G. Evaluate the impact of educational experiences
H. What it is NOT.
-Used to determine eligibility
-Comprehensive, needs additional input and various assessment tools
-Used to assign a grade or developmental level
-Used to the exclusion of other planning tools - An observation, a classroom observation is need too.
-NOT to be used for SEGREGATION of student with disabilities.
IV. Part A.: Determining Student’s Educational Program
A. Family Interview
-helps family select the most important learning outcomes for their child
over the next school year
1. Review Values Life Outcomes
2. For each outcome, ask families “Are you interested in answering questions on this topic?”
3. Rank Valued Life Outcomes
4. Select Curriculum Areas to be Explored During the Family Interview.
5. Prioritize Learning Outcomes-ranking the top 5 priorities for each learning outcome list
6. Cross-Prioritization
B. Additional Learning Outcomes:
1. From COACH
2. From General Education
C. General Supports
D. Annual Goals
E. Program at a Glance
V. Part B: Strategies and Processes to Implement COACH Generated Educational Program.
VI. Pros and Cons of the COACH
A. Pros
1. Includes family input
2. Functional goal prioritization
3. Considers general supports
4. Incorporate inclusion planning
5. PCP Model
B. Cons
1. Can’t use for eligibility
2. What if team does not agree with PLEP?
3. Time consuming
4. Related service providers might not be on board