Mapping Where Children with Ieps Are Being Served

North Carolina Inclusion Initiative

Mapping Where Children with IEPs are Being Served

Purpose:

This activity is intended to assist leadership teams in identifying where children with disabilities are locatedthroughout a district or within a community. The leadership team should first identify if their focus is on classrooms within a program, an LEA, or across their community. It is recommended that the collaborative planning committee develop a vision/mission/belief statement about inclusion prior to engaging in this activity. Use the DEC-NAEYC Full Position Statementon Inclusion as a reference.

Instructions for LEA focus with up to 40 classes and administered by two different programs:

Program coordinators should identify all children with IEPs enrolled in the targeted classrooms prior to engaging in this activity. The facilitator will draw a large “map”outline of the district on a chalk or bulletin board, or use a large district map. Each classroom, regardless of funding source, will be designated on the map by a symbol, such as the outline of a schoolhouse printed on a piece of construction paper. Different colors may be used to designate different programs, such as Title I PreK, statePreK, Head Start or state-specific programs, such as Developmental Day (NC). Indicate the numbers of children with IEPs by placing a colored dot per child on the classroom template

After all the children with IEPs have been indicated on each classroom symbol, place the symbol on the map in the approximate geographic location of the classroom. A facilitated discussion should then take place using leading questions such as:

1)What do we notice about these data?

2) What patterns or trends do we see?

3) What kinds of questions do we have?

4) What are the data telling us? What is the storyline?

5) Do these data reflect the vision/mission/belief statement developed earlier?

This activity may be adapted based on the size and needs of the district. For example, a district with 100 classrooms funded by Title I PreK and Exceptional Children PreKmay choose to develop a chart that designates the number of children with and without disabilities per classroom.

Attached are templates for the schoolhouse outline and a classroom level mapping chart.

Classroom Level Mapping of Children with IEPs

Public School Classroom / School/
Program / Teachers / Assistants / Children with IEPs / Children w/o IEPs / Total # Students
Title I
Title I
Title I
Title I
Title I
Title I
Special Ed
Special Ed
Special Ed
Special Ed
Special Ed
Special Ed
Total

1