Embedding the IEP in General Education

General and special educators share the responsibility for ensuring that students with IEPs have adequate access to the curriculum and sufficient instruction and practice on their individual IEP goals. Many opportunities to address these goals occur naturally in the course of on-going general education instruction with the addition of individualized supports and/or instruction. In other cases, extra opportunities to work on the goals need to be embedded. Ensure that individual needs are met requires collaboration between general and special educators and careful planning.

To ensure that students are getting ample opportunities to work on their goals and that supports are provided consistently, many teachers find it helpful to create a matrix of each student’s goal and the subject area where that skill is addressed. To create such a matrix:

  • Create a separate matrix for each student, or one for the whole class if many students have similar goals
  • Identify students by initials to ensure confidentiality when others review your planbook
  • Consider all content areas where a skill can be taught/used (not just ELA and math)

Student : JB
IEP Goals / Objectives / Language Arts / Social Studies / Math / Science
1. JB will increase comprehension of a variety of printed materials to 90% accuracy as measured by running records, IRI, anecdotal data, observation, performance assessment, etc. / A. Review text to locate information and clarify meaning by skimming, scanning, reading carefully, and using otherreading strategies. / X / X / X / X
B. Use information from illustrations, tables of contents, glossaries, indexes, headings, graphs, charts, diagrams, and/or tables to assist in comprehension of text. / X / X / X / X
2. JB will increase writing skills to 5th grade/proficiency level in the area(s) of ideasand content, organization, voice, vocabulary, fluency and conventions as measured by writing rubrics, student self-evaluations, and spelling inventory. / A. Write clear, focused main ideas and supporting details on a topic. / X / X / X
3. JB will increase ability to design, use and communicate a variety of mathematical strategies to solve 2 digit multiplication and division problems as measured by 85% on math tests, and performance on student work. / A. Determine appropriate operation and apply to a variety of math problems / X

Each objective will not be addressed in each subject area every day. As you plan lessons, identify the naturally-occurring opportunities to work on the target skills. In some cases, it may be necessary to adapt assignments to embed instruction and practice on specific skills (for example, if a student has an objective related to measurement and converting units, a few problems applying this skills can be added to a math worksheet or science lab). Be sure to document IEP skills being addressed in your lesson plans or a matrix or other record-keeping format.

Once you have decided when you are going to teach the IEP goals, you must decide what special instruction the student with an IEP will receive on the target skills; just receiving the same instruction as the rest of the class will not usually allow the student to meet the goals. Consultation with the special educator will help you determine how to best assist the student to move from his or her current level of performance to the goal level. Some examples are:

  • Scaffoldingis the gradual fade of teacher assistance (modeling of a technique) to increase student independence. The degree and type of modeling required by an individual student is dependent upon the achievement and ability levels of the student. The student may need the skill broken down into small steps that can be mastered one at a time.
    Gradually increasing the level of complexity of the task is another form of scaffolding. For example, you might use text with a lower readibilty level to teach a skill like ‘scanning for main ideas,” then move the student to grade-level text or introduce a math process using only whole numbers, then teach it with fractions one the student masters the basic process.
  • Graphic organizersand Note-Taking Guidesgive students a visual representation of concepts being studied and their relationships to other concepts. Process guidesprovide explicit reminders of the steps involved in a skill (such as long division or writing a paragraph).
  • Pre-teaching and re-teaching. Introducing a student to a challenging skill before it is presented to the whole class can allow the student to better understand the whole group instruction. Re-teaching solidifies understanding, provides extra practice, and allows teachers to correct any misunderstanding. Presenting the material in a different way (e.g., using manipulatives, visuals, videos, etc) may help the student grasp the concept or skill.
  • Flexible Grouping is the use of small groups that change depending on the activity, student prior knowledge, skill set, and interest level. Small groups can be used for pre-teaching, re-teaching, extra practice, to present material in different ways, and for enrichment. Using heterogeneous groups allow for students to help one another while homogeneous groups work better if you need to target a specific skill with a particular group of students. Any student who needs this extra instruction can be in the group, regardless of if they have a disability. Make sure you do not always group students with IEPs in the same group to avoid recreating a separate class within a class.
  • Tiering of Instruction is used to ensure all students focus on essential understandings and skills, but at different levels of abstractness, complexity, and open-endedness. By keeping the focus of the activity the same, but providing different routes of access at varying degrees of difficulty, the teacher maximizes the likelihood that each student comes away with pivotal skills and understandings and that everyone is appropriately challenged.

Inclusive Practices and Co-TeachingBCPS/MCIE 2011