ARD/IEP Planning and Participation Report

You need to attend at least one ARD meeting of one of your students and answer the following
questions with the help of your cooperating teacher and the school diagnostician and/or school
psychologist.
General
Which professional is responsible for which part of the ARD preparation (coordinating the meeting,
creating objectives, entering the information for the meeting, sending notices, gathering information,
etc.)?
The professional that is in charge of coordinating the ARD meeting is the evaluation specialist. The
evaluation specialist communicates with other professionals and the students parents to schedule a time
that will work for everyone to meet. The teacher is in charge of creating the goals and objectives for the
IEP. The teacher will review data and observe the student in class. Based off of these observations and
data collections, the teacher will create objectives that are appropriate for the student. Once the teacher
has created the objectives and the PLAAFP, she is in charge of entering the information into IEP plus. The
evaluation specialist will enter in information from the FIE. The evaluation specialist is also in charge of
sending notices home to the parents. When the ARD date is arriving, the evaluation specialist sends a
note home with the child, and calls the parents to make sure everyone is set to attend the meeting.
Finally, the teacher, speech therapist, and evaluation specialist are in charge of gathering information for
the IEP. The speech therapist and teacher gather their information based on data they have collected,
and observing the child in the classroom. Through these observations, they are able to make informed
decisions for the students objectives. The evaluation specialist gathers information from the evaluation,
and past IEPs if the student had one. The evaluation specialist takes careful notes during the evaluation,
and writes the students FIE based on the evaluation observation.
Does the same professional handle all types of ARDs on your campus? If not, describe who does which
kind of ARD.
Yes, the evaluation specialist handles all ARDs on the campus. Some ARDs may need someone
from the schools legal team to attend. If this is the case, the lawyer will help guide the meeting and make
sure everything is explained in depth, and everything meets the states standards.
Which administrative professional attends the ARDs on your campus?
Typically the principal of the school attend the ARD meetings. Dr. Everett, the principal, has
attended both ARD meetings that I have attended. If Dr. Everett cannot attend the meeting then the
assistant principal will attend.
How much time is allowed to pass between formal testing for an initial or 3-year re-evaluation ARD by the
diagnostician/school psych. professional and the actual ARD meeting?
Once there has been formal testing or a 3-year re-evaluation, the school has 30 school days to
conduct the actual ARD meeting. The ARD meeting needs to be conducted within 30 school days to
ensure that results from the evaluation remain valid. Having an ARD meeting within a month also benefits
the student because it allows the student to get the help he or she needs in an appropriate amount of
time.
Describe the timelines your teacher has to follow for sending information to parents prior to the ARD.
The teacher is required to send home a draft of the goals and objectives one week prior to the ARD
meeting. This allows the parents a chance to look over the goals and objectives prior to the ARD meeting
and the parents can ask questions if they have any confusion. If the parents are fuzzy on all the paper
work, the teacher will schedule a meeting with the parents prior to the ARD meeting to review and talk a
little more in depth about what everything means.
ARD Preparation
What is the average time it takes to prepare for an ARD meeting? What does this process look like for
your teacher?

Preparing for an ARD meeting takes about two weeks for my teacher. During those two weeks the
teacher first looks at all the data she has gathered on the student over the course of the school year. The
teacher also reviews the students FIE and old IEP if he or she is new to the district. Finally, the teacher
asks other colleagues who interact with the student what they have observed. Based on all this teacher
will then begin to write the students PLAAFP and objectives. Once the teacher has written everything up,
she will then send home the draft a week before the meeting, so the parents can look it over. For the next
week before the meeting, the teacher makes sure she has all of the paper work filled out. The teacher
also reviews the PLAAFP and goals to make sure that she can fully explain it to the parents and other
professionals at the meeting. The teacher also reviews the rationale for the objectives, so she can better
help the parents understand why that objective is in place.
What type of data is collected prior to the ARD?
Prior to the ARD, the teacher collects data based on the objectives the student already has in place.
For this particular student data was collected on communication, sorting different shapes and objects by
attributes, identifying common objects, and behavioral observations. Data is collected in all of these areas
to see where the student is at age level and to see what areas the student needs additional help in. For
this student, social and emotional development was a focus on data collection. The student struggles with
participating in a group and transitioning into different activities. Data was collected in this area to see
what specifically the student needs help with, and what might help the student improve in this area.
Is there usually a meeting or staffing prior to the ARD a) with professionals to plan; b) with parents? If
so, who coordinates those meetings? How many notices were required to be sent to parents?
Most of the time there is not a meeting with staff prior to the ARD meeting. If the ARD meeting is
going to be a little more difficult due to legalities, staff will meet and the evaluation specialist will
coordinate. However, for this particular ARD meeting there was not a staff meeting prior to the ARD.
Parents will have a meeting with the teacher only if they request one. For this ARD meeting there was not
a parent meeting prior to the ARD. However, many parents will schedule a meeting with the parents, so
they can gather more information about the ARD to help them feel prepared for the meeting. If there is a
parent meeting, the meeting time and date will be scheduled by the teacher at a time that is appropriate
for the parents to come. Prior to the ARD meeting, the parents receive two formal notices and a couple of
informal notices. Parents will receive a notice about the ARD two to three weeks before the meeting, and
they will receive another notice a week before the meeting. The parents will also receive informal notices
by phone call, email, or face to face at pick up several times the week of the meeting.
What information besides the notice is given to parents?
Parents are provided with different resources before the ARD meeting. Prior to the meeting, the
evaluation specialist sends parents a link to website that explains all the parts of the ARD. Also, the
parents are provided with the draft version of the IEP a week before the meeting. Parents can review the
childs FIE, PLAAFP, and objectives. This gives the parents a chance to ask questions and see if they
think the objectives are appropriate for their child.
What professionals give input into the PLAAFP (present level of academic and functional performance)?
The evaluation specialist gives some input into the PLAAFP. This input is based off of the observations
she made while evaluating the student and writing the FIE. The aide in the classroom also provides some
input based on observations she has made while working with the student. For this PPCD classroom no
input is given from a general education teacher because the remains in the PPCD room all day. Because
of this the PPCD teacher has the most input on the PLAAFP because she is with the student all day.
Parents can also give some input based on observations they have made at home.
What type of parental involvement does your teacher use when planning for ARD?
When planning for the ARD my teacher keeps in contact with the students parents. She wants to
make sure that the parents understand the process of what is happening. Parents also fill out a Child
Outcome Summary Form (COSF). The COSF allows parents to write down their observations of what
they have seen at home. Teachers can read the COSF and compare the students behaviors at home to
the students behaviors at school.

How does your teacher decide which goals and objectives to propose at the ARD?
After looking over all of the data, the teacher begins to develop the goals. The main way the teacher
decides which goals and objectives to propose at the ARD is by deciding which objectives will benefit the
student the most. If the student has too many objectives, she will not have the chance to individually work
on them all. Because of this, the teacher decides what objectives to use based on what will help the
student be successful both inside and outside of the classroom.

Meeting Comments
Were the procedures/plans explained to the parents adequately? Was the meeting conducted in a
professional manner (include examples)? How were the parents made to feel welcome at the meeting?
Was the outcome appropriate for the student? Did you get to contribute information during the ARD? If
so, reflect on the experience. Is there anything you would have done differently? Were the parents
encouraged to contact school professionals with post-ARD questions? What is required of a SPED
teacher following this ARD?
Overall I believe the ARD meeting went very well. The meeting was professional and everyone took
part in it to make sure the student was receiving the best education possible. The evaluation specialist
took the parents through each part of the IEP and explained each section. In order to make the parents
feel comfortable everyone introduced themselves at the beginning of the meeting. Also, parents were not
isolated to one side of the table. The table was set up in a circle, so that no one felt they were being
talked at.
During the meeting I was asked to contribute my observations of what I had seen the student doing
during class over the past couple weeks. We discussed how the student is slowly starting to improve with
using visuals, and how she is doing well with sorting different colors. Contributing in the meeting helped
the parents see that their child is slowly starting to make progress. When my name was called to share
my observations, I was a little nervous. However, once I started talking I felt like my observations were
helpful to the parents as they were trying to understand their childs objectives.
One thing I would have done differently in the meeting would be to explain the objectives a little more
clearly, and my rationale behind the objectives. That part seemed to go really fast, and although the
objectives were explained parents still had quite a few questions about them afterwards. I believe if the
objectives would have been explained a little more in depth, it would have helped the parents understand
the first time rather than having to ask different questions.
By the end of the meeting, everyone agreed that the plan set in place was appropriate for the
students. The evaluation specialist stated to the parents several times that if they had any more questions
or concerns they should contact herself or the teacher. After the ARD meeting, the teacher is required to
immediately implement the new objectives and accommodations. By the next day, they students new
objectives and accommodations should be in place.
ARD Date: October 4, 2016
Type of ARD: New to district/Annual
Professionals Title Leading the Meeting: Jennifer BachikEvaluation Specialist
Professionals in Attendance: Jennifer Bachik, Evalution Specialist; David EverettPrincipal; Felisha
Hutyra, Speech Therapist; Stacey Morgan, PreK general ed. teacher; Kelli Zander, PPCD teacher

Student Teacher

Cooperating Teacher