IEP Case Study Small 1

Jacqueline Small

IEP Case Study

SPED 428: Spring Internship

February 13, 2018

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Part I: Background Information

For my Individualized Education Program (IEP) Case Study I attended the annual IEP

meeting for an 8th grade student at Franklin Middle School. This student attends all academic

classes in a self-contained setting in order to meet the goals listed in her IEP. In this report I will

refer to the student as Megan, M.W., she, her, and student. I attended M.W.’s IEP meeting on

February 13, 2018 at 1:30pm. Megan struggles mainly when it comes to meeting her social and

emotional goals, which is believed to cause her to struggle in other subject areas. Megan has a

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) in place and has a daily sheet that is filled out by teachers for

every period of every day that records whether or not she attended class, how well her peer

interactions were and if she completed the work assigned in class. Once a week she has a session

with the school’s social worker in order to reach her social emotional goals of creating positive

peer relationships. They do so by going over different situations to find the best way to respond

in situations that may occur. Megan has one younger sister and lives at home with both mom and

dad. Mom works flexible hours that she can work from home or go into the office so majority of

the time she is home when Megan gets back from school. Megan was referred for Special

Education services in 2006. When speaking to Mr. Samay regarding any medications that he was

not exactly sure because they have changed the medications over the past few months but he

knows she has multiple medications that are prescribed.

Megan is a sweet girl who loves to participate in after school sports as well as enjoys

participating in class. In all subject areas Megan is at the top of class ability wise but for social

emotional needs is placed in the smaller self contained classroom to work on specific social

goals. When a teacher is not in school and there is either a substitute or coverage teacher she will

try to flee the class stating that she is not required to stay in class when the teacher is out. Megan
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when frustrated will begin to talk down to other students in the class and create negative

interactions with peers in order to avoid doing work and put the focus on something else. When

in a class such as Physical Education that is not separated into a smaller self contained group

Megan is likely to try to flee the class and avoid going back because she does not have

relationships with students in that class. In these situations, the teacher will remind Megan that

we need remain in class and participate to the best of her ability. As well as, if there is another

Franklin teacher or intern in the room she must stay in the class this is because it is not only

preventing her from missing class time but her leaving class is a safety hazard. Megan is

encouraged to be an active participant in school we must work on coping strategies to get us

through situations that make us uncomfortable.

We met as part of M.W. annual review to make any necessary changes to her

Individualized Education Program, IEP. According to M.W.’s IEP she is identified as having an

emotional disability, which affects her in multiple areas such as her personal

social/emotional/behavioral, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension and Career/vocational

achievement. The pre-referral strategies that were used for M.W. was we administered the

Brigance test in order to see her current levels. As well as met and talked with the Social Worker

in order to see how her social/emotional/behavioral goals were progressing based on any

observations made by adult professionals in the school.

Part I B: IEP Process

At Franklin Middle School they follow all the regulations and guidelines outline in the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA). The IEP process at Franklin Middle

starts of with the IEP chair coordinating with the IEP secretary with the list of students that are

going to need to have an annual review or student’s who are up for evaluation whether they are
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in need of an IEP or a revision of their IEP. From that point the IEP secretary, Mrs. Burdick,

then coordinates with parents and team members for the upcoming meeting. She insures that she

follows the IDEA guidelines by giving parents written notice of the meeting along with all

documents that are necessary to comply with IDEA are delivered at least 10 days prior to the

meeting. Once the parent or guardian confirms the meeting she will look at the student’s

schedule and from their coordinate with the child’s case manager to ensure a special educator is

there and then picks one of the student’s general educators to attend the meeting. She sends the

meeting notification to the teachers through outlook email as an invitation where the teachers can

confirm their attendance and the meeting will be automatically added into their schedule. In

terms of the actual meeting the IEP chair is in charge of running the meetings at the school and

in case they are unable to the special education chair will lead in their place.

In order to adhere with IDEA guidelines multiple school professionals are required to

attend. The people include professionals such as the IEP chair, special education teacher/case

manager, a general education teacher, parent of guardian, any other service provider who

administers services to the child and if appropriate the child themselves if they would like to

participate. In each meeting everyone must first introduce of themselves and sign a paper to

confirm that they are at the meeting. Once they are done saying their title and connection to child

they then talk about the student in terms of progress they are seeing through their experiences

with the student. From this point the parent or guardian has the opportunity to respond to the

teachers and ask any questions or address any concerns that they have. Once questions and

concerns are answered the meeting will then go into the actual revision of the IEP. This is

displayed through a projector for everyone to see. At Franklin Middle School each person who

wrote the particular section will read it aloud and discuss changes they made and why. The
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family can share their opinion about the revision of the IEP and talk about if they would like to

add anything else or change into the document before it is finalized. Once the meeting has

concluded and the IEP is completed with edits everyone will sign a document that agrees to the

changes of the IEP before it is to be implemented. The new revised IEP will be sent home with

the family.

Part II: IEP Content

Present level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance I:

Behavioral: Social/Emotional/Behavioral

Strengths: Friendly, Confident, Good sense of humor

Needs: Managing Emotions, On-Task behavior, Impulse Control, Compliance

Academic: Mathematics

Strengths: Place Value and Exponents, Multiplication

Needs: Problem Solving (addressed in testing and instructional accommodations as well as goals

and objectives)

Academic: Reading Comprehension

Strengths: Decoding

Needs: Comprehension (addressed in goals and objectives

Academic: Career/Vocational

Strengths: Polite, Friendly, Hard Working, Follows Directions

Needs: Career exploration to identify courses he should take to meet his vocational goals.

Present level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance II:

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What is the parental input regarding M.W.’s educational program?

Mr. and Mrs. W shared that while improvements are noted M.W. still struggles in school socially

and academically. She feels that social inadequacies are causing M.W. the most problems now.

What are M.W.’s strengths, interest areas, significant personal attributes, and personal

accomplishments? Include preferences and interests for and interests for post-school

outcomes, if appropriate.)

M.W. likes to play sports such as hockey, lacrosse and gymnastics. She also likes to spend time

outside and playing video games.

How does M.W’s disability affect her involvement in the general education curriculum?

M.W.’s emotional disability and anxiety impacts her behavior, which then affects her work

completion and compliance with adult directions.

Instructional and Testing

1b: Audio Amplification, 1c: Bookmark (Flag Items for Review), 1e: Blank Scratch Paper, 1f:
Eliminator Answer Choice, 1g: General Administration Directions Clarified, 1h: General
Administration Direction Read Aloud and Repeated as Needed, 1i: Highlight Tool, 1j:
Headphones or Noise Buffers, 1k: Line Reader Mask Tool/General Masking, 1l:
Magnification/Enlargement Device, 1m: NotePad, 1n: Pop-up Glossary, 1o: Redirect Student to
the Test, 1p: Spell Check or External Spell Check Device, 1t: Writing Tools, 1u: Graphic
Organizer, 1v Audio materials (instruction only)

2a: Small Group Testing, 2f: Frequent breaks, 2g: Reduce distractions to self

5a: Extended time 50%

Goals

Social/Emotional/Behavioral Goal: By March, 2019 when participating in an adult-created role

play scenario involving peer pressure, M.W. will demonstrate the best strategy to cope with the
situation by selecting an option from a provided bank of Peer Pressure Response Strategies,
acting out that response in the role play, and justifying her response with 2 logical explanations
for 2 out of 3 different peer pressure scenarios.
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Evaluation Method: Observation Record Informal Procedures With: 65% Accuracy

Objective 1: By June 2018, M.W. will create a list of 5 scenarios where peers have influenced
her decision making and identify if it resulted in either positive or negative outcome

Evaluation Method: Student Interview With: 4/5 targeted trials

Objective 2: By December 2019, M.W. will participate in weekly role plays to practice
responding to provoking behaviors by her peers, and identify appropriate responses

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 4/5 targeted trials

Objective 3: By March 2019, after making a decision that impacts her social/emotional/learning
environment, when asked to identify the emotion that led to the decision, M.W. will make a
verbal “I-statement” about the emotion that led to the decision, for 4 out of 5 decisions. (eg. I did
____ because I was _______).

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 4/5 targeted trials

Objective 4: By March 2018, M.W. will utilize the appropriate time, place and person with
whom to talk in order to safely express feelings/emotions in the school setting.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 4/5 targeted trials

Behavior Goal: Work Habits/On Task Behavior: By March 2019, when participating in an
activity, M.W. will actively work on the assigned task, use attentive posture, and will refrain
from off-task behaviors for the duration of the activity.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record Informal Procedures With: 85% Accuracy

Objective 1: By March 2019, given instruction, reminders and proximity control, M.W. will
begin engaging in the task within 1-2 minutes of direction being given.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 85% Accuracy

Objective 2: By March 2019, given instruction, reminders and proximity control, M.W. will
remain in assigned location (seat, room, area) for at least 15 minutes.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 85% Accuracy

Objective 3: By March 2019, given instruction, reminders and proximity control, M.W. will
remain focused and work towards task completion for at least 15 minutes.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 85% Accuracy

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Social/Emotional/Behavioral Goal: By March, 2019 after a perceived negative interaction with

a peer in the classroom or during transition times (in or out of the classroom), M.W. will use at
least 1 self-calming strategy (e.g. belly breathing, positive-talk) to calm herself down within 5
minutes and use I positive self-expression strategy (e.g. I-messages) to refrain from reacting
negatively (e.g. shutting down, leaving the room) for 3 out of 4 negative interactions with peers

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: ¾ targeted trials

Objective 1: By October 2019, M.W. will identify a bank of at least 5 self-calming strategies
(belly breathing, count to ten, visual imagery) she can rely when feeling upset, angry or anxious.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: ¾ targeted trials

Objective 2: By December 2019, when processing with an adult, M.W. will identify triggers to
the negative interaction/emotion and choose one previously identified self calming strategy to
use when feeling upset, angry or anxious in order to return to task within the 5-minute time
frame.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: ¾ targeted trials

Objective 3: By March 2019, M.W. will accept responsibility for her role in actual or perceived
conflict by identifying one strategy she could have used to avoid the conflict.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 4/5 targeted trials

Objective 4: By March 2019, given directions and reminders, M.W. will cooperate with adults
who are assisting her in complying with school/class rules, routines and expectations.

Evaluation Method: Observation Record With: 4/5 targeted trials

Mathematics Goal: By March 2019, given (5) multi-step, real-life problems involving forms of
rational numbers, M.W. will use inverse operations to solve the problems correctly for (4 our of
5) problems in (2 out of 3) problem sets.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures Classroom-Based Assessment With: 4/5 targeted

trials

Objective 1: Given a multi-step real-life problem, M.W. will identify the question in the
problem.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 4/5 targeted trials

Objective 2: Given a multi-step real-life problem, M.W. will identify the needed information to
solve the problem.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 4/5 targeted trials

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Objective 3: Given a multi-step real-life problem, M.W. will set up the equation needed to solve
the problem.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 4/5 targeted trials

Objective 4: Given a multi-step real-life problem, M.W. will use inverse operations to solve the
problem.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 4/5 targeted trials

Reading Comprehension Goal: By March 2019, after reading a (grade-level) literacy text, M.W.
will write a paragraph using at least (2) pieces of textual evidence that supports analysis of the
story for (3 out of 4) trials, as measured by a teacher-create assessment or rubric. (Baseline
40%).

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 3/4 targeted trials

Objective 1: When given a grade-level literacy text, M.W. will highlight/identify textual
evidence that supports analysis of the story.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 3/4 targeted trials

Objective 2: When given a grade-level literacy text, M.W. will write a paragraph that contains at
last 2 pieces of textual evidence that supports analysis of the story.

Evaluation Method: Informal Procedures With: 3/4 targeted trials

Instructional Supports

Program Modification

Service Nature Service Begin Date End Date Duration Provider

Description

Break down assignments Weekly 02/13/2018 02/13/2019 36 weeks General Educator, Special
into smaller units. Educator, Instructional
assistant

Clarify the location and manner in which Supplementary Aids, Services, Program Modifications and Supports to
or, on behalf of, the student will be provided:

Break down of assignments into smaller units: When in the classroom or given homework, service provider will
divide assignments into smaller tasks and monitor M.W.’s completion of each portion before assigning the next
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portion.

Social/Behavior Supports

Service Nature Service Begin Date End Date Duration Provider

Description
Use of positive/concrete Weekly 02/13/2018 02/13/2019 36 weeks
General Educator, Special
reinforcers Educator, Instructional
assistant
Home-school Other as 02/13/2018 02/13/2019 36 weeks General Educator, Special
communication system needed Educator, Instructional
assistant
Clarify the location and manner in which Supplementary Aids, Services, Program Modifications and Supports to
or, on behalf of, the student will be provided:

Home-school communication: When in the classroom, a system will be determined and established by M.W.,
parent, and case manager regarding a plan for communicating about daily assignments.

Use of positive/concrete reinforcements: In the classroom, service providers will use positive reinforces for M.W.
to establish positive feedback.

Physical/Environmental Supports

Service Nature Service Begin Date End Date Duration Provider

Description

Preferential seating Daily 02/13/2018 02/13/2019 36 weeks General Educator, Special

Educator, Instructional
assistant

Clarify the location and manner in which Supplementary Aids, Services, Program Modifications and Supports to
or, on behalf of, the student will be provided:

Preferential seating: In the classroom, M.W. will be availed to a desk and chair with direct access to visual center
of learning and with easy access for teacher to assist.

School Personnel/Parental Supports

Service Nature Service Begin Date End Date Duration Provider

Description
Adult Support Weekly 02/13/2018 02/13/2019 36 weeks General Educator, Special
Educator, Instructional
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assistant
Other School Periodically 02/13/2018 02/13/2019 36 weeks Guidance counselor
Personnel/Parental
Supports, School
Counselor
Clarify the location and manner in which Supplementary Aids, Services, Program Modifications and Supports to
or, on behalf of, the student will be provided:

School Counselor: Due to M.W.’s needs she will be availed to meetings with the school counselor whenever
necessary. When needing to speak with the counselor she needs someone to walk up with her to the school
counselor’s office.

Adult Support: Due to M.W.’s educational needs and assistance to stay on-task she requires the need of adult
support throughout the school day to ensure her safety and ability to access the general curriculum

In order to create the PLAAFP information was obtained through informal assessments,

observations and data collection. Due to the fact that this was an annual review there was no

need to take formal assessments. The IEP was developed by Megan’s case manager and self-

contained math teacher, Mr. Samay. Mr. Samay worked with other teachers and professionals

that work with Megan in order to make sure each goal was appropriate. I did not write the IEP

but I did make suggestion to my mentor and we talked about things that we agreed to change

within the math goals because I work with her during that class. I believe that the PLAAFP was

accurate representation of Megan’s present levels of achievement.

For the instructional and testing accommodation in Megan’s IEP I believe all are justified

based on items listed in her IEP as well as data shown. Seeing Megan in my self-contained math

class I know that the accommodations in her IEP are helpful in her success in the classroom. I

believe that all the instructional and testing accommodations made for Megan are necessary for

her continual educational growth. All the goals and objectives in Megan’s IEP are clear that

each of these were written based on Megan’s present levels of performance. These goals and

objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed. I believe that each of these
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goals and objectives are all achievable and realistic for Megan to achieve and are helpful in order

to help Megan grow as she goes off to High School and will be able to reach these goals while

there. The supplementary aids, services, program modifications and supports are all based on

Megan’s needs in order to help her succeed. These are all things that go back and connect to

other parts in her IEP showing that they are student centered. Due to all of these

accommodations and modifications Megan is receiving as much general education curriculum as

possible.

Part III: Reflection

In order to comply with IDEA the IEP chair secretary sent the prior notice along with all

the necessary documents in preparation for the meeting. In attendance there was the case

manager, Mr. Samay and Math Special Educator, the General Educator, Mr. Clerey, M.W.’s

Spanish Teacher, IEP Chair Mrs. Kalkstein, Ms. Maloney Social Worker, and the guidance

counselor from Franklin High School Ms. Bellamy. The meeting was held on February 13, 2018

and was to begin at 1:30 but actually started at 1:40 because we were waiting for the general

educator to arrive. The meeting took place in the conference room off the main office. Each

person that attended the meeting was sat around the table in order to be able to see M.W.’s IEP

displayed on the projector. The phone was placed in the middle of the table in order for the

mother of M.W to hear each staff member in attendance. This meeting was done by phone in

order to accommodate the needs of M.W.’s mother. The procedural safe guards were provided to

the parent earlier in the week because the parent had requested to make the meeting be over the

phone because both her and M.W. were sick with the flu.

The meeting did not follow a written agenda so for me it seemed very relax which was

surprising to me because I thought it would be more structured. Everyone at the beginning of the
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meeting decided that we would start with going around the table introducing ourselves and then

addressed any questions or concerns before diving into the edit of the IEP. Ms. Kalkstein began

the meeting by introducing herself as the IEP chair and her interactions with M.W. Next Ms.

Bellamy from Franklin High School introduced herself and expressed that she came from the

High School in order to help talk about Megan’s transition to High School would look like and to

answer any questions that would arise regarding her transition. The general educator Mr. Clerey

spoke about how M.W. was doing in his Spanish class and explained to M.W.’s mother that he

sees that she is trying in class but she has been struggling to hand in key assignments necessary

to keep her grade up. Leading to him having the chance to explain his policy on redoing

assignments that her mother had questions on. Ms. Maloney the school’s Social Worker spoke

about how M.W. was progressing and making more positive relationships and how she was able

to take a lot of big steps this year and was really proud of her. Mr. Samay M.W.’s case manager

and special education math teacher spoke about how M.W. is progressing in math and is very

strong with math facts. I spoke last and introduced myself as Mr. Samay’s intern and that I was

with her in Math 8 self contained class and that I have seen that she is one of the strongest

students to be able to recall previous math knowledge and apply it to new lessons.

After each educator spoke it was clear that everyone was looking in the best interest of

Megan. We were also able to take this time to discuss some concerns that Mr. Samay, Ms.

Maloney and I discussed which is Megan’s quickness to skip class because she does not like the

teacher, if there is another teacher covering the class, or substitute. M.W’s mother agreed that

she too believed this was a safety hazard because she will flee the class and because there is not

always an extra hand in the room that we can not go find her right away. Due to our concern we

all talked about Megan’s transition to High School and how it is important for Megan to identify
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one person to go to when situations arise where she feels she needs to separate herself from the

class. This cause us to change it in her IEP that when she is overwhelmed and needs to separate

herself from class that it needs to be one identified adult and one backup adult therefore if she

needs to leave we will know exactly who to contact and where she will go.

I believed that I adequately prepared myself for the meeting having M.W. in my class

gave me more insight into what it describes are her areas of need. Being able to sit on this

particular student’s IEP meeting was special because she is a student in my self-contained Math

8 room. This meeting was also really interesting to me because instead of meeting face to face to

conduct the meeting we actually had to phone conference in the parent in order to accommodate

their needs. I also prepared myself by looking at the her IEP and taking notes on things that I

thought might be good to add in or that I believed would benefit to change. I made sure that I

looked at her IEP and BIP plan in order to understand how each interconnected with each other.

If I would have changed anything it would be spending more time talking to the social worker

about what I have seen for M.W.’s behaviors. I spoke to the social worker for about 30 minutes

before the meeting to see if we wanted to suggest anything to M.W.’s mother. Overall, I believe

that I was prepared for the IEP meeting and feel confident that I will feel more prepared when I

participate in IEP meets in the future as a special educator.