Page 17 - The Individual Education Plan (IEP) - A Resource Guide, 2004

• uses language;
• performs individually and in group activities;
• responds to cues (including auditory, visual, and direct and indirect verbal cues).
Teachers can also observe:
• how the student’s learning is affected by environmental variables such as lighting, sound, temperature, colours, the physical arrangement of the classroom, the time of day, and routines and schedules;
• how the student responds to the number of people in the immediate area and to the behaviour of teachers and support staff, and how he or she responds to authority.
Conduct Further Assessments, If Necessary
Once information has been gathered from the sources described above, it
is reviewed to determine if it is sufficient to enable the team to plan and implement educational programming. If it is sufficient, no further assess- ments may be necessary. If the information is insufficient, individual assess- ments will need to be conducted to supplement existing data. (Because educational assessments, especially grade-equivalent achievement scores, must be very current to be useful in the development of an IEP, it may be necessary to conduct new educational assessments.)
Additional assessments may include the following: additional observations and additional samples of the student’s work; diagnostic tests; teacher- created tests; developmental assessments; medical assessments; psychological assessments; communication assessments; educational assessments; living/ vocational skills assessments; behavioural/psychiatric assessments; and observation of the student in the context of performing daily routines.
Most educational assessments are routine and are conducted on an ongoing basis by teachers. Written parental consent is required for some assessments, such as speech and language assessments, psychological assessments, and medical assessments. It is important to help parents understand what each assessment entails – that is, the process their child will go through – as well as the benefits of conducting the assessment and its possible outcomes. This will ensure that parents can make an informed decision about whether to consent to an assessment. (See also the note on page 13 about privacy requirements.)
Consolidate and Record Information
The information gathered needs to be consolidated and analysed to provide a detailed picture of the student’s areas of strength and need, and to identify any consistent patterns of successful learning. Assessment data may be checked against information gathered from other sources to determine whether the other information supports the patterns revealed by the assessments. Discrep- ancies in information from different sources should be investigated.
The IEP Process 15