Individual Education Plans
Individual Education Plans, or IEP's, are written strategies and goals put into place in schools for children who meet critereia for services, due to problems which impair their ability to learn. Generally, meeting this criteria means being diagnosed with a Specific Learning Disability, or any other health problem that interferes with a child's aquisition and retention of academic skills, including reading, writing, spelling, and math calculation.
The Process
At Saint Bernard’s a child is referred when a teacher or parent or another professional has concerns about a child’s progress in school, or trouble in the classroom. The first step is to gather all available data, and this is usually done through conferences, observations, and analysis of the student’s performance. Then a referral is sent to the Saint Paul Public Schools for a determination of need.
The data collected helps school personnel and others involved determine what the next steps should be. For the most part, classroom adaptations and specific interventions are put in place to see if they can help the student become more successful. If that does not achieve results, a ‘study’ team, consisting of public school professionals is gathered, and formal evaluations and assessments are done. Saint Bernard’s works closely with the Saint Paul Schools Department of Special Education Services, collaborating with these educational professionals to provide identification and needed service for our students.
When all assessments and evaluations are finished, the team meats with parents and classroom teacher in order to determine if a) the student is eligible for support and services, or b) further study and tests should be done, or c) the child most likely will succeed with a certain amount of support, but does not meet the need for formal services. Further recommendations are given for support and adaptations.
Some parents may disagree with the findings of the report at this stage, but they are given the opportunity to work together with the schools, as well as the Saint Paul District’s educational professionals, to come up with the best plan for the needs of the student.
The IEP Development
The next step is the actual writing of the IEP. The parents, the classroom teacher and other professionals involved work together at this point. They develop up with specific, measurable short term goals, as well as annual goals for each of the student’s particular needs.
The front page of the IEP, while it can look intimidating, will outline the services the student will receive as well as how often those services will be provided. Support services are also included in this part of the document. These can include the services of special education teachers for direct instruction, occupational therapists, speech therapy, counseling, medical services etc. At Saint Bernard’s we have no services available that offer hands on instruction. We do not have the options for direct service for IEP’s. For students in grades Kindergarten through sixth, students needing direct instruction for IEP goals will be transported to North End Elementary for part of their school day in order to receive service for their IEP. In some cases, in particular in the Middle School here, the most we can offer is consultative services through the Saint Paul School District. For our High School students there are options available for providing limited indirect service as well as the option of spending part of the day at Arlington High School for direct service.
The IEP process is complex. There are a number of issues parents should familiarize themselves with when entering this realm of their child’s education. Saint Bernard’s School community is committed to providing all the support and advocacy available for our students and their parents.
