Standards Aligned IEPs:

Process and Practice of Aligning IEPs with State-Approved Standards

Big Ideas in OSERS Memo• Ensuring that all children, including children with disabilities, are held to

rigorous academic standards and high expectations is a shared responsibility for all of us.

• …we write to clarify that an individualized education program (IEP) for an eligible child with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must be aligned with the State’s academic content standards for the grade in which the child is enrolled

• Research has demonstrated that children with disabilities who struggle in reading and mathematics can successfully learn grade-level content

• low expectations can lead to children with disabilities receiving less challenging instruction that reflects below grade-level content standards, and thereby not learning what they need to succeed

Big Ideas in OSERS Memo• The Department interprets “the same curriculum as for nondisabled

children” to be the curriculum that is based on a State’s academic content standards for the grade in which a child is enrolled.

• the IEP Team must consider how a child’s specific disability impacts his or her ability to advance appropriately

• EP Team may consider the special education instruction that has been provided to the child, the child’s previous rate of academic growth, and whether the child is on track to achieve grade-level proficiency within the year.

Required Elements:OSERS IEP Memo

• Share responsibility for all educators serving SWDs• IEPs must be aligned with state-approved, grade level

standards• “the same curriculum” means the curriculum that is based on

a State’s academic content standards for the grade in which a child is enrolled

• The IEP team must consider HOW the disability impacts the student’s ability to advance

• IEP team must document the child’s previous rate of growth, estimate the rate necessary to attain state approved-grade level standards and provide SDI to support that rate.

Standards-basedInstruction Model

6Florida Department of Education Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction (www.fldoe.org/bii)

Standard or Benchmark Aligned to Course Description• Guides the development of the

lesson beginning with the desired outcome

Learning Goals• Describes what students should

know and be able to do • Includes essential questions and• Rubrics to define levels of

knowledge acquisition

Engaging Lesson• Includes appropriate and

meaningful activities that engage students in the learning process, address common misconceptions, and incorporate higher-order thinking skills

Formative, Interim, and/or Summative Assessments• Provides multiple sources of

student data to guide decisions about adjusting instruction and/or providing interventions

Implications• New information is required for the IEP process.• Likely process:

– 1. Identify the standard to be attained (the one that the child is struggling with)

– 2. Unpack the standard(s)—KUD– 3. Identify specific access skills necessary for the KUD– 4. Identify the access skills that the student lacks for the KUD– 5. Prioritize those skills on the IEP– 6. Identify strategies/resources (e.g., UDL) necessary to enable

the student to access the content/knowledge in the standard by accommodating forthe skill deficits-equity in access

– 7. Identify Academic Behaviors/Student Engagement Skills– 8. Identify appropriate data to measure progress toward the

standard, not just the skills.