A letter released by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) last month is the most recent clarification of IEP development that schools have received in years. This “significant guidance document” states in detail that a student’s IEP “must be aligned with the State’s academic content standards for the grade in which the child is enrolled.”
The content and explanations put forth in this letter speak to the dichotomy between the fact that IEPs have to simultaneously address the child’s present levels of academic achievement (functional performance) AND that IEP goals must be aligned with grade-level standards (with the exception of children with the most significant cognitive disabilities). Clearly, this newly stated requirement is the cause of IEP-writing angst nation-wide, or there would be no need for such a clarification document. But why….?
Most IEP writing programs simply provide forms to fill out, maybe they’ll have a skills bank to choose from, and some even include prompts for blanks in the forms. But most teachers have difficulty using these ‘tools’ or they are overlooked out of frustration or fatigue. CLASS was built with the ideology of IDEA and NCLB so that educators have the tools to build all the appropriate content for the IEP. The CLASS Assessment and Plan Builder specifically includes our copyrighted Correlation Tool which draws a direct path from the student’s present performance levels to the aligned grade-level academic content standards. The Goal Builder then guides the teacher in shaping the grade-level standards into IEP goals that reflect both the student’s performing level and the State’s challenging academic content standards. In addition, CLASS is a completely web-based program presented in an easy to follow, step-by-step format, making it accessible on any device with internet capabilities.
This daunting requirement doesn’t have to be an enigmatic skill, only attainable by years of intensive training. With CLASS, these guidelines are easily attainable by the teachers and professionals who became special educators for their love of these most special students. This is possible because the folks that made CLASS share this same passion for these exceptional students.
Hilary Myers
Director of Assessments
What to learn more about how CLASS can help you create quality and compliant IEPs? Contact us today.