Curriculum Modifications and Accommodations

Why Is ThisCake on Fire?

Inviting StudentsInto the

IEP Process

Jamie L. Van Dycke

James E. Martin

David L. Lovett

Ihe Blrfhday PartyImagine being a small child and hearingyour parents talk about your birthdayparty. You hear the excitement in theirvoices as they talk and plan, startingwith a theme for the party, decidingwhom they will invite, and then figuringout who will do each job. As the timedraws closer, you hear more and moreconversations about your birthdayparty, and so you know it is comingsoon. And then your birthday comesand goes, but no one ever invites you toyour party. Maybe they just forgot toinvite me. you think.

The Next Year . . .

The next year, you again hear your par-ents discuss your birthday party. Onceagain, you hear the excitement in theirvoices as they talk and plan, choose anew theme for the party, decide whomthey will invite, and then finally,appoint someone to be in charge of eachjob. Again, as time draws closer, you

hear more and more conversationsabout your birthday party and so youknow it is coming soon. And again yourbirthday comes and goes, but no oneever invites you to your party. It mustnot be important for me to be there, youthink.

The Follo^ng Year , . .

The following year, you once again hearyour parents talk about your birthdayparty. You barely notice tbe excited tonein their voices as tbey decide on anoth-er new theme, make the invitation list,and divide the jobs. As the time drawscloser, you barely listen to the increasedconversations about your party. Againyour birthday comes and goes, but noone ever invites you. Now you thinkthat birthday parties are not importantat all.

Several Years Later . . ,

Several years later, when you become a

teenager, you barely catch a snippet of a

conversation about your birthday party.

But since you have never been invited

to your parties, you know that your

presence there is not important. You

believe that birthday parties are not

important at all, so you do not pay any

attention to the birthday plans.

But this time, you receive an invita-

tion to your party! You are surprised,

confused, and even scared. You ask

your parents why you received an invi-

tation this year. They say.

Well, you are a teenager now,

and you are old enough to help

with everything that a birthday

party involves. Each year, we start

with a theme for your party and

decide the best ways to represent

that theme. Then we make the

invitation list and decide who will

do the different jobs. Now that

you are a teenager, we thought

that you would like to become

involved!

42 • COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

But you respond by saying,

Why would I want to becomeinvolved now? If these birthdayparties were supposed to be mybirthday parties, why wasn't /invited all along? Why didn't Ihave a chance to select themesthat interest me? Why didn't I getto help decide whom to invite?And why didn't I get to helpchoose who would do the differ-ent jobs?

"We thought that you were not oldenough to help."

"Now I am so old that I do not knowhow to help with any of it; you havebeen doing it for me for all these years.Just keep on doing it without me."

Now . . .

Imagine this scenario again, only thistime, insert individualized educationprogram (IEP) meetings in place ofbirthday parties.

The IEP Meeting

Students with disabilities hear theirteachers and parents talk about theirIEP meetings, they hear about goals,and they hear about what they aredoing wrong and the problems that theyare having. They hear about plans andservices and who will work on each job.They hear about who will attend the IEPmeetitig. But students rarely receiveinvitations to attend when they firstbegin to hear about these meetings. Atfirst, students may believe that someonejust forgot to invite them. In the yearsthat follow, when they still do notreceive invitations, students may thinkthat attending their own IEP meetings isnot important since no one shares anyinformation about the meeting. Theymay decide that an IEP meeting is anopportunity for adults to talk negativelyabout all the problems tbat students arehaving iti school and divide up the nec-essary jobs.

The First Invitation

By the time tbat students becometeenagers, they may have decided thatIEP meetings are not important at allsince no one has invited them or includ-ed them in the planning phase. In fact.

some students may be ashamed for any-one to know that they have an IEP.When students reach middle school orhigh school and finally receive their firstinvitation to attend an IEP meetitig, theymay not be interested at all—and theymake statemetits similar to those in thebirthday party example: "Now I am soold that I do not ktiow how to help withany of it; you have beeti doing it for mefor all these years. Just keep on doing itwithout me."

Questions Wfo Should Ask

As educators, parents, and serviceproviders, we should be asking the fol-lowing questions:

• Do we encourage students to becomeinvolved in their IEP meetings?

• Does this involvement begin at anearly age?

• Do we encourage students to becomeinvolved in designing the "themes"of their IEPs?

• Do we allow students to help decidewhom to invite to their lEP meet-ings?

• Do we give students opportunities tobe responsible for the goals in theirIEPs?

• Do students know that the IEP meet-ings are for them and that the ititentof the IEP process is to design aplan—a blueprint—that will helpthem be successful in school and inhfe?

Do students know that theintent of the IEP processis to design a pian—«

hiueprint^hat wiii heipthem he successfui in

schooi and in iife?

Behaviors We Shouid ExpectThe 1997 Amendments to the Indi-viduals with Disabilities Education Act[IDEA) recognized students as impor-tant members of the IEP team (Martin,

Huber Marshall, & Sale, 2004; Storms,O'Leary, & Williams, 2000; Test et a l ,2004). The 2004 IDEA amendmentscontinue to emphasize the importanceof transition planning and require thatthe IEP team develop measurable post-secondary goals in the IEP on the basisof the student's assessed needs,strengths, preferences, and interests(Council for Exceptional Children,2004). The implication is that educatorsneed to invite students not only to be apart of the IEP meeting but also to be apart of the IEP process, so tbat they canlearn about and communicate theirneeds, preferences, and interests.Students should be involved with theIEP planning process and should

• Have an informative role in develop-ing and writing their educationalperformance description (the PresentLevels of Educational Performance,or PLEP).

• Aid in developing measurable post-secondary goals in their IEPs.

• Help identify the accommodations,modifications, and supports thatthey need.

• Be responsible in the achievement ofcoordinated transition activities,postschool linkages, and post-secondary goals (Mason, Field, &Sawilowsky, 2004; Mason, McGahee-Kovac, Johnson, & Stillermati, 2002).

Ara We Inviring Students toSpeak or Just to Attend?Expecting students to exercise activeroles in the IEP process means doingmuch more than just invititig them toattend the meetings. We must encour-age tbem to participate actively in theIEP conversations. In Year 1 of a 3-yearresearch study cotiducted by Martin, etal. (2006), researchers observed 109middle and high school IEP meetings todetermine who talked in typical teacher-directed IEP meetings. In those meet-ings, students only talked during 3% ofthe IEP meeting time. Special educatorsspoke 51 % of the time, family membersspoke 15% of the time, general educa-tors and administrators each spoke 9%,support personnel spoke 6%, and mul-tiple conversations occurred during 5%of the meeting time. Finally, during 2%

TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN • JAN/FEB 2006 • 43

Figure 1. Pvrcantag* of Intervals That IEP Team Members TalkedDuring Observed IEP Meetings

Multiple Conv5%

Student No Conversations2%

Family15%

Z'fk SPED Teachers51%

Figure 2. Tbe SeH-DlrectedIEP Leadership Steps

1. Introduce self

2. Introduce IEP teammembers

3. State purpose of meeting

4. Review past goals andprogress

5. Ask for feedback

6. Ask questions if did notunderstand

7. Deal with differences inopinion

8. State needed support9. Express interests

10. Express skills and limits

11. Express options and goals12. Close meeting by thanking

everyone

of the time at these ohserved IEP meet-ings, no conversation occurred at all, asFigure 1 indicates. The student contri-bution category therefore exceededonly the category in which no one wastalking.

We must encourage them

to participate actively in

the lEP conversations.

How Do W» BringInto the IEP Conversations?

Shident IEP Leadership Steps

Martin et al. (2006) used the 12 IEPleadership steps (Martin, Huber Mar-shall, Maxson, & Jerman, 1997) shownin Figure 2 to observe how studentsbecame involved in their lEPs. Duringthe 109 teacher-directed IEP meetings,students expressed interests in 49.4% ofthe meetings, expressed options andgoals in 27.1% of the meetings, andexpressed skills and limits in 20% ofthe meetings. The researchers neverobserved students stating the purpose

of the meeting, asking for feedback, orclosing the meeting by thanking every-one. Students introduced themselves orother IEP team members, reviewed pastgoals and progress, asked questionswhen they did not understand, dealtwith differences in opinion, or statedneeded support at 6% or less of themeetings.

In Year 2 of the study [Martin, et ai.,in press), participating teachers ran-domly selected students for IEP instruc-tion groups. That year, the researchersohserved 130 IEP meetings: In 65 ofthose meetings, the students hadreceived IEP leadership instruction; andin the other 65 meetings, the studentshad not. In the meetings observed afterstudents had received IEP leadershipinstruction, the students' contributionincreased across all 12 lEP leadershipsteps, with the largest increases occur-ring for introducing self and team mem-bers, stating the purpose of the meeting,reviewing past goals and progress, andexpressing options and goals. Table 1shows the 12 IEP leadership steps thatstudents exhibited in Years 1 and 2 ofthe Martin et al. (in pressj study. In theYear 2 IEP meetings that occurred aftereducators had taught students how to

become involved, student participationaiso increased to 12% of the meetingtime—a much more encouragingamount than the student contribution of3% that occurred in the Year 1 teacher-directed meetings (see box, "What DoesResearch Reveal About Student Involve-ment in the IEP Process?").

Steps for Educators

Educators should incorporate studentself-directed IEP instruction into the stu-dent's curriculum according to theneeds of the student and the structureof the school day. Teachers in theMartin et al. tin press) study taught the12 self-directed IEP lessons in a varietyof ways. Teaching each lesson tookapproximately 45 minutes. Studentsreceived instruction over a 6-day period(two lessons per day), an 11-day period(one or two lessons per day), or in 1 dayat a student leadership retreat. Teachersinfused the self-directed IEP instructioninto before-school or after-school stu-dent meetings, resource or study peri-ods, and into the English, social studies,or social skills curriculum [see box,"What Do Educators Say After TheyTeach Students to Self-Direct TheirIEPs?").

44 • COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

Tnblft 1. Sfvdent IEP Leadership Step* Exhibited In Sfudy

IEP Leadership Steps

Introduce self

Introduce IEP team members

State purpose of meeting

Review past goals and progress

Ask for feedback

Ask questions if did not understand

Deal with differences in opinion

State needed support

Express interests

Express skills and limits

Express options and goals

Close meeting by thanking everyone

% of StudentsWho Exhibited Steps

in Year 1 With No IEPLeadership Instruction

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

49

20

27

0

Years 1 and 2

% of StudentsWho Exhibited Stepsin Year 2 With No IEPLeadership Instruction

0

0

0

10

18

15

8

62

9

24

0

% of StudentsWho Exhibited Stepsin Year 2 With IEP

Leadership Instruction

70

77

70

53

22

35

17

25

n43

53

14

Steps for Parent5

Parents can take several steps to help

their child become more than just an

attendee at the IEP meeting. The parent

needs to take many of these steps early

in the child's life, such as learning early,along with the child, about his or herdisability; learning how to talk comfort-ably about challenges in terms that thechild can easily understand; and learn-ing, along with the child, about the

What Does Research Reveal About Student Involvementin the IEP Process?

During the past 10 years, self-determination has become such a central topic inspecial education literature that "promoting self-determination (SD) or teachingstudents to take control of their life, is becoming a hallmark of providing full andcomplete special education services" [Karvonen, Test, Wood, Browder, &Algozzine, 2004, p. 23). Research indicates that this hallmark is rarely achieved.Agran, Snow, and Swaner (1999) found that although 75% of middle and highschool teachers rated SD skills as a high priority, 55% failed to include goalsrelated to SD skills in any of their students' IEPs. Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes(2000) found that only 22% of secondary teachers reported writing SD goals forall their students. Mason, et al. [2002) found that students and teachers highlyvalue student involvement in the IEP planning process, but that study identifiedseveral logistical challenges that educators must resolve before they can imple-ment SD practices: "Chief among these is finding the time necessary for adequatestudent preparation. With the trend away from pull-out resource rooms towardinclusion in the general classrooms, teachers are finding it difficult to scheduletime to prepare students for IEP meetings" (p. 188). The question quicklybecomes, "If teachers cannot find time to prepare students to self-direct theirIEPs, how are they going to prepare students to self-direct their lives?"

child's strengths, preferences, gifts, andneeds (Bateman, Bright, & Boldin,2003). Additionally, parents need to fre-quently remind their child of the impor-tance of his or her strengths and giftsand how they contribute to the family,the classroom, and the IEP process.Beginning with Ihe first IEP meeting,parents should expect their child tobecome an IEP team member, and theyshould talk to the child ahout his or herrole in the IEP meeting (see box, "HowDo Parents Respond to StudentInvolvement in IEP Meetings?"). Finally,parents need to frequently reviewprogress toward IEP goals with theirchild (Bateman et al., 2003; Schoellar &Emanuel, 2003).

To many students, the IEP

process and meeting may

appear os alien and

avrkward as an annual

birthday party that they do

not help plan or attend.

TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN • JAN/FEB 2006 • 45

Do Educators Say Aftar They Teach Studentsto Self-Direct Their IEPs?

Teachers involved in the Martin et al. [in press) study made the followingcomments after teaching the self-directed IEP to their students:• A teacher who had taught the self-directed IEP lessons said—

The students have taken much more interest in this than I thought theywould. I think I just figured that since I knew all about IEPs and havetalked about having to do IEP meetings so much, that my students wouldjust somehow figure out what they were. I didn't think about actuallyteaching them about IEPs. Why would I have thought ihat they wouldleam this on their own?

• A teacher who had taught the first three lessons of the self-directed IEPsaid—

The students are embarrassed and giggly in class about the role-playing.But it's a great way to teach them about social skills, like how to introducesomeone by looking at them, and holding your head up, and making eyecontact. They don't know it yet, but we're going to be role-playing theentire IEP in the counselor's office when we get further along with the les-sons. 1 want them to practice in the environment where they're actuallygoing to be doing this.

• A teacher who had conducted several student-directed IEP meetings said—

This is a great way for students to leam to advocate for themselves, espe-cially for the ones who have parents that can't or don't know how to advo-cate for them.

• A teacher who had taught students to self-direct their IEP meetings said—

/ agreed to take part in this study last year, but I wasn't sure at all aboutteaching my students about their !EPs. This year I'm totally into it. My stu-dents need to leam these skills. ! see now that the IEP is a workable wayto teach them about advocacy—and they understand more why they arein special education.

A DKforent WkiyTo many students, the IEP process andmeeting may appear as alien and awk-ward as an annual birthday party thatthey do not help plan and do not attend.The IEP process does not have to be thatway. IDEA 2004 has continued toemphasize secondary transition plan-ning that focuses on students' needs,preferences, and interests. The implica-tion is twofold:

• Students need to be involved in theIEP process and their IEP meetingsas soon as transition topics surface.

• Students need to learn about theirIEPs and what to do at their IEPmeetings well before they enter theirsecondary school years.

These implications, which are notnew, have helped inspire fundamentalchanges in secondary special educationand created opportunities for students

to learn crucial self-advocacy and otherself-determination skills during the tran-sition process [Martin et al., 2006).Active student involvement at the IEPmeeting is central to this process[Martin, Greene, & Borland, 2004). It isnow up to professionals and parents toinvite students into the IEP planningprocess and to support tbem while they

Then students can blew

out candles of success as

they transition into

adulthood instead of

wondering why a cake is

on fire at a party to which

no one invited them.

How Do Parents Respond toStudent Involvement in IEPMeetings?

A speech-language pathologist whoattended a student-directed IEPmeeting made the following com-ment:

/ was watching his mom'seyes as he was doing hispart of the IEP in there, andI saw a tear It's good to seestudents have a more activerole, instead of being so pas-sive. It took him a littlelonger to do his part,because of his speech delay,but I don't think anyoneminded that. ! was proud ofhim today.

Martin, Huber, Marshall, et al.[2004) examined tbe perceptions ofIEP meeting participants when stu-dents attended meetings. Theresults of this study indicated tbatstudent presence at IEP meetingsadds value and validation to invit-ing students into the IEP process.Specifically, the researchers foundthat when students attended meet-ings, "Parents understood the rea-son for the meeting better, felt morecomfortable saying what theythought, understood more of whatwas said, and knew better wbat todo next" [Martin, Huber, Marshall,etah, pp. 291, 293).

Grigal, Neubert, Moon, andGraham [2003) surveyed parents,general educators, and special edu-cators about their views on self-determination and found that par-ents strongly supported IEP meet-ing participation and self-determi-nation instruction. However, Grigaland colleagues noted tbat IEP meet-ing participation may have differentmeanings to different people andthat some people may equate sim-ply attending tbe meeting with par-ticipation. Other studies have con-firmed this "attendance equals par-ticipation" notion [Field &Hoffman, 1994; Martin, Greene, &Borland, 2004).

46 • COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL GHILDREN

learn how to be actively involved intheir IEP meetings. Then students canblow out candles of success as theytransition into adulthood instead ofwondering why a cake is on fire at aparty to which no one invited them.

ReferencesAgran, M., Snow, K., & Swaner, J. (1999).

Teacher perceptions of self-determination:Benefits, characteristics, and strategies.Education and TYaining in Mental Retard-ation and Developmental Disabilities, 34,

Bateman, D, R, Bright, K., & Boldin, A.(2003J. Parents as instructors. In D. Wan-dry & A. Pleet (Eds.J, A practitioner'sguide to involving families in secondarytransition (pp, 71-82). Arlington, VA:Council for Exceptional Children.

Council for Exceptional Children. (2004). Thenew IDEA: CEC's summary of significantissues. Retrieved December 7, 2004, fromh t t p : / / w w w . c e c . s p e d . o r g / p p /IDEA_120204.pdf

Field, S., & Hoffman, A. [1994). Develop-ment of a model for self-determination.Career Development for Exceptional Indi-viduals. 17, 159-169.

Grigal, M., Neubert, D. A., Moon, M, S,, &Graham, S. (2003). Self-determination forstudents with disabilities: Views of par-ents and teachers. Exceptional Children,70(1], 97-112.

Karvonen, M. Test, D. W., Wood, W. M.,Browder, D,, & Algozzine, B. (2004). Put-ting self-determination into practice.Exceptional Children, 71, 23-41.

Martin, J. E., Greene, B. A., & Borland, B. J.(2004). Secondary students' involvementin their IEP meetings: Administrators' per-ceptions. Career Development for Excep-tional Children, 27(1). 177-188.

Martin, J. E., Huber Marshall, L., Maxson, L.,& Jerman, P. (1997). Self-directed IEP.Longmont, GO: Sopris West.

Marlin, J, E., Huber Marshall, L., & Sale, P.(2004). A 3-year study of middle, juniorhigh, and high school IEP meetings.Exceptional Children, 70, 285-297.

Martin, J. E., Van Dycke, J. L., Greene, B. A.,Gardner, J. E., Christensen, W. R., Woods,L. L., et al- (2006), Direct observation ofteacher-directed IEP meetings: Establish-ing the need for student IEP meeting

instruction. Exceptional Children. 72, pp.187-200.

Martin, J, E., Van Dycke, J. L., Ghristensen,W. R., Greene, B. A., Gardner, J. E.,Lovett. D. L. (in press). Increasing studentparticipation in their transition IEP meet-ings: Establishing the self-directed IEP asan evidence-hased practice. ExceptionalChildren.

Mason, C. Y., Field, S., & Sawilowsky, S.(2004). Implementation of self-determina-tion activities and student participation inIEPs. Exceptional Children, 70, 441-451.

Mason, G. Y., McGahee-Kovac, M., Johnson,L., & Stillerman. S. (2002). Implementingstudent-led IEPs: Student participationand student and teacher reactions. CareerDevelopment for Exceptional Individuals,25(2), 171-192.

Schoeliar, K., & Emanuel, E. (2003). Parentsas evaluators and decision-makers. In D.Wandry & A. Pleet (Eds.), A practitioner'sguide to involving families in secondarytransition (pp. 41-58). Arlington, VA:Council for Exceptional Children.

Storms,J., O'Leary, E,,&Wilhams,J. (2000).The Individuals with Disabilities Educa-tion Act of 1997 transition requirements: Aguide for states, districts, schools, universi-ties and families. Institute on CommunityIntegration, University of Minnesota,Minneapolis, MN.

Test, D. W, Mason, G.. Hughes, C, Konrad,M., Neaie, M., & Wood, W. M, (2004),Student involvement in individualizededucation program meetings. ExceptionalChildren, 70, 391-412.

Wehmeyer, M,, Agran, M., & Hughes, G.(2000). A national survey of teachers' pro-motion of seif-determination and student-directed learning. Journal of SpecialEducation. 34{2], 58-68.

Jamie L. Van Dycke (CEC OK Federation).Assistant Professor, Department of Curricu-lum and Instruction. Northeastern StateUniversity. Tahlequah, Oklahoma. James E.Martin (CEC OK Federation), Endowed Pro-fessor, Zarrow Center for Learning Enrich-ment: and David L. Lovett (CEC OKFederation), Associate Professor, Departmentof Educational Psychology, University ofOklahoma. Norman.

Address correspondence to Jamie L. VanDycke, Department of Curriculum andInstruction, Northeastern State University,717 N. Grand Avenue. Tahlequah, OK, 74464(e-mail: vanil@nsuok.edu). Phone 918-45&5511 X3773.

Funding provided by the U.S. Department ofEducation, Office of Special Education Pro-grams field initiated research (CFDA84J24C). Grant award number H324C020045partially supported the preparation of thismanuscript.

TEAGHING Exceptional Ghildren, Vol. 38.No. 3, pp. 42-47.

Copyright 2006 CEC.

Ad Index

Council for Exceptional Children, 1, 26, 27, 34, 61

Crisis Prevention Institute, cover 4

Curriculum Associates, cover 3

Mesa Public Schools, 55

National University, 63

NOVA Northeaster University, 41

Penn State University, cover 2

Scholastic Teaching, 35

University of Nebraska, 54

University of Maryland, 60

TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN • JAN/FEB 2006 • 47