What is an IEP? It is an Individualized Education Plan for students with special needs. Just thinking about them makes me tired.
IEPs are supposed to be written so that teachers know what educational goals are obtainable by the individual student, as well as how to accommodate such students when they are in the teachers' classrooms as well as what modifications can be made to help them succeed in school. They can be quite useful. If you are a teacher who has a student coming into your class who has Asperger's, then the IEP should provide a lot of useful tips on how to include the student in your class.
But, we're in Chicago. And because of the Corey H. lawsuit that basically said that "Corey H." was unfairly excluded from the general education classroom, and placed in too restrictive of a classroom, CPS has gone nuts on "fine tuning" the IEP in an attempt, I assume, to avoid lawsuits. CPS would argue that it is to help students with special needs access the general education curriculum. I don't think so. The current version of he IEP that CPS uses (not only do states have different IEPs, but virtually every district in Illinois can have a different version) is a document that is written with so many mandated details that it is now a great piece of writing for lawyers to mull over. And it's stupid.
Why? Because it requires that teachers write narratives of test scores. Let's say a student achieves a scale score of 250, which places them in a stanine of 3, in the 8th percentile, and in the "below standards" category. (These numbers might not add up and I am too tired at this point to use an actual example by clicking into the very slow Impact web site that has my students' scores.) Now, the general education teachers have approximately 30 students. The middle school teachers have approximately 90 students since they see several homerooms. The high school teachers, can have about 200 students. Now, with SWDs (students with disabilities) being included in more general education classes (something that I did not originally agree with but have made a 360 on) the g.e. teachers must familiarize themselves with their SWDs and their IEPs.
So what?
Well, that's a lot of IEPs to read. As a special education teacher, I don't want to add more work to my colleague, the g.e. teacher. I want them to feel confident that they can accommodate my students and to not feel burdened by their inclusion. So, as most teachers would tell you, provide as much information as quickly as possible. So to make things easy, it would make sense to snapshot the scores of the above mentioned student as such:
ISAT Reading Score 2010-2011
Scale Score 250
Stanine 3
Percentile 8
Rank "Below Standards"
Right? Is that easy to understand?
But, nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooo. I have to write a narrative. Therefore, I add noun determiners, verbs and adjectives. So, then the above turns to "On the 2010-2011 reading portion of the ISATs, student A achieved a scale score of 250, which places him in a stanine of 3, the 8th percentile, and ranks him below standards."
Now the powers that be will tell you that they want a little more explanation. O.k. "Student A scored below standard due to his learning disability that negatively affects his ability to read at grade level."
But, wait. It gets better. This information is one of the many sections included on the "Language and General Considerations" portion of the IEP. Where I have to write the actual goals for reading, I have to also include the ISAT information. But, I am not supposed to cut and paste. Therefore, I have to move the noun determiners, the adjectives, the verbs, the scores, and my ingenious observations around a bit. Because God forbid I cut and paste information that is relevant as it is.
Well, my battery is about to die and I am going to take that as a sign that I should stop here. I will add more later. (It gets better.)
