# Presentation: 734598

## What does an IEP mean 
in Job Corps?

**in Job Corps?**

**Debbie Jones, Humanitas**
**Region 6 Health & Wellness Conference**
**March 2008**

## INTRODUCTION

## IEPs

- What does the acronym “IEP” represent?
- Individualized Education PROGRAM
- What are the qualification factors for someone to have an IEP?
- Must be an individual with a disability
- 	AND
- Must be in need of special education supports and services

## IEP Development

- Is your center is required to develop and maintain IEPs?  How do you know?
- Determining factors:
- Are you partnered with a program that is a recipient of or are you a recipient of state/local educational funds?
- Are any of the students in your high school program counted in the local /state educational authority’s student count?

## IEP Development

- If so, it is “likely” that your program falls under the obligations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Therefore, your partner or the JC program (if no partner is involved) would need to comply with all requirements of IDEA including the developing of IEPs that guide the provision of special education supports and services.
- If in doubt, check your Memorandum of Understanding with your partnering agency, talk to your partnering agency or contact your state Department of Education.

## OTHER TYPES OF SUPPORT PLANS

## 504 Plans

- Section 504 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Section 504 ensures that the child with a disability has equal access to an education. The child may receive accommodations and modifications.
- Unlike the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 does not require the school to provide an individualized educational program (IEP) that is designed to meet the child's unique needs and provides the child with educational benefit.

## “Documentation Tip”

- If you have been consent to obtain a student’s educational records, be sure to specifically ask for all special education records and/or 504 plans.  Why?
- 504 plans are not considered special education and they may not be included in a request for special education records?
- Can someone have both types of records in their files?
- Yes or they may only have one kind or the other.  Some students are “stepped” down from IEPs to 504 plans.

## Job Corps Accommodation Plans

- Within our typical center programs that do not fall under IDEA, we develop “accommodation” plans for qualified students with disabilities who are in need of reasonable accommodation.
- Although we could call them 504 plans, we suggest that you do not because differing types of organizations have different obligations under Section 504; the term “504 plan” is often associated with public elementary and secondary schools.
- Ex. - “Child find”

## IDEA STATISTICS

## IEP Categories

- IDEA has 13 areas of classification
- An IEP classification is not a specific diagnosis and school IEP teams do not diagnose students.
- US Department of Education 2004 - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) data (Table AA3). Washington, DC: Author. Available at _[http://](http://wwwideadata.org/PartBdata.asp)__[www.IDEAdata.org/PartBdata.asp](http://wwwideadata.org/PartBdata.asp)_

| Disability Category | # of Children | % of Total Section in EDM |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Specific Learning Disabilities | 2,816,361 | 47.2% |
| Speech and Language Impairment | 1,118,543 | 18.8% |
| Mental Retardation | 570,642 | 9.6% |
| Emotional Disturbance | 482,597 | 8.1% |
| Other Health Impairments | 449,093 | 7.5% |
| Autism | 140, 473 | 2.3% |
| Multiple Disabilities | 131,225 | 2.2% |
| Hearing Impairments | 71, 118 | 1.2% |
| Orthopedic Impairments | 67,772 | 1.1% |
| Developmental Delay* | 65,878 | 1.1% |
| Visual Impairments | 25,294 | 0.4% |
| Traumatic Brain Injury | 22,459 | 0.4% |
| Deaf-Blindness | 1,603 | <0.1% |

## High-Incidence and Low-Incidence Disabilities

| High Incidence | Low Incidence |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Learning Disabilities | Orthopedic Impairment | Blind-deaf |
| Language Impairment | Hearing Impairment | Multiple Disabilities |
| Mental Retardation | Visual Impairment | Developmental Delay |
| Emotional Disturbance | Autism |  |
| Other Health Impairment | Traumatic Brain Injury |  |

## ROLE OF IEPS IN JOB CORPS

## Purposes of the IEP in Job Corps

- Typically, the IEP serves as
- documentation of a disability
- one tool for determining accommodation needs on a Job Corps accommodation plan
- Remember, however, for centers with high school programs who fall under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it serves as
- the program plan for the delivery of special education services and supports

## The IEP as a Tool

- The IEP
- provides documentation of an individual’s disability.
- provides present levels of functioning sometimes known as a PLOP or PLEP [as identified at the time of the writing of the IEP].
- states the goals necessary for the individual to either access the general education curriculum (in state’s with standards based IEPs) or states the educational goals of the individual.
- identified the accommodations and supports provided in the public school setting.

## The IEP as a Tool

- The IEP
- usually identifies the diploma type the applicant is seeking.
- usually identifies the assessment track in which the applicant is participating.

## How do we use this information

- The accommodations listed on the IEP may or may not be appropriate for the student in the Job Corps setting.
- The IDT should talk to the applicant or student and ask what types of accommodations that he or she feels are needed to be successful in the program.  The applicant or the student may not know what he or she needs but could perhaps share more information about things that are difficult for them and things that are easier for them to do.

## Present Levels of Performance (PLOP)

- One of the most critical sections of the IEP.  It is the foundation of the IEP.  A well written PLOP should tell you all the things you need to know about a student’s present levels of functioning with relation to the educational environment.  There should be a corresponding goal for any identified weakness or functional limitation.
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Assessment Data
- Successful Strategies Used

## State Assessment Information

- IEPs will usually state the “diploma track” that the individual was pursuing in his/her home state.  These vary from state to state.
- There is usually a separate section for accommodations related to state testing.
- This information can help you understand
- the curriculum type the student is using.
- the assessment method in which the student is participating.
- the types of accommodations being afforded in testing situations.

## Side Notes

- Review the amount of technology provided to a student.  Technology is continuously changing and is providing access to individuals with disabilities in ways not possible just a decade ago.  There may be technology options that are appropriate for the Job Corps applicant/student that were not noted on the public school’s IEP.
- Please remember that accommodations applied to testing must be used in the educational environment; in Job Corps that applies to both career technical and academic environments.

## IEP Language

## IEP Language

- Adaptations – umbrella terms for accommodations and modifications
- Modifications
- Altering the curriculum to match individual needs
- May change the content of the course
- Fundamentally alters or lowers the standard or expectation of the course, standard, or test

## IEP Language

- Accommodations
- Does not change the content of the course
- Does not fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectation of the course, standard, or test
- Student will earn regular credit for course and is eligible for a High School Diploma

## IEP Language Example

- The IEP says that a student was “pulled out” for math into a resource room.
- The IEP says that a student needs “1:1 support” in the area of reading.
- Do these statements mean this individual cannot be successful in the Job Corps program?

## Why might a student be served in a resource room?

- May need a smaller group environment
- May be distractible
- May need to move at a slower pace than the rest of the class
- May need specialized instruction (qualifications of the resource room teacher)
- May be that the particular school district does not ascribe to an inclusive model
- May have sensory needs exacerbated by a larger classroom environment

## What Might 1:1 Support Mean?

- May need a full time instructional assistant.  Rarely, if ever does a student get assigned a 1:1 teacher.
- Review the IEP carefully
- Types of accommodations – how much technology is provided
- Types of special education services and where
- Present levels of performance
- Evaluative assessments and recommendations
- What did 1:1 mean for this individual?
- Could technology and other accommodations increase his/her independence in the learning environment?

## Essential Factors in Determining Reasonable Accommodation

- Of _**key importance **_is that the IDT review accommodation needs in discussion with the applicant and that determinations
- be made based upon _**current **_needs
- be _**individualized**_
- are not based upon preconceived ideas or misperceptions of  an individual’s capability based upon the type of disability or the services previously received.
- Must consider all areas of the JC program.

## RESOURCES

## Job Corps Learning Disabilities Websitehttp://jccdrc.jobcorps.gov/ld

- Job Corps Learning Disabilities Websitehttp://jccdrc.jobcorps.gov/ld

**Job Corps Learning Disabilities Website****http://jccdrc.jobcorps.gov/ld**

## Other Web Resources

- Building the legacy: IDEA 2004
- 	_[http://](http://idea.ed.gov/)__[idea.ed.gov](http://idea.ed.gov/)__[/](http://idea.ed.gov/)_