Role of LEA Representative in IEP Meetings: Supporting CCR IEPs

There are many people who touch the lives of students who receive special education services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as they journey through public education.  The Local Educational Agency (LEA) representative is an important and required team member of each student’s IEP Team.  In many districts, the role of the (LEA) representative is fulfilled by building principals.  As a member of the IEP team, this person works collaboratively with other IEP team members to develop a program based on each student’s unique needs that is reasonably calculated to enable the student to make progress appropriate in light of the individual student’s circumstances, and assists the team in documenting that program in the student’s IEP. 

The Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) 2004 identifies the LEA representative as someone who;

(i) is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities;

(ii) is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and

(iii) is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency.

(34 CFR 300.321(a)(4))

In addition to school principals who may serve as the LEA representative on an IEP team, school principals have additional responsibility for ensuring school staff who are working with students with IEPs are supported and held accountable for IEP implementation.  School principals have day to day influence on IEP service delivery and are in the position to support the needs of those who implement IEPs and the systems in which they work.  This includes setting up collaborative teams, assisting with how students are assigned to classes, modeling high expectations for each and every student, providing educators with access to effective instructional planning for inclusive teaching and learning, and supporting a continuous improvement process to implement evidence based improvement strategies that is critical to IEP implementation.  

In the role of an IEP team member, the required skills and abilities of the LEA representative coincide with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) College and Career Ready (CCR) IEP framework.  CCR IEPs are for every student aged 3 through 21 who receives special education through an IEP.  They are designed to meet the unique disability-related needs of each student to ensure that every step along a student’s educational journey, they are on track to graduate ready for further education, work, and living in the community. For more information on CCR IEPs, visit the DPI web page on CCR IEPs or review previous AWSA article on CCR IEPs.

To assist IEP teams, DPI developed a CCR IEP Five Step Process that LEA representatives are encouraged to use during IEP team meetings to maximize the contribution of their unique knowledge and skill set, as well as that of all other IEP team members, to ensure each student with an IEP receives a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).  For more information on how school principals can ensure students with IEPs receive FAPE, please see a recent DPI guidance bulletin.  Along with the CCR IEP Five Beliefs, IEP teams use the CCR IEP Five Step Process to develop a deep understanding of the student’s unique disability-related needs that affect access, engagement, and progress in early childhood and grade level general education standards-based curriculum, instruction, and environments.  Although LEA representatives serve a critical role in Step 4, Aligning IEP Services, they have responsibilities and can make contributions throughout the five step process. 

In step 1, Understand Achievement, the IEP team explores and documents the student’s current academic achievement and functional performance as it relates to access, engagement, and progress in relation to early childhood/grade-level academic standards and functional skill expectations. Data from multiple sources is used, including information and viewpoints from the family and student, regarding strengths, interests, and areas of concern.  In addition to the general education teacher, another required IEP team member, the LEA representative has similar responsibility to communicate grade level academic and functional expectations that apply to all students and assist the IEP team in understanding each student’s current levels of academic and functional performance and for students participating in the statewide alternate assessment, IEPs should be aligned with alternate academic standards.

The US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, recently released guidance confirming the expectation that students who receive special education be held to rigorous academic standards.  They state “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.” US Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter, November 16, 2015.  Standards based IEPs start in Step 1 when the IEP team identifies how the individual student is performing compared to grade level peers. 

To assist IEP teams in Step 1: Understand Achievement, the LEA representative can assist by:

• Ensuring that all IEP team members come prepared to share information about the student, (e.g. data, observations, analysis), but have not pre-determined the outcome of the IEP.  Providing an IEP agenda in advance and setting norms at the beginning of a meeting is recommended.
• Assisting the team in understanding the academic standards and functional expectations that apply to all students.  DPI recently released Social and Emotional competencies that can assist IEP teams with a framework for exploring grade level functional expectations in the social and emotional domain. 
• Ensuring academic and functional performance data and descriptions are documented in the IEP in a way that is current and helps provide accurate baseline information, comes from a variety of data sources, and can be understood by everyone on the IEP team as well as teachers who will be required to implement the IEP.
• Ensuring that academic and functional performance of the student are described in relation to the expectations of grade level peers.
• Ensuring parent input is included a student’s present level of performance, even if parents aren’t in attendance during the meeting, the LEA representative can ensure parents were able to provide input in advance of the meeting through a Positive Student Profile, Student Snapshot, or other parent input forms as a mean to gather information.
• Remembering that taking parent input into consideration does not require the district to agree or implement the information and include any parent request under parent concerns in the IEP to document consideration.
• Ensuring present level information includes information is current, accurate, and objective.  DPI created a “Steps at a Glance” document for Step 1 that outlines many required components of this step as well as suggestions that lead to improved student outcomes.
• Ensuring assessment results include sufficient information so the IEP team can consider the student’s previous rate of academic growth, whether the student is on track to achieve or exceed grade-level standards and expectations, and the effectiveness of instructional interventions. 

In Step 2, Identify Effect of Disability-Disability Related Need, the IEP team first identifies “how” the student’s disability is observed to affect access, engagement, and progress in general education instruction, activities, and environments.  Then the IEP team uses root cause analysis to dig deep to determine “why” the student is not meeting early childhood/grade level academic standards and functional expectations.  Finally, the IEP team summarizes the student’s disability-related needs that will be addressed by IEP goals and services.  LEA representatives should understand that DPI has emphasized a greater focus on Step 2 of the process to encourage IEP team discussion, reflection, and analysis, because this step is foundational for determining a student’s IEP goals and services. 

The Office of Special Education programs, as well as the DPI, has also released guidance that reminds IEP teams of their responsibility to ensure identification of the behavioral needs of students who receive special education.  When a student’s behavior impedes their learning, or the learning of others, the LEA representative should ensure the IEP team identifies positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to address the behavior.  Failure of the IEP team to address the behavioral needs of a student with a disability can result in both a denial of FAPE and a denial of placement in the least restrictive environment (LRE).  If the student already has behavioral supports, but there are repeated behavioral incidents and/or disciplinary removals, the IEP team should review and revise the IEP and engage in further discussion of a student’s effect of disability and disability-related needs in this area.  The LEA representative can also remind an IEP team that a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) may be needed and request consent from the parent to re-evaluate the student to get more a more comprehensive understanding of a student’s behavioral needs. 

To assist IEP teams in Step 2: Identify Effects of Disability and Disability-Related Needs, the IEP team LEA representative can assist by: 

• Encouraging a discussion from all team members on “why” the student may be struggling to access, engage, or make progress in identified grade level academic standards and functional expectations.  In addition to special education staff, general education staff and families have  insights that may lead to identifying specific disability-related needs, that when supported, will improve student educational outcomes.  

• Encouraging the IEP team to explore areas and environments in which the student is achieving success to identify ways to capitalize on student strengths. 

• Ensuring that any behavior related needs that have been documented in Step 1, or brought up at the IEP meeting, are further discussed by the team to identify how this might effect a student’s access, engagement, and progress in grade level general education instruction and environments as well as dig deeper in understanding why the team feels this behavior is occurring. 

• Understanding and reminding IEP team members that disability-related needs go beyond eligibility criteria and impairment label(s). 

• Ensuring that any and all academic and functional achievement gaps identified in Step 1 have been discussed when discussing the student’s effects of disability and disability-related needs.

• DPI created a “Steps at a Glance” document for Step 2 that outlines many required components of this step as well as suggestions that lead to improved student outcomes.  

In Step 3, Develop IEP Goals, the IEP team develops ambitious and achievable goals that close achievement gaps by supporting the student’s unique disability-related needs.  IEP goals must be appropriately ambitious in light of the student’s circumstances and reasonably calculated to ensure the student is making progress toward IEP goals as well as making progress in grade level academic standards and functional expectations that are established for all students. 

In addition, IEP goals must be aligned with the academic content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled.  An IEP that focuses on ensuring that the student is involved and making progress in the general education curriculum for the grade in which the student is enrolled will necessarily be aligned with the academic content standards for that particular grade. To accomplish this, the IEP team must first understand the student’s current level of performance compared to the academic standards and functional expectations for all students (see Step 1 of the College and Career Ready (CCR) IEP 5 Step Process). For more information on developing standards based IEP goals, see the DPI CCR IEP Step 3: Develop IEP Goals web page for webinar, steps at a glance document, and additional resources.  

This graphic may assist IEP teams with understanding the connections between three required components of IEP goal statements; baseline, level of attainment, and procedures to monitor progress of IEP goals.  The LEA representative may need to ensure that special and general education teachers fully understand how to identify an appropriate measure and procedure with which to monitor progress for a specific IEP goal.  For example, if the student has a reading goal, the IEP team must identify a measure of progress that directly relates to the specific reading skill that is being taught that matches the information documented for baseline and expected level of attainment. During step 5, the progress data is collected on a regular schedule and reviewed intermittently. Principals are encouraged to ensure that all school staff have a system in place with understood processes for collecting and reporting progress on IEP goals to families so that at any given point in time, progress on any IEP goal has current documentation and is easily understood.