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The purpose of this grant is to improve the development, implementation and monitoring of IEPs at the secondary level. For the IEP to be effective in impacting post-school outcomes, as intended and mandated through IDEA, IEP case managers must change the process used to develop IEPs. We propose to develop a professional development training model that will result in more meaningful and effective IEPs. We will develop and pilot test a professional development model that includes content, strategies, methods, and application activities that IEP case managers can use to improve the development, implementation and monitoring of appropriate and effective IEPs for students 16 years of age and older. The professional development will consist of initial intensive content and application training and ongoing theory to extended practice. The intervention will be structured by a theoretical framework and set of premises that research suggests will result in appropriate and effective IEPs for transition-aged students.
The research activities in this project will occur across two interconnected phases. In Phase I (Years 1-2), we will use mixed-methods and design-based research to inform the development of our intervention. In Phase II (Years 3-4), we will use experimental research methods to obtain preliminary evidence that there is a relationship between exposure to our intervention and student IEPs.
We will measure the following IEP features: (a) presence of critical components of the transition regulations (i.e. post-school goal, PLEP, course of study, goals /transition activities, (b) alignment of these components within the IEP document, and (c) the degree to which documented goals/activities are reflected within students’ school day. We will conduct cognitive interviews with case managers to measure the degree of change in the decision-making, strategic planning processes used by case managers in developing, implementing, and monitoring student
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