When developing an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student with a disability we have to create a program that allows the student access to the general education curriculum and that ensures the student makes progress in that curriculum. One of the decisions we have to make is how much support to provide a student, and when to fade that support. It's a decision that can be made easier with some specific guidelines in mind.

At our June 7th 2018 Student Outcomes Conference (SOCon) 17 schools and districts shared their student "bright spots" or achievements, and the practices and systems that they put in place that made that success possible. Here are the bright spots in the area of student development of student self-advocacy, self-monitoring, and engagement in developing their own IEPs!

It’s clear that the more our students with disabilities participate in their IEP meetings, and the more they learn to self-advocate, the greater the possibility that they will be successful when they graduate high school.  How do we as special educators encourage our students to engage in their own career planning and to self-monitor their IEP goals? Read on to learn about an exciting collaboration of the RSE-TASC and the Hudson Valley Special Education Parent Center called "The Student Directed IEP.”