Introduction – transcript
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The IEP process in secondary school
Introduction
The key findings of the IEP Literature Review and the challenges for students in secondary schools
Robyn Ward, Complex Needs Practice Leader, Professional Practice Unit:
I’m Robyn Ward. I’m from the Professional Practice Unit of the Ministry of Education.
For some time, schools have been telling us that the 1998 version of the IEP Guidelines has become outdated and needs revision. Accordingly, in 2010 the Ministry commissioned a literature review from the University of Canterbury.
This resulted in the publication of this booklet, after consultation with a sector advisory group, and this publication came out in 2011.
It’s called Collaboration for Success: Individual Education Plans.
The use of IEPs in secondary schools was looked at as an area where particular knowledge was needed. Accordingly, an IEP Secondary Advisory Group was set up.
In the following series, we listen to Heads of Department Rachelle and Jocelyn and Specialist Teacher Mary discuss how they engage the school team, what tips they have for subject teachers, and overcoming some of the challenges in times of transition.
I’d like to thank our IEP and secondary panel of contributors.
I hope you find this information useful in your school.
Please have a look at IEP Online and let us know if you have other resources that you think would be useful for other schools or other strategies and tips.
Thank you.
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Literature Review
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In 2010, the Ministry of Education commissioned a review at the literature around IEPs (Mitchell, Morton, and Hornsby, 2010).
Key Points from the review:
- Student can be supported to be active participants in the process
- There is an expectation that all students will:
- access The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
- participate in assessments
- Parent involvement supports children’s learning.
Missy Morton, Head of School & Associate Professor, School of Educational Studies and Leadership University of Canterbury:
Key points from the review that I think are relevant to all – students primary and secondary settings – is that we know that if students have a say in their own learning, they’re much more invested in it.
So, the more the more that students can not only participate in an IEP but even come to lead some of the key parts of it, the more likely people are going to meet their goals.
Given that we’ve said really clearly that the New Zealand Curriculum is for all students, the IEP needs to be really clearly linked to the curriculum.
A third thing that we found is that, like for all students, parental involvement really supports learning, so parents need to be key participants – really clear members of a team – rather than just on the receiving end of somebody else’s decisions.
Parents get to see students performing outside of the classroom, demonstrating learning and competence in other settings, so their input is really valuable.
In the secondary settings, there’s an additional complication because there’s more teachers involved with someone’s learning, so the challenge then is for the person who’s coordinating it – normally a SENCO – to actually have all those teachers’ input and for those teachers to feel like they really buy into the process as well.
So, one of the key findings particularly related to secondary settings is that the more the subject specialist teachers can be involved in an IEP meeting, the more ownership they take for the goals and for that student’s learning.
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Our panel of contributors
Mary McDonald, Specialist Teacher Garin College, Nelson
Rachelle Stratton, HOD Learning Needs Tauranga Boys’ College
Jocelyn Springthorpe, HOD Learning Support (2012) Queen’s High School, Dunedin
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What are the challenges?
- Size and complexity
- Physical environment, timetables, managing learning materials,
- Range of teachers
- Peer attitudes
- Communication between home and school
Jocelyn Springthorpe, HOD Learning Support (2012) Queen’s High School, Dunedin:
When students move into secondary school from primary and intermediate, they face different challenges.
High school is generally much larger than the school that they have come from, and it’s organised differently.
There are a range of teachers that students deal with, not just the one teacher who’s with them throughout the school day. They have to move from class to class.
They need to manage negotiating their way around the school, down corridors or out over open spaces. They have to remember what books they have to take from class to class. Or, if they have a locker, they have to know how to access that locker, at what times of the day in order to get their equipment.
So, it’s easy for them to become overloaded and stressed in the new environment.
Along with this, in their primary school environments, students – especially students with learning needs – are well-known by their peers, and their peers often look out for them and become their voice and their support in the school environment.
For parents and families, the high school setting is very different as well. Prior to that, parents may have spoken almost on a daily basis with the classroom teacher and be well-informed about how their young person is performing at school and how they’re getting on socially.
In the high school setting, it can be very difficult for parents and families to know who is the first port of call in the school, who is the person who’s taking the overall responsibility for their young person.
The IEP process is a valuable and effective way of overcoming some of these challenges and supporting students as they negotiate their way through high school.
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Download document and links
An information sheet titled “What are the challenges?” is available to download from the same page as this video presentation.
For a copy of the Review of Literature on Individual Education Plans by David Mithell, Missy Morton, and Garry Hornby, go to the Ministry’s Education Counts website.
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz
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Acknowledgements
A special thank you to members of the Secondary Advisory Group who have provided content, advice, and guidance on successful IEPs in secondary schools.
Ann Sweet, Mt. Maunganui College; Barbara Hill, Ministry of Education; Jackie Wood, Baradene College; Jocelyn Springthorpe, Queen’s High School; John Robinson, Onslow College; Karen Keen, Ministry of Education; Mary McDonald, Garin College; Pat Caswell, Ministry of Education; Rachelle Stratton, Tauranga Boys’ College; Robyn Ward, Ministry of Education; and Rosemary Mirams, Wellington Girls’ College.