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Ohio’s Learning Standards (OLS) describe what students are expected to learn at each grade level in English-Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The majority of Cincinnati Public School students receive instruction through Ohio Learning Standards, although some access Ohio Learning Standards- Extended to support access to grade level curricular content. These extended standards help to ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are provided with multiple ways to learn and demonstrate knowledge. At the same time, the extended standards are designed to maintain the rigor and high expectations of Ohio’s Learning Standards.
Ohio and Cincinnati Public Schools have implemented academic content standards for four subjects: English-Language Arts; Mathematics; Science; and Social Studies. Content standards help Cincinnati Public Schools ensure that written curriculum, classroom instruction and tests of learning all match; an alignment that research suggests makes a powerful impact on student achievement.
Cincinnati Public Schools uses Ohio's Learning Standards in our curriculum. The standards are incorporated into all CPS professional development, focusing on teaching strategies and assessments.
Additionally, Ohio’s Learning Standards – Extended (OLS-E), commonly known as "the extended standards," help to ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are provided with multiple ways to learn and demonstrate knowledge. At the same time, the extended standards are designed to maintain the rigor and high expectations of Ohio’s Learning Standards. Extended Standards instruction is accessed through determination of eligibility for an Individual Education Program (IEP). Students with disabilities, who meet eligibility requirements, receive specialized instruction according to their IEP (a written document for the student that is developed, reviewed and revised in accordance with federal and state regulations).
Prior to developing IEPs, all IEP team members, including parents, need to be familiar with the general education curriculum including the state’s academic content standards and state assessments used for calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP). In order to make informed decisions about each student’s strengths and needs, the IEP team should consider how the student is performing in relation to the state’s grade-level content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled.
The District uses ODE’s required form, PR-O7, for its IEPs. In developing each child’s IEP, the IEP team considers:
(1) The strengths of the child; Special Education Model Policies and Procedures July 1, 2009 Page 32 of 40
(2) The concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child;
(3) The results of the initial or most recent evaluation of the child;
(4) The results of the child’s performance on any state or district-wide assessment programs, as appropriate; and
(5) The academic, developmental and functional needs of the child.
Further, the IEP team considers the following special factors:
(1) In the case of a child whose behavior impedes the child’s learning or that of others, the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to address that behavior;
(2) In the case of a child with LEP, the language needs of the child as those needs relate to the child’s IEP;
(3) In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, the instruction of that child in accordance with the Operating Standards and section 3323.011 of the Revised Code;
(4) The communication needs of the child, including those of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing; and
(5) Whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services.
CONTENTS OF EVERY IEP
The District’s IEPs are written, and are developed, reviewed and revised in IEP meetings. The District’s IEPs include all of the following:
(1) A statement that discusses the child’s future and documents planning information;
(2) A statement of the child’s present levels of academic and functional performance, including:
(a) How the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum as for nondisabled children); or
(b) For preschool children, as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities;
(3) A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals and benchmarks or short-term objectives designed to:
(a) Meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and
(b) Meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability;
(4) A description of:
(a) How the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals described in the IEP will be measured; and
(b) When periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals will be provided;
(5) A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child:
(a) To advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; Special Education Model Policies and Procedures July 1, 2009 Page 33 of 40
(b) To be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum in accordance with the Operating Standards, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and
(c) To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children, as appropriate, in the activities described in 3301-51-07(H)(1)(e) of the Operating Standards;
(6) An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular classroom and in activities;
(7) A statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on state and districtwide assessments consistent with Section 612(a)(16) of the IDEA;
(8) If the IEP team determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular state or districtwide assessment of student achievement, a statement of why:
(a) The child cannot participate in the regular assessment; and
(b) The particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for the child; and
(9) The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications described in the IEP and the anticipated frequency, location and duration of those services and modifications.
(10) TRANSITION SERVICES The District’s IEPs address transition services as follows:
(a) For children age 14 or over (or younger, if determined appropriate by the IEP team), the IEP includes a statement, updated annually, of the transition service needs of the child under the applicable components of the child's IEP that focuses on the child's courses of study (such as participation in advanced-placement courses or a vocational education program.); and
(b) Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16 (or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP team), the IEP includes:
(i) Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment and, where appropriate, independent living skills; and
(ii) The transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.
(iii) TRANSFER OF RIGHTS AT AGE OF MAJORITY Beginning not later than one year before the child reaches 18 years of age, the IEP includes a statement that the child has been informed of the child's rights under Part B of the IDEA that will transfer to the child on reaching the age of majority.
(iv) NONACADEMIC SERVICES, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, EXTENDED SCHOOL YEAR AND TRANSPORTATION If appropriate, the IEP includes the services to be provided in each of these areas.
FORMS
A Seven-Step Process to Creating Standards-based IEPs by Marla Davis Holbrook
RESOURCES
Ohio Department of Education Model Policies and Procedures July 1, 2009
Ohio Academic Content Standards
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