The information below can assist you in developing lesson plans to prepare your students for self-determined ILP meetings.
Studies have shown that students who receive preparation prior to the ILP meeting demonstrated self-awareness, self-determination and reported increased feelings of self-efficacy and self-confidence (Algozzine et al., 2001; Danneker & Bottge, 2009; Mason et al., 2002).
The following course outline is drawn from Danneker and Bottge's (2009) study, which describes the experiences of four primary-aged students with disabilities, who were taught how to communicate their goals and identify appropriate accommodations at their ILP meetings. The curricula was developed from sections of the self-determination curricula from the Florida Department of Education, Standing Up for Me program (Cooper, Roder, Wichmanowski, & Yeretzian, 2004).
As these lessons have been designed for primary-aged students, modifications may be necessary for secondary school students.
Time suggested:
Five 20-minute lessons, and one 45-minute lesson (lesson 2) conducted individually over a 2-to-6 week period.
Objective: Introduce students to the purpose, content, and format of the ILP.
Outcome: Students can articulate the purpose, content and format of the ILP, and create invitations to the meeting (physical or digital).
Resource: McGahee-Kovac's (1995) 'A Student's Guide to the IEP'
Objective: Identify student's strengths, needs and interests.
Outcome: Students can identify their strengths, needs and interests.
Resource: VIA-Youth (see below for additional information on identifying student's character strengths)
Objective: Examine current ILPs to evaluate progress on current goals (only applicable if students have current ILPs).
Outcome: Students understand current goals, and where they are in relation to their current goals.
Resource: McGahee-Kovac's (1995) 'A Student's Guide to the IEP'
Objective: Learn about goals, how to modify current goals and/or develop new goals that relate to the student's strengths, needs and interests.
Outcome: Students can modify current goals and/or develop new goals that relate to the student's strengths, needs and interests.
Resources: McGahee-Kovac's (1995) 'A Student's Guide to the IEP' and the VIA-Youth (see below for additional information on identifying student's character strengths)
Objective: Learn about accommodations and modifications, and how these can help the student achieve their goals.
Outcome: Students can identify accommodations and modifications that can help them achieve their goals.
Resource: McGahee-Kovac's (1995) 'A Student's Guide to the IEP'
Objective: Learn how to lead and self-advocate during an ILP meeting
Outcome: Students develop and rehearse a script for use during the ILP meeting. Students can lead an ILP meeting using the '11 Steps of Self-Directed IEP' (see below for the 11 Steps).
Resources: 11 Steps of Self-Directed IEP ChoiceMaker Instructional Series (see below for steps) and McGahee-Kovac's (1995) 'A Student's Guide to the IEP'
The VIA-Youth is a self-report survey, for children and youth aged 10-17, that assesses the 24 character strengths and six virtues identified in the VIA Classification of Strengths. The VIA-Youth can be completed in a single session, and typically takes about 45 minutes.
For students with disabilities, support (i.e. reading questions or deciphering words) can be provided. The VIA Institute provide a supplementary guide for administering the VIA-Youth for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The guide is accessible via the website and includes recommendations for possible adaptations, ways to effectively provide support, and suggestions for simplifying the cognitive demands of the measure, when needed.
Begin meeting by stating the purpose
Introduce everyone
Review past goals and performance
Ask for others’ feedback
State your school and transition goals
Ask questions if you don’t understand
Deal with differences in opinion
State what support you’ll need
Summarise your goals
Close meeting by thanking everyone
Work on IEP goals all year
Adult members of the ILP team need to learn how to facilitate student involvement in the meeting. This begins with the expectation that students can and should be actively involved in their own meetings.
Adult team members can create space for student self-determination by:
preparing students for ILP meetings.
allowing students space to talk. (Did you know that a study conducted by Martin et al. (2006) found that special education teachers spoke for 51% of the time during ILP meetings, compared to students who spoke for 3%.)
reinforce and encourage participation during the meetings.