Individualized Education Programs

What’s on the IEP PLOP Page—and What Should Actually Be on the IEP PLOP Page?

20 USC Sec. 1414(d)(1)(A)(i) states:

“The term “individualized education program” or “IEP” means a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with this section and that includes—
(I) a statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including . . .”

It doesn’t state that it should include present levels from a year ago or two years ago. It states present levels—as in, where is the student NOW.

And yet . . . There are IEPs that don’t have baseline data at the start of each year to measure progress. They are void of PRESENT levels.

If you happen to have a child in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), there is an IEP page that is actually titled, “Information Related to Present Level of Educational Performance”.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has called out FCPS on its use of the page.

FCPS IEP Meeting: “Just Words” not Endorsed for Dyslexia, FCPS Dyslexia Training of Teachers Slow, Not “At the Rate that We Need It”

“How are we going to train all these teachers in Fairfax, you know, at the rate that we need it? We need to build that capacity. Some teachers are going to struggle even with Orton Gillingham, because it does require teachers to be very prescriptive and, well diagnostic first and then prescriptive in how they tailor their lessons.”

~Dottie Skrincosky, Fairfax County Dyslexia Resource, Region 5 Point of Contact, Intervention and Accommodation

This is a partial transcript of an IEP meeting that occurred toward the end of the 2019-20 school year.

Months earlier, the parent had stated that the program “Just Words” did not meet the unique needs of her son who was diagnosed with Dyslexia. This is not this parent’s first time at the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Dyslexia rodeo. She was joined by two friends who know the rodeo and Dyslexia well, too.

The honesty of Dottie Skrincosky was refreshing, but concerning just the same.

Category: Individualized Education Programs (page 3)