Running head: IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 1

IEP Case Study Review

Emma Bauman

Ivy Tech Community College

IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 2

IEP Case Study Review

Scenario 1 Decision

In the first scenario, Anna, a third grade student was referred by her teacher to see if she

was eligible for special education services. A team was gathered for an IEP meeting. The team

included Anna’s teacher, Anna’s mother, the special education administrator, the school social

worker, and the school psychologist. They started the meeting by getting the opinion from the

teacher and the mother. The teacher stated that she was consistently struggling with reading and

writing in cursive. The teacher claimed that she no longer knew what to do with her anymore.

When the mother was asked for her take on the situation. Anna’s mother said that she had

recently taken a new job and Anna had to take on some more respectabilities like doing her

homework by herself.

The school psychologist evaluated Anna and found that her overall ability was below

average and there was no significant difference between any of the scores. He found that she was

performing to her ability and that she did not need special education services, she just needed

some extra help reading so that she can continue working her best at her language arts classes.

As I was reading this scenario, I knew from the beginning that she probably wouldn’t

qualify for special education after reading the teacher’s take on the situation. It seemed to me

that it was just an inconvenience to the teacher and she wanted someone else to help get Anna on

track because with all of her students, it was difficult for the teacher to give one-on-one help. I

agree with the decision because Anna is preforming to her ability, she just needs to get a little

more comfortable with reading and the rest of the problems will fall into place. I believe that can

be done without the help of an IEP.

IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 3

Scenario 2 Decision

In the second scenario, an IEP team gathered that included Anna’s teacher, Anna’s

mother, the special education administrator, the school social worker, and the school

psychologist. The school support team had been working with Anna for two years and they are

seeing that Anna was not making progress despite the interventions. The team reflected on the

interventions that Anna had been through and the little amount of progress that she made through

them. Anna’s mother’s new job has left less time at home for intervention there and now that she

is learning more in 3rd grade, and Anna’s mom and teacher agreed that Anna would benefit form

a more intensive help.

The team decided that Anna would benefit from a higher intensity level of services based

on her individual needs in reading. Anna was granted an IEP or individualized education

program under the label of a “specific learning disability.” This meant that Anna would have

regular education interventions with the addition of services from a special education teacher

who gave her individualized reading instruction. Anna would have help from the special

education teacher on a daily basis inside the classroom to support her reading and see her in a

small group for her to receive specialized instruction.

I think that Anna got what she needed through the IEP and I can see that the experts and

her teacher worked hard to give her interventions like summer school and extra help but they

weren’t quite working so she was able get more help to get her on the right track. I believe that is

what is best for Anna and she will be able to get a lot more out of her education with the extra

help that she needs.

IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 4

Personal Application

An Individualized Education Program or IEP, is “A written individualized education

program is prepared for each student with a disability, including levels of functioning, long-term

goals, extent to which the student will not participate in the general education classroom and

curriculum, services to be provided, plans for initiating and evaluating the services, and needed

transition services (from school to work or continued education).” (Kauffman, J., & Kauffman, J.

M., 2006) After reading the scenarios the thing that stuck out to me the most was that they don’t

just give an IEP to anyone. They go through specific processes to determine the best route for the

child. It was really nice to see that even though the teacher was pushing the IEP the team did

their own investigation to see what the specific child needs.

“The entire IEP team plays a critical role in determining how the IEP and communication

process unfolds.” (Diliberto, J. A., & Brewer, D., 2014) The team in the meeting was made up of

Anna’s teacher, Anna’s mother, the special education administrator, the school social worker, and

the school psychologist. The facilitator of the meetings was the school’s special education

administrator. She lead the discussions and prompted the other members to share their opinions

and findings when it was appropriate. The parent of the student is a valuable piece of the team

because they provide the at home support and insight into what is happening outside of school.

The teacher was also a valuable part of the team because she was the person working the closest

with the student in an academic environment so her observations brought a lot to the

conversation. The school’s social worker reviewed Anna’s social and health history and

presented his findings. Next, the school’s psychologist presented his findings after he assessed

her. His job was to find out if there were any underlying psychological issues. It is important

that the culture of the team is positive because it dictates the ease or difficulty with which the
IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 5

parents gain acceptance as team members. (Briggs, 2004) It is important that the parents feel like

they are supported during an IEP meeting because they may be feeling a lot of pressure and have

a lot of questions about their child’s future.

Summary

Two different scenarios for a student named Anna, ended in two different ways. The team

at the IEP meetings took their time evaluating the student and deciding on the right track for her.

I believe that the team did a great job of properly evaluating the child to give her the best

opportunity to succeed. Each member of the team played a valuable role in evaluating and

sharing their observations to decide whether or not she need extra help from special education

program.
IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 6

References

Kauffman, J., & Kauffman, J. M. (2006). Exceptional learners: introduction to special

education. Boston: Pearson/A and B. 13

Diliberto, J. A., & Brewer, D. (2014). Six Tips for Successful IEP Meetings. Teaching

Exceptional Children, 47(2), 128-135. doi:10.1177/0040059914553205

Briggs, M. H. (2004). Building early intervention teams: working together for children and

families. Austin, Tx: Pro-Ed.

IEP CASE STUDY REVIEW 7