Describing the Composition of Individualized Education Plans for Students With Traumatic Brain Injury

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the features of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for a cohort of students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to help elucidate current special education practices for students with TBI. Method We obtained permission from administrators of a local school district of 41,000 students in a Midwestern state to review de-identified IEP records of students verified with TBI. We examined demographic information (i.e., cause and age at time of injury), IEP services and intensity, IEP goal categories, and previous verification status. Results Descriptive results support that intervention services were more intense for students with TBI with greater lengths of time postinjury. Target behaviors within goals were more often related to math and reading than to the cognitive processes that govern these skills, such as attention, memory, and executive functioning. Finally, more than a third of our sample had been verified with a disability and were receiving special education services via an IEP prior to their TBI. Conclusions This work represents an important first step in understanding the special education services for students with TBI. Future research should explore interventions that are ecologically valid for school-based settings and are developed to address the idiosyncratic deficits of students with TBI, particularly interventions that focus on the underlying cognitive processes experienced by these students.

ENJEUX DE COLLABORATION ENTOURANT LE PLAN D’ENSEIGNEMENT INDIVIDUALISÉ. ENTRE PROCESSUS D’INCLUSION ET D’EXCLUSION

This article examines the roles of actors engaged in the preparation and implementation of individualized education plans (IEP), which are considered as devices that organize the social relationships between community and school actors. A literature review conducted using search engines and based on precise criteria allows for a discussion on the roles of these actors and their collaboration with regards to recently developed directions in inclusion and the possible effects of exclusion.

Individualized Education Plans: What Characterizes the Research?

<p><em>This study illuminates the research question what characterizes the research of Special Needs Education’s (SNE’s) use of Individualized Education Plans (IEP), during the period 2010-2015? A sample of 11 relevant Norwegian publications has been analyzed by means of these criteria: Type of publication, research method(s) applied, sub-topics focused on and perspectives of SNE. Findings show (1) the amount of the research is still scarce, (2) only three researchers of PhD-level or above have participated in this sample of publications, (3) the sample demonstrates various research methods applied, although document analysis dominates, (4) there is still a need of research looking for catalysts of good planning and using of IEP, (5) the study presents one way of constructing thematic and sub-topical categories, and (6) one needs to validate how the SNE’s perspectives of traditionalism and inclusionism influence the outcomes of IEP research.</em></p>

A Move Towards Autonomy: Individualized Education Plans for Effective Materials Use

Over the past twenty years, self-access learning centers have faced challenges related to accessibility of materials and the fostering of autonomy. There has also been progress towards meeting those challenges, such as Brigham Young University’s web-based database for searching SAC materials and linking curriculum to SAC materials (McMurry, Tanner, & Anderson, 2010). Following that example and developing it further, the University of Delaware developed a system called the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that includes but goes beyond a Course Objectives Database (COD) similar to that of Brigham Young University. The COD alone was rather ineffective, but when the COD was combined with website resources and learner surveys modeled on Gardner and Miller (1999), the IEP emerged. A step-by-step guide to creating IEPs for use in other self-access environments is provided along with model forms. Finally, the results of informal surveys suggest that autonomous and goal-oriented learning might have been fostered by the use of IEPs.