Individual education plan (IEP) plays a special role in achieving inclusiveness and providing quality education for all children. It helps develop a learning program for individual students, tracks the student’s progress against short-term goals, and supports the achievement of long-term goals. The IEP is especially important when working with children with disabilities as it helps promote student confidence and engagement.
In the situation at hand, a 7-year-old boy who was a first-grader was sent for testing at the request of the MTSS team. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Inattentive type, was diagnosed based on a private score provided by the parents. Additionally, a medical record with an ADHD diagnosis was provided. The boy’s performance in five areas of cognitive ability was evaluated using the WISC-V. His overall FSIQ score was in the middle of the pack on this scale when compared to other kids his age. While his visual-spatial abilities and fluid reasoning are in the top center of children his age, his verbal comprehension abilities are slightly below average.
His processing speed abilities were average, but his working memory abilities demonstrated some weaknesses. According to assessment results found in the WJ-IV, he may struggle to complete reading, writing, and math tasks, demonstrating average to very limited language competence levels. The reasons for referral are the student’s elevated levels of inattention, learning issues, and executive function issues that adversely influence their ability to access instruction. He is working below grade level, and the MTSS team said that even though he improved at level 2, he has yet to advance sufficiently. He has also continued to perform below the level of his class.
IEP goals: By the end of the school year, the student will read grade-level literature aloud with correctness, appropriate rate, and expression as determined by teacher records on three separate occasions, at a speed of 90 words per minute with 90% accuracy. Given a grade level reading student will correctly read 90% of words in the text. Given a basic sight word list, student will accurately read 90% of words in 4/5 trials. Given a 1 grade level reading, the student will pronounce 85% of the words correctly with the correct stress. Given a 1 grade level reading student will correctly pause and base intonations. By the end of the IEP term, the student will be able to read a grade-level nonfiction piece, identify the major concept, and give at least three details that are relevant to the main idea in three out of four trials with 90% accuracy. Benchmarks: by the end of the IEP term, the student will correctly answer four out of five literal questions after reading a passage at first grade level. By the end of the IEP term, the student will correctly answer inferential questions in 4 out of 5 oral trials after reading a passage at grade level 1. By the end of the IEP term, given a reading at grade level 1, the student will correctly identify the key theme to sum up the subject in 3/3 trials. By the end of the IEP term, the student will use the passage’s context clues, text features, and highlighting to accurately identify unknown words in 2/3 of their attempts when reading a paragraph at grade level 1.
To work with weaknesses in working memory skills, it may be useful for him to increase the time to complete tests and tasks. Since the boy showed weakness in both visual and auditory working memory, a multimodal approach to instruction may be the best solution. Asking him to repeat or rephrase instructions, directions, or steps before he starts working on his own can help him do things better. Given his developed visual-spatial skills, in order to reinforce the study of new words, he can be invited to draw with his fingers or sculpt letters into words, practice with cards and make sentences with words. Eliminating external distractions, extraneous noise, and unnecessary interruptions can help maximize productivity (Fabiano et al., 2022). This may require a quiet place to work away from other students, or the use of noise-canceling headphones.
Reference
Fabiano, G. A., Naylor, J., Pelham, W., Gnagy, E., Burrows-MacLean, L., Coles, E., Chacko, A., Wymbs, B., Walker, K., Wymbs, F., Garefino, A., Robb Mazzant, J., Sastry, A., Tresco, K., Waschbusch, D., Massetti, G. & Waxmonsky, J. (2022). Special education for children with ADHD: Services received and a comparison to children with ADHD in general education. School Mental Health, 1-13. Web.