Services and IEPs

Our Services

Edina Public Schools offers a variety of services to assist students and aid their development and growth.

Assistive Technology Resources

As part of student support services in Edina Public Schools, we strive for every student receiving support through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) or 504 Plan to have access to assistive technology (AT) that allows them to fully access their education. Not every student with an IEP, IFSP, or 504 plan requires AT, but those who do should have access to both tools and training needed to be successful AT users.

“Assistive technology devices are identified in the IDEA 2004 as: any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.” (Authority 20 U.S.C. 1401(1))

Resources for the consideration, selection, and implementation for Assistive Technology shared here include Edina Public Schools district AT forms, frequently asked questions, a library of printable visuals, training videos, link to AT resources, and contact information for your additional AT questions to request devices and support.

When to contact the AT Strategist

When the team is not sure of how to proceed with AT consideration
When the team has completed AT consideration and needs assistance selecting an AT device
When support is needed for staff and/or student training of AT device use
When the parent requests to have the AT Strategist involved
When an AT assessment is required
During an evaluation results meeting to review the outcomes of the evaluation and discuss how they translate into new or ongoing AT use

Individualized Education Plans

The student’s plan is formalized using a document called the Individual Family Services Plan (IFSP) for children in Early Childhood Special Education (birth through age 2) or the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for school-age children.

Adaptive Physical Education

Our Adaptive Physical Education (D/APE) Teachers are physical education (PE) teachers who has advanced training in Special Education.

The role of the D/APE teacher is to help each student achieve success at their level while working on gross motor fitness and lifetime sport skills. In addition, they:

work with students of all disabilities who demonstrate specific needs in the areas of gross motor skills
work with students in the mainstream PE class, in small groups or individually
consult with mainstream PE teachers about adaptations and safety issues

Adapted Athletics

In 1992, the Minnesota State High School League accepted a proposal from the Minnesota Association for Adapted Athletics (MAAA) to become the first high school activity association in the nation to sponsor adapted athletic programs. The adapted athletic programs sanctioned by the League includes soccer, floor hockey, and softball. There are two divisions:

The CI Division is for students with a cognitive impairment
The PI Division is for students with a physical impairment

The MAAA has eligibility guidelines for participation. Students who are under 22 years of age and fully enrolled in grades 7 through 12 in an ungraded setting are first eligible when they or their peers are in the seventh grade. They are eligible for a maximum of 8 semesters.

Teams

The South Suburban Adapted Athletic Teams are the Bloomington Jefferson Jets (CI Division) and the Bloomington Kennedy Flyers (PI Division) providing the follow athletic opportunities:

Soccer (fall)
Floor hockey (winter)
Softball (spring)

Speech-Language

Our Speech-Language Pathologists (CCC-SLP) are nationally certified. The role of the Speech-Language Pathologist is:

to serve students with identified speech-language disabilities,
to evaluate students with whom parents or teachers have a specific speech or language concern
to consult with parents and teachers about speech-language development and how disabilities may affect academic progress.

Resources for Parents

General - "Childhood Speech, Language and Listening Problems, What Every Parent Should Know"
by Patricia McAleer Hamaguchi
Speech and Language Resource Guide
MN Speech-Language-Hearing Association
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Autism Society
The Stuttering Foundation of America

Development of the “Team”

The first step in the development of an IEP is the identification of the IEP Team. IDEA-97 emphasizes the importance of working cooperatively as a team. The team is facilitated by the school district. The team brings together parents, the student, general educators, special educators and administrators.

There may be other team members as appropriate. These may include Adapted Phy Ed Teachers, Assistive Technology Specialists, School Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Paraprofessionals, Psychologists or Social Workers, Speech Clinicians. Parents can bring anyone they wish to the IEP meetings. As a courtesy, advise the school district if you are bringing additional guests or participants.

What is the Role of the Team?

The team process has important, integrated steps. Under IDEA-2004, the IEP process is a focal point for reaching improved outcomes for students with disabilities. This process is critically important to children with disabilities and must be carefully managed to ensure that the unique needs of the student are addressed. An appropriate evaluation, development of the IEP, appropriate services and periodic progress reports are crucial.

The team process is a collaborative process between parents, school staff members and other professionals involved with your child. As a parent, you have a unique and critically important perspective on the child’s learning style, strengths and needs. The school staff should ensure you feel comfortable throughout the process and identify specific contact people for you to connect with throughout the year.

You have the right to be involved in ALL meetings that discuss the identification, evaluation, IEP development and educational placement of your children. The law ensures you and school personnel are equal partners in all steps during the team process.

Student participation is important and students are considered important members of the team. As students get older, they should become more and more active at team meetings, and their interests and preferences should determine the direction for the identified goals and services in the IEP. Supporting active student participation in the team process assists students in developing self-determination skills, which are necessary in adult life. If the student does not attend the meeting, the district must take other steps to ensure the student’s preferences and interests are considered. It is not mandatory for the student to attend. The decision to attend is up to the student and his or her parents.

Contents of an IEP

By law, there are certain things an IEP must include about the student and the educational program designed to meet his or her needs. This information includes:

Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP)

Goals and Objectives/Benchmarks

Special Education and Related Services

This area lists all services the district has agreed to provide. This is where direct and indirect services would be defined.

Direct services are provided directly to the student by a special education teacher or related service professional.
"Indirect service" means special education services which include ongoing progress reviews; cooperative planning; consultation; demonstration teaching; modification and adaptation of the environment, curriculum, materials, or equipment; and direct contact with the pupil to monitor and observe. Indirect services may be provided by a teacher or related services professional to another regular education, special education teacher, related services professional, paraprofessional, support staff, parents, and public and nonpublic agencies to the extent that the services are written in the pupil's IEP and IFSP.
This section also defines what the special education service is, where the child will receive services, the amount of time, the frequency of the service, when they are to begin and how long they will continue.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Explanation

Course of Study

Transition Activities and Services

Transfer of Rights at Age of Majority

Progress Reporting

Program Placement Decisions

Once all the elements of the IEP are determined, including services and supports, a placement decision must be made.

The first placement option considered for each student with a disability must be the general education classroom with the provision of needed aids and
The law requires that students not be placed outside of the general education classroom unless their disability requires another
The team must always consider the educational needs of the student before making the final placement

While the goal is to have children taught in their neighborhood school, this is not always appropriate. A student with specific needs may be placed in a program that best addresses his or her needs.

Accommodations and Modifications

Some students with disabilities may be able to participate in the general classroom and be successful with the use of accommodations or modifications.

An accommodation allows students to do the same work as the other students but with a change that allows them to be more successful.
A modification lowers the rigor of the material and changes what a test or assignment measures, as compared to the rest of the class.
Accommodations and modifications should be written into a student’s IEP.
It is important to involve the student, as appropriate, in this process to get his or her ideas on what changes would be helpful.

Participation in State and District-Wide Tests

Extended School Year

School districts are required to provide extended school year services (ESY) to students if the IEP team determines the services are necessary during a break in instruction in order to provide a free appropriate public education.

The criteria used to determine ESY eligibility should be reviewed with the student’s case manager annually. A student qualifies for ESY if any of the following criteria are met:

Evidence of significant regression of a skill or acquired knowledge from the student’s level of performance on an annual goal that requires more than the length of the break to
Services are necessary to attain and maintain self-sufficiency goals on the IEP.
The IEP team determines that given a unique situation affecting the student’s progress toward goals, the student needs ESY.

The team ultimately decides eligibility for ESY using information from prior observation of the student’s regression and recoupment over breaks, either summer break or scheduled breaks in the school year. The team also may look at the student’s degree of impairment and rate of progress, among other things.

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