GIEPs (Gifted Individualized Education Program)
GIEPs are the tool by which parents and Special Interest teachers put together a program that meets the individual needs of an identified student. The program must be individualized for the student. Under the Hearing Decisions link, there are recent decisions that provide clarification on what is required in a GIEP.
The following is a report from our October 22, 2009
CVSIPs had our first meeting of the year last Thursday evening. In this email, we want to stress the importance of careful drafting of your child’s GIEP. Some people have already had their meetings, but many are still coming up. The process can be confusing, and the teachers have new computerized forms to fill out this year that are a challenge. In addition, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has been making changes to some of their forms, and you need to be aware of the potential implications. Please go to your GIEP meeting ready to work with the teachers to come up with the best individualized program for your child.
IF YOUR CHILD IS NEWLY IDENTIFIED…
…you will receive a copy of the Gifted Written Report (GWR), which is the testing report from the psychologist indicating that your child is gifted. On this document a new option has been added to the Recommendations section stating, “The student is gifted but does not need specially designed instruction, and therefore is NOT ELIGIBLE for gifted placement and programming.” This is not appropriate, as by definition in Chapter 16 regulations a child identified as gifted is in need of gifted programming. We recommend not accepting a GWR with this category marked — you would essentially be signing away your child’s rights to appropriate programming, and may need to repeat all the testing if specialized instruction were needed in the future. You will need to let the GIEP team know that you believe your child IS in need of gifted services and be prepared to discuss what you see his/her needs are that will require specially designed instruction.
…you will also be asked to sign the Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA), which is the legal document you sign approving your child’s Gifted Individualized Education Plan (GIEP). If your child is newly identified, the NORA should have Box No. 1 checked. If your GIEP states that the student’s needs will be met through the cluster classroom and literature circle at the elementary level, you are essentially agreeing that your child is not in need of Specially Designed Instruction or individualized gifted programming. If you believe your child has needs that won’t be met solely by these methods, you will need to go to the GIEP meeting prepared to discuss those areas where you feel your child’s needs won’t be met with current programming, along with what you think is necessary. You should not sign the NORA until you are satisfied that the educational plan outlined in the GIEP will sufficiently meet your student’s individual learning needs. Please refer to the section below on GIEPs for suggestions on creating an effective educational plan.
IF YOUR CHILD HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED PREVIOUSLY AND IS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL…
…the NORA will most likely have Box No. 2 checked and the GIEP may indicate that the new program being offered to your child is the cluster classroom with differentiation and literature circles. If you believe your child has needs that won’t be met solely by these methods, you will need to go to the GIEP meeting prepared to rework the plan to better address your child’s individual learning needs. Do not sign the NORA recommendation until you are confident that the GIEP will address your child’s individual learning needs. Please refer to the section below on GIEPs for suggestions on creating an effective educational plan.
IF YOUR CHILD IS IN MIDDLE OR HIGH SCHOOL AND WAS IDENTIFIED PREVIOUSLY…
…the NORA will have either Box No. 2 or 7 checked. Once again, please review the GIEP document carefully and only sign the NORA recommendation once you feel confident your child’s individual needs will be met. If the GIEP and NORA indicate that your child’s gifted program consists solely of AP or Honors classes at the high school or advanced classes at the middle school you will need to work with your child’s SI teacher to add the programming that will address your child’s individual needs. Please refer to the section below on GIEPs for suggestions on creating an effective educational plan.
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE GIFTED INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN (GIEP). There are several important sections to this document that you need to understand. You should request a draft copy of your student’s GIEP at least several days in advance of your GIEP meeting, in order to familiarize yourself with the content of each section, write down questions and think about changes or additions you may want to see in the final plan.
Present Levels of Educational Performance (PLEP) — A good GIEP must be based on adequate PLEPs, with assessments that let the team know where the student fits into the current curriculum. Without knowing what the student already knows and still needs to learn, it becomes impossible to establish appropriate goals and effective Specially Designed Instruction (SDI). For most of us, there have not been adequate PLEPs in our students’ previous GIEPs, given that PSSA scores, Study Island and DRA measures do not provide an adequate picture of student abilities and instructional needs. The district has been working to identify better tools to accomplish this, such as the Gates MacGinitie reading test, AIMSweb benchmarks, and curriculum based assessments. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your child’s abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and have this documented in the GIEP, before you proceed with planning. The attached “GIEP Example” document, which is referenced on the Department of Education website, has extensive PLEP sections which will help you understand what this section can contain.
Needs Section — The Pennsylvania Department of Education has revised many forms this year, and in the process of revising the GIEP, they left out the Needs section. This has been pointed out to them and they have indicated they will be correcting it. If your GIEP does not have a Needs section, make sure you get it put back in. In the attached “GIEP For 2009-2010,” which reflects the GIEP conference recently held for one of our SI students, the highlighted areas are suggestions for needs you may want to consider for your child’s GIEP. The attached “GIEP Example” from the PDE website may also give you ideas about items you may feel should be contained in your child’s GIEP.
Goals and Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) — Once you have the PLEPs established and have identified your child’s learning needs, it’s time to talk about goals and how to achieve them. For most students, this will mean various kinds of SDI intended to address their unique learning needs. One cannot assume that all of a given student’s needs will be met solely by Honors or AP courses at the high school, Honors classes and foreign language instruction at the middle school, or cluster classrooms with differentiated instruction and literature circles at the elementary level. At the elementary level, some of the needs that used to be met in the pull-out program may need to be addressed in new and different ways. Please take the time you need to discuss these issues in depth with your GIEP team, including the administration, classroom teachers and SI teachers, and make sure you are satisfied with the Goals and SDI plans before you sign the NORA.
These are important issues when it comes to protecting your child’s current and future rights to appropriate educational programming.
