What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?
The role of educators is to provide students with a well-rounded and accessible Health & Physical Education program. Students may require additional resources and support to assist them in achieving the curriculum expectations. It is an educator’s responsibility to teach a variety of different students using teaching strategies and assessment methods that are varied/differentiated to ensure enriching learning opportunities for every student. For those students who are identified, additional teaching strategies, assessment methods, resources, supports and services are documented in the IEP. It is important to be aware that some students with a disability or physical impairment may not have an IEP but would benefit from additional accommodations when engaging in a physical education curriculum. The strategies contained in this resource would also be of benefit to these students to support their inclusion and optimum participation in the learning in physical education.
This section will assist you in:
- Navigating the IEP process and contextualizing it to assessment, planning, and instruction in Health & Physical Education;
- Determining if the student requires Accommodations, Modifications, and/or Alternative Programming, and;
- Collaborating with parents/caregivers, school and board staff, and other professionals who support the student.
The IEP is a working document outlining the Special Education programming and services required for a student who has been identified with Special Education needs. The Special Education in Ontario (Draft Version, 2017), PART E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP) provides the description of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s requirements for IEPs.
An IEP is:
- a written plan describing the special education program and/or services required by a particular student, based on a thorough assessment of the strengths and needs that affect the student's ability to learn and to demonstrate learning;
- a working document that contains the transition plan, a detailed and coordinated plan that helps to ensure that a student has supports in place to facilitate educational transitions;
- a record of any accommodations needed to help the student achieve the learning expectations identified in the IEP, given the student's identified learning strengths and needs;
- a working document that identifies learning expectations that are modified from the expectations for the regular grade level in a particular subject or course, as outlined in the Ministry of Education's curriculum policy documents, if modifications are required;
- a working document that identifies alternative expectations, if required, in areas not represented in the Ontario curriculum;
- a record of the teaching strategies specific to modified and alternative expectations and of assessment methods to be used to determine the student's progress towards achieving these expectations;
- a working document that is developed at the beginning of a school year or semester or at the start of a placement and that is reviewed and adjusted throughout the reporting period; and,
- an accountability tool for the student, the student's parents, and everyone who has responsibilities under the plan for helping the student meet the stated goals and learning expectations as the student progresses through the Ontario curriculum (IEP, 2017).
References
Extracted from Ontario Ministry of Education, Special Education in Ontario (Draft Version, 2017), PART E: The Individual Education Plan (IEP). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/os/2017/spec_ed_6.html
