IEP Meeting

In this article the authors discussed how "goal setting, choice making, and problem solving are important […] especially for students with disabilities" (Danneker & Bottge, 2009, p. 225). Research shows that students who have these skills would result in better quality of life after school. They expressed focusing on building self-determination and self-advocacy skills early will help students practice them more and use those skills as they go through school. While students in a general education class might have chances to practice these skills, students that are in a structured special education classroom will not have as many chances to determine what they want to do or speak up for themselves. The authors sought to include the students in the IEP meeting so that they could advocate for their needs and see if this process helped the student succeed.

The study followed four elementary aged students (all white, three of whom were male and one female) who had a disability to some extent in a rural school in the Midwest. The authors trained the students on the purpose of an IEP; what the student’s strengths and weaknesses were; looking at the IEP to see what their current goals were and the progress they made for those goals; and modifying or making new goals and accommodations. The authors found that having students participate in IEP

In the beginning, the participants noted that they felt the duty of an IEP meeting fell to the special education teacher. IEP meetings are supposed to incorporate a diverse group of educators, support staff, and parents. While the special education teacher might facilitate the IEP process, they are not always with the student to monitor them and see if their accommodations are effective. Another barrier was that the adults did not think that elementary school students could possess self-determination skills or that they could advocate for