Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for Gifted Students

Contributed by ABC London and Middlesex Chapter

The following information is to help parents and students negotiate adjustments so that school better suits the dynamic capability of the gifted student. The environment for these negotiations is challenging: educators may not understand what gifted students need, how desperately they need it, and how those needs should be met. Further, staffing may be inadequate to provide gifted learners with the appropriate pace and depth of instruction. In order for you to know how to best support your child’s needs, it is useful to understand how the system should work.

HOW IS THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM MODIFIED FOR GIFTED STUDENTS?

The Ministry of Education has described curriculum – what needs to be learned and in what sequence – for students from junior kindergarten to grade 12. The curriculum applies to all students, including gifted students. By definition, gifted students require alterations in their educational programs in recognition of and in order to foster the abilities they were born with (student needs). It may be necessary to move gifted students ahead of their age peers in one or more subjects (acceleration) or to decrease the time allowed for learning certain material. It is frequently necessary to alter the content and outcomes of units of study to broaden the content and to allow students to pursue certain issues in more depth. These alterations or modifications of curriculum result in what is known as a differentiated curriculum. As a result, what the student will be graded on will be different.

IN BROAD TERMS, WHAT IS AN INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN (IEP)?

The IEP addresses the “problem” of what and how the gifted student learns that is out of step with what other age peers are learning. The plan is a roadmap that shows where the student is going and how you will know when he or she has gotten there. The IEP proceeds from a student profile to curriculum changes to evaluation methods. The profile describes the unique areas of need and strengths of the student at that time. This information is gathered largely from other sources: statements of needs from the IPRC report and information about abilities from psychological and achievement tests as well as anecdotal reports.

The next part of the plan outlines the actions that will be taken considering the profile. The subject areas or courses where the learning outcomes are to be modified must be specified. Either (1) the student can be advanced to a higher grade level in the curriculum or (2) the curriculum at some grade level is modified by changing the content - - increasing the number of expectations or, more likely, the increasing complexity of the expectations (higher order thinking skills). These modifications have to be spelled out. As well, the plan should indicate the strategies for accomplishing the changes: instruction by a resource teacher, using a different textbook, pairing the student with an expert mentor, peer partnerships, and guided independent learning, for exaample; the strategies that are recorded in the IEP are different from those used with students proceeding through the regular curriculum.

Finally, the plan should also specify how and on what basis the student will be evaluated, in other words, how the grades on the next report card will be determined. An effective IEP will describe how the curriculum will be modified in view of the student’s needs, capitalizing on the student’s strengths. It is a master plan, not a daily plan. An IEP will also indicate any al ternative programs that will be taught to the students and subsequently evaluated.

HOW ARE STUDENTS AND PARENTS INVOLVED IN DEVELOPMENT OF THE IEP?

Educators should prepare the IEP, but parents, being the experts on their children, can provide valuable information about the plan’s appropriateness and likelihood of success, especially for elementary -age children. While students over the age of 16 by regulation must be consulted about the IEP, the insight of a younger gifted student should not be overlooked! It is quite reasonable for a parent or student to ask for a copy of the IEP before meeting to discuss it.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN THE IEP?

Technically, many items should be included in the IEP. The key components are the changes in the educational program that will be the basis of evaluation. The IEP should be completed 30 school days after a student has begun the placement. Educators in consultation with parents/students should review the IEP each time there is a report card to ensure that the learning expectations for the next reporting period are recorded. Parents children in high school should expect an IEP within 30 days of each school term or semester, per subject that is being modified. The following are critical questions:
- Are the needs and strengths that were stated in the IPRC being respected? For example, if the student’s area of need is “advanced cognitive skills”, does the plan desrcibe how those skills will be taken into account in the content and method of instruction? If the student’s area of need is “leadership skills”, do the plans incorporate some direct instruction, opportunities for leadership skill development, and appropriate assessment tasks?
- Is the plan tied into the curriculum? (This is the key question). Action should be related to specific subject areas: the pace maybe accelerated, the content may be broadened or subjects explored in more depth; the products of learning may be different (a letter to the editor instead of an essay, a play instead of a report, an annotated bibliography on a particular subject rather than a test). For example, returning to the idea of addressing the need to employ advanced cognitive skills, how will that play out? If math instruction is to be accelerated, who will work with the student? What methods will be used to evaluate the student’s starting point and progress? When will this instruction/learning be going on during the school day? After the unit or year of instruction had been completed, what will happen next? In general, beware of “enrichment”: While the desired process could be accurately described as enriching the curriculum, miscellaneous interesting experiences do not substitute for modification in curriculum. As a strategy, “offer enrichment” does not specify what actually will be done to change what the student will learn or how the student will learn it.
- Will it be clear to everyone whether the plan was carried out? Is there a timetable for action? What processes or products will there be if the process has been followed?

INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN AN IEP FOR A GIFTED STUDENT

- Areas of strengths (learning styles, learning modalities, skill areas)
- Areas of learning needs, as recorded at the IPRC (what areas need special attention)
- Summary statement of assessments that support identification as gifted
- Modified learning expectations by subject, along with the strategies for achieving them
- Methods for reviewing the student’s achievement in the modified expectations and the format and date for reporting progress