These are the handouts for the breakout session I did at Arizona's Fourteen Annual Transition Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, August 25, 2014, entitled ''Where the Rubber Hits the Road''

1. Where the Rubber Hits the Road
Integrating Strength-Based Strategies into a
Student’s IEP in the Brave New World of
Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards
Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D.
www.institute4learning.com
Arizona’s Fourteenth Annual Transition Conference
Promote Strengths & Inspire Success
Scottsdale, AZ
August 25, 2014

2. Common Core State Standards
• Strength-Based Learning Strategies
• Student Interests
• Alternative Means of Expression
• Alternative Texts
• Assistive Technologies/UDL
• Enhanced Human Resources
• Positive Environmental Modifications
• Positive Role Models

3. Strength-Based IEPs
• Be comprehensive when initially stating
student’s strengths
• Build the language of strengths into the
instructional objectives themselves
• Strength-Based Strategies
• Assistive Technologies/UDL
• Enhanced Human Resources
• Positive Environmental Modifications

4. AI-IEP Protocol: Questions for
Discussion at IEP meetings p. 1
First, Success
1) To the student: Tell us about some of your successes this year. (If
appropriate, add: What have you done well and what has worked well for
you? What's been happening to make you successful?)
2) To the parent: What successes have you seen your child enjoy this
year? (If appropriate add: tell us about what's been happening to help make
your child successful?)
3) To the teachers and specialists: What successes have you seen for [the
student]? (If appropriate, add: Tell us about what's been happening to help
make him/her successful?)
4) To the group: What suggestions or changes can you think of to make
[the student]'s program work even better?

5. AI-IEP Protocol: Questions for
Discussion at IEP meetings p. 2
Second, Goals
5) To the student:
* What do you think you’d most love to do when you grow up? (Or: What
is your goal in life [or after school]?)
And
* What do you think you’ll need to do to get to do what you love most [or
to get to your goal]?
And
* What have you done so far to get to do what you love most [or to move
toward your goal]?
6) To the group: What kinds of support and help can you provide to
make [the student]'s program work toward the goals he/she's set for
him/herself?
Source: Peter Kozik, doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, June
2008. Used with permission of author.

6. References
• ‘’Application [of Common Core Standards] to Students with Disabilities,’’
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/application-to-students-with-disabilities.pdf
• Armstrong, Thomas. Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students
with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2012.
• Armstrong, Thomas. ‘’Leonardo da Vinci’s IEP Meeting,’’
http://institute4learning.com/blog/2013/02/19/leonardo-da-vincis-iep-meeting/
• Cooperrider, David, and Diane Whitney. Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change.
San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005.
• Fisher, Sherri, ‘’Appreciative Inquiry and Strengths in the Special Education Process,’’ Positive
Psychology News Daily, http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/sherri-fisher/20080405702.
• Kozik, Peter L. "Examining the Effects of Appreciative Inquiry on IEP Meetings and Transition
Planning,"doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, June 2008.
• Thurlow, Martha. ‘’Common Core State Standards: The Promise and the Peril for Students with
Disabilities,’’ The Special EDge,’ Summer, 2012, vol. 25, no. 3.
http://www.calstat.org/publications/pdfs/Edge_summer_2012_newsletter.pdf
• McNulty, Raymond J. and Lawrence C. Gloeckler, ‘’Fewer, Clearer, Higher Common Core State
Standards Implications for Students Receiving Special Education Services,’’ International Center for
Leadership in Education, February, 2011.
http://www.leadered.com/pdf/Special%20Ed%20&%20CCSS%20white%20paper.pdf

7. Contact Information
• Email: thomas@institute4learning.com
• Website: www.institute4learning.com
• Blog: http://institute4learning.com/blog/
• Twitter: @Dr_Armstrong