1. Discover Google
Chrome’s Free
Accessibility Features
And Add-Ons
Page 11
3-Step Plan Turns
Student-Led IEPs
From Goal To
Reality
Page 12
Many Schools Are
Failing To Meet Dyslexic
Students’Needs – Avoid
These Pitfalls
Page 14
Late Parent IEP
Notifications Lead
To State Investigation
Page 15
IDEA
July 2016 | Vol. 16 | No. 7 | Pages 9-16
Your Authoritative Guide to IDEA Regs, IEP Strategies & Effective Special Ed Interventions
COMPLIANCE ALERT
With This Tech-Savvy Approach
Cut Costs And
Make Learning
More Accessible

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If you aren’t asking the right questions before purchasing new
assistive technology (AT) and online curriculums, then you may
be leaving your learning disabled students at a disadvantage.
Don’t have buyer’s remorse. Instead, get the most out of your
technology purchases – and take advantage of free or low-cost
supports – with these expert-advised tips.
Dig deeper to discover if new tech is truly
accessible
Sometimes labels can be deceptive. Just because an online
curriculum claims to meet accessibility requirements doesn’t mean
that your learning disabled students will be able to benefit from it.
Example: A blended online curriculum designed for ninth-
graders may not serve the needs of a ninth-grade student reading
on a sixth-grade level. Frequently these off-the-shelf programs
are not as individualized as they should be to support all
learners, shares Dr. Sean Smith, professor of special education
at the University of Kansas and project director on several U.S.
Department of Education technology initiatives.
What to do: Go behind the first layer of sensory and physical
accessibility, and ask questions to determine if a product is
accessible in the instructional sense. A technology’s accessibility
to the blind, Deaf, or students with mobility issues under section
508 does not mean it is accessible for those with cognitive
obstacles, says Smith. To really understand the product’s
accessibility features, he says, you should ask questions like:
What is the reading level? Is it text-heavy? Is the digital
text easily readable?
Does it have scaffolds in place, such as supports for slow
readers?
Are there multiple ways for a student to demonstrate
comprehension? Is there an option other than just reading
text and completing a traditional assessment?
Tip: Of course, students make more progress when they are
engaged and motivated. So make sure that any interactive
components, such as positive feedback for getting an answer
correct, are delivered in multiple formats so students with
hearing impairments can benefit, says Christopher R. Bugaj,
CCC-SLP, AT specialist/speech language pathologist with
Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia.
Timing is key: Make sure to ask vendors in-depth accessibility
questions – on everything from captioning and read-aloud
text options to accommodating students at different reading
levels – before you make a purchase, urges Bugaj. Doing so
makes you part of the PALM (Purchase Accessible Learning
Materials) initiative, which seeks to drive increased accessibility
options in the marketplace through supporting products that are
designed for diverse needs from the get-go (http://aem.cast.org/
navigating/palm.html).
Takeaway: When considering a new system or tool, visualize
how it may be used by students with varied challenges, such
as students with low-level reading abilities, comprehension
issues, or limited proficiency in English, advises the 2015 report
“Equity Matters” by the Center on Online Learning and
Students with Disabilities (COLSD). Select options that allow
instructional content and navigation elements to be accessed in
multiple ways, including auditory, visual, and tactile.
Don’t overspend – get creative instead
There’s a common misconception that increasing AT use means
that you must spend significant dollars.
New technology doesn’t have to be a mandatory purchase. AT can
be any item in the student’s environment that helps him improve
function – from a free educational website to features embedded in
»
»
»
Technology
Cut Costs And Make Learning More Accessible With This
Tech-Savvy Approach
Discover several free ways to increase assistive technology use.
From the Managing Editor’s desk
Dear Reader,
Unlike most of the glut of industry information out there,
the pages of IDEA Compliance Alert are designed for you
and you alone. We answer to no one—not federal policy
talking heads, not SEAs or school boards, and certainly not
advertisers. We have no agenda but to help you, the education
professional working in the trenches, do your very best job. �
Our singular goal is to provide the timely information,
analysis, and insiders’ understanding you need to succeed.
If we aren’t living up to that promise, we want to know.
Have a question or idea for an article, a resource to tout,
a best-practice compliance strategy to share? Please get in
touch. Welcome to IDEA Compliance Alert! We’re so glad
to have you on board.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Gilbert, Managing Editor, Eli Global,
kimberlyg@eliglobal.com

3. IDEA Compliance Alert To subscribe, call (800) 223-8720 11
programs you already own, such as Microsoft Word, says Bugaj,
who also hosts an AT podcast (http://www.attipscast.com).
Tips: Think about what you already have that can serve a
particular student’s needs. Answers might include:
Be a “Captions On” school, suggests Bugaj: Whenever a
video is shown in the school, the closed captioning option
is on. Pairing text with spoken word is a research-proven
strategy to improve literacy for everyone.
Encourage students to listen to free audiobooks and
podcasts. Studies show just listening to spoken word, and
then talking about the story afterward, helps students of all
levels become better readers. You can download free audio
online (under a creative commons license) and burn it to
CDs for students to take home, Bugaj adds.
If you don’t have the funding to get a device for every
student, start a “Bring Your Own Technology” initiative in
your district or school. In Loudoun County Public Schools,
many students come to school with their iPad Touch or a
similar device, which teachers incorporate into the instruc-
tional environment.
Bottom line: To serve learning disabled students with the least
restrictive option, you should first look to what you already
have in your school environment, says Bugaj. Up to 90 percent
of technology needs can be met by devising creative solutions
with devices already in the school, he estimates.
Use ‘SETT’ framework to select the right tool
Always think about how the individual student will be using the
technology when considering a purchase or designing a lesson.
A helpful way to choose the most appropriate tools for
differentiated instruction is called the SETT framework,
coined by Joy Zabala, Bugaj says. SETT stands for “Student,
Environments, Tasks, Tools.”
Another way to put it: “What is the tool that will let that
particular student, in that environment, do the task that we want
them to do,” Bugaj says.
»
»
»
Example: If a learning disabled student needs to complete
a research project in the gen ed environment, he may need
certain digital organizational tools to complete the task, says
Stacy Driscoll, M.Ed., ATP, an assistive technology specialist
with the Assistive Technology in New Hampshire (ATinNH)
program and founder of LifeLong AT.
As you seek an individualized approach to AT support, she
says, ask:
What is the Student able to do the same as everyone else,
and what limitations does he have?
What Environments will the student be working in, e.g. at
home, at school, at the library?
Given that the Task includes research, organization, and
written or oral expression, which Tools will best serve the
student?
Keeping the SETT acronym in mind can help you make sure all
your bases are covered when it comes to tech supports.
Train teachers to take advantage of data
Ever-evolving educational technology allows students
unprecedented access to the curriculum, and it supplies teachers
with loads of data. Just make sure your teachers are up to speed.
Online learning helps teachers to collect real-time information
about how their students respond to tasks, allowing them to give
frequent feedback and retarget instruction, states the COLSD
report. Learning to use the data that digital devices collect is key.
Getting the most benefit out of technology really depends on
how tech-savvy your teachers are, Driscoll notes. While many
of the skills can be self-taught with a personal time investment,
doing a staff training is often the most efficient way to learn
how to maximize use of a new device or program, she says.
Takeaway: Not only does data allow for precise progress
monitoring and targeting of instruction, but students also feel more
engaged and motivated to complete additional tasks when they
track their growth through online programs, Smith sums up. v
»
»
»
Tech Toolkit
Discover Google Chrome’s Free Accessibility Features And
Add-Ons
Look: Premium Read&Write subscription is free for teachers.
When cool accessibility features don’t come standard with a
program, you may have the option to make it more accessible
with third-party add-ons.
Many people are using Google Chrome apps and app extensions
as supports for students, shares Stacy Driscoll, M.Ed., ATP, an
assistive technology specialist with the Assistive Technology
in New Hampshire (ATinNH) program and founder of

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By law, a special education student must “meaningfully”
participate in developing his own IEP. If your school or district
falls short of this goal, you could be undermining your disabled
students’ chances of future success.
Problem: If the student has only token involvement in
the IEP, she learns that her voice doesn’t matter and that
important decisions are best made for her, sabotaging any self-
determination lessons, writes Becky Wilson Hawbaker, field
experience coordinator at the University of Northern Iowa
in the 2007 paper “Student-Led IEP Meetings: Planning and
Implementation Strategies.”
Solution: On the other hand, studies and direct experience show
that students who collaborate and problem solve in their own
education leave school with greater self-awareness and better
self-advocacy skills. Even the general tone of the IEP meeting
improves, writes Hawbaker, with a more “relaxed, positive”
atmosphere and increased parental and gen ed participation.
So, if you have not yet introduced student-led IEPs – or want to
improve the process – support greater development of life skills
with these three steps.
1: Start with myth-busting
While many educators are willing and eager to accept
greater student participation in the IEP process, sometimes
misconceptions or negative beliefs can get in the way.
Myth: One common misunderstanding is over what “student-
led” actually means. Some fear that the full meeting and all
decisions will be directed by the student.
Reality: In fact, there is a very wide range of ways for students
to participate, says Sara Grime, conflict resolution specialist
and project director at SchoolTalk, an organization that worked
on Washington, D.C.’s student-led IEP project. (Ideas for
getting students of all ability levels involved are covered in tip
#3 below.)
Myth: Another mistaken assumption is that student-led IEPs
require a large time investment to be successful.
Reality: Preparing a student to meaningfully participate in
her IEP doesn’t have to be a burden. Besides empowering
the student, student-led IEPs actually have taken pressure off
teachers in the experience of Mandy Ellis, principal of Dunlap
Grade School. Instead of working on IEPs during planning
hours, or after school, get the kids involved and cover common
core life skills at the same time, Ellis says.
Of course, getting parent and staff buy-in isn’t always a breeze.
Parents might hesitate because of prior negative experience with
meetings. Staff might resist changing the status quo, or believe
that having control is more efficient than the collaborative
decision-making process the IEP is supposed to represent,
Hawbaker tells Eli.
Still, establishing a school culture that expects and supports
leadership from all students should be the norm, she adds. And
when educators begin to see the positive results of the process,
they become more enthusiastic about participating.
2: Use building blocks to nurture self-
advocacy and leadership
Given what we know about the benefits of student-led IEPS,
you’re probably eager to get into the nuts and bolts of launching
the process.
To help students understand the IEP process and begin to take
a leadership role, take advantage of the variety of tips and
templates published by others. Examples include:
Survey: Create a simple student survey to understand their
baseline level of knowledge about the IEP process and the
services they receive.
IEP scavenger hunt: A paper-based scavenger hunt
activity can help students identify key IEP elements,
»
»
LifeLong AT. With the variety of extensions available, you can
individualize learning through apps a student can access on both
school and home devices.
Example: Use Chrome’s Read&Write extension to open
up a whole new world of text-to-speech and speech-to-text
possibilities. Teachers can upload handouts to Google Docs,
which students can then hear read aloud with the app extension,
says Driscoll. Students also can use the technology to complete
assignments online, using speech-to-text for recording their
responses, if appropriate.
Freebie: Teachers get a free premium subscription to Read&Write
for Google Chrome. After installing the trial, activate the free
subscription by visiting https://rw.texthelp.com/freeforteachers.
For instructions on how to turn on other Chromebook
accessibility features, visit: https://support.google.com/
chromebook/answer/177893. v
IEPs
3-Step Plan Turns Student-Led IEPs From Goal To Reality
Boost confidence, self-advocacy, and transition outcomes with this easy-to-implement initiative.

5. IDEA Compliance Alert To subscribe, call (800) 223-8720 13
such as goals, accommodations, and the names of IEP
team members, writes Ellis in the article: “Empowerment
through Engagement: Implementing Student-led IEPs.”
IEP portfolio: A portfolio is a binder where students
collect and organize their thoughts on everything from
their strengths and academic progress to teacher feedback
and goals for the next year. It also acts as a presentation
template, allowing students to come to the meeting
prepared with relevant data and recommendations.
How to: For tools and templates, look for the “Resources” box
at the end of the article.
From the field: Now that you have some ideas on student
preparation, you may be wondering how to fit in the time to do
it. The schools participating in D.C.’s initiative each found their
own creative way to work in time for student preparation. Some
schools prepped students during their regular special ed resource
class, while another school pulled students during lunch, and
another folded student preparation into an existing “transition
services” meeting, Grime explains.
3: Let the student set the stage
The IEP document is highly individualized, and so is the
student-led IEP process.
While students from kindergarten through 12th grade can take
part, “meaningful” participation will look different for different
ages and ability levels, Grime points out. A younger student
might be involved by introducing the IEP team and stating a
few of her goals, while an older student might contribute to
the IEP development, decide who gets invited, or even lead the
meeting.
Tip: Think outside the box to help students contribute
– especially one who feels anxious, loses his train of thought, or
just doesn’t have a lot of experience participating in meetings
with adults. Grime suggests these creative alternatives to an
ordinary conference-table-style meeting:
Assist the student in creating a PowerPoint slideshow or
video ahead of time to show at the meeting.
»
»
Ask the student to demonstrate how her assistive
technology works.
Use pictures about daily activities that the student can share.
Video record the meeting and debrief with the student
afterward about her successes and goals for the next meeting.
Even if a student isn’t ready to participate extensively in a
meeting, he can work on better understanding his abilities and
which supports help him most by tracking his progress in the
classroom, Ellis suggests.
Example: Use a graph to plot student accomplishments such
as reading a certain amount of sight words per minute, or help
them make a list of the skills they’re working on, checking off
successes as they occur, Ellis suggests.
Bottom line: Remember that student-led IEPs are focused
on skills critical for success in life. If hesitant, ask yourself:
“Does this student participate meaningfully in the classroom?,”
Hawbaker says. “If the answer is ‘yes,’ then that student is also
very capable of participating meaningfully in the IEP meeting
and should be both present and actively involved.” v
»
»
»
Resources for Student-Led IEPs:
A video about the D.C. student-led IEP implemen-
tation project: www.ossesecondarytransition.org/
studentled_ieps
Student-led IEP toolkits for students, families, and
educators: http://dc-transition_guide.frameweld.com/
page/studentled_iep_toolkit_introduction_ (see bottom
of page)
“Student-Led IEP Meetings: Planning and Implemen-
tation Strategies” by Becky Wilson Hawbaker:
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967458.pdf , and
student-led IEP template: https://movingstudentsforward.
org/my-iep-meeting-template-by-becky-wilson-hawbaker/
“A Student’s Guide to the IEP” by Marcy McGahee-
Kovac: https://www.autismspeaks.org/docs/family_
services_docs/StudentsGuide.pdf.
»
»
»
»
Sample document
Lay A Strong Foundation For Student-Led IEPs With This
Checklist
You can enhance students’ self-advocacy skills as early as this fall!
Want to establish or improve your student-led IEP initiative,
but not sure where to start? Get organized with this step-by-step
action plan:
Summer Action Plan: Research and Prepare
 Recruit others who are interested in implementation of
student-led IEPs. Everything is easier when shared with a

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If you’re not carefully evaluating students with persistent
reading difficulties for dyslexia, you may be under-serving this
significant segment of your student population.
Need to know: In a letter dated October 2015, the U.S.
Department of Education (DoE) reported parents and
advocates nationwide have complained that schools have been
avoiding the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia when
performing eligibility determinations and developing IEPs.
States and local agencies are now urged to review their policies
and practices to ensure that they do not discourage use of these
reading, math, and writing disorder terms.
Part of the problem: Educators may be underestimating the
prevalence of these disorders. Dyslexia, for instance, is the most
common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties in
the student population, according to the International Dyslexia
Association (IDA). The prevalence of dyslexia is estimated
at 10-15 percent, meaning most classrooms have at least one
dyslexic student.
Read on for tips on identifying signs of dyslexia and providing
appropriate, research-proven supports to promote reading
achievements.
Decode the signs: Poor pronunciation oral
reading
Pitfall #1: Don’t think dyslexia is as simple as seeing a word
backwards. In fact, dyslexia affects much more than letter order.
Rather than seeing letters in reverse order, the real underlying
difficulty for dyslexic students is struggling with sound-
symbol associations and saying the sounds in the correct order,
according to the Center for Development and Learning’s
article “What is Dyslexia.”
The Dyslexia Center of Utah reports that as many as 80
percent of students with poor reading skills have dyslexia. The
telltale signs of the disorder, according to an IDA presentation
by Mary Farrell, PhD, of Fairleigh Dickinson University,
include students who have:
Disability Focus
Many Schools Are Failing To Meet Dyslexic Students’
Needs – Avoid These Pitfalls
Tip: Every struggling reader should have access to text-to-speech technology – here’s how.
collaborative team. Meet at least once before school begins to
delegate tasks and plan details.
 Read student-led IEP research, technical assistance guides,
and commercial curriculums (for starters, see resources
listed on page 13). Decide how to adapt the process to fit the
context of your school, your classroom, and your students.
 Consider piloting your process with IEPs that are due early in
the year, and then use what you learn from the experience to
improve your process for other students. Consider having the
pilot students help as peer tutors or IEP coaches.
 Talk to your administrators. Share your readings and ideas
and request their support.
 Collect and purchase portfolio supplies such as three-ring
binders, tab dividers, and plastic page protectors. Most of
these can be reused year after year.
Fall Action Plan: Commit and Begin
 Early in the year, commit to student-led IEPs by letting
parents and students know that IEP meetings will be student-
led this year, to varying extents. Expect questions and
perhaps some concerns. Explain to them why you are doing
this and how it can help, and enlist their support.
 Assist students in beginning their IEP portfolio, including a
personalized cover and dividers for each IEP goal.
 Meet with your implementation team to discuss progress,
obstacles, and solutions.
Winter Action Plan: Build
 Structure regular opportunities for students to update artifacts
in their IEP portfolio and track their own progress.
 Consider weekly reminders to look over the portfolio and
encouragement to add one artifact each week. Consider formal
course requirements, such as having students choose one IEP
goal, design their own intervention, and track progress weekly.
 Give students recognition and reinforcement for their
portfolio efforts. Encourage students to model their portfolio
progress for others.
 Meet with your implementation team to discuss progress,
obstacles, and solutions.
To continue reading the action plan for Spring, visit: http://files.
eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967458.pdf.
Source: “Student-Led IEP Meetings: Planning and Implementation
Strategies” by Becky Wilson Hawbaker, published in the open-
source journal “Teaching Exceptional Children Plus.” v

7. IDEA Compliance Alert To subscribe, call (800) 223-8720 15
delayed speech acquisition and trouble producing speech
sounds
difficulty learning letter names and sounds
poor phonemic awareness and poor spelling
difficulty reading and spelling “sight” words
inaccurate and slow oral reading
poor reading comprehension but better listening
comprehension
poor handwriting and/or written expression
avoidance of reading and writing
overreliance on context and guessing
Now that you know what dyslexia looks and sounds like, you
are better prepared to serve those students with the right mix of
instructional and technological supports.
Use a multi-sensory approach: sound, sight,
and touch
Pitfall #2: Don’t rely on typical reading interventions to
boost the literacy skills of dyslexic students. You need a more
advanced approach.
“Students with dyslexia will not learn to read effectively
through approaches such as guided reading or ‘balanced
literacy,’” explains Alison Pankowski, M.Ed., LDT-C, reading
interventionist, teacher trainer, and 20-year veteran of New
Jersey public schools.
Key: To impact dyslexic students, reading instruction must
be explicit, systematically structured, and multi-sensory. The
Fundations K-3 program, part of the Wilson Reading System,
does an excellent job of using these techniques to help students
with encoding and decoding, Pankowski says.
Another widely used, research-proven method for supporting
dyslexic students is the Orton-Gillingham approach, says Diana
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
Petschauer, M.Ed., ATP, founder of Assistive Technology for
Education. It is effective because it combines auditory, kinesthetic,
and visual components to support learning in a sequential manner.
Example: Students might learn the letter ‘B’ by seeing it,
saying its name, and sounding it out while writing it with their
fingers in sand or shaving cream.
Bridge the gap with read-aloud technology
The good news is if dyslexia students are able to hear text read
aloud, they can demonstrate typical grade-level comprehension.
And with the wealth of free or low-cost technology available,
text is more accessible than ever before.
Try it: The Voice Dream Reader app has extensive functions to
support students with reading disabilities, shares Stacy Driscoll,
M.Ed., ATP, an assistive technology specialist with the
Assistive Technology in New Hampshire (ATinNH) program
and founder of LifeLong AT. The app allows you to pull any
text from the web and have it read aloud. It also allows you to
change the font, color, and size of any web-based text to make it
easier to read.
Another idea: An additional resource is Learning Ally (www.
learningally.org), which provides free audiobooks so students can
access general education novels and textbooks, shares Pankowski.
Bottom line: Students with dyslexia are intelligent and can
succeed. However, it’s critical to recognize and diagnose their
dyslexia and combine systematic, multi-sensory instruction with
assistive technology, Petschauer advises. When these students
have the right tools in place, it makes a huge difference in both
their self-confidence and academic progress, she adds.
Resource: Access a free recorded webinar “Supporting Students
with Dyslexia: Standards, Accommodations, and Strategies” co-
led by Petschauer at http://ctdinstitute.org/cafe. v
News Briefs
Late Parent IEP Notifications Lead To State Investigation
Make sure you keep parents informed about IEPs and document your communication in a timely
manner – or you may end up violating IDEA.
The Iowa City School District is under fire for failing to
properly notify parents of IEP meetings and IEP changes.
During an audit last fall, 70 percent of the reviewed IEPs (114
of 163) were deemed not in compliance with the law, reports
The Iowa City Gazette.
The IEP violations included:
49 instances where the district notified parents of
educational changes after the implementation date, whereas
»
the law requires these notices be made prior to educational
service changes.
18 cases where a school significantly modified a child’s
education plan without documenting parent agreement.
11 instances where meeting notices for parents were
created after the meeting date.
Additionally, the district did not provide an adequate
explanation for why some students did not participate in
regular physical education, art, media, and counseling.
»
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»

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writetous@elieducation.com
The district also was cited for failing to document the
support individual students needed from paraeducators and
bus attendants.
The district is simultaneously facing a state-level fiscal review
to investigate a significant percentage increase in special
education funding this year compared with fiscal year 2014,
reported The Gazette.
Autism Identification Rates Skyrocket
Prepare to strengthen your autism-related services to keep up
with this national trend.
From 2011 to 2014, the number of students with disabilities
ages 6-21 rose by approximately 160,000, from 5.67 million
to 5.83 million, according to Education Week’s analysis of
Department of Education data. The recent upswing follows
seven years of a downward trend, from a high of 6.03 million
students with disabilities in 2004.
» The data shows the bulk of the increase came from autism
identifications, which have risen 165 percent over 9 years
– from 192,609 in 2004 to more than half a million in 2014.
Virginia is one of the states that has seen a sharp increase in
students with autism, reports Education Week. Once a “low
incidence” disability, autism is now the fourth largest disability
category in the state. Half of autistic students have “pretty
severe disabilities, major behavior issues, medical issues;
they’re probably some of the most complicated issues that
school divisions face,” John Eisenberg, Virginia’s director of
special education, told Education Week.
Keep in mind that the data is dependent on varied state
policies that might encourage, or discourage, identifying a
student for special education services. However, one thing
is for certain: Rising numbers of students with identified
disabilities in schools mean a corresponding increase in
spending on special education services. “The costs associated
with educating kids with disabilities have significantly
increased,” Eisenberg said. v