Some ESERs have come in with needs and recommendations that are not clear or are too general. Here are some things to consider.
The needs must be specific enough for the IEP to be developed from them. For instance, if there are specific content area needs, such as reading, writing, math, these should be listed separately so that recommendations can be made for each. Listing “academic skills” does not provide enough information to the development of the IEP PLAAFP, goals and objectives, and other areas of the IEP.
Recommendations must be aligned to the specific need and may be a little more general than the needs statements. For example, for a need of “Reading fluency” a recommendation may be, “Small group or individual instruction including use of research – based reading program”. This recommendation does not tie any teacher to one particular type of instruction or program, but allows the current case manager to create appropriate goals to match the needs. For a need of “Focus in the classroom,” the recommendation may be “Classroom accommodations”. This leads one to refer to the accommodations section of the IEP.
**Be cautious that most of the needs and recommendations reflect the need for specialized instruction. That is, if all needs have recommendations for only accommodations, then there is no need for special education.
Check out the recently clarified “Amending an ESER to Add a Service” flowchart back in the December 2012 newsletter.