OSERS has issued new guidance about IEP goals in a Dear Colleague Letter dated November 16, 2015, that appears to set the standard very high for what school districts are supposed to do in IEP goals. More specifically, the guidance provides “we expect annual IEP goals to be aligned with State academic standards for the grade in which a child is enrolled.” In addition, the guidance provides that to the extent a student is behind the state standard for which the goal targets, “the goals should be sufficiently ambitious to help close the gap.” Lastly, while the guidance acknowledges that for some students such an approach may not be appropriate, it limits this to “a very small number of children with the most significant cognitive disabilities.”
Problems With The Guidance
One of the biggest problems with the guidance is that it could be read to set impossibly high standards for what a school district is supposed accomplish almost to the point that it is unrealistic. For example, as the guidance currently reads, if a student is in fifth grade but reading at a 3.5 grade level, the guidance seems to expect that the student should be expected to make a year and half in progress in one academic year in area that he or she is already struggling.
In addition, the guidance is contrary to numerous court cases and hearing officer decisions that have found it is not the obligation of a school district to bridge the gap in performance in the manner suggested by OSERS. (See e.g. Elizabethtown Area School District, 114 LRP 40110 (Pa. SEA 2014.)
The guidance proposes IEP goals that would expect a student to make years’ worth of progress in an academic area in which the student struggles to begin within one year. This type of approach is concerning, in that it likely sets the student up for failure by setting goals the student is unlikely to achieve, and flies in the face of previous guidance that indicates IEP goals are to be based upon what a student is reasonably expected to achieve in a twelve month period.
Bottom Line
It is unclear what school districts should do with this guidance at this point, given that hearing officers and courts that are tasked with deciding disputes in cases under the IDEA have taken a different view.
However, districts should expect to see increase in demands in terms of IEP goals from parents and their counsel as a result of this guidance and be aware of its existence.
KingSpry will be holding a more in depth presentation on this issue during a Lunch and Learn workshop on February 23, 2015. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact your legal counsel or one of the special education attorneys at KingSpry.
School Law Bullets are a publication of the school law attorneys of KingSpry’s Education Law Practice Group. John E. Freund, III, is our editor. The article is meant to be informational and does not constitute legal advice.
