Self Determination skills in IEP planning

•Doyouconsiderself-determinationforstudentsahighpriorityinplan-ninginstruction?Doyouincludeself-advocacygoalsinstudents’educationprograms?Whatisbestpracticeindevelopingsuchgoalsandpromotingself-deter-minationinstudents?Itmaybethatyouoryourcolleagueshavenotreceivedinstructioninhowtowriteself-determinationgoalsandobjectivesforyourstudentswithdis-abilities.Thisarticleexploreswaystoincreasetheinclusionofself-determina-tionandself-advocacygoalsandobjec-tivesinindividualizededucationpro-grams(IEPs)asafirststeptoincreasingtheirinclusioninclassroominstruction.Self-DeterminationSynthesisProjectTheSelf-DeterminationSynthesisProject(SDSP)wasfundedin1998tosynthesizeanddisseminatebestpracticesrelatedtopromotingself-determinationforstu-dentswithdisabilities.Tothisend,thepurposeoftheprojectwastoimprove,expand,andacceleratetheuseofthisknowledgebytheprofessionalswhoservechildrenandyouthwithdisabili-ties;parentswhorear,educate,andsup-porttheirchildrenwithdisabilities;andstudentswithdisabilities.Toaccomplishthesetasks,theSDSPProjectconductedanextensivereviewoftheliterature,ameta-analysistodeterminewhatlevelsofoutcomesresearchershaveachievedusingself-determinationinterventions(Algozzine,Browder,Karvonen,Test,&Wood,2001;seebox,“WhatDoestheLiteratureSay?”)andqualitativecasestudiesofsixschool-basedprograms.OneofthefindingsoftheSDSPisthatwheneverresearchersdiscussedself-determinationinrelationtotheIEP,itwasusuallywithregardtoincreasingstudentinvolvement/leadershipintheIEPandtransitionplanningprocesses8■COUNCILFOREXCEPTIONALCHILDRENTEACHINGExceptionalChildren,Vol.36,No.3,pp.8-16.Copyright2004CEC.PromotingStudentSelf-DeterminationSkillsinIEPPlanningWendyM.Wood•MeaganKarvonenDavidW.TestDianeBrowderBobAlgozzineIEPPlanningStudentsshouldbeinvolvedortakingaleadershiproleindevelopingtheirownIEPandtransitiongoals.GoalsandObjectivesIwillselectwhichtypeofworkIwantandwhy.•Iwilldevelopactionstepstoachievemyemploymentgoal.Iwillevaluatemyfunctionalreadingandwritingskillsusingmydailychecksheet.(i.e.,achievingself-determinationbyinvolvingthestudentintheIEPprocess;Fieldetal.,1998;Martin,Huber-Marshall,Maxton,Jerman,&Miller,1996;Powers,etal.,2001;Wehmeyer&Lawrence,1995).Althoughwebelievestudentinvolvementinthedevelop-mentofIEPsandparticipationorlead-ershipintheIEPmeetingprocessisessential,wealsofeelthatIEPsshouldspecificallytargetself-determinationandtransitionplans,intheformofgoalsandobjectives.ToassistteacherswithdevelopingIEPgoalsandobjectivestargetingself-determination,weprovidesamplegoalsandobjectivesinthisarticle.Wegar-neredsomegoalsandobjectivesfromthesixmodelschoolprogramsthatwevisitedforthequalitativecomponentoftheSDSP.Wewroteothergoalsforfic-tionalstudentsderivedfromacompos-iteofstudents.Weemphasizethatstu-dentsshouldbeinvolvedortakealead-ershiproleindevelopingtheirownIEPandtransitiongoals.Self-DeterminationinIEPsIndevelopingself-determinationgoalsandobjectives,youneedtoknowwhatskillscompriseself-determination,decidewhatskillstoteachtoindividualstudents,andknowwheretofindinstructionalmaterialstoprovideinstruction(i.e.,self-determinationcur-ricula).Inthisarticle,weaddressthefirsttwooftheseissues,aswellasoffersomeexamplesofself-determinationgoalsandobjectivesthatmightbeincludedinanIEP.Testetal(2000)pro-videdhelpfulinformationaboutchoos-ingaself-determinationcurriculum.TEACHINGEXCEPTIONALCHILDREN■JAN/FEB2004■9WhatDoestheLiteratureSayAboutSelf-Determination?Overthepastdecade,specialeducationhasseenamajorfocusonpromotingself-determinationskillsinstudents.Specialeducationliteraturehasofferedinfor-mationonself-determination,includingthefollowing:Definitionsandconceptualanalyses(Browder,Wood,Test,Algozzine,&Karvonen,2001;Martin,Huber-Marshall,&Maxton,1993;Ward,1988;Wehmeyer,1992a).Approachesforpromotingself-determination(Martin&Marshall,1995;Pococketal.,2002;Salembier&Furney,1994).Modelsforinstruction(Abery,Rudrud,Arndt,Schwauben,&Eggebeen,1995;Field&Hoffman,1994).Bothquantitativeandqualitativeinterventionstudies(Algozzine,etal.,2001;Allen,Smith,Test,Flowers,&Wood,2001;Cross,Cooke,Wood,&Test,1999).Self-determinationwasfirstwrittenintolawinthePublicHousingActof1988,andquicklyfollowedinothermajorpiecesoflegislationwrittenforpeoplewithdisabilities,includingtheRehabilitationActof1992and1998andtheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationActof1990and1997.DefinedbyWehmeyer(1992b,1996),as“actingastheprimarycausalagentinone’slifefreefromundueexternalinfluenceorinterference,”self-deter-minationwastermedtheultimategoalofeducationbyHalloran(1993).Sincethelate1980s,theU.S.DepartmentofEducation,OfficeofSpecialEducationPrograms(OSEP)haspromoteddevelopmentanddisseminationofprogramsandmaterials,andinformationonself-determinationbyofferingdiscretionaryfundingopportunitiesforresearchanddemonstrationprojects.Self-advocateswithdisabilitieshavebeendemandingself-determinationasadultcitizensandhavebeenamajorforcebehindthefederalinitiativeatboththeadultandschoollevels.Inaddition,researchhasdemonstratedapositiverela-tionshipbetweenself-determinationandimprovedpostscho