Getting Started

In this section you will find a series of documents (assessments and checklists) to assist educators in making decisions regarding self-determination practices in their classroom or school.

Document Descriptions:

Needs Assessment:  a tool designed to identify the top priorities for making positive changes that will result in increased self-determination skills for students. It can be used to provide individual summaries of educators’ perceptions and practices.  It can also be used as an overall school view of practices and beliefs.

Checklists:  tools designed to provide information related to self-determination about individual students. There are separate assessment tools for elementary and secondary schools.  These checklists can be used as informal transition assessments for individual students.

Rubric:  designed to assist educators in determining an entry point for student participation in the IEP process. Entry points are based on student strengths and not on age or disability.

IEP Exit Assessment(s):  designed to gather feedback on the student’s involvement in the IEP after the actual meeting occurs. There are separate assessment tools for elementary and secondary schools and for students, parents and educators.

How to use these documents

Use data from these assessments to target areas of need for the next IEP and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts to increase student participation in the IEP process.

Educators can use this information to plan for changes within their own classrooms.

The student, parents and educator use this information to assist in making decisions regarding the strengths and needs of individual students. Information from these checklists can be used to report current levels of performance and used to formulate and evaluate IEP goals.

Combined and compiled results from all of the individual assessments can be used to lead discussions and action plan for school or districts.