Documentation Guide
Release Notes July 2020
| Topic | Notes |
| Organization of the “Procedure Manual” |
For the past several years, the AEA Special Education Procedures were distributed as a pdf made up of the ‘body’ of the manual and several appendices, including the Documentation Guide. For the 2020-2021 school year, the Documentation Guide will continue to be a pdf and the remainder of the manual will be an online resource that can be found here: I3 Information and here: I3 Resources Training and support materials for navigating online information and resources is available here: Iowa IDEA Information |
| Page I (Additional Information): Required elements for virtual/hybrid learning | Given the possible necessity of altering instructional delivery during 2020-2021, required items related to virtual/hybrid learning have been added to Page I (Additional Information) of the IEP. |
| Home Schooling for Students in Special Education: Parent Notification and Acknowledgment form |
New for 2020-2021, teams are asked to engage with parents who express the intention of home schooling their child and process this form. If parents choose to home school and dual-enroll for special education, that is a roster change (code CPI). If parents choose to home school without dual enrollment for special education, that has the same effect as a parent revocation of consent for services and is processed accordingly (code PRC). |
| CPN code retired | Because home schooling without dual enrollment for special education is processed as a revocation of consent for services (code PRC), the CPN final exit code (Competent Private Instruction – No IEP) became unnecessary. |
| Eligibility Determination Worksheet (EDW) & COVID-19 |
The Eligibility Determination Worksheet asks whether the eligibility meeting was held within 60 days of receiving signed consent and, if not, the reason. Added to the list of reasons is:
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| Requirements for a regular diploma |
To earn a regular high school diploma, a child with a disability must complete four years of English, three years of math, three years of social studies, and three years of science (“4-3-3-3”). It will no longer be permissible to award a regular high school diploma based solely on IEP goal attainment. A child may either graduate based on 4-3-3-3 or based on 4-3-3-3 plus IEP-specified goals or activity completion. The course of study examples have been modified or deleted to align with these requirements. |
| Accessible instructional materials (AIM) and accessible educational materials (AEM) |
Accessible instructional materials (AIM) have been broadened to accessible educational materials (AEM), including digital instructional materials. In addition to considering alternate formats for printed materials, the expansion to accessible educational materials requires teams to consider access to technology-based materials. |
| Family(Parent) Training/Counseling. (FT) |
“Family training, counseling & home visits” was previously listed as a service for children transitioning from Part C to Part B, only. “Parent counseling and training” was given as an example of an “Other” Activity or Support. “Family(Parent) Training/Counseling” is now listed as a service for any IEP with the code FT and the definition: Services to assist the parent/family in understanding the learner’s special needs, learner development, and helping parents/family to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the implementation of their learner’s IEP. Service minutes are not included in the LRE calculation. |
| 45-day trial out placement language |
45-day trial out placement language has been amended to align with the i3 language. Past procedures described 45-day trials for all services, only. The 45-day process may be applied to single services while other services continue and both the Documentation Guide and I3 language reflect that |
| Some Resource Items that have been moved |
Go to: I3 Resources |
Acknowledgments
Many professionals from Iowa’s area education agencies and the Iowa Department of Education contributed to this total body of work, including work that led to the development of statewide procedures, implementing and maintaining procedures and moving to fully online resources. Among the many significant contributors:
| Topic (date of work origination) | Group(s) | Leadership |
| Child Find (2005) | Child Find Leadership Group | Jim Gorman |
| IEP Development (2002) | Iowa Department of Education | Barb Guy, Sharon Hawthorne |
| Documentation Guide (2002) | Northwest Iowa AEA Cooperative | David Happe |
| Statewide Procedures (2006) | AEA Special Education Directors and DE leadership | Directors, Lana Michaelson, Jeananne Schild, David Happe |
| Implementing, maintaining and improving Statewide Procedures (2009) |
AEA Special Education Directors and DE leadership, Procedures Coordinating Council | Directors, David Happe, Jim Gorman, Misty Christensen |
| Placing procedures online (2018) |
AEA Special Education Directors and DE leadership, Procedures Coordinating Council | AEA Directors: Annette Hyde, Jim Gorman DE: Barb Guy, Brad Niebling LEA: Kim Neal, Heidi Venem, and Janell Brouwer |
Iowa IDEA Information (i3) is a partnership between the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), and local districts across the state.