Are We Practicing What We Are Preaching? An Evaluation of Self-Determination Instructional Components in IEPs at a Midwestern High School

Authors

  • Nancy Lopez, Ed.D. (Author) Illinois State University image/svg+xml
    Nancy Lopez, Ed.D., taught students with high incidence disabilities for 33 years in a public high school in Illinois and recently graduated from Illinois State University with a Doctorate in Special Education. Her research interests include self-determination, Universal Design for Learning, and transition.
  • Julia B. Stoner, Ed.D., CCC-SLP (Author) Illinois State University
    Julia B. Stoner, Ed.D., Professor Emerita at Illinois State University, has published numerous articles related to family and professional issues, program evaluation augmentative and alternative communication, assistive technology, trust and parental advocacy issues, and social-pragmatic communication interventions with young children.
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.347
Promoting self-determination in students with disabilities is recognized as an integral component of education today. For most students with disabilities, self-determination should be addressed through instruction and in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Yet, IEPs are rarely evaluated to determine if goals targeting self-determination are present. This report focuses on one such evaluation. Specifically, an evaluation was conducted to assess whether the IEP goals for 286 high school students with disabilities attending a suburban high school in the Midwest included components of self-determination. The purpose of this report is to describe the evaluation process, identify the outcomes of the evaluation, and provide a discussion of the results in relation to current research. Limitations and implications for practice are presented.

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Lopez, N., & Stoner, J. B. (2017). Are We Practicing What We Are Preaching? An Evaluation of Self-Determination Instructional Components in IEPs at a Midwestern High School. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 12(3), 58-77. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.347

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  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted August 11, 2017
  • Published October 15, 2017
  • Issue Fall 2017
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