IEP Team Members

As directors of special education, service providers, multilingual learner specialists, advocates, and community members, you play a crucial role in ensuring that students with disabilities have multiple ways to demonstrate learning proficiency across various courses required to meet graduation requirements.

We are particularly interested in your insights about:

  • Whether these ideas, strategies, and resources give you ways to provide students with disabilities increased access to alternative means of expression related to how they communicate graduation requirements
  • The specific supports needed within IEP meetings and broader school infrastructures to give students more choice in how they show what they know.
  • Ways we can improve collaboration among IEP team members to ensure a cohesive approach to implementing these strategies. Are there best practices for integrating services and supports that we should consider, particularly for students in secondary school?
  • How we can better engage community members and advocates in supporting students’ diverse means of expression. What partnerships or resources can be leveraged to enrich our approach?

Review and provide feedback on the practice briefs linked below. 

  • What new tools does this resource provide for you to apply within IEP meetings to identify viable, student-centered alternative means of expression? 
  • To what degree do you see them as applicable to the IEP process and graduation requirement?

Go to the High-Level Guidance Overview page to review and provide feedback on the overall strategy being utilized  by the initiative. 

  • Is the guidance clear and actionable to drive conversations within an IEP? 
  • Do you see how the initiative connects to graduation requirements?

Explore the content and course examples to review and provide feedback on the following:

  • To what degree have diploma requirements been made clearer to you in key courses?

Thank you for your important role and continued partnership in shaping an educational landscape where every student can thrive.

Learn more:

Practice Brief: Establishing District Policies to Support Alternate Means of Expression

The document provides guidance for district and community leaders on implementing policies that support students with disabilities in meeting rigorous learning expectations. It emphasizes the importance of integrating choice into learning and fostering student independence. The document outlines specific considerations for policymakers, including diploma offerings, alternative means of expression, community engagement, professional development, core instruction, educator collaboration, and IEP meeting attendance.

Practice Brief: Establishing District Policies to Support Alternative Means of Expression

This document provides guidance for district leaders to implement policies supporting alternative means of expression in education for students with disabilities.

Practice Brief: Identifying Viable Alternative Means of Expression

This document is a decision-making tool for IEP teams in California to identify alternative means of expression for students with disabilities, allowing them to meet coursework requirements personalized to their strengths and needs. It emphasizes the importance of understanding course requirements, collaborating between general and special education teachers, and elevating the role of supplementary aids and services. The document provides guidance on how to determine if individualized alternative means of expression are necessary and offers a flowchart for decision-making.

Practice Brief: Identifying Viable Alternative Means of Expression

This document provides guidance for IEP teams in California to identify alternative means of expression for students with disabilities.

Practice Brief: The Importance of Alternative Means to Express Proficiency in Graduation Requirements

This document emphasizes the importance of alternative means to express proficiency in graduation requirements, particularly for students with disabilities. It highlights that alternative means of expression provide equitable opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, promoting inclusivity and accommodating diverse learning preferences. The document also discusses the distinction between alternative means of expression and alternate standards, emphasizing that alternative means do not compromise the validity of assessing proficiency. Overall, it underscores the need for educators to offer flexible options that align with individual abilities while maintaining rigor in coursework assessments.

Practice Brief: The Importance of Alternative Means to Express Proficiency in Graduation Requirements

This document emphasizes the importance of alternative means for students with disabilities to express proficiency in graduation requirements.


Step 1: Pick your path

Start at one of two entry points to explore different routes to fulfilling graduation-based coursework

VIEWPOINT

Option 1: Explore New State Recommended Guidance
Increase your understanding of the state-recommended big picture guidance to provide rigorous and standard-based instruction that still meets the child-centered learning needs of students with disabilities.

SUMMIT TRAIL

Option 2: Discover Sample Coursework
Access coursework, performance tasks, and other tools developed by subject experts that help students meet graduation requirements by showing what they know in flexible ways.