An individualized education plan is commonly referred to as an IEP. This is a legal document for students with special needs. IEPs are often twenty to forty pages or even longer. There is a lot of important information included in an IEP. Knowing what to look for ahead of time will help you better determine the accuracy and potential effectiveness of the document. There are three main sections to an IEP; the assessments and student’s needs, the goals and objectives to meet those needs, and the service delivery and support services to meet the goals and objectives.

Formal and/or informal assessments are completed and the data is compiled for every IEP meeting. This data is used to help the team assess where your child is in comparison to other children his/her age and grade level. This information is used to create a list of educational needs for your child. Your child may have needs in only one area such as speech or in many areas depending on their educational profile and their disability.

After the needs have been determined by the team annual goals with specific, measurable objectives are created that outline what your child will be taught with the expected level of mastery by the ending date of the IEP. IEP goals are based on core content standards that apply to all children in public schools. IEP objectives should state specific skills within the goal that will be met, how progress will be measured and the level of progress that is expected and/or considered acceptable for your child.

The final section of the IEP lays out who will provide what services to your child and how often this will occur. This will include whether the service delivery will take place within the general education setting, a special education setting or a therapists office. This is also, where you will find information concerning a behavior plan or communication plan if either of those documents is necessary. This section includes all of the accommodations and modifications your child needs in order to gain educational benefit both in and out of the general education setting. Additionally there will be information about district, state and federal testing.

As you can see, the IEP is a complex legal document that is a binding agreement between you and the school district. IEPs are formatted based on state and federal laws. It is important for you to understand what should be included in an IEP so that your child receives the assistance he/she needs in order to gain as much educational benefit as possible.

Home Schooling has been garnering more and more interest and support from many parents who are looking for educational alternatives that they can give to their kids. Home schooling is an educational method that makes use of the home as the primary educational base for children. The system involves children being taught or educated at home rather than at an institution such as public or private schools.

In the past, most children are taught their ABC’s at home in the absence of adequate schools in some areas. But with the advent of compulsory school attendance in the 19th century, education worldwide is earned through the traditional school approach. In today’s terms, home schooling or home education refer to the instruction done in the home with the supervision of government-regulated correspondence schools.

Is home schooling effective? Most people tend to believe so. Many experts think that home schooling can be an effective learning tool because it practices a more personalized form of education. In home schooling, it is usually the parent’s responsibility to teach the kids their lesson. And this type of learning environment has helped many children absorb more of what they are being taught.

And the great results have substantiated proof. Some home school statistics show that a number of home school students scored as many as thirty percentile points higher than national public school averages. Some experts don’t even see statistical differences in terms of academic achievement between home school students taught by parents with less formal education and those students being taught by parents that have acquired higher formal education.

There are other positive home schooling statistics available that will help prove that such a method of educating children is just as effective. In 2003, the NHERI or National Home Education Research Institute conducted an extensive survey of over 7,300 home-schooled adults in the US with over 5000 of them being part of the survey for over seven years. The findings of the said survey indicated that more home-schooled adults are more active and involved in their respective communities.

Most of them are also more likely to get involved in civic affairs and have higher voting population percentages than their counterparts. In terms of outlook, almost three fourths of home schooled adults feel more positive and find life exciting as compared to less than half for the general population. Half of the home schooled adults report that they are very happy with their lives.

These statistics have shown that home schooling can have a great effect on how a child will learn. Home education can be just as effective and efficient as having your children taught in traditional institutions. Home schooling just carries a big advantage over these educational institutions in the sense that this method can make parents and their kids find time together. If you are looking forward to getting closer with your own kids and more active when it comes to their schooling, then home education for your kids should be considered.