Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Individual Development Plans'

The purpose of this article was to examine how students learn to use the Individual Development Plan (IUP) with written assessments as a tool for learning. The study is conducted according to an ethnographic approach. A total of 20 students, aged 13-14 years, participated. The production of data took place through participating observations, field notes and conversations. A qualitative content analysis was used for data analysis. The results of the analysis yielded the following codes: Clarification as a tool for learning; Difficult to understand as a tool for learning; Participation as a tool for learning and; Irrelevant as a tool for learning. Results of the study was coupled with an analytical model in which the concepts: integrated; mastered; and appropriated was in focus. The results showed that the students participated in the process of IUP with written reviews in varying ways. The type of participation they chose was dependent on how implemented, mastered and appropriated the practice with IUP with written judgments were.

Studiens syfte har varit att beskriva hur IUP som fenomen fungerar i skolan. Frågeställningarna för studien har berört vilka konsekvenser arbetet med IUP anses ha för elevernas måluppfyllelse, vilka möjligheter och hinder IUP ger med tanke på elevernas lärande, samt hur attityden kring IUP ser ut för pedagoger och elever. Studien har varit av kvalitativ karaktär och sett ur pedagogernas perspektiv, där sex pedagoger för grundskolans äldre åldrar intervjuats. Resultatet visade att arbetet med IUP är bra på så vis att det möjliggör att alla elever blir sedda samt att eleverna blir medvetna om sitt eget lärande. Till de negativa aspekterna hörde problematiken med formuleringar som kan generera missförstånd, att en del elever inte ser IUP som betydelsefullt, att en IUP inte kan garantera att elever når målen, samt den arbetsbelastning pedagogerna anser att arbetet med IUP kan ge. I studien har även uppmärksammats att pedagoger i sitt arbete med IUP stundtals utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv på lärande, medan inriktningen i Skolverkets allmänna råd i högre grad kan sägas utgå från ett kognitivt perspektiv. Avslutningsvis vill jag tacka alla pedagoger som medverkat, samt min handledare Lena Heindorff.

Svensk sammanfattning: s. 111-126.

The purpose of this study was to design an integrated goal and competency framework based individual development plan process. Interviews with eight employees who had been through the process were conducted. Competency frameworks have been shown in existing literature and this study to be an effective tool for leveraging for employee development and driving discussions that employees value. Findings showed that using competency frameworks provides more than enough benefits to justify people managers investing the time to understand it, socialize it within their teams, and use it as a core piece of this process. Future studies should look at multiple teams with different managers to explore that variable further.

Alla elever i grundskolan, ska sedan januari 2006, ha en individuell utvecklingsplan vars syfte främst är att stödja elevers måluppfyllelse, enligt de nationella styrdokumen-ten. I Skolverkets allmänna råd (2005) anges att elever såväl som föräldrar ska ges del-aktighet och inflytande över arbetet med IUP. Vi har en uppfattning om att en samver-kansprocess, mellan lärare, elev och föräldrar, kring arbetet med IUP är av vikt för att eleven ska nå ökad måluppfyllelse. Därför var syftet med studien att belysa hur elever och föräldrar uppfattar sin delaktighet i samverkansprocessen kring IUP samt hur lära-ren gör för att involvera elever och föräldrar i det arbetet. För att få en bild av hur sam-verkansprocessen kring den individuella utvecklingsplanen uppfattas av lärare, elever och föräldrar har såväl kvalitativa som kvantitativa metoder använts. Dessa har bestått av lärar- och föräldraenkäter samt av elevintervjuer. Resultatet visar att elever och för-äldrar upplever stor delaktighet kring arbetet med IUP. Studiens resultat visar även att eleverna genom IUP fått en större medvetenhet över sitt lärande. Beträffande lärarper-spektivet visar vårt resultat att lärarna anser det viktigt att involvera elever såväl som föräldrar. Lärarnas motiv för att involvera eleven i arbetet med IUP är att skapa delak-tighet, motivation och ansvarstagande hos eleven för en ökad måluppfyllelse. Samman-taget visar vår studie att en god samverkansprocess kan leda till ökad måluppfyllelse för eleven.

Since January 2006, an individual development plan (IUP) should be prepared for every pupil in comprehensive school. The aim of development plan is to support pupils’ pos-sibilities to fulfil the goals of the National curriculum. General counsels of the National Board of Education (2005) states that both pupils and parents should be given the pos-sibility to influence on and participate in the work with IUP. We articulate that the co-operation process between teacher, pupil and parents concerning IUP, is of importance for pupils’ goal fulfilment. Therefore, the aim of the study was to elucidate how stu-dents and parents consider their participation in the cooperation process with IUP, and how the teacher involves students and parents in the process. In order to find out how the cooperation process concerning the individual development plan is considered by teachers, students, and parents, both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. These consist of teachers’- and parents’ inquiries, and by pupils’ interviews. The result shows that both pupils and parents experience a great deal of participation con-cerning the work with IUP. The result also shows that the students through IUP have improved their awareness of the learning process. Regarding the teachers’ perspective, our study illuminates that teachers consider it important to involve both pupils and par-ents. Teacher’s reason for involving pupils in the work with IUP is to create participa-tion, motivation, and responsibility among pupils for an increased goal fulfilment. All in all, our study shows that a good cooperation process increases pupils’ goal fulfil-ment.

Riksdagen beslutade att från och med höstterminen 2008 införa skriftliga omdömen från första klass. Detta har lett till en samhällsdebatt kring frågor om hur de skriftliga omdömena ska utformas, samt om och hur lärarna bör bedöma yngre elever. Inom pedagogisk forskning har bedömning framhållits som en viktig del av lärandet. Istället för att mäta kunskap ska bedömning gynna och skapa mening för lärandet. Skriftliga omdömen bör genom formativ bedömning bidra till tydligare information för elev och vårdnadshavarna. Författarnas syfte är att skapa förståelse för vilken innebörd rektorer och lärare i undersökningen ger individuell utvecklingsplan med skriftliga omdömen, samt vilka förutsättningar som skapats för implementeringen. Tillvägagångssättet är kvalitativa intervjuer med rektorer och lärare. Undersökningen visade att samtliga rektorer och lärare framhåller att skriftliga omdömen förtydligar informationen kring elevens utveckling, samt att bra förutsättningar har skapats i form av tid och utbildning.

Parliament decided that in the beginning of the autumn semester of 2008, written discernments were to be implemented for every student from the first grade. This has led to public debate surrounding questions as how written discernments are to be designed and how teachers can and should evaluate younger students. In the field of pedagogical research the evaluation of students has been accentuated as a significant part of teaching. Instead of “measuring” knowledge, evaluations are meant to benefit learning and create meaning for teaching. Written discernments should through formative assessment contribute clearer information to student and caregiver. The purpose of the writers is to create understanding for the significance that headmaster and teacher, in the study, bring to individual development plans with written discernments and which conditions were created for implementation. The procedure is qualitative interviews with headmasters and teachers. The study showed that all headmasters and teachers call attention to that written discernments clarify the information concerning the students’ progress and that good prerequisites have been produced in the form of time and education.

The intention of this study is to interview teachers in order to create a picture of how they look at their work with IUP (Plan of individual development). The main question formulated in my study is in what way IUP can become a contribution to the learner´s development. All teachers who participated in the interviews believe that the purpose of the document is to be proactive, developing and positive for the pupils. The teachers also believe that it is intended to serve as a clarification for pupils as well as teachers. It´s clear to see that the IUP generally is believed to be a supportive resource in education. The results of the interviews, however, show that the document does not in any significant way function as a support to the pupils and their learning during the term.  Most of the attention is put into the meeting between teacher, parents and pupil (“utvecklingssamtal”) held once per term, in which the individual plan also is set up.

A variety of reasons contribute to the fact that the majority of the responding teachers do not enable the pupils themselves to use the document on a regular basis in everyday work. Only one of the participating teachers stated that she actively encouraged pupils to use their IUP on a continual basis during their school day.

In the other cases the IUP was filed and often kept locked up while the pupil and the parents kept a copy at home. However, the pupils are involved in the establishing of the IUP and are given a good opportunity to take part in formulating its goals, based on their capacities. The pupil´s own wording is important to make him or her feel that the IUP is fit for them.

There were different statements about how much and how often the teachers participate in discussing the work of IUP with colleagues. One conclusion is that there was, in most of the cases, a will to create a common interpretation in order to get more out of the document.

Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have typically experienced poor outcomes as they have transitioned from school to adult life. Quality school-based transition planning has been found to improve outcomes for youth with disabilities in general. This mixed-methods study was designed to examine the effects of a family- centered transition planning project on the transition Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) of youth with ASD. Thirty-nine youth with ASD and their families were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or control group. Pre- and post-intervention IEPs were collected for each youth. The IEPs were analyzed to determine differences in changes to the quality of both the overall transition IEPs and the integrated employment goals. The IEPs were also compared in an effort to determine if the change in number of IEPs with goals related to integrated employment, postsecondary education, community living and adults services were significantly different for the two groups. To further explore the contextual factors that may have contributed to differences in the effect of the intervention on IEPs, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of four youth from the intervention group, including two who’s transition IEPs improved and two who’s transition IEPs did not. Both participation in the family-centered intervention and occupational status predicted improvements in the overall quality of IEPs but not in the integrated employment domain. The intervention was not found to be differentially effective for youth with varying levels of parent occupational status, self-determination, or adaptive behavior. Adult services was the only domain in which the intervention group had IEPs that improved significantly more than the control group. Although the intervention had a positive effect on the overall quality of transition IEPs, there were a number of youth in the intervention group with IEPs that did not improve or that improved only minimally. The interviews revealed a number possible contextual factors related to the families’ experiences with the overall transition process that may have contributed to the differential effectiveness of the intervention. They included the quality of the school/family relationship, the quality of school-based transition services, the flexibility and responsiveness of the school, families’ perceptions about their ability to affect change, and student membership in the school community. The limitations of this research were identified as well as recommendations for future research.

Abstract

My purpose of the investigation is to enter deeply into the knowledge of the Individual plan of the development and to examine how teachers, pupils and parents look at the Individual plan of the development and the purpose of the Individual plan of the development in school. My question of the main problem in this investigation was to examine the expectation on the Individual plan of the development from teachers, pupils and parents and if the Individual plan of the development has been influence the cooperation of parents and the influence of the pupils also how and if teachers, pupils and parents apprehend some kinds of changes.

The review of the literature begin with a closer study about our document of control, witch are the curriculum of the compulsory school (Lpo 94), The National Agency for Education General Advice for the Individual plan of the development (2005), a study of the development of the cooperation of the parents and the influence of the pupils under the years of research about it.

I have in my investigation used qualitative interview in different forms like the ordinary interview, interview on telephone and focussed group interview with teachers, pupils and parents. The result of my conclusion from the investigation is that the information and the knowledge of the Individual plan of the development are important to be able to increase the influence from the pupils and a different cooperation from the parents in the development of the school with the Individual plan of the development. My examination is small and not generalised but I believe that it still can represent the attitude of the Individual plan of the development. The consequence of the investigation shows that pupils and parents have vague idea of the Individual plan of the development. The teacher show three widely, differing opinions of expectation of the Individual plan of the development.

Keyconfusion: Individual plan of the development, teacher, influence of the pupils, cooperation of the parents.

Sammanfattning

Mitt syfte med undersökningen är att fördjupa kunskaperna om IUP och undersöka hur lärare, elever och föräldrar ser på IUP, samt den Individuella utvecklingsplanens syfte i skolan.

Min problemformulering är att undersöka förväntningar på IUP från lärare, elever och föräldrar om IUP har påverkat föräldrasamverkan och elevinflytande samt hur och om lärare, elever och föräldrar uppfattar några förändringar.

Litteraturgenomgången inleds med en närmare studie kring våra styrdokument, det vill säga läroplanen för det obligatoriska skolväsendet (Lpo94), Skolverkets Allmänna råd för Individuella utvecklingsplaner (2005), en studie av utvecklingen av föräldrasamverkan och elevinflytande under åren samt forskningen om det.

Jag har i min undersökning använt kvalitativ intervju i olika former såsom vanliga intervjuer, telefonintervjuer och fokuserade gruppintervjuer med lärare, elever samt föräldrar.

Mina slutsatser från min undersökning är att informationen och kunskapen om IUP är viktig för att få ett ökat inflytande från elever samt en förändrad samverkan från föräldrar i skolans utvecklingsarbete med de Individuella utvecklingsplanerna. Mitt arbete är litet och inte generaliserbart men jag tror att det ändå kan representera synpunkter på IUP.

Resultatet visar att elever och föräldrar har vaga föreställningar om IUP. Läraren visar tre vitt skilda perspektiv på förväntningar över IUP.

Nyckelbegrepp: Individuell utvecklingsplan, lärare, elevinflytande, föräldrasamverkan

Den här rapporten handlar om Individuella utvecklingsplaner (IUP). Från 1/1-06 gäller en förordning om att alla barn i grundskolan, särskolan, sameskolan och specialskolan ska ha IUP. Syftet med rapporten är att undersöka vilken information lärare och elever fått om IUP, men också ta reda på deras inställning till och uppfattning om IUP.

För att få reda på detta har jag intervjuat fem lärare och fem elever. Lärarna har mellan 3-20 års erfarenhet av skolarbete. Eleverna går i skolår 1-6. Jag har utifrån litteraturen studerat synen på lärande, hur lärare ställer sig till nya utvecklingsplaner och hur det sedan faller ut i praktiken.

Resultatet av intervjuerna blev något nedslående med tanke på att förordningen om IUP redan trätt i kraft. Endast en av de fem lärare jag intervjuat hade kommit igång med sitt IUP arbete. Därför kunde de andra fyra inte svara annat än att de inte märker av IUP i skolans vardagliga arbete. Eleverna gav ungefär samma svar.

Trots det har jag dragit slutsatsen att samtliga lärare och elever har en positiv inställning till IUP och dess införande. Lärarna uppfattar IUP som ett hjälpmedel och en garanti för måluppfyllelse.

Däremot har IUP inte implementerats i det vardagliga arbetet i skolan.

Man kan också se att det saknats gemensamma diskussioner om synen på kunskap och kunskapsutveckling.

This report is about Individual Development planes (IUP). From 1/1-06 a new law requires all schools to draw an IUP for all pupils in primary schools; schools for dysfunction, ethnic schools and special schools. The purpose of this study is to examine what information teachers and pupils have about the IUP and find out what their adjustment and comprehension are to the IUP.

I decided to interview five teachers and five pupils. The teachers have 3-20 years of experience in teaching. The pupils are seven, ten and twelve years old and go to the regular Swedish school.

In the literature I studied different kind of cognitive approaches, how teachers think about new development planes and how it all turns out in reality.

The result of my interwjues was rather negative. Only one of the teachers I interviewed has been working IUP inspired for some years. All the others haven’t started yet. Therefore they couldn’t assert that IUP did any marks in the daily schoolwork. The pupils gave the same answers.

The IUP has not been realized in the daily schoolwork and you can also see that the teachers miss common discussions about cognitive approaches.

Although I have made the conclusion that all the teachers and pupils are positive to the IUP. The teachers think about the IUP as a working tool and a guarantee to attain good results in school.

The current study examined the relationship between the dismissal of the young child with developmental delays (YCDD) from the individual educational plan (IEP) prior to kindergarten and later requalification for special education services. The primary purpose of the study was to provide stakeholder perceptions of current practices regarding meeting the needs of four former YCDD students. The perceptions came through interviews with former YCDD students, their parents, teachers, administrators and, additionally, data from interventions, state assessments and survey.

Data showed that the relationship between dismissal and requalification for services showed low achievement from all four former YCDD students. All four focus students did requalify for special education services. In addition, the stakeholder’s perceptions revealed recurring themes and implications for practice. Given the small sample utilized for the current study, the findings may not be generalized to all children with a former YCDD diagnosis. Results provided implications for keeping the diagnosis through kindergarten transition and researching the study on a larger scale.