The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), Special Education Unit, in response to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997, mandated the use of new Individualized Education Program (IEP) forms in February of 1998. To assist districts with development of student IEPs, a new computerized version of the IEP has been created. The Computerized IEP will be made available to school districts beginning Monday, February 22, 1999. Districts will be able to download the program from the Arkansas Department of Education's website. The address and detailed instructions for downloading will be made available in a future memo.
To assist local districts in training staff on use of the Computerized IEP, the ADE, Special Education Unit, will offer two forms of assistance.
First, an Instructional Video has been developed with the assistance of the Arkansas Special Education Resource Center and AETN. The video was developed to assist local school districts in training teachers, either as a group or individually. Copies of the Computerized IEP Instructional Video will be made available to each school district and education cooperative by March 1, 1999. Local districts can then schedule staff training utilizing computer labs on campus or at the local education cooperative.
Second, Train the Trainer workshops will be offered to ONE REPRESENTATIVE from each school district and all LEA Special Education Supervisors through the area education cooperatives during the first week of March. Individuals selected to attend this training should meet the following criteria:
¨ Be computer literate
¨ Be willing to serve as the district liaison/technical assistance person during training of all local special education staff.
The Train the Trainers workshops will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m., on March 4, 1999, and March 8, 1999. The cooperative satellite downlink facility and computer labs will be utilized during the training. Coordinates for the satellite downlink will be provided in a future memo.
Attached to this memo is a registration form, as well as, a Schedule of IEP Training. Once you have selected your representative to attend the Train the Trainers Workshop, complete and fax the registration form to the contact person at your local cooperative. Contact persons and fax numbers are listed on the registration form.
Districts with satellite facilities and computer labs on campus who would like to access the training on March 4th or March 8th (dates of the satellite downlink) from their campus should contact Virginia Clements at (501) 682-4299 by Wednesday, February 17, 1999. Facilitators will be provided at each of the cooperative sites, and training for facilitators from additional sites will be provided. Please make requests for facilitator training by Wednesday, February 17, 1999.
There are attachments to this memo.