When tasked with writing a strengths-based IEP, it can be challenging to know what to focus on other than academics. However, as we all know, students show growth and improvement in many areas throughout the school year that have little to do with their number sense or writing ability.
Instead of focusing solely on academic achievements, try incorporating some of the strengths below into your next IEP and watch as your students’ confidence blossoms.
Strengths for a Strengths-Based IEP
Getting out of the habit of only seeing academics as an area of growth can be freeing and enlightening for teachers, students, and families. But what should or can you focus on when writing those newfound strengths into an IEP?
Below are areas of growth that you may want to consider when creating a strengths-based IEP.
Artistic Growth
Is the student artistic? Have they refined their artistic skills throughout the school year? Perhaps instead of drawing stick figures, they are now drawing characters that look more realistic.
Artistic growth can be celebrated and listed in a strengths-based IEP because it is a form of expression and can often be tied into academic work.
Social-Emotional Growth
Are they a helper in the classroom? Or have they improved their decision-making skills during the year? Highlight those traits and the growth!
Treating others with kindness or showing compassion and empathy towards their classmates are two other areas that are great to mention in a strengths-based IEP.
Interpersonal Relationship Growth
Making and keeping friends isn’t easy, but it’s an important skill that children need in and out of the classroom. If your student has shown progress with being a good friend, include it in their IEP.
Has your student come out of their shell and started to take on more leadership roles during the year? If so, that’s a strength worth mentioning in the IEP!
Physical Skills Growth
Balance, coordination, hand-eye skills, and more are areas of growth that are important in a child’s development.
If the student has become a rockstar at basketball during the year, that’s a strength. If she has excelled at volleyball or tried a new sport, make sure to include that in the IEP too.
Self-Expression Growth
Learning how to express oneself is an on-going, always-evolving process. Recognize your students’ abilities to express themselves in and out of the classroom – especially if there has been noticeable growth over the course of the year.
Self-expression may take many forms and includes everything from verbal expression to written expression. However, your students have grown in their skills is worth mentioning.
All Growth
At the end of the day, any area of growth is appropriate to put into a strengths-based IEP. It shows that the student is well-rounded and has grown not only academically, but socially, emotionally, and physically as well. It creates an IEP that is well-rounded and comprehensive. It looks at the qualitative data as much as the quantitative data, so that the student’s needs can truly be met based on who they are and what they are currently capable of in that moment.
What other areas of growth do you include in your students’ strengths-based IEPs? What things do you focus on and highlight as true areas of improvement?
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