Guidance:

Individual Learning Plan/Plan for College and Career Readiness

[The statute requires the District to establish policies regarding individual learning plans and plans for college and career readiness in consultation with school personnel, parents, and school community councils or similar groups. Therefore, this policy is intended as a basis for discussions of what an SEP policy adopted by the District might be after such discussions with the community council, if any, faculty groups, students, and the state board.]

Utah Code § 53E-2-304(2)(b)(ii) (2019)

Definitions

Plan for College and Career Readiness—

“Plan for College and Career Readiness” means a plan developed by a student and the student’s parent, in consultation with school counselors, teachers, and administrators that:

1. is initiated at the beginning of grade 7;
2. identifies a student’s skills and objectives;
3. maps out a strategy to guide a student’s course selection; and
4. links a student to post-secondary options, including higher education and careers. 

Utah Code § 53E-2-304(2)(b)(i) (2019)

School manager—

The Principal or a member of the faculty of the school appointed to that position by the Principal shall be the School Manager.

Individual Learning Plan file—

An Individual Learning Plan (“ILP”) means a personalized student education plan. The ILP file shall be a separate file maintained by the school for each student which shall include the ILP and supporting documents. It may contain a separate division for each school year, but ILP records for prior years at that school shall be available to participants in the ILP process. It should include a copy of the registration of the student for each school term showing the classes for which the student has registered, the names of teachers of the classes and telephone numbers at which participants in the ILP process may reach the teachers of each class, and each report card issued by the school, and names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the participants in the ILP process.

Small group conference—

Small-group Conference is a meeting at which students, parents or guardians, and guidance counselors and teachers are invited to attend and the number of students invited does not exceed five.

ILP participation—

The Participants in the ILP process are, with respect to a student, the student, the student’s parent or guardian and the teacher, guidance counselor or other member of school personnel who has the assignment of participating in the preparation or maintenance of that student’s ILP.

Policy

Background—

The Legislature has required the District to establish policies, in consultation with school personnel, parents, and school community councils or similar entities to provide for the effective implementation of an ILP for each student at the school site. The Board has consulted with its personnel, with parents, and with school community councils or like entities to the extent that such entities operate within the district and hereby adopts the following policies.

ILP conferences—

Each school shall offer its students at least one ILP conference per year at which the ILP of the child may be established and reviewed jointly by the teacher, parent or guardian, and student. This conference may be at the time usually set aside for parent-teacher conferences.

Small group conferences—

Each school may also, as it is deemed appropriate, schedule small group conferences for classes or categories of students.

Additional parent conferences—

A parent may also request conferences with school personnel in addition to ILP or Plan for College and Career Readiness conferences established by District policy.

Template ILP—

The school may adopt a template ILP which sets forth the minimum standard school program and general guidelines required of all students. This template shall be supplemented by the teacher, parent or guardian and student. From grades 9-12 it is the responsibility of the student to prepare the ILP, in consultation with a school counselor or teacher and with the student’s parent or guardian.

Purpose of the ILP—

The purpose of the ILP is not to provide a binding agreement between the student and the student’s parent or guardian and the school, but rather to express the needs and aspirations of the student, to mobilize the resources of the school to help the student reach the objectives required by the minimum school program and by the ILP and to set forth objectives desirable for the benefit of the student. Therefore, the ILP may include objectives which are beyond the means or resources of the school. With the objectives stated in the ILP should be included activities and means helpful for implementing the objectives, which may include (1) programs available at school and (2) resources and activities not available through school but which must be provided independently by parents and guardians, or by students, or from other sources beside those of the school.

Guidelines and expectations—

In addition to the minimum standard school program and guidelines expected of all students, each ILP shall include information gathered for the purpose of recognizing the strengths and achievements of the student and shall include a record of the student’s progress toward the objectives of the ILP. This information may be collected in narrative or journal form, or in the form of records of scores on tests and grades earned in classes, or in any other form which is found to be useful, and shall be available to all the participants in the ILP process upon reasonable notice. A member of the school staff, whether teacher, guidance counselor, or administrator, who is charged with participating in the ILP process for a student shall become acquainted with the student well enough to participate effectively in that process and shall exert his or her effort to recognize the students accomplishments and strengths, to assist in planning, monitoring and managing the education and career development of the student and to participate in an ongoing partnership with the student and parent or guardian, including attendance at ILP conferences.

Implementation of the ILP process—

Each school shall conduct training in the ILP process so that staff members participating in the process will have a repertoire of skills to deal with the problems that arise in the process of developing and implementation of the ILP. This training will be included in the in-service training program at the school. The school shall make available to its staff the inventory of working Plans for College and Career Readiness prepared by the State Board of Education. Requests for resources arising from the ILP process not readily identified by the participants in the offerings of the school shall be referred to the Principal, who will have responsibility to consider requests for resources, and who shall have responsibility to coordinate time, training and assignment of school personnel for such purposes, in consultation with the faculty of the school, and who shall have authority to decide whether the school has the means to make an effort to achieve the objective in question. It is expected that the ILP process may take time from other school activities which the Principal shall authorize in his or her discretion.

College and career preparation—

A participant in the ILP process may suggest occupational and post-secondary education objectives that may be incorporated into the ILP. An ILP which incorporates occupational and post-secondary education objectives (thus making it a Plan for College and Career Readiness) should be reviewed by a school staff member who has the assignment of assisting students with career or occupational preparation who should be added to the group of participants in the process of that ILP. Resources in the community, such as work/study programs, may be added to the ILP to assist with occupational objectives. Individual schools may enter into partnerships with private business to obtain additional resources for technology programs intended to assist students in preparation for occupations.

Reporting—

The Legislature has required the District and each school to make an annual report to its patrons on its activities under Utah Code § 53E-2-304(4) which includes the ILP process. The reporting process shall involve participation from teachers, parents, and the community at large in determining how well the District or school is performing.

Utah Code § 53E-2-304(4)(a) (2019)

Privacy—

The ILP file is a private file and shall be made available only to participants in the ILP process without obtaining appropriate consents from students and their parents or guardians. Portions of confidential documents not usually disclosed to one or more of the participants in the ILP process may be included in the ILP file with the consent of school personnel charged with protecting the privacy of those affected by the document and after obtaining consents of other affected parties, if necessary. 

It is not the Board’s intention to waive any of its rules governing privacy in this connection. It is the Board’s intention that the ILP file be as complete as possible without reference to other documents outside the file. The ILP file should therefore not contain any documents by reference from other school archives.