The Benefits of Adding a Student Profile in the IEPs

By Priya Pasumarthy

A student profile is an outline that summarizes the student’s overall progress, academic growth, strengths, supports or services in place, interests, achievements, and both short- and long-term goals. This profile can be attached to the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP), 504 plan, or other documents and may be brief or detailed. Keeping a student profile current in Special Education can offer many benefits, which is the primary focus here. A student profile can be utilized by any student (neurotypical or neurodivergent) from school through university. It can be modified or adapted to meet various requirements or circumstances (educational, financial, or other planning). It can also be valuable for parents, caregivers, teachers, and ultimately students, promoting student motivation, self-determination, and fostering autonomy.

So, what should be included in a student profile that can yield benefits? A student's profile can feature a basic introduction (add pictures, seals, or artworks), the student's strengths and achievements versus areas for growth, services or supports needed, and both short- and long-term goals. It is essential to ensure that the template is structured in a way that addresses core questions such as: who it is about, what their strengths are, successes or achievements, areas of opportunity, supports or services in place, what the long-term goals are, and how to achieve them. It can also be drafted in creative ways that are strength-based, ambitious, and well-planned. Let’s review a sample below:

Sample Student Profile

Name: Hope

An 8-year-old friendly child, a personable person, is an avid swimmer, loves pets,

hiking, biking.

Strengths: Fluent decoder and speller, has age-appropriate typing skills, can converse with peers easily, is a visual learner, adapts with changes in the schedule.

Areas of growth: Reading comprehension at a lower level, conversing with peers by talking coherently to expand social skills and peer connections.

Achievements: Winner of a gold medal in a junior swim contest at the local club.

Supports in Place

Short-term goals: Continue to work on their favorite modality and practice comprehension on least preferred contents, continue speech services to expand linguistic skills, and connect with peers.

Long-term Goals: Go to college to pursue a degree and train in vocational skills.

One can revise and revisit the template to update progress, add service hours, and other relevant information. It is important to note that a student profile is comparable to a compass, guiding a student’s overall journey from education to employment. Once the student profiles are included in the IEPs, everything begins to align, ultimately providing clarity.

Thus, adding a student profile to the IEPs has manifold benefits. It is simple and easy to develop a student profile, which can also be detailed. While writing a student profile, it needs to be stitched in such a way that it covers the core 5 W's questions, is ambitious, and well-planned. It can be used by parents, teachers, and students themselves, who can revise and revisit with progress updates. It can also be modified or adapted based on the requirements and circumstances. A student profile is more or less comparable to a compass that helps in setting directions and further assisting both planning and financial/estimate aspects. They can transform the 2D aspects of IEPs into a functioning system. It can play a vital role in promoting motivation, leading to self-determination and autonomy.

References:

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist.

Priya Pasumarthy is an educator, health care provider and the author of “Halloween At Luke’s” (2019) and “Our Little Promise” (2022).