Every student learns differently, and some children need additional support to make meaningful progress in school. IEP specialized learning can help provide a more individualized educational approach by identifying a student’s specific needs, setting measurable goals, and outlining the services or accommodations that may help them succeed.

Understanding an IEP

An Individualized Education Program, commonly known as an IEP, is a written plan developed for eligible students who require special education services.

The plan typically describes the student’s current academic performance, areas of need, educational goals, accommodations, services, and how progress will be measured.

Focus on Individual Needs

One of the main benefits of an IEP is that it is designed around the individual student rather than using the same approach for everyone.

Some students may need additional reading support, while others may require help with mathematics, communication, organization, behavior, or social skills.

The goal is to identify where support is needed and create strategies that respond to those specific challenges.

Set Clear Educational Goals

IEPs generally include measurable goals that provide direction for teachers, specialists, and families.

Goals may focus on academic subjects, communication, motor skills, classroom behavior, or other areas affecting learning.

Clear goals also make it easier to evaluate whether the current approach is working.

Provide Appropriate Accommodations

Accommodations can help students access classroom material without changing the core learning objective.

Examples may include additional time on assignments, reduced-distraction testing environments, assistive technology, alternative formats for instructional materials, or changes in how information is presented.

The specific accommodations should reflect the student’s documented needs.

Coordinate With Teachers and Specialists

Supporting a student may involve several professionals, including classroom teachers, special education teachers, speech-language specialists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, and other support staff.

Communication between these professionals can help ensure that strategies are applied consistently across different classes and learning environments.

Involve Parents and Caregivers

Families play an important role in the IEP process because they can provide information about the student’s strengths, challenges, routines, and progress outside school.

Regular communication between families and educators can also make it easier to identify concerns early and adjust strategies when necessary.

Monitor Progress Regularly

An IEP should not simply be created and then ignored until the next school year.

Student progress should be reviewed regularly to determine whether goals are being met. If a student is not progressing as expected, the educational team may need to adjust instruction, services, or accommodations.

Build on Student Strengths

Specialized education should not focus only on difficulties. Recognizing a student’s strengths, interests, and preferred ways of learning can make instruction more engaging.

A student who struggles with written assignments, for example, may demonstrate strong verbal reasoning or creative problem-solving skills that can be incorporated into learning activities.

Encourage Independence

The long-term goal of individualized support is often to help students become more confident and independent learners.

As students develop new skills, some supports may be adjusted so they can take greater responsibility for organization, communication, problem-solving, and academic work.

Create a Supportive Learning Environment

Students often perform better when they feel understood and supported. Clear expectations, predictable routines, appropriate accommodations, and positive communication can help reduce frustration and improve participation.

A supportive environment also encourages students to ask for help when they need it.

Review the Plan as Needs Change

A student’s educational needs may change over time. Skills can improve, new challenges may appear, and academic expectations become more complex as students advance through school.

Regular IEP reviews help ensure that goals and services remain appropriate rather than continuing with strategies that may no longer be effective.

Supporting Meaningful Educational Progress

Individualized education can give students access to the tools, instruction, and support they need to participate more fully in school. The most effective plans combine clear goals, collaboration, regular progress monitoring, and flexibility as the student develops.

By focusing on individual strengths and needs, schools and families can create a learning environment that supports both academic progress and greater independence.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” [Psalm 100:4]

Gratitude is the gateway to worship. Worship is not a feeling, or an emotion. It isn’t excitement or enthusiasm.

Worship is a raising of our affections for God to God in response to God’s goodness, mercy, and truth [Psalm 100:5]. 

Worship is not anything less than gratitude for all that God is for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

• It is the goodness of God that led us to repentance [Romans 2:4]
• It is the mercy of God that raised us to spiritual life [Ephesians 2:4-7]
• It is the truth of God that is the gospel of our salvation [Ephesians 1:13]

When our hearts are oriented to God’s goodness, mercy, and truth, this same goodness, mercy, and truth manifests itself in our speech and conduct as evidence of the fruit of the spirit:

• “Walk (conduct yourself) as children of light: for the fruit of the spirt is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth” [Ephesians 5:8b-9].

Gratitude is not the default posture of our hearts; ingratitude is (Romans 1:21). Our sinful pride and self-reliance, which is the root of ingratitude, can only be overcome by the gracious work of the indwelling Holy Spirit as we submit his word and will.

And as the Holy Spirit creates gratitude for God to God in our hearts, our gratitude expresses itself in language. The words we speak reflect whether or not we are truly thankful to God and walking (conducting ourselves) in love for him (Ephesians 5). The speech of those who are not walking in love is characterized by “filthiness, foolish talking, and crude joking” [Ephesians 5:4], contrasted with the speech of those who speak from a heart of gratitude: “but rather giving of thanks” [Ephesians 5:4]. 

Earlier in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encouraged them to “speak the truth in love” [4:15] and “putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor” [4:25]. The way we talk – to God, to ourselves, and to one another – affirms or denies a heart of gratitude.

And it’s not just our manner of speech that conveys this gratitude; it is also the songs we sing: “Speaking to yourselves (each other) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” [Ephesians 5:19-20].

When King David returned the ark of the covenant to its rightful place in Jerusalem, he wrote a Psalm of Thanksgiving which serves as a template for gratitude as the gateway to worship, a psalm which begins with the words: “Give thanks unto the LORD…”   You can read this psalm in 1 Chronicles 16:7-36. It is filled with bullet points of praise to God for his goodness, mercy, and truth:

• Goodness: provision, protection (1 Chronicles 16:17-22)
  
• Mercy: salvation, return, deliverance (1 Chronicles 16:34-36)
  
• Truth: his judgments, his covenant, his oath, his law, the word he commanded (1 Chronicles 16:14-17)

When our hearts are overwhelmed with gratefulness for God’s goodness, mercy, and truth we cannot do anything less than worship, because gratitude is the gateway to worship:

• “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wonderous works; glory in his holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:9-10)
• “Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation” (1 Chronicles 16:23)

Gratitude is the gateway to worship as a response to who God is, not only for the things he has done: glory is DUE to his name – we owe it to him – because he is great, and a great God above all gods. Glory and honor are in his presence. 

Whether God ever showered us with his mercy, goodness, and truth, he is STILL worthy of our grateful praise (carefully read 1 Chronicles 16:25-27).

If gratitude is the gateway to worship, ingratitude is evidence of a heart that is darkened to the goodness, mercy, and truth of God, and therefore does not glorify God as God (“as God” emphasizes what David said earlier: the Lord is a great God above all gods and deserves our worship AS GOD – because he IS God – and not merely for the good things he does for us):

• “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful” (Romans 1:21).

Gratitude is the gateway to worship. The reason our worship is deficient is because we have not oriented our hearts by the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit in thankfulness for God to God.

Thanksgiving IS worship and worship is thanksgiving (Revelation 7:9-12).

“By him (Jesus) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” [Hebrews 13:15].

Until He comes, or calls us home, I remain

Cordially yours,

Paul Edwards

Deputy Editorial Page Editor and Columnist at the Detroit News, Kaitlyn Buss, has the background on Michigan Department of Education’s proposed changes to Michigan’s Health Standards Framework.

READ KAITLYN’S OP/ED

SUBMIT PUBLIC COMMENTS TO THE MICHIGAN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

“We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.”

― Voddie T. Baucham Jr., Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who walk with God