Examining the qualities of individual education programs (İEP) developed in special education schools

This study aims to examine the qualities of Individual Education Programs (IEPs) developed at special education schools. The requirements of this study are to reveal the quality of IEPs which are one of the essential principles and a route map of special education and to develop a valid and a reliable scale for evaluating IEPs. For that purpose, in the first part of the study, IEP Quality Assesment Scale (IEPQAS) was developed by evaluating 180 IEPs and analyzing the psychometric construct validity of the scale. In this sense, the psychometric qualities of IEPQAS as a 16-item scale consisting 2 subscales met the criteria of content and construct validity. Within the scope of reliability, item-total correlation and inter-scale correlations, reliability of internal consistency coefficient, lower-upper 27 reliability, and reliability among the raters were met as well. As a result, a 16-item IEPQAS scale including two sub-scales was formed and its reliability and validity were proven. Both IEP Instructional Components sub-scale and IEP Complementary Components Sub-scale include 8 items severally. In the second part of the study, the qualities of 211 IEPS were examined via IEPQAS. The results show that the number of the goal and objectives listed in IEPs are very high; the qualities of IEPs are low in general; the quality of IEPs decrease as the educational stage of students promotes and the quality of IEPs prepared by the teachers who have special education experience for 1 to 5 years are better. Furthermore, the IEPs prepared by the teachers who have previous experience with the same students are more qualified than the IEPs prepared by the teachers who have met with the students for the first time.