Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children (COACH): A Guide to Educational Planning for Students with Disabilities, Third Edition

COACH is better than ever! Now with practical updates based on user feedback and a new streamlined format for easier use, the third edition of this bestselling guide can be the key to effective educational planning for students with intensive special education needs in inclusion-oriented schools.

Based on 25 years of field-testing and widely used by thousands of education teams, COACH is the educational planning choice for students ages 3–21 in supported general education settings. Retaining the core elements of the popular previous editions, this revised edition organizes planning into a clear step-by-step process that has never been easier to implement. Professionals and families will have an effective process to help them collaborate on individualized educational plans that promote inclusive opportunities for students with a range of developmental disabilities. Education teams will discover how to

• implement a collaborative and family-centered approach to teamwork
• explore the current and future status of valued life outcomes
• identify appropriate curriculum areas to assess
• rate and select high-priority learning outcomes to be targets of instruction
• determine which aspects of the general education curriculum should be targets of instruction
• choose the supports students need to reach their goals
• develop meaningful annual goals and short-term objectives that reflect each student's individual priorities
• create a program-at-a-glance that keeps critical information handy throughout the school day

COACH comes with the essential materials educators need to engage in collaborative educational planning. Ready-to-use, fillable forms and tools—now on CD-ROM for easy access—help educators organize goals and objectives, determine their students' learning styles, schedule class activities, plan and adapt instruction, evaluate the impact of instruction on student outcomes, and more. To model successful COACH implementation, this book also walks readers through three complete examples of the COACH process for a kindergartner, an elementary school student, and a transition-age teenager.

With this streamlined planning process, educators and families will ensure that each student's education plan has real substance, addresses individual goals, and leads directly to positive, meaningful outcomes.

What's New

• CD-ROM with fillable electronic versions of the forms, plus examples and supplemental materials
• Updated introductory information establishing a contemporary context for the use of COACH
• Increased focus on access to the general education curriculum
• Streamlined COACH process for easier implementation
• Reorganized descriptions and directions
• Updated and simplified student record forms
• Information about COACH and alternate assessment
• A tool to assist teams in clarifying their respective roles