Excerpted from Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children (COACH): A Guide to Educational Planning for Students with Disabilities, Second Edition, by Michael F. Giangreco, Ph.D., Chigee J. Cloninger, Ph.D., & Virginia Salce Iverson, M.Ed.

Copyright © 1998 by Michael F. Giangreco. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Questions About COACH?

1. How does COACH fit into IEP development?
2. For whom should COACH be used?
3. How long does it take to complete COACH?
4. Who can facilitate COACH?
5. Who participates in COACH?
6. Where and when should COACH be completed?
7. When during the school year should COACH be completed?
8. Should COACH be completed every year?

Q: How does COACH fit into IEP development?

A: COACH is meant to be used as one part of an overall approach to planning an appropriate education for a student with disabilities. Therefore, it is appropriately considered an IEP planning tool and has proven to be a useful component of transition planning (e.g., preschool to kindergarten; grade to grade; school to postschool). The information generated using COACH is designed to develop an appropriate, individualized education program. COACH is

• Not designed to determine eligibility for special education
  
  
• Not designed to provide a comprehensive assessment profile
  
  
• Not designed to assign grade or developmental levels
  
  
• Not designed to be used to the exclusion of other planning tools
  
  
• Not designed to justify segregation of students with disabilities
  
  

COACH is meant to assist in educational planning by

• Identifying family-centered priorities
  
  
• Identifying additional learning outcomes (e.g., general education)
  
  
• Identifying general supports to be provided to or for the student
  
  
• Identifying priorities into IEP goals and objectives
  
  
• Summarizing the educational program as a Program-at-a Glance
  
  
• Organizing the planning ream to implement the program
  
  
• Scheduling participation in general education classes/activities
  
  
• Planning and adapting lesson plans to facilitate learning
  
  
• Evaluating the impact of educational experiences

Typically, COACH is used to assist in the identification of IEP goals and objectives and to provide some information to document a student's present level of functioning in reference to selected goals and objectives. The planning activities conducted using COACH are then documented in the IEP. Figure 2 lists a sequence of major events that depict where and when COACH fits into IEP development. Although these events are presented sequentially, varying amounts of overlap are to be expected.

Figure 2. Sequence of events for IEP development using COACH.

Eligibility for special education is determined. A Student Planning Team is formed. An overall plan to learn about the student's strengths, interests, and needs is developed. The team generates descriptive information about the student, not separate goals from each discipline. Educational program components (priority learning outcomes/annual goals, additional learning outcomes, general supports) are determined using most of Part A of COACH. The student's educational placement is determined. This should be the least restrictive option where the student can pursue his or her individually determined educational program. First consideration should always be given to the educational placement options the student would have if he or she did not have a disability label (e.g., general education class in neighborhood school), given supplemental supports and services. Related services are determined that are necessary to support the student's educational program in the identified educational placement. The educational program (e.g., IEP goals and the placement must be known prior to making informed related services decisions. Tools such as VISTA (Giangreco, 1996c) are designed to assist the team in making these decisions. Short-term objectives are developed by subteams determined through related services decision making. Information generated using COACH and other sources (e.g., speech-language evaluation; VISTA) is transferred to the official IEP document. Quality IEP planning is a process rather than a single event. At this point the team knows what is to be learned, the student's placement, and who will be involved in supporting and how. It is now time to use COACH Part B for more refined and ongoing planning.

Q: For whom should COACH be used?

A: COACH is designed for use with students ages 3-21 who are attending school and are identified as having moderate, severe, or profound disabilities. With modifications, components of COACH may be used with students who are older or who have mild disabilities. COACH does not attempt to duplicate general education curricular areas appropriate for students with mild disabilities who may be pursuing much or all of the general education curriculum. Use of COACH with children younger than 3 years old may be premature (Giangreco, Whiteford, & Doyle, 1997). Some people have successfully used COACH for older individuals or those with mild disabilities by substituting other curriculum listings of learning outcomes while retaining the COACH process steps.

Q: How long does it take to complete COACH?

A: Because COACH is a flexible tool, completion time varies widely. The Family Interview (Step 1) can be completed in approximately 1 hour. Completion time varies based on factors such as 1) the familiarity, experience, and skillfulness of the facilitator; 2) the number of family members involved in the interview (it typically takes slightly longer with two parents than one); and 3) the number of curriculum areas selected by the family for full review during the Family Interview (Step 1.2). It almost always takes longer for facilitators who are new to using COACH. In any case, if the Family Interview goes much beyond an hour and a half, it is likely there is some kind of facilitation problem. Table 1 presents an approximate breakdown of the time it takes to complete the various steps and substeps of Part A. The time it takes to complete Part B activities is more variable, in part because the activities in Part B are ongoing.

Table 1. Time required to complete Part A of COACH.
Step	Time range (minutes)
Step 1: Family Interview	60-90
Introducing COACH to participants	5-10
Step 1.1: Valued Life Outcomes	10-15
Step 1.2: Selection of Curriculum Areas to Be Explored	5-10
Step 1.3: Learning Outcomes Lists	15-25
Step 1.4: Prioritization	12-15
Step 1.5: Cross-Prioritization	13-15
Step 2: Additional Learning Outcomes	30-60
Step 2.1: Additional Learning Outcomes from COACH	10-20
Step 2.2: Additional Learning Outcomes from General Education	20-40
Step 3: General Supports	10-15
Step 4: Annual Goals Time varies widely	Time varies widely
Step 5: Program-at-a-Glance 10-15	10-15
Step 6: Short-Term Objectives	Time varies widely

Q: Who can facilitate COACH?

A: COACH can be facilitated by any team member familiar with the process (e.g., special educator, general educator, school psychologist, guidance counselor, speech-language pathologist, family support professional). The team should agree on who will assume responsibility for facilitating the various parts of COACH. COACH can be facilitated by a person familiar with the student and family (to enhance individualization of the tool) or by a neutral party who is native to the dynamics of the situation and therefore can minimize the potential for bias during question asking. Either approach can be effective; it depends on team choice and dynamics. A person familiar with the family and student must guard against asking questions to elicit parent responses that reflect the interviewer's opinions. A person unfamiliar with the family must be able to adapt questioning style, vocabulary, pacing, and so forth. As the authors of COACH, we have successfully facilitated COACH under both circumstances and have found that familiarity and skillfulness with COACH are essential to using the process effectively.

Q: Who participates in COACH?

A: Different team members participate in different steps of COACH. Because each situation is unique, rather than providing definitive rules on who participates in the various steps of COACH, the team must understand the purpose and outcome of each step in COACH and make an individual determination about who needs to be involved in the various steps. The entire team should be aware of the plan so they can have opportunities to be involved when it is appropriate.

There is one notable exception to this individualization of participants: The Family Interview must include the family! Occasionally we are asked if the professionals can complete the Family Interview themselves. Our answer is "No." Without the family you cannot have a family interview. Professionals who are unable to get parent involvement in COACH might be able to use some concepts and ideas from COACH, but without family involvement it is simply not COACH. Readers should be aware that we are using the terms family and parents broadly to refer to the adults who live with and care for the child.

Although the full team should be aware of the Family Interview processes and outcomes, the interview itself is designed to be a more intimate activity involving the facilitator, the special educator, the classroom teacher, and the parent(s). The family should make an individual determination about the presence and participation of the student during the Family Interview. When students participate in COACH, particularly young adults (ages 17-21), it is important to clarify who holds the decision-making authority for selecting the priorities, the student or the parents. A COACH Family Interview would not be the first time a parent and his or her teenager/young adult disagreed about the best course of action. As a rule of thumb, we suggest that students with disabilities be extended the same rights and responsibilities offered to their peers without disabilities. Typically this means that students assume increasing control as they get older. By the time students are 17 or 18 years old, the same age when their peers would be graduating from high school, they should be given as much control of priority selection as possible and culturally acceptable to their family--such decisions will necessarily be individual ones.

It is often helpful for the general education teacher and a small group of core team members who are new to the student to observe the Family Interview because it provides a rich opportunity for team members to hear the perspectives of the family in ways that are difficult to capture on paper. Increasing the number of people at the Family Interview should be discussed with the family to ensure that they are comfortable with the situation and not overwhelmed or intimidated.

Steps 2 (Additional Learning Outcomes), 3 (General Supports), and 4 (Annual Goals) can be completed by a designated subgroup of team members (e.g., the group participating in the Family Interview.) Although these steps do not require the presence of all team members at the same time, they do require people with knowledge of the student and knowledge of the school curriculum in various subject areas. For example, at the elementary school level the additional learning outcomes could be completed by the special educator, general educator, and parent. At the middle school and high school levels, where there are many teachers, a group meeting or a series of mini-meetings between the special educator and general educator can be scheduled. Selection of general supports may benefit from the presence of related services staff. Regardless of who the team designates to complete the various steps of COACH, the facilitator is responsible for sharing the information and decisions generated through use of COACH with all team members for their feedback. Although this may be done by face-to-face meetings (large or small groups), it can also be accomplished through phone or correspondence (mail, fax, e-mail).

The Program-at-a-glance (Step 5) can be prepared by an individual and therefore does not require the team to meet. Short-term objectives (Step 6) can be completed by designated subteams determined after making related services decisions. For example, when considering the priority learning outcome, "Makes choices using eye gaze when presented with two options," the team agreed that this goal required support from the occupational therapist and speech-language pathologist. Therefore, these staff members would join with the core team members to formulate the short-term objectives. Different configurations of team members would be used to develop short-term objectives for other annual goals.

When using Part B (Strategies and Processes to Implement a COACH-Generated Educational Program), it is desirable to have a full team meeting to initially use Step 7 (Organizing and Informing the Instructional Planning Team). Part of the task of the team would be to decide what subgroups of team members need to be involved in the ongoing use of Steps 8 (scheduling), 9 (lesson planning), and 10 (evaluation).

Q: Where and when should COACH be completed?

A: The place and time to complete the various steps of COACH should be individually negotiated with the family to maximize their opportunity for participation. Therefore, COACH steps can be completed at any convenient time and mutually agreed-upon location. When conducting the Family Interview, the two most common locations are the family's home and the school. School personnel should be open to other locations that match a family's preference (e.g., a community center).

Q: When during the school year should COACH be completed?

A: COACH is intended to be used to develop a student's IEP; therefore, it should be initiated prior to the IEP meeting date. COACH has been used successfully during the intake process for new students regardless of the time of year. For those students already in the school system, a number of schools have found it beneficial to complete Part A (Determining a Student's Educational Program) in the spring in preparation for the coming school year. Part B (Strategies and Processes to Implement a COACH-Generated Educational Program) can then be used in the fall and throughout the school year. However, COACH can be used with any IEP development process a school may use.

Teams should estimate the amount of time it will take them to complete Part A of COACH and begin scheduling times to complete the steps so they are finished by the scheduled IEP meeting date. IEPs developed using COACH usually result in a brief IEP meeting because team members have been involved in preparatory activities and are familiar with the components to be included in the IEP. In such cases the IEP meeting is used to review and summarize the components of the educational program that have been generated using Part A of COACH.

Q: Should COACH be completed every year?

A: How frequently a team uses COACH varies, but here are some general guidelines for its use. The first time a team uses COACH to plan an IEP or transition for a student, we suggest you complete all of Parts A and B. The next time Part A (Determining a Student's Educational Program) is used for that same student (e.g., the following year), the team decides if Part A needs to be 1) done again in its entirety, 2) done again partially or in a modified format, or 3) verified but not done again at that time. These choices depend on the extent of change that has occurred or is expected in the student's circumstances or level of functioning that would likely result in changes in valued life outcomes, priority learning outcomes, additional learning outcomes, and general supports.

If significant change has occurred, the team might decide to use all of Part A again. In some cases, it is unnecessary to repeat every aspect of Part A each year because certain aspects, such as the valued life outcomes and general support, may not have changed significantly. In these cases the team may decide to simply verify last year's valued life outcomes and general supports, noting minor adjustments, and then complete Steps 1.2-1.5, 2.1, and 2.2 in their entirety to determine updated priorities and additional learning outcomes, respectively. Updated information can be used to update IEP goals and objectives (Steps 4 and 6) and can then be summarized on the Program-at-a-Glance (Step 5).

In any case, new team members should become oriented to the team's use of COACH, and the team should make an individualized decision about the subsequent use of Part A consistent with the principles forming the basis of COACH (see Section I). We recommend that teams complete Part A of COACH for their students at least once every 3 years or to coincide with significant transitions, such as from preschool to kindergarten or from middle school to high school.

Part B of COACH (Strategies for Processes to Implement a COACH-Generated Educational Program) includes a series of steps that are more likely to be repeated on an ongoing basis regardless of whether part A has been completely or partially done again. Organizing and informing the team (Step 7), scheduling (Step 8), planning and adapting instruction (Step 9), and evaluating the impact of educational experiences (Step 10) rely on the information generated in Part A but should be completed each year and on an ongoing basis to ensure an appropriate and quality educational program.

References

Giangreco, M.F. (1996). Vermont interdependent services team approach (VISTA): A guide to coordinating educational support services. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Giangreco, M.F., Whiteford, T., Whiteford, L. & Doyle, M.B. (1997). Planning for Andrew: A case study of COACH and VISTA use in an inclusive early childhood program. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, University Affiliated Program of Vermont.