Special Needs - 1 - Developing an Individualized Plan

I believe Plan B is the better plan because it provides specific details for the student, parent and instructor - this helps to hold everyone accountable. 

Plan B offers the following:

• Positive information regarding the student in the information section - I loved being able to see some feedback from Sally's teachers about her work ethic and capabilities.  This gives some additional context! 
• Specific information for Accommodations - Plan B was more specific in regards to how much extended time to offer on assessments and assignments and how to reduce coursework. This Plan also advised that the instructor check in weekly which would be key in helping Sally and building a relationship with her.
• Additional Student Responsibilities - in Plan B Sally is given more information regarding her responsibilities.  She knows she must check in regarding her understanding and most importantly, communicate if she needs additional time on assignments. 
• Timelines regarding Parent Responsibilities - I appreciated there were specific guidelines around times for Polly's role in Plan B.  Stating that she should check on Sally twice a week and communicate in a timely manner helps to provide Polly, Sally and the instructor consistency around expectations.

One aspect of Plan B that I'd like to see improved is the date! It looks as though the review would be in 2017 and 504 plans should be re-evaluated every year.  Anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways and instructors should be made aware of any changes in the student so they can best serve her in the classroom.

The biggest weakness of Plan A was a lack of detail.  For example, Plan A had a stated Accommodation was "Extended time on assessments" but did not give how much time to give the student.  In a face-to-face environment a teacher can kind of gauge how much time to give by observing the student during tests (although not being specific is still not ideal), but online an instructor must give extended time through the computer and thus needs a specific like 50% or 100%.  Plan A also lacked some accommodations that a student might find helpful in an online environment, like checking and providing the option to give an oral response.