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

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 with intensive special education needs in supported general education settings. This 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 our Download Hub 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 COACH, educators and families will ensure that each student's education plan has real substance, addresses individual goals, and leads directly to positive, meaningful outcomes. 

Michael F. Giangreco, Ph.D., has spent nearly 40 years working with children and adults in a variety of capacities including special education teacher, community residence counselor, camp counselor, school administrator, educational consultant, university teacher, and researcher. Dr. Giangreco received a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York-College at Buffalo and graduate degrees from the University of Vermont and the University of Virginia. He received his doctoral degree from Syracuse University and has been a faculty member at the University of Vermont since 1988. His work and educational experiences have led Dr. Giangreco to focus his research, training, and other work activities on three interrelated aspects of educating students with and without disabilities in their local general education schools: 1) individualized curriculum planning, 2) adapting curriculum and instruction, and 3) coordinating support services in schools. Dr. Giangreco is the author of numerous professional publications, including Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children (COACH): A Guide to Educational Planning for Students with Disabilities, Second Edition, with Chigee J. Cloninger and Virginia Salce Iverson (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1998); the first two sets of Quick-Guides to Inclusion: Ideas for Educating Students with Disabilities (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1997, 1998); and Vermont Interdependent Services Team Approach (VISTA): A Guide to Coordinating Educational Support Services (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1996). Beginning in 1998, he collaborated with artist Kevin Ruelle to complete an unusual project consisting of three sets of educational cartoons: Ants in His Pants (Peytral Publications, 1998); Flying by the Seat of His Pants (Peytral Publications, 1999); Teaching Old Logs New Tricks (Peytral Publications, 2000). Dr. Giangreco's work has been advanced by the feedback and input of innumerable students (with or without disabilities), parents, teachers, administrators, related services providers, and other colleagues.

Chigee J. Cloninger, Ph.D., has been a teacher of children and adults with and without disabilities for many years. Even in leadership or research positions, teaching, in the sense of bringing about change, has been a key component to Dr. Cloninger's work. She is Coordinator of the Vermont State I-Team, a statewide training and technical assistance team providing intensive special education supports to children and youth with disabilities, educational personnel, and families. She is also Director of the Vermont State Project for Children and Youth with Deafblindness and a teacher in the Intensive Special Education Master's Program. A national presenter on issues pertaining to students with intensive educational needs, Dr. Cloninger is interested in creative problem-solving approaches, communication, and learning processes for individualized education and leadership.

Virginia Salce Iverson, M.Ed., has worked in the field of education for more than 25 years as a teaching assistant, an educator, an administrator, and a consultant. In addition to teaching fifth grade, she has taught special education across the continuum of placements, including institutions, special schools and classes, and inclusive classrooms from preschool through high school. Ms. Iverson also teaches courses at the university level and presents nationally on issues related to inclusive education. She is an educational consultant for the Vermont State I-Team for Intensive Special Education for which she provides consultation, training, and technical assistance to teams of educators, parents, and related services providers on behalf of students with intensive special education needs. Ms. Iverson is primarily interested in blending systematic instruction with inclusive practices for students with severe disabilities.

Jacqui Farmer Kearns, Ed.D., is Associate Director of the Inclusive Large-Scale Standards and Assessment Group (ILSSA) at the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute (IHDI) at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Among her many accomplishments at the IHDI, Dr. Kearns has served as the principal investigator on two groundbreaking initiatives for students with disabilities: the Kentucky Statewide Alternate Portfolio Project and the Including Students with Deaf Blindness in Large-Scale Educational Assessments Project. Dr. Kearns previously directed the Kentucky Statewide Systems Change Project for Students with Severe Disabilities and has extensive experience as a classroom teacher for students with moderate and severe disabilities.

Harold L. Kleinert, Ed.D., is Executive Director of the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, University of Kentucky, and Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Previously, Dr. Kleinert served as Director of Training for the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute. A veteran educator, Dr. Kleinert taught special education at the classroom level for 14 years before directing a wide range of federal and state projects, including the Kentucky Alternate Portfolio Study, aimed at improving services for students with significant disabilities.