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.

This latest edition of COACH has many changes and improvements based on 1) ongoing field testing in schools; 2) feedback from a variety of people who have used COACH; and 3) a series of research studies, including

• A national expert validation of COACH (Giangreco, Cloninger, Dennis, & Edelman, 1993)
  
  
• An analysis of students' IEP goals (Giangreco, Dennis, Edelman, & Cloninger, 1994)
  
  
• An individual case study documenting the impact of COACH on a student's valued life outcomes (Edelman, Knutson, Osborn, & Giangreco, 1995)
  
  
• A cross-cultural review of COACH (Dennis & Giangreco, 1996)

All of these sources have been combined to update and improve COACH. Here are some of the major changes you will find in this edition:

• A brief document entitled Questions and Answers for Parents About COACH has been developed to share with parents so you can orient them to COACH more easily and efficiently.
  
  
• Although COACH forms still may be photocopied, they are now also available as preprinted, individual student records.
  
  
• A Preparation Checklist has been added to the forms.
  
  
• The Family Interview has been updated in content and format to improve its effectiveness and ease of use (e.g., valued life outcome questions and learning outcomes lists have been updated; nonessential steps have been eliminated).
  
  
• The valued life outcomes have been updated, including a new option in which family members are asked if they want to answer questions about each valued life outcome area.
  
  
• To improve the clarity of the instructions, a new format has been used. For each step in COACH you will find a detailed description followed by directions that include 1) a briefly stated purpose (explaining the meaning of the step), 2) instructions (providing you with the essentials of what to do), and 3) helpful hints (a set of additional pointers to assist you).
  
  
• Changes to facilitate use of COACH in cross-cultural situations have been embedded within the background information, instructions, and forms.
  
  
• The instructions and formats for the additional learning outcomes (formerly Breadth of Curriculum) and general supports have been changed although their intended purposes have remained the same.
  
  
• A checklist, Organizing and Informing the Instructional Planning Team, has been added; and the scheduling matrix has been revised.
  
  
• Now there are new instructions and forms available to 1) develop annual goals and short-term objectives, 2) facilitate lesson planning, and 3) evaluate a student's educational program using the evaluation of impact process.

We are very excited about the updates to COACH and hope you find them useful. Good luck!

Michael, Chigee, & Ginny

References

Dennis, R.E., Giangreco, M.F. (1996). Creating conversation: Reflections on cultural sensitivity in family interviewing. Exceptional Children, 63(1), 103-116.

Edelman, S., Knutson, J., Osborn, D., & Giangreco, M.F. (1995). Heidi's inclusion in junior high: Transition and educational planning for a student with deaf-blindness. Deaf-Blind Perspectives, 2(3), 1-6.

Giangreco, M.F., Cloninger, C.J., Dennis, R.E., & Edelman, S.W. (1993). National expert validation of COACH: Congruence with exemplary practice and suggestions for improvement. Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 18(2), 109-120.

Giangreco, M.F., Dennis, R., Edelman, S., & Cloninger, C. (1994). Dressing your IEPs for the general education climate: Analysis of IEP goals and objectives for students with multiple disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 15(5), 288-296.