Individual Education Program (IEP)

An IEP, listed in Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), describes the special education and related services specifically designed to meet the unique educational needs of a student with a disability. An IEP is the guiding document for a student's educational program and includes seven steps. These steps are:

1. Present levels of academic achievement or Functional Performance

Describe what the student can do right now.

2. Student's Individual Needs

The needs describe the “why” in the IEP process.

3. Eligibility

Determine eligibility in regard to a student's disability.

4. Goals and Objectives

The goals are to be designed to address the needs identified earlier. Most goals are broken down further into objectives and should include: a concise statement of the goal/objective, baseline data, the conditions under which the goal is to be evaluated, targeting criteria, method of measurement, and the date by when the goal is to be achieved. Goals are usually divided by the area of disciplines/services addressed in the present levels/needs section. The goals are the heart of the IEP and represent the “what” in the IEP process.

5. Services

The Special Education and Related Services section describes the “who” and by extension, the “how” of the IEP process. It is usually a list of disciplines such as special education teacher, paraprofessional, occupational therapist, etc., and lists the (minimum) number of hours each service will be provided and over what frequency (daily/weekly/monthly).

6. Accommodations and Modifications

Another “how” of the IEP process, accommodations describe what forms of assistance the student may need to perform the same school work (instructional) as their typically developing peers or demonstrate his/her knowledge (assessment) of the subject without the impediment of the disability. Modifications discuss changes (curriculum, grading or both) to what the student is expected to learn and demonstrate.

7. Placement

Placement is the final step in any IEP meeting and is a discussion of where the student should receive these services in order to achieve the goals and objectives to address their specific needs. The law requires that the placement be in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) necessary in order to provide with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

Each public school child who qualifies as having one of the 13 disabilities identified by IDEA as a qualifying condition for special education must have an IEP. The disability categories under IDEA are:

Autism

Blindness

Deafness

Emotional Disturbance

Hearing Impairment

Mental Retardation (Intellectually Disabled)

Multiple Disabilities

Orthopedic Impairment

Other Health Impaired

Specific Learning Disability

Speech or Language Impairment

Traumatic Brain Injury

Visual Impairment

The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities.

For more information, please see

Wrights Law - IEP http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.index.htm

Ed.gov A Guide to the Individualized Education Program - http://ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html

LD Online - http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/iep

Center for Parent Information and Resources - http://nichcy.org/schoolage/iep

UnderstandingSpecialEducation.com - http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/IEP-process.html