An IEP must include certain information about the child and the educational program designed to meet his or her unique needs. The following is a brief synopsis of these requirements.
• Current performance:
The IEP must state how the child is currently progressing in school, otherwise known as present levels of educational performance. This information usually comes from the evaluation results such as classroom tests, assignments, and individual tests given to determine eligibility for services or during re-evaluation. Observations made by parents, teachers, related service providers, and other school staff also aide in deciding the present level of educational performance. The statement of current performance includes how the child's disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum.
• Annual goals: These are attainable goals that the child can reasonably accomplish in one year. Annual goals are broken down into short-term objectives or benchmarks. These goals address various categories from academic, social, behavioral, physical, or other educational needs. Annual goals must be measurable, meaning that it must be possible to measure whether or not the student has achieved the goals.
• Special education and related services: The IEP must list the special education and related services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child. Special Education and related services include supplementary aids and services that the child needs. Also included are modifications to the program or supports for school personnel, such as training or professional development, that will be provided to assist the child.
• Participation with nondisabled children: The IEP must explain to what extent the child will, or will not, participate with nondisabled children in regular class settings and other school activities.
• Participation in state and district-wide tests: Most states and districts give achievement tests to children in certain grades or age groups. The IEP must state what modifications in the administration of these tests the child will need. If a test is not appropriate for the child, the IEP must state why the test is not appropriate and how the child will be tested as an alternative.
• Dates and places: The IEP must state when services will begin, how often they will be provided, where they will be provided, as well as the duration of these services.
• Transition service needs: Beginning when the child is fourteen, or younger if appropriate, the IEP must address the courses the student needs to receive in order to reach his or her post-graduation goals. The IEP must address these issues in all applicable parts of the IEP document. A statement of transition services needs must also be included in each of the child's subsequent IEPs. • Needed transition services: When the child is sixteen, or younger if appropriate, the IEP must state what transition services are needed to help the child prepare for leaving school.
• Age of majority: At least one year before the child reaches the age of majority, the IEP must include a statement that the student has been told of any rights that will transfer to him or her at the age of majority. This statement is only necessary in states that transfer rights at the age of majority.
• Measuring progress: The IEP must state how the child's progress will be measured and how parents will be informed of that progress.
Additional State and School-System Content
States and school systems have a great deal of flexibility about the information they require in an IEP. Some states and school systems have chosen to include in the IEP additional information to document their compliance with other state and federal requirements. Federal law requires that school districts maintain documentation to demonstrate their compliance with various federal requirements. Generally speaking, extra elements in an IEP may be included to document that the state or school district has met certain aspects of federal or state law, such as:
• Scheduling of regular meetings to write, review, and if necessary, revise a child's IEP in a timely manner
• Ensuring parents are provided with a copy of the procedural safeguards they have under law
• The placement of the child into the least restrictive environment, as well as obtaining the parents' consent
There are special factors to be considered and addressed in the IEP, depending upon your child's specific needs.
• Supports and strategies for behavior management are addressed in the IEP, if the student’s behavior interferes with the student’s education or the learning of others
• Language needs as related to the IEP are addressed if the student has limited mastery, or proficiency, in English.
• Communication needs as related to the students progress
• Assistive technology devices or services required in order to receive FAPE.
• Necessary accommodations and/or modifications concerning the general education or special education setting
If the child’s behavior, whether by choice or inherent disability, interferes with his or her learning or the learning of others, the IEP team will consider strategies and supports to address the child’s behavior.
• If the child has limited proficiency in English, the IEP team will consider the child’s language needs, as these needs relate to his or her IEP
• For the child who is blind or visually impaired, the IEP team must provide for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille, unless it is determined after an appropriate evaluation that the child does not need this instruction
• If the child has communication needs, the IEP team must consider those unique needs carefully
• Concerning the child that is deaf or hard of hearing, the IEP team will consider the student’s language and communication needs, including the child’s opportunities to communicate directly with classmates and school staff in his or her usual method of communication (i.e. sign language)
• The IEP team must always consider the child’s need for any assistive technology devices or services.
The IEP team must discuss any specific and unique information about the child and address those individual needs.
• A child's unique strengths
• Parental ideas for enhancing their child's education
• The results of recent evaluations or re-evaluations, and how the child has scored on any state or district-wide tests
It is important that the discussion of what the child needs be framed around how to help the child:
• Advance toward annual goals
• Be involved in, and progress in, the general curriculum
• Participate in extracurricular and nonacademic activities
• To learn and participate with disabled and non-disabled children
Team Member Requirements:
Parents are key members of the IEP team. They know their child very well and can discuss their child's strengths and needs, as well as their ideas for enhancing their child's education. They offer insight into how their child learns, what his or her interests are, and other aspects of the child’s unique personality that only a parent can know. Parents are able to listen to the comments of the other team members concerning the necessary progress their child needs to make at school and share their suggestions. They also report on whether the skills the child is learning at school are being used at home. Teachers are vital participants in the IEP team meeting as well as the overall execution on an IEP. At least one of the child's regular education teachers must be on the IEP team if the child is, or may be subsequently, participating in the regular education environment.
The regular education teacher has a great deal to share with the team. For example, he or she might discuss:
• The general curriculum in the regular classroom
• The aids, services, or changes to the educational program that would help the child learn and achieve success
• Various strategies to help the child with any behavioral issues (if relevant)
• Supports for school staff that would enable the student to advance toward annual goals
• Any services or supports that would assist the child in progressing and being involved in the general curriculum
• Strategies that would enable the child to participate in extracurricular and other activities
• Opportunities for the child to be educated with other children, both with and without disabilities
Supports for school staff may include professional development or continued training. Professional development and training are important for teachers, administrators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and others who provide services for children with disabilities. Special education teachers contribute important information and experience about how to educate children with disabilities.
Because of his or her training in special education, this teacher can talk about such issues as:
• The modification of the general curriculum to assist the child in learning
• Supplementary aids and services that the child may need to be successful in the regular classroom and elsewhere
• How to modify testing so that the student can show what he or she has learned
• Offer guidance concerning other aspects of individualizing instruction to meet the student's unique needs
In addition to offering assistance in writing the IEP, the special educator has the responsibility of working with the student to carry out the IEP. He or she may:
• Work with the student in a resource room or special class devoted to students receiving special education services
• Teach as part of a team with the regular education teacher
• Coordinate with other school staff, particularly the regular education teacher, to provide expertise about addressing the child's unique needs
Individuals, who have the ability to interpret what the child's evaluation results mean in terms of designing appropriate instruction, are essential to the successful implementation of an IEP. The evaluation results are very useful in determining how the child is currently progressing in school and what areas of need the child may have. This IEP team member must be able to discuss the instructional implications of the child's evaluation results in order for the team to plan appropriate instruction to address the child's needs. The IEP team member representing the school system is also a valuable individual. This person knows a great deal about special education services and educating children with disabilities. He or she can discuss the necessary school resources to help a student succeed. It is important that this individual have the authority to commit resources and be able to ensure that whatever services are set out in the IEP will actually be provided. There are numerous other individuals with knowledge or special expertise about the child, who are able to offer valuable input. The parent or the school system can invite these individuals to participate on the team. A parent might invite an advocate who knows the child, a professional with special expertise about the child and his or her disability, a vocational educator who has worked with the child, etc. to discuss the student’s strengths and/or needs. The school system may invite one or more individuals who can offer special expertise or knowledge about the child, such as a paraprofessional or related services professional. Because an important part of developing an IEP is considering a child's need for related services, related service professionals are often involved as IEP team members or participants. They share their special expertise about the child's needs and how their own professional services can address those needs. Depending on the student’s individual needs, some related service professionals attending the IEP meeting or otherwise helping to develop the IEP might include occupational or physical therapists, adaptive physical education providers, psychologists, or speech-language pathologists. Representatives from transition service agencies are important participants when an IEP is being developed for a student of transition age (please see the box below for more information about transition). Whenever a purpose of meeting is to consider needed transition services, the school must invite a representative of any other agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services. This individual can help the team plan any transition services the student needs. He or she can also commit the resources of the agency to pay for or provide needed transition services. If he or she does not attend the meeting, then the school must take alternative steps to obtain the agency's participation in the planning of the student's transition services. Students may also be a member of the IEP team. If transition service needs or transition services are going to be discussed at the meeting, the student must be invited to attend. More and more students are participating in and even leading their own IEP meetings. This allows them to have a strong voice in their own education and can teach them a great deal about self-advocacy and determination.