What is an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students with disabilities? How can parents use each part of the IEP to best advocate for what their child needs? Parents and others who care about students can better advocate for what a student actually needs by strategically using and understanding each part of the IEP. IEPs are legal documents (yes, that means schools are required to follow them) that provide for specialized instruction, personalized support and education for students who have been identified under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. Let’s break down the various components of an IEP and explain the significance of each part of the IEP. Knowing how to use each part of the IEP effectively can help you use the document to get what you need for your student.
The IEP will be developed at an IEP “team” meeting. Parents are part of the team and should always be present, and should be treated as equal partners and experts in their child. The IEP creation process should be a collaborative effort involving parents, educators, specialists, and sometimes even the students themselves.
Should the student attend an IEP meeting?
It depends on the student’s age, developmental stage, and desire. I do not have younger children participate in IEP meetings One option, which is usually my first choice for older teenagers, if the student and the parents want them to participate, is to have them come to the beginning of the meeting, tell the team about their concerns, what is working for them and what they’d like to see changed, answer any questions, and then leave. I do not believe that it is emotionally healthy for even older teenagers to hear themselves spoken about the way IEP teams speak about students– but, this is just a recommendation from one parent (who has been to hundreds of IEP meetings) to another parent. Parents should make this decision, not school staff.
It’s essential for all stakeholders to come together to develop a plan that caters to the student’s unique needs. Even though this is the goal, sometimes parents feel that they are not being heard. If your IEP team is not listening to you during the discussion of any part of the IEP, take a moment to make that concern part of the IEP meeting conversation and ask that the school system document what you are saying. Follow up in writing about your concern.
General Information
This section provides basic identifying details about the student, including their name, age, and grade level. It also specifies the effective date of the IEP and its duration. IEPs last for a year, so that means that the goals and services written into the IEP need to be written with an eye towards what the child should be achieving a year from now. The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that IEP teams are required to write “ambitious” and “challenging” goals and objectives, so teams should keep that in mind, and parents should insist on it. Often the term “attainable” is used to discuss creating IEP goals– teams say they want to create “realistic” goals that students can meet. “Realistic” and “attainable” make achieving the goal easier. As a parent, you may need to remind the IEP team that the Supreme Court’s words were “ambitious” and “challenging.”
Eligibility
The eligibility section of the IEP determines whether a student qualifies for special education services. It involves assessing whether the student meets specific criteria related to specific disabilities listed in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). Determining which disability/ eligibility category is most affecting the student is essential for tailoring education to individual needs and ensuring that students with disabilities have equitable access to educational opportunities. Under the IDEA, students can be found eligible in 13 categories:
• autism
• deaf-blindness
• deafness
• emotional disturbance
• hearing impairment
• intellectual disability
• multiple disabilities
• orthopedic impairment
• other health impairment
• specific learning disability (which includes dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia)
• speech or language impairment
• traumatic brain injury
• visual impairment (including blindness).
Graduation and Assessment Information
Here, the IEP outlines how the student’s progress will be assessed and what graduation requirements they need to meet. It sets the academic expectations for the student (high school diploma, or certificate of completion, for example). It is most important for families of older students (for example, those in high school), to pay attention to this section as “transition” planning starts at age 14 by law. Also, this section may include standardized testing scores that may be recorded for even younger students, so it can be a helpful source of data.
Present Levels of Performance (PLOP) or Present Levels of Functional and Academic Performance
It is critical for parents to pay attention to the PLOP section of the IEP, because it will effect what else gets written into the IEP later– miss something here, and you may miss an opportunity for something your student needs. The Plop documents the student’s current academic, social, and functional abilities. This information informs the goals and services outlined in the IEP. What this means is that if you are working backwards from what you already know a student needs– let’s say you know they are going to need reading intervention for decoding– it is critical that there is a “PLOP” that documents the student’s current functioning in that area. For each area there is a “PLOP” there should also be a plan to address it– so you MUST have a PLOP for every area of need. For some students, I also suggest that you include a PLOP for cognitive ability. This is especially important for “Twice-Exceptional” students or other students who don’t fit into another expected “box.” Twice-exceptional students, for example, may have extremely high cognitive ability but also have autism spectrum disorder or dyslexia. In this case, anyone reading the IEP needs to understand the child in that light. Write a PLOP regarding cognitive ability so that they do.
Parental Input
Parents or guardians play a crucial role in the IEP process. This section provides and opportunity to provide insights and information regarding your child’s education. HINT: parents should write this section themselves. Either in advance of or immediately after the IEP meeting, send it to the school team via email and ask them to cut and paste your own words. Otherwise, school staff will typically summarize what a parent says. Parents should take advantage of the opportunity to communicate your knowledge of your child’s performance and needs in your own words.
Communication/Assistive Technology Needs
Communication/Assistive Technology addresses the unique requirements of students with disabilities related to communication. In this section, the IEP team evaluates and documents any challenges the student may face in effectively communicating their thoughts, ideas, and needs. It also outlines the assistive technology tools and devices that may be necessary to facilitate communication.
For some students, verbal communication might be a challenge, and they may require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices or software to express themselves. Others may benefit from speech-to-text technology or communication boards. This section of the IEP ensures that the student has access to the appropriate assistive technology that enables them to participate fully in the educational environment. By addressing these needs, the IEP promotes inclusivity and ensures that communication barriers are minimized, allowing students to engage more effectively in their learning experiences.
Accommodations
In this section, specific accommodations, adjustments, or supports are listed. These accommodations aim to make the learning environment more accessible to the student. Examples include common accommodations like extended time, but think more expansively– other accommodations that could be listed on an IEP or 504 plan could be: limited amount (of writing) to copy, a second set of textbooks at home, proofreading checklists, word banks, reduced answer choices, audio books, smaller classroom settings, writing rubrics or brain frames, exemption from foreign language requirements, daily 1:1 adult support, giving notice and warnings before changes in activities, daily check-ins with a case manager, or enhanced staffing, just to name a few.
Goals and Objectives
The heart of the IEP lies in the goals and objectives. These goals are sometimes discussed using the acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action words, Realistic, Time-limited) and are informed by the PLOP (so for every PLOP, there is usually a goal– remember that when writing the PLOP). Goals dictate the services and placement for the student. When writing goals, ask yourself if you understand how data enrichment will be taken to measure progress on the goal. Is it measurable at all? Is the measurement objective or subjective? HINT: it should be objective. That usually means numbers, like percentages or ratios. 80% is often used as a default standard, but that is not appropriate in many cases– would you have a goal that a child should look both ways before they cross the street 80% of the time? No! You need a child to look both ways 100% of the time before you stop working towards that goal. Similarly, many early reading goals must be mastered at 95% or more before they can do their job of allowing a child to decode text effectively, and some self-care skills are not appropriately mastered at 80%. Don’t let 80% be a default.
Services
The IEP describes the specialized services the student will receive to achieve their goals. These services may include Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Services, Counseling, and Special Education Hours, including direct, individualized instruction to address academic needs. The IDEA specifically discusses using evidence-based interventions in providing services to students. Ask your IEP team if the services they are suggesting are evidence-based. Ask the “W” questions. Who will provide the service, when, where, and what will they do? Parents have the right to know the answers to all of these questions.
Extended School Year
Extended school year (ESY) services are services provided typically for a short period over the summer break. It is not the same as summer school. Ask the team to read through the actual ESY criteria (or read up on them yourself) so you know the legal requirements before having this discussion. Determining whether the student requires educational services during extended school breaks is a critical consideration in the IEP. HINT: Reading is a critical life skill (and whether the IEP addresses critical life skills are one of the criteria for ESY). Many teams answer no to this question because they don’t know that reading has been determined to be a critical life skill.
Transition Planning
Transition planning is essential for students preparing to enter post-school life. This section outlines career goals, further education plans, and independent living preparations. Transition planning should begin at age 14. Insist that your IEP team dig further than a statement from the student that he wants to be a professional athlete. You’d be surprised how many IEPs we see where this is the post-high school goal. If your student’s post-high school goal is to attend a four year college, that should be the discussion in the transition planning section.
Placement/LRE (Least Restrictive Environment)
The IEP team decides on the most suitable educational setting for the student based on the goals and services that were written. This ensures a balance between meeting the student’s needs and inclusion in general education settings. Remember, while many IEP teams will talk about always being required to educate students in the LRE, the IDEA actually says that students must be educated in the LRE “to the maximum extent appropriate.” 20. U.S.C. 1412(a)(5).
Not all children are best served in general education. Some children do better when they are with their academic and/or cognitive peers outside of general education. One good example of this is Twice-Exceptional students, who are very aware of just how different they are and often experience mental health challenges in the wrong environment. On the other hand, some students with disabilities are actively and positively influenced by being around their non-disabled peers. These students learn social skills, are more academically challenged, and do better in the long run when they stay in general education as much as possible. This is an individual determination– there is no one correct answer.
An IEP should be a dynamic and evolving document that adapts to the changing needs and progress of students with disabilities. Collaboration between parents, educators, specialists, and the students themselves is paramount in ensuring that the IEP effectively supports students’ educational journeys. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case, and parents may need coaching to get the most out of their child’s IEP. School teams are groups of professionals who do many, many IEP meetings every year. As a parent your job is to make sure that the IEP team understands and programs for your child and that your child’s IEP is truly individualized to them.
This blog post is for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.