Buckle Up: Your Guided Road Trip Through the Legal Parts of the IEP

As an advocate, one of the most important points we want parents to understand is the importance and legality of an IEP. We emphasize to clients that an IEP is legally binding -but what does this really mean? This week we are going to focus on the legal aspect behind IEP’s and the mandatory requirements. Although IEP stands for Individualized Educational Plan, it is more than a plan. It is a legal contract which is developed and agreed upon by team members. We will begin to take a deep dive into the requirements of an IEP within this blog. Imagine that it is like a road trip and each of these points are the stops to get to our final destination- a finalized, legal, and appropriate IEP. These requirements include…

The legal requirements of an IEP are pit stops on a road trip to successfully reach your destination- a finalized, legal, and appropriate IEP.

Stop 1: a statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance,

This is like a “photograph” of the child in words. It is an area in which the child’s performance day to day in school is encapsulated. It is comprised of their performance within two different categories

1. Academic performance 

   1. Written by a special educator 

   2. Math, reading, writing, etc. 

2. Functional performance 

   1. Updates from service providers such as a PT, OT, SLP, Social worker if they receive services from one of these providers

   2. Behavioral, social emotional learning, executive functioning, a student’s functioning day to day 

Both categories are formatted as the strengths and needs of a child. If a student is not serviced by one of the providers listed in the functional performance area, they would not receive a functional performance update in this area. As a parent, you can always question and/or make suggestions as to what is included and what is not included in these areas. As always, that is most definitely within your rights. 

Stop 2: (II) a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals, designed to—

aa) meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and

(bb) meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability

This is one of the most “well known” areas of an IEP. It includes all goals which the IEP will address throughout the course of the IEP period. There is no limit to the amount of goals which can be included in an IEP. Each goal must have an area which the goal addresses. For example, you can’t have a communication goal combined with a reading goal. Each goal needs to be a SMART goal, which we will later discuss in an upcoming blog.  A measurable annual goal must be designed and individualized for each student. It must meet the child’s individual needs. A goal enables a child to be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum, but also meet the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability. 

Stop 3: a description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals described in subclause (II) will be measured and when periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided;

This part relates closely to the above portion of the IEP; the annual goals. For each goal, there has to be a description of how and when a child’s progress towards the goal will be reported to the family.  The how typically aligns with whether their progress is being measured by data collection, rubrics, student work samples, etc. The when typically aligns with the school’s report card reporting period. Check out one of our previous blogs all about progress notes!

Stop 4 & Stop 5 will be combined below to explain… 

Stop 4: a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided for the child—

Stop 5: the projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications described in subclause (IV), and the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services and modifications;

There are a few different areas which these portions of the IEP include. They are combined for the purpose of this blog because they are closely related to each other. First, this statement of special education includes the following… 

• Who is providing the service

• How often the service is being provided

• What goal the service is applicable to 

• The time period for which the service will take place (beginning of service, end of service, pause and resume date) 

The related services are similar to the special education statement being made but applicable to related service providers such as…

• OT, PT, SLP, TVI, Transportation, ESY, and more 

Description of supplementary aids and services

• This includes any accommodations to support the child in reaching their goals. The aids and services include anything that is necessary for the student to make progress towards their goals, access the general education curriculum, and successfully participate in the general education curriculum.

Stop 6: an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in the activities described in subclause (IV)(cc);

This portion of the IEP relates closely to a child’s inclusion. The goal for every child is to be in the least restrictive environment (LRE) which addresses the most appropriate amount of time a  child participates with non-disabled peers. An IEP has to explain if a child will not be participating in the general education classroom, how much of the time and when a child will not be participating with nondisabled children, and why this decision is being made. This part of the IEP will be discussed when the conversation of a child’s placement either in the general education classroom or in an alternative placement. 

Stop 7: (aa) a statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and district wide assessments consistent with section 1412(a)(16)(A) of this title; and

Similar to part 4 (description of supplementary aids and services) this portion of the IEP addresses accommodations that specifically pertain to state and district wide assessments. Just as accommodations for a student to partake in the general education curriculum is stated, the accommodations to appropriately participate in testing must also be stated. These accommodations should closely mirror accommodations to access the general education curriculum. If a student needs in day to day, then they need it on important assessments too! 

Similarly if a student is unable to participate in the state or district wide testing, then the IEP must state in this section why they can’t participate and what alternative testing is most appropriate. 

Stop 8: beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child is 16, and updated annually thereafter—

1. (aa) appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills;

2. (bb) the transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals; and

3. (cc) beginning not later than 1 year before the child reaches the age of majority under State law, a statement that the child has been informed of the child’s rights under this chapter, if any, that will transfer to the child on reaching the age of majority under section 1415(m) of this title.

We will address this portion of the IEP in a more elaborate blog because it is vital for high school age children to be aware, able to advocate, and understand this portion of their IEP. In summary, this part of the IEP addresses a child’s plan after leaving high school and what their plans to be successful post secondary require of them while in high school. It is within this portion of the IEP that a students plan to best prepare them for their plans post secondary will be defined. This might include certain courses to take, research on post secondary institutions, a plan to enlist, etc.

Now that we have hit every checkpoint to meet our final destination on our road trip, it is important to remember two other vital components of IDEA. 

1. If one component of the IEP addresses a certain piece of information, it does not need to be reiterated in multiple areas of the IEP. 

2. That an IEP should not include more than the required information. The more information, the more data, the more individualized a plan can be- the better!