Writing an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) can be intimidating. After all, it’s a legally-binding contract that affects the wellbeing of someone else’s child! However, if you have an understanding of each of the elements of the IEP, how they’re all connected, and you follow the tips below, you will be able to write an impressive IEP that will definitely catch the attention of your administrator.
What is an IEP?
An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan for a student with a disability who is eligible for special education services. IDEA defines an IEP as “a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting…” this includes:
- A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance
- A statement of measurable and annual goals, including academic and functional goals
- A statement of the special education, related services, and supplementary aids and services
The special education teacher (also known as an education specialist), writes an IEP for each student who is eligible for special education services. Typically, this person also facilitates the meeting where the IEP document is reviewed and agreed upon by all stakeholders (special education teacher, parents/guardians, general education teacher, related service providers, the student, and an administrator).
Preparing for an IEP
Check out this free resource on our Teachers pay Teachers store to help you get started: IEP Checklists! IEP Meeting/Process Preparation Templates: All types of IEP Meetings
Writing an IEP – Step 1: Assessments
In order to have the information you need to write an IEP, you need to have access to previous assessments in addition to having conducted new assessments. Click here (coming soon) to read an article about the different types of assessments and when/how to use them. The results of the assessments will give you the information needed to describe the student’s present levels of performance (AKA present levels of academic achievement and functional performance). If you want to write a good IEP, do NOT begin writing until you have conducted the appropriate assessments!
Examples of Assessments:
- Preference Assessments/Interest Inventories
- Interviews of the family, general educators, related service providers, and/or student
- Ecological Inventory
- Discrepancy Analysis
- Direct Observations
- Adaptive Behavior Scale
- Skills Inventories
- Academic Assessments
- Self-Determination Scales
- Related-Service Providers Assessments
- Transition Surveys
Writing an IEP – Step 2: Annual Goal Summaries
Before you write new IEP goals, you need to evaluate whether or not the student met their previous IEP goals. Each IEP goal should explicitly explain how to collect data (that is, if it’s written correctly in an objectively measurable way). This is usually identified at the end of the goal: “…as measured by ________”.
IEP Goal Example:
By 10/2/2022, when given a variety of simple job/volunteer applications or other employment-related forms, John will demonstrate knowledge of his personal and professional information (such as name, address, age, work experience, references, etc.) by correctly typing or writing his information into the given document with the support of models and self-accessed written reminders to stay on task, at 100% accuracy over 4 out of 5 opportunities, as measured by student work samples.
In this goal, it’s clear that the target skill is to correctly type/write his information into a given document. The teacher would measure this goal and evaluate whether or not it was met by looking at 5 different student work samples. If the student completed at least 4 of the 5 given documents with 100% accuracy, then the goal would be met.
For the goal summaries on the IEP, you will indicate whether or not the goal was met, and you can write an additional comment. Typically, a comment is not needed if the goal was met, however it’s always a good idea to include a comment if the goal was not met. For example, if our student did not meet the goal written above, my comment on the goal summary would look something like this:
“As of 10/2/2022, when given a variety of simple job/volunteer applications or other employment-related forms, John can demonstrate knowledge of his personal and professional information (such as name, address, age, work experience, references, etc.) by correctly typing or writing his information into the given document with the support of models and self-accessed written reminders to stay on task, at 80% accuracy over 3 out of 5 opportunities, as measured by student work samples.
You will present the goal summaries at the IEP meeting. It’s also a best practice to provide the family with this information prior to the meeting for their review. This is a great opportunity to clear up any confusion and possibly avoid awkward moments at the IEP meeting! This also goes for the entire new IEP as well! Provide the draft to the family in advance to make this meeting as smooth as possible.
Writing all Components of an IEP
It’s important to note that the order/structure of each of the forms in the IEP varies state by state and even district by district. Typically, the forms you will be using and writing for the IEP are:
- Information/Eligibility
- Individual Transition Plan (ITP)
- Present Levels of Performance (PLOPs)
- Special Factors
- Statewide Assessments
- Goals
- Services – Offer of FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education)
- Educational Setting – Offer of FAPE
- Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) or Health Care Plan (if needed)
If you have an IEP open right now, and you aren’t seeing one of the forms or you’re seeing a form I didn’t mention, don’t worry! All of the information is the same, it’s probably just organized or labeled differently. We will dive into each element below.
Information/Eligibility:
This form is one of the easiest ones of the IEP! Usually, you won’t need to update this information unless there is an address change or an update to the student’s disability classification. One thing you will have to update is the IEP date. Put the day that the IEP meeting is planned to be held as the IEP date. The next annual (Plan Review) and triennial (Eligibility Evaluation) meeting due dates should be calculated from your IEP meeting date. Typically, your next IEP meeting will be one day before the exact one year mark of this year’s meeting. For example, if I was holding an IEP meeting this year on November 2nd, then the IEP would be due on November 1st of next year. Click here (coming soon) to learn more about an annual vs. a triennial IEP.
If this IEP meeting is the student’s initial meeting, then there is some additional information you will need to fill out.
Individual Transition Plan:
IDEA outlines that by law, students are required to have an ITP by the age of 16. It’s definitely a best practice to begin developing the ITP as soon as possible though, a great time being when the student enters high school.
In the ITP, you will describe the results of the assessments used in order to write the Post-Secondary goals. I like to send home a parent survey that touches on the central domains of transition: Continuing Education/Training, Employment, Independent Living, and Recreation/Leisure. (Adulting Made Easy has a great survey on their TeachersPayTeachers). From the results of the assessments (usually student questionnaires, interest inventories, and parent surveys/interviews), you can develop the ITP goals. These goals are different from annual IEP goals (to learn more about that, click here (coming soon)). You should have an ITP goal for the central domains of Transition listed above, except for recreation/leisure. These goals are structured “Upon completion of school I will…”, and then you type in the rest.
In addition to writing a Post-Secondary goal, you must include what transition service is applicable, activities to support the goal, community experiences to support it, and which annual IEP goals the ITP goal is linked to. For more in depth information on the ITP, click here (coming soon) .
Some districts will have you include other information in the ITP, such as district graduation requirements (course of study, record of completed/pending units, anticipated graduation date, etc.) and status of conservatorship.
Present Levels of Performance:
This is the place on the IEP where you will need to do the most writing! A lot of teachers get in the bad habit of not updating the present levels or not utilizing data from assessments to develop the present levels. This section of the IEP is SO important, because it will tell you what to write IEP goals for. Any areas of need (weaknesses) that are identified in the present levels, must have an IEP goal addressing that need. For example, if you wrote “John knows his personal information, however he still demonstrates a need in learning how to type or write the information into professional documents or provide the information when requested”, then you would need to write an IEP goal targeting writing/typing his information into given professional documents upon request.
Sections of the Present Levels of Performance:
- Strengths/Preferences/Interests
- Parent Input/Concerns
- Preacademic/Academic/Functional Skills
- Communication Development
- Gross/Fine Motor Development
- Social Emotional/Behavioral
- Vocational
- Adaptive/Daily Living Skills
- Health
Remember that it is crucial to use positive language when describing the student, their skills, and their areas of need. It’s a best practice to begin each section of the present levels with positives and the student’s strengths before describing their deficits. Write 1-3 paragraphs per section of the present levels, and include assessment data. For example: “His typing speed is 12 words per minute at 97% accuracy” or “She can identify her name from a field of 3, independently, in 4 out of 5 opportunities”.
Special Factors and Statewide Assessments:
This is where you will indicate whether or not the student uses Assistive Technology, requires low incidence services, equipment, and/or materials, and considerations if the student is blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing. Sometimes in this section of the IEP you will also indicate if the student is an emerging multilingual student. This is also where you will describe behavioral supports if the student requires it. When you list which interventions, supports, and strategies you will use in the classroom to support the student with their behaviors, it’s best to use positive behavior support (tangible reinforcers, token economy systems, appropriate access to breaks, etc.)
The statewide assessments form is pretty self-explanatory. For students who no longer get tested, such as adult transitional students, you would check “out of testing range” and “not to participate”. The good news is that if you’re in post-secondary, this is an IEP form that you can skip!
Writing an IEP – Goals:
The annual goals are another central part to the IEP. Remember that your assessments conducted prior to writing the IEP will indicate areas of need for the student, and those areas of need are identified in the present levels of performance of the IEP. Now, you are going to write an IEP goal to address each area of need from the present levels.
On the form for the goals, you will include the area of need/target skill/goal description, a baseline (the student’s abilities and skills prior to instruction on this new goal), an observable and measurable annual goal, and 3 objectives/benchmarks that build up to your annual goal. It’s important to keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to IEP goals!
For an in depth description on how to write quality IEP goals, click here. For IEP examples, click here (coming soon).
FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education
The entire point of an IEP is to ensure that the student receives a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). The IEP outlines how the student will be provided with FAPE. The main factors of FAPE are services (program modifications, accommodations, and supports), and the educational setting. For more information on modifications vs. accommodations, click here (coming soon).
In this section of the IEP, you will list different supports that will be offered to the student. There is a lot of variety and levels of supports that can be offered ranging from visual cues to consultation between the teacher and occupational therapist to access to a calculator. You will also list the services that students will receive, such as: specialized academic instruction, language and speech, adapted physical education, psychological services, etc. In addition to what the service is, you will also document the frequency and duration of these services (i.e. language and speech weekly for 30 minutes).
A lot of districts include a section about Extended School Year (ESY) in this part of the IEP. If data demonstrates that the student is unable to retain critical skills over extended school breaks or recoup any lost skills within a reasonable amount of time when school resumes, then they will qualify for ESY, and this will be indicated on the IEP.
Important Tips for Writing an IEP:
Collaborate
Collaborate with the family, student, related service providers, and other stakeholders. Each member of the IEP team has their own expertise and strengths, so it’s important to collaborate to ensure that everything is addressed!
Collect Data and Conduct Assessments
Begin collecting data and conducting assessments well in advance of when you begin writing an IEP so that you have the necessary information to develop present levels of performance, write IEP goals, and select appropriate services and supports.
Plan for Inclusion
Consider how IEP goals can be worked on in general education settings, how the student can access their supports across all environments, and collaborate with the general education teacher.
Become Aware of Your Own Identities and Biases
Your identities and beliefs might impact your behaviors related to teaching and the relationships with your students and their families. Be mindful of the language you use in the IEP! When writing an IEP, consider Pamela Hays ADDRESSING Framework:
- Age
- Disability (developmental)
- Disability (acquired)
- Religion
- Ethnicity
- Socioeconomic status
- Sexual orientation
- Indigenous heritage
- National origin
- Gender
Know Your Audience: Avoid Jargon
You don’t want to use language that will confuse/exclude the parents. It’s important for the parents to feel comfortable and understand what is being said in the IEP.
Write Appropriate, Observable, Measurable, and Meaningful IEP Goals
IEP Goals are appropriate if they apply to a majority of these factors:
- Addresses the general curriculum or a functional objective
- Functional: the skills can be used in student’s everyday life
- Generative: helps them learn other useful skills/concepts (a prerequisite skill)
- Important to the student and their family
- Age-appropriate (their chronological age, not their developmental age)
- Contributes to friendships/membership in society/their community
- Contributes to self-determination
- For goals addressing behavior: Competes with inappropriate responses