What is an IEP?
Each child in public school who receives special education and
related services must have an Individualized Education Program
(IEP). An IEP is a set of goals for a student, and a plan for
how they will be met. An IEP must be designed specifically for
a student and must be a truly individualized document that keeps
the child's personal characteristics and needs in mind. The IEP
gives teachers, parents, school administrators, related services
personnel, and students (when appropriate) the chance to work
together to improve the educational experience and result for
children with disabilities. The IEP is created as part of an overall
process that aims to identify children in need and connect them
with the appropriate services and accommodations to improve educational
results.
Who Writes the IEP?
By law, certain people need to be involved in writing an IEP.
These people work together as a team to write the IEP, which must
be done within 30 calendar days of deciding that a child is eligible
for special education and related services. Each team member brings
important information to the PET meeting that adds to the team's
understanding of the child and what services he or she might need.
A PET includes:
e Parents
e Regular Education Teacher(s) (at least one, if the child is
participating in the regular education environment)
e Special Education Teacher(s) or provider
e An individual who can interpret what the child's evaluation
results mean
e An individual representing the school system
e The student (as appropriate)
The PET may also include additional individuals with knowledge
or special expertise about the child. These people can be invited
to participate on the team by parents or the school system. For
example, a parent can invite an advocate who knows the child,
a professional with special expertise about the child and his
or her disability, or others who can talk about the child'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 related services professional (an occupational or physical
therapist, an adaptive physical education provider, a psychologist,
or a speech-language pathologist) who can contribute some information
about the child's strengths and weaknesses.
When an IEP is being written for a student with disabilities that is going to be entering adult life, the team will also need to include a representative from a transition service agency. This person can help explain what types of options are available to the student after they leave school, and also explain how they can prepare while they are still in school. Transition planning usually begins when the child is between the ages of 14 and 16.
How is an IEP Written?
To decide what special education and related services the student
will benefit from the most, the PET will usually start by looking
at the child's evaluation results, such as classroom tests, individual
tests given to establish the student's eligibility, and observations
by teachers, parents, paraprofessionals, related services providers,
administrators, and others. All of this information tells how
the student is currently doing in school, which helps the team
write goals to address areas of need or weakness. The PET must
also discuss some specific things about the student:
e the child's strengths;
e the parent's ideas for enhancing their child's education;
e the results of recent evaluations or reevaluations; and
e how the child has done on state and district-wide tests.
In addition, the PET also needs to consider other special factors
such as:
e Behavior that interferes with the student's and the learning
of others
e Limited proficiency in English
e Blindness or visual impairment
e Communication Needs
e Deafness or hearing impairment
e Need for assistive technology devices or services
All of this information helps the PET to think about and plan
how to help the student make progress towards annual goals, how
the student can be involved in and progress in the regular curriculum,
how the student can participate in extracurricular and nonacademic
activities, and how the student can be educated with and participate
with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children.
The IEP is written with all of these things in mind, and includes
the services and supports that the school will provide for the
child to be most successful.
Where Will My Child Be Placed?
In addition to writing goals and deciding how they will be met,
the PET must also decide where the IEP will be carried out. The
placement decision is made by a group of people, including the
parents and others who know the child, what the evaluation results
mean, and what types of placements are appropriate. The parents
have the right to be members of the group that decides the educational
placement of the child.
Placement decisions must be made according to the Individuals
with Disabilities
Education Act's (IDEA) "least restrictive environment"
(LRE) requirements. These
requirements state that as much as is appropriate, children with
disabilities must be educated with children who do not have disabilities.
The law also states that: "special classes, separate schools,
or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular
education environment may occur only if the nature or severity
of the child's disability is such that education in regular classes
with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved
satisfactorily."
Depending on the needs of the child, his or her IEP may be carried
out the regular class (with extra aids and services, as needed),
in a special education classroom (where every student in the class
is receiving special education services for some or all of the
day), a public or private Separate Day School (where a student
with a disability receives special education and supportive services
greather than 50 percent of the day in school), at home, in a
hospital or institution, or in another setting.
Then what?
When the IEP has been written, parents must receive a copy at
no cost to themselves. It is also important that everyone who
will be involved with implementing the IEP also have access to
the document, including the regular education teacher(s), the
special education teacher(s), the related service provider(s),
and any other service provider who will be responsible for a part
of the child's education. Everyone needs to know what his or her
specific role is for carrying out the child's IEP. This includes
the special accommodations, modifications, and supports that child
must receive, according to the IEP.
How Can I Help Things Go Smoothly?
Once the IEP is written, the child can be provided with the special
education and related services that are listed in the IEP. While
every IEP is different, there are some things that parents and
school staff can do to make the process go more smoothly.
* Every person should know and understand his or her responsibilities
for carrying out the IEP.
* Continue to work as a team; keep track of progress and events
that might help the team make decisions or changes.
* Keep the lines of communication between home and school open.
* Designate a person that is in charge of coordinating and monitoring
the services the student receives to be sure that things are going
according to plan.
Can the IEP Be Changed?
The PET must review the child's IEP at least once a year. One
reason for this review is to see whether a child is meeting his
or her annual goals. The team must revise the IEP as
necessary to address:
* the child's progress or lack of expected progress toward the
annual goals and in the general curriculum;
* information gathered through any reevaluation of the child;
* information about the child that the parents share;
* information about the child that the school shares;
* the child's anticipated needs; or
* other concerns.
Although the PET is required to review the IEP at least once a
year, the team can actually review and revise the IEP more often.
Either the parents or the school can ask to hold an PET meeting
to revise the child's IEP.
What If Parents Don't Agree With the IEP?
There may be times when parents don't agree with the school's
recommendations about their child's education. The law states
that parents have the right to challenge decisions about their
child's eligibility, evaluation, placement, and the services that
the school provides. If parents disagree with the school's actions,
the can do the following:
*Try to reach an agreement by talking with school officials about
their concerns.
* Ask for mediation by an individual who is not involved in the
disagreement.
* Ask for Due Process, a hearing where the parents and school
personnel appear before an impartial hearing officer and present
their sides of the story so that the hearing officer can decide
how to solve the problem.
* File a complaint with the state education agency stating why
part of IDEA they believe the school has violated.
This information has been adapted from "A Guide to the Individualized Education Program" published July 2000, distributed by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. For more information on this or other topics related to the needs of children with disabilities, call or write Maine Parent Federation, P.O. Box 2067, Augusta, Maine 04338, 1-800-870-7746 (In-State Only) 207-623-2144 or email MPF at parentconnect@mpf.org.
This fact sheet is paid for through grants from the Federal Department of Education and the State of Maine Department of Education, utilizing funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Rev 1/02