How to Read an IEP - Individualized Education Plan

Participating in an IEP meeting can be intimidating, but you will feel comfortable if you are familiar with the sections of your child's IEP.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• you child's IEP

1. IEP stands for Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP is a written document describing the educational plan for a student with a disability.
   
   
   
   
   
   Read the Cover Page.Review the participants. Close to the front of the IEP there should be a cover page that tells the date of the IEP and important dates such as eligibility dates and dates for review.

2. One of the most important pages in your child's IEP is the Present Level of Performance page. This page describes your child: what he or she is able to do and what the areas of need are. Standardized test scores, reading levels, strengths and weaknesses will be described. This section includes specific information about how your child has been doing in school and sometimes in other aspects of his or her life such as communication, social areas, etc.
   
   (Some teachers call this the PLOP for short OR the narrative summary.)

3. Goals for the year- Written goals that align with the information in the Present Level of Performance will be broken down into short-term objectives or benchmarks. These should be measurable and will be updated to report on your child's progress in each area.

4. There will be a section naming what special education and related services the school will provide to you. Related services may be speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc.

5. A section will explain how much of the school day your child will spend participating with children without disabilities in the regular class and other school activities. It will also state the areas of weaknesses that need remediation for your child to access the regular education curriculum.

6. There will be a page for modifications or accommodations that the teachers will provide to enable your child to be successful in school. This will include testing modifications for state or district-wide tests are given, or an explanation of why taking these tests is not appropriate for your child. If your child won't be taking these tests, then your IEP must say how your child will be tested.

7. There will be as section stating when and where the school will start providing services to your child, how often the services will be provided, and how long each session is.

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   See the section stating how the school will measure your child's progress toward his or her goals and how the school will report to you this progress or lack of progress.

Tips & Warnings

• The IEP will tell you who was the case manager at the time the IEP was written, in the event you have questions.
• Your child's current special education teacher or related services provider will also be of help in answering questions about your child's IEP.
• Although the IEP is a legal document, it can be amended or modifies almost at any time. Information or modifications can be changed, added, or deleted. Confer with your child's special education teacher, school administrator, or related services provider to discuss proposed changes.

[doban]

on 7/8/2009 great job of describing the IEP