Individualized Education Program (IEP)

Description of an IEP

An individualized education program (IEP) is a written document that details the individualized special education (specially designed instruction to meet a student's unique needs) and related services (those services required to assist a student to benefit from special education) that a public school will provide to a student with a disability. Since the federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), was first passed in 1975 as Pub. L. No. 94–142, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, IEPs have been required for all students who are eligible to receive special education and related services under IDEA. Although IDEA has been amended a number of times since 1975, the requirement that all students with disabilities who receive services must have an IEP has not changed. The IEP has been and continues to be the keystone of special education law and is designed to ensure that students with disabilities receive all of the special education and related services they need to maximize their opportunities to meet the same academic standards and expectations set for all public school students.

To be eligible for special education and related services, a student who is suspected of having a disability must first be evaluated. If that evaluation indicates that the student does indeed have a disability and is eligible for special education and related services, an IEP must be developed for him or her. Federal law requires that an IEP be developed before a student may receive services. The basis for an IEP is the individualized evaluation, which provides school personnel and parents with information about a student's present levels of educational performance (strengths and weaknesses). While the individualized evaluation provides information about the student's unique needs, the IEP spells out how those unique needs will be addressed educationally.

The IEP is developed by a team of people, including parents and the student, if appropriate, who are knowledgeable about the student and who determine exactly what special education and related services he or she needs to make educational progress. The IEP team develops measurable annual goals that express the amount of progress the student is expected to make within a year. Annual goals are written for every area of the student's educational needs. Each annual goal must include either short-term objectives or benchmarks. The purpose of both is to enable teachers, parents, and others on the IEP team to determine, at regular intervals during the year, how well the student is progressing toward achievement of the annual goals.

As the key document that specifies the special education and related services a student with a disability will receive, as well as annual goals, short-term objectives, or benchmarks the student is expected to meet, the IEP is the heart of the educational plan for a student with a disability. All teachers, counselors, and other service personnel who work with the student must have access to the IEP, which is meant to be used, not locked away in a file cabinet and forgotten until it is time for the IEP annual review. As a working document, the IEP must be reviewed and modified, if necessary, on a regular basis throughout the year to ensure that the student is making adequate progress toward meeting all of the annual goals.

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