IEPs: Developing High-Quality Individualized Education Programs

Wrap Up

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the law that governs the education of students with disabilities. Through this law, students with disabilities are entitled to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) that includes an IEP. The IEP serves as the blueprint for the services and supports necessary to meet the student’s unique needs and guides every facet of her special education program.

IEP teams need to adhere to both procedural and substantive requirements. In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District required a higher substantive standard for determining whether a student’s IEP is conferring educational benefit: It must be reasonably calculated to enable a student to make progress appropriate in light of her circumstances. The table below summarizes these requirements, taking into consideration both IDEA and the Endrew ruling.

Procedural Requirements

Ensure that the IEP process (the how and when of IEP development) is followed:

Referral
Evaluation
Eligibility determination

IEP development
IEP implementation
Annual review
Reevaluation

Ensure that the IEP contains all of the required information:

PLAAFP statements
Measurable annual goals
Description of special education and related services and supplementary services
Method for measuring and reporting progress
Explanation of the extent the student will not be educated with nondisabled students in the general education setting
Statement of student’s participation in state and district-wide assessments
The date of service initiation, frequency, duration, and location

An IEP that meets procedural requirements could be considered a technically sound IEP. Failure to follow the IEP process or to implement the steps properly results in a procedural error that jeopardizes the student’s FAPE.

Substantive Requirements

Ensure that the quality of the IEP content (the what of IEP development) is sufficient to enable the student to progress:

PLAAFP statements — Based on a thorough evaluation, address each of a student’s needs, and is sufficient to both serve as a baseline and inform the annual goals
Measurable annual goals — Based on the PLAAFP statements, are sufficiently challenging and ambitious to confer meaningful educational benefit
Description of special education and related services and supplementary services — Based on the annual goals and using evidence-based practices as much as possible, are sufficient to help the student make progress toward meeting her academic and/or functional annual goals
Method for measuring and reporting progress — Based on the annual goals, includes a plan for collecting objective data and reporting progress to parents, ensure that changes are made if the student’s progress is not adequate (i.e., data-based decisions)

The quality of these components must meet the Endrew substantive standard. An IEP that does so could be considered an educationally meaningful IEP. Failure to develop a high-quality IEP that meets these standards can jeopardize the student’s FAPE.

In this interview, Mitchell Yell summarizes best practices in IEP development. (time 1:11).

mitch yell

View Transcript

Mitchell Yell, PhD
Fred and Francis Lester Palmetto Chair in Teacher Education
Professor, Special Education
University of South Carolina

Revisiting Initial Thoughts

Think back to your responses to the Initial Thoughts questions at the beginning of this module. After working through the Perspectives & Resources, do you still agree with those responses? If not, what aspects about them would you change?

What Is an IEP?

What Is the IEP process?

What Is Included in the IEP document?

When you are ready, proceed to the Assessment section.