Are you a special educaion teacher or someone responsible for managing SpEd programs in your school district?

You’re probably aware that Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) should be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely, Evaluated, and Reviewed).

But, setting up IEPs, compliant with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and effective in promoting student growth can be challenging.

Here in this post, we will discuss the ten best ways to set up IEPs that are legally sound and tailored to the unique needs of each student with special needs.

10 Actionable Tips to make your IEP IDEA-compliant

1. Involve the Student, Parents and Other Professionals - Include the student, their parents or guardians, and other special-ed teachers or SLPs in the goal-setting process. Besides being an IDEA requirement, you will find it impossible to create actionable goals without their involvement.
2. Use Data and Assessment - Base the IEP goals on facts, data, observation, and assessments. It should provide a clear starting point for you and the student. It will help in measuring progress. The student’s performance (data) should drive your decisions about goal modification.
3. Prioritize Goals - Include both short-term goals (achievable within the current school year) and long-term goals (for the student's future growth and development) in the IEP.
4. Incorporate Functional Goals - Besides academic goals, consider functional goals that address a student's daily life skills and social interactions. The IEP should also focus on teaching the basic life skills to the child and improve their overall quality of life.
5. Collaborate with the IEP Team - Engage the entire IEP team, including teachers, special education professionals, therapists, and others in all decision-making processes. Generate student’s progress reports and share them across the team for informed decision-making.
6. Regular Progress Monitoring - While you should track goals during each interaction with the student, you need to schedule IEP meetings to discuss your student’s progress. This should include periodic assessments, teacher observations, and evaluations by specialists.
7. Introduce Flexibility in IEP Goals - IEP goals should be flexible and depend upon the child’s individual needs, skillset and improvement rate. Never apply blanket goals to all your IEP students. Students may progress faster or slower than expected, and their goals should reflect this.
8. Accurate Documentation - Keep detailed records of the goals, modifications, progress, and any IEP changes. Clear documentation is crucial for tracking and sharing information with all stakeholders.
9. Review and Revise - Regularly review the IEP and update goals as needed. A student's needs will change gradually, and the IEP should reflect these changes.
10. Communication - Foster open and consistent communication between everyoen involved in the IEP process, especially the child’s parents. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and working towards the student's success.

What should your IDEA-compliant IEP include?

According to IDEA, the elements within any Individualized Education Program (IEP) should always include -

1. Approval from parents or guardians
2. Open channels of communication between the parents/guardians and special education education provider
3. A report of the student's current performance status
4. The student’s long-term and short-term goals
5. Evidence-based adjustments and alterations to the IEP as per the student’s needs
6. Further services and assistance (as guided by IDEA) to the student as and when required
7. A plan for transitioning or integration into conventional classrooms
8. Assessment of student’s performance and progress tracking
9. Evidence-based student performance report generation
10. Timely IEP meetings that involve the parents, students and others involved in the IEP.

Furthermore, the IEP should conform to grade-level educational standards for all children with disabilities.

How to ensure your IEP Goals are personalized & IDEA-compliant?

Many special ed teachers still do most of the work manually, including setting up schedules, meetings, goal monitoring, report generation and report sharing.

However, when you are creating and monitoring multiple goals for a large number of students in a school district, there will always be some room for error.

To preempt all such errors,  choose an IEP goal-tracking tool like AbleSpace that allows special education goal tracking on the go.

You can edit a student’s performance and goal from your phone, laptop or tablet. Save it, and make changes in their IEP goals based on their progress.

A special ed software such as AbleSpace also enables you to monitor the goals and performance of students in a group set-up. You can save and edit multiple data types such as accuracy, frequency, prompts and more.

This IEP data collection and goal tracking tool is HIPAA compliant and allows special ed teachers to generate shareable reports (pre-built report templates) with a few clicks.