The IEP Form: One Page at a
Time
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Matrix Parent Network
We empower families of children with special needs
to successfully understand and access the systems
that serve them.
We want you to become successful advocates and
role models for your children.
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Who am I and Who are You?
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You will leave here knowing:
• What information should be included in
the IEP.
• What info is important on each page.
• How to find info in your child’s IEP when
you need it.
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Good idea to know IDEA
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Let’s Dive into …
The IEP document is an
agreement between you and
your child’s school district.
It has two purposes:
• Provide educational benefit
• Comply with IDEA
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The Forms follow an order:
An IEP meeting should follow a specific order:
• It starts with a discussion the child’s current
performance and needs. Placement
• It progresses through goals based on those needs,
Services
• accommodations and other supports to help the child,
• services offered to enable the child to meet goals, and
Goals
• placement (where these services will be provided).
Assessments
The pages in an IEP document should reflect
that order.
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Pages in the IEP
All annual Individual Education Plans (IEPs) must have the following pages:
1. Information/Eligibility
2. Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance
3. Special Factors
4. Statewide Assessments In addition, most IEPs
will have a Notes page.
5. Annual Goals
6. Services – Offer of FAPE
7. Educational Setting – Offer of FAPE
8. Signature and Parent Consent
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Sometimes included:
• Behavior Intervention Plan: For students with behavior interfering
with the student’s learning or the learning of his/ her peers.
• Transition Services: Required for students age 16 and older. This
must be in place during the IEP year a student turns 16.
• Manifestation Determination: For students facing certain disciplinary
actions (suspensions for more than 10 days, expulsion, change in
placement).
• Specific Learning Disability: Eligibility determination for SLD
category.
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Notice of Meeting
Not part of IEP document, you get
this notice BEFORE the meeting
Make sure you know the purpose of
the meeting and who will be
attending.
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Notice of Meeting,
continued
Note that you need to give 24 hour
notice if you plan to tape the meeting,
and sign and return the notice,
indicating you plan to attend.
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1. Information/Eligibility
Key Dates – check for accuracy
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1. Information/Eligibility
Purpose of the IEP meeting
Disability
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Information/Eligibility
Examples of the “how disability affects student’s involvement and
progress in general curriculum”:
“auditory processing deficits adversely impact the student’s ability to
understand directions and complete activities in the general education
setting”, or
“significant speech and language deficits interfere with the student’s
ability to interact with other students in the preschool setting”.
It is NOT what the school will do for your student or just a statement of what
the disability is. This should answer the question HOW the disability impacts
educational performance.
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2. Present Levels of
Academic Achievement and
Functional Performance
Strengths and preferences are
important to developing a program
that works for the student
Parent input must be filled in AT the meeting, not
beforehand. It is a good idea to come to the
meeting with a suggested short paragraph you
want to see here.
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2. Present Levels,
continued
Statewide Assessments
Your child’s scores on statewide, standardized
assessments will be shown on this page. Smarter
Balance is the test most students take.
The California Alternate Assessments are tests
for students with significant cognitive
impairment who cannot take the SBAC test.
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2. Present Levels, continued
Preacademic/Academic/Functional Skills
Every area
should be filled
in, even if it says
“not applicable”.
Based on issues identified with academic and
functional skills, a list of goals will be developed.
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2. Present Levels, continued
Goals, which will be discussed in later pages, should stem directly
from the needs identified in this section. The bottom of the Present
Levels page should provide list of the areas of need in which goals
will be written.
Areas of need might include things like:
• Reading
• Math
• Social Skills
• Communication
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3. Special Factors
Assistive technology includes all specialized devices and
services not provided to the general school population. For
example, if all students get ipads, this would not be listed here.
But if specialized software is required for speaking or reading
is required, it should be included.
This section is only filled out if your
student is a English language learner
Low incidence services are for those eligible as
Deaf/Blind, Visually Impaired, Orthopedically
Impaired, or Hard of Hearing and Deaf.
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3. Special Factors,
continued
This question is for ANY behavior that interferes with learning,
not just disruptive behavior. If “yes” is checked on the behavior
question, then a behavior goal or BIP MUST be included in the
IEP.
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4. Statewide
Assessments
The pages labeled “Statewide Assessments” should indicate the tests
your student will be taking in the upcoming year. These tests can
provide valuable information on how well your student is accessing
grade level curriculum. If you have any questions about what tests
your student is scheduled to take, or why, ask the IEP team to provide
an explanation..
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4. Statewide
Assessments
The list of potential statewide tests is
extensive, and often covers several pages
of the IEP.
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Q&A
We’ll take a few
questions before
going on to Goals
and remaining
pages of the IEP.
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IEP Goals
If this is not your student’s first IEP,
you should have two sets of goals.
Progress on goals from last year’s
IEP should be provided first.
If this is your student’s first IEP, then
only the goals for the coming year
will be included.
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5. Annual Goals (previous year)
All Progress Reports
should be filled in (and
you should have gotten
all but the last one
previously), and the team
should indicate whether
the goal has been met.
If “no” is checked, and
explanation of why not
and how close it was to
being met should be
provided in the
comments.
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5. Annual Goals (for coming year)
Area of need should be something like “math” “reading” or
“social skills”. Check to make sure there is a goal for each The Goal states what your student should be able to do
area of need listed on the Present Levels page one year from now, under what conditions, and how
progress will be measured. We have an entire training
just on goals. You can also click on this short video on
writing SMART goals.
Baseline should be what
your student can do now.
It should track what the
Present Levels page said.
The purpose for
This is a teacher or therapist, the goal should
NOTE: None of the not the student or parent be checked
progress reports will be
filled in, since these goals
apply to the upcoming year
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FAPE and LRE
Remember, FAPE means Free Appropriate Public Education
The next pages of the IEP spell out what the school district is offering to your student that they
believe constitutes FAPE.
These pages spell out the accommodations, modifications, supports and services that are
needed so your student can receive educational benefit and make progress on their goals.
Also spelled out is where these services will be provided–what kind of classroom or setting.
LRE stands for Least Restrictive Environment.
If your student is not being educated in the home school in the general education classroom,
the IEP team needs to justify why a different setting is required.
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6. Services – Offer of
FAPE
At the top of this page there should be list all of the supports and options that
were considered, and this should include the supports that would be required to
keep the student in the general ed classroom, if alternate placements are being
considered. Options considered should be listed, even if they were rejected.
Accommodations are things like:
• Extra time to finish assignments
• Preferential seating
• Taking breaks
• Using a calculator
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6. Services – Offer of FAPE,
continued
Modifications are changes to the curriculum and means the content of the
curriculum is being changed to help your child access the material. In High School,
modifications can effect whether the student gets full academic credit for a class.
Other supports for school Personnel, or for Student, or on behalf of student. This
might include items like:
• specialized training for staff,
• consultation between behavior specialist and classroom teacher,
• transition services or
• providing information to help parents understand their student’s disability
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6. Services – Offer of
FAPE, continued
Specialized instruction and each related service (such as OT, PT, Speech) should be
specified. The following slide will examine this section in more detail. At the
bottom of this section there is a check box for whether Special Education
Transportation is to be provided (generally if the student is placed out of district,
or if other special circumstances apply, such as wheel chair access)
Transportation is a related service.
Finally, the Services page of the IEP must indicate whether Extended School
Year is to be provided. ESY is not the same as “summer school” offer to non-
special ed students. It is provided only for students who may lose skills if
instruction stops over the summer, and not be able to easily re-gain these skills
back at the start of a new school year. www.matrixparents.org 30
6. Services – Offer of FAPE, continued
The specific academic and related services offered should be itemized in detail. This should include:
• Type of service: i.e., Specialized Academic Instruction, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, etc. The check
boxes should indicate if it is individual or group.
• When the service starts and ends This will usually coincide with the year the IEP covers or the school year.
• Provider: provides the service and may be listed as District of Service, SELPA, Office of Education, etc.
• How often: such as daily, once a week, monthly, etc.
• How long the service will be provided. Usually in minutes per week or month or year.
• Where the service takes place: Is it in the regular classroom or at a separate classroom.
• Individual or Group: who will be involved when the service is provide.
• Comments: This should explain any other questions about how the service will be used. Examples could be which
period it will happen or how the time will bewww.matrixparents.org
divided between individual or group services. 31
7. Educational Setting –
Offer of FAPE
Where the student will receive all of
the accommodations and services
listed on the previous page
Check district and school for accuracy. Whether the student
will be at the home school they would normally attend should
be noted. If not, a reason must be given.
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7. Educational Setting –
Offer of FAPE, cont’d
PROGRAM Setting refers to: Regular classroom/public day
school, separate school, residential facility, home/hospital,
correctional facility, placed by parents in private school.
If any of these services are provided at a school other than the
student’s home school, a reason must be given.
The percentage of time in a separate special education setting and
the percentage of time in general education must be noted. Lunch,
recess, and non-academic classes such as music or art are included
in the total on which this calculation is based. The two percentages
should add up to 100%.
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7. Educational Setting –
Offer of FAPE, cont’d
Promotion criteria will be “District” if your student’s
curriculum is not modified. If the curriculum is highly
modified, as noted on the previous page, “Progress on
goals” or “other” will be checked
The IEP should note how and how frequently you will get
progress reports. Usually the report will be based on the
goals pages and will probably follow that format. Progress
reports generally come out at the same time as report cards.
But is not the report card!
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Additional Pages
Your student’s IEP may include an Individualized Transition Plan
(transition to adulthood), a Behavior Intervention Plan or Notes
Page. Those pages should be inserted here, before the signature
page.
We will not be covering ITPs and BIPs in this workshop, but
Matrix has separate training workshops on those topics.
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8. Signature and
Parent Consent
The top of the Signature page denotes attendance,
and everyone at the meeting should sign.
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8. Signature and Parent
Consent
The CONSENT is required before any Special Education Services
or supports are started or implemented. This section gives you
options on whether you are agreeing with ALL, PART or NONE
of the IEP.
You don’t need to consent at the meeting, you can take it home and
think about it before you sign.
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Q&A
Any more
questions?
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Skills Checklist
• What have you learned?
• Do you need more resources?
• Do you need more support?
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Matrix Parent Network & Resource Center
We are parent advisors not
attorneys or advocates
We do not give legal advice or advise a course of action. We
provide support and information to help parents learn about their
rights and options, find referrals and resources and help parents
become the best advocate they can be for their child.
Matrix Helpline: 1-800-578-2592 www.matrixparents.org
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Matrix Parent Network & Resource Center
Federal Parent Training & Information Center
designated by the Office of Special Education, US Department of Education, serving families of
children birth through 26 in Marin, Napa, Sonoma & Solano counties
California Family Resource Center
designated by CA Department of Developmental Services,
serving families of infants and toddlers
California Family Empowerment Center
designated by CA Department of Education
serving the underserved in Solano and Sonoma Counties
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This workshop was developed in part under a grant from
the US Department of Education, the Office of Special
Education and the California Department of Education.
Matrix is grateful for the Federal and State funding it
receives, but it’s not enough. We rely on other grants and on
donations from people like you!
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Please consider supporting Matrix in
any way you can!
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Thank you!!
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