Purpose of an Individualized Educational Program

Purpose of the IEP
I. Purposes of the IEP – The IEP is a collaborative effort between school personnel and parents to meet a student’s individual education needs including communication, management, accountability, compliance, monitoring and evaluation.
Communication – the IEP is a communication vehicle between the parents and the school personnel to provide a planned educational program for the student, to set goals, determine services to meet specific needs and to decide anticipated outcomes. It further can be a means of resolving differences and providing procedural safeguards.

Management – The IEP is a management tool. It sets forth the procedures required by the IDEA as to how a school will determine the the special education and related services necessary to provide an appropriate education as required under FAPE. The IEP is the contract that obligates the school district to provide and deliver the services decided upon.

Accountability – Once completed school districts are accountable for implementing the IEP that was developed. The school district is also required to revise and rewrite the IEP when necessary.

Compliance and Monitoring – The IEP can be used to assess school’s compliance with the FAPE mandate of the IDEA.

Evaluation – The IEP is evaluation tool. The annual goals contained in the document are measured by using the criteria specified in the document to determine a student’s progress.
The IEP must contain goals that are measurable and the school personnel must ensure that the goals will be measured. Further the IEP must describe how a student’s annual goals will be measured.

GENERAL PROCEDURE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IEP

1. Referral – usually by the school, but can be initiated by the parents or others. Following a referral a (MDT) a multidisciplinary team evaluates the student. The team must contact the parents and obtain consent for evaluation. If parents consent to an evaluation must occur within 60 days of the consent if the MDT find the student eligible then the school must convene an IEP team within 30 calendar days.
2. The IDEA imposes no specific time limits with which the IEP must be implemented following its development, but the Office of Special Education Programs indicates that no delay is permissible
IEP Team

The IDEA delineates the person who is to compose the IEP tem and it is the school district’s responsibility to ensure that all the required participants attend the meeting. The required participants are found in the text “The Law and Special Education” (Yell, 282)

Content of IEP

The IDEA requires that at a minimum, eight components be present in the IEP. State and local agencies may require additional elements. (Yell, 288).

Substantive Requirements
Parental Participation – One of the most important mandates in the IDEA regarding an IEP is the requirement that the parents be equal partners in the IEP process. The school must take significant steps to ensure that one or both of the parents are present at the IEP meeting. The meeting may be conducted without the parents but only after exhaustive attempts have been made to contact them, which can be documented. (Yell 300-301).
Review and Revision - The IEP must be reviewed and if necessary revised at least annually. However, either the school or the parents can initiate a review earlier, if they determine the goals need revision. (Yell,302).

Communicating the Requirement of the IEP – The IDEA requires that the IEP be implemented as developed. The requirements apply to both general and special education requirements, thus when general education teachers are instructing students on an IEP, they must have access to the IEP document. (Yell, 303)

Litigation and the IEP - The Supreme Court has directed lower courts to apply a two prong test to determine if procedural and substantive compliance with FAPE was provided in the IEP. To determine substantive compliance with the FAPE mandate, the court must examine the following: 1) The IEP goals and objectives. 2) The evaluation procedures used to measure a student’s progress toward meeting those goals. 3) Actual student progress in a school’s special education program. Procedural flaws may but not necessarily invalidate and IEP. The Court would need to determine if the procedural error somehow compromised the student’s right to a FAPE. (Yell, 304).


This is legal information only, not legal advice!
The above listed information about special education law is for general information only. General legal information is not the same as legal advice -- which requires the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although I believe the information to be accurate and useful, I strongly recommend that you consult a lawyer if you want professional advice regarding your specific legal situation and do not rely solely on the information provided above.