Tips and Guidelines for Preparing IEPs

Special Educators

When you are developing annual goal statements, please:

• Consider each area of achievement and functioning (i.e., academic, social, vocational)
negatively affected by the disability as needing an annual goal. Areas not affected by the
disability do not need goal statements.

• Think through and discuss with parents/guardians and colleagues how the attainment of
each goal will enhance the student’s involvement with and progress in the general
education curriculum and other educational activities. These issues of involvement and
progress are independent of a specific placement. IEP goals and services both precede
and predicate the matter of placement.

• Prioritize the goals per area, as some areas will feature more than one goal.

• Ensure that each goal statement reflects measurable behavior, meaningfully drawn from
present performance levels, and contains an appropriate time frame. Don’t depend on
curriculum guides or computerized banks of goals for goal statements.

• Consult with parents or guardians before drafting goal statements and regularly consult
with them during the process of working toward the goal’s attainment. Don’t present the
goals to the parents or guardians at the IEP meeting. IDEA requires educators to involve
parents or guardians meaningfully in the entirety of the IEP process.

• Ask yourself whether the goals will contribute ultimately toward the student’s maximum
independence and highest possible quality of life. The older the student, the more
important the question.

When you are preparing for and participating in an IEP meeting, please:

• Visit informally with the parents or guardians, the student, your school district
representative, and others to share your perspectives, obtain others’ perspectives, clarify
concerns, and solicit feedback about your ideas.

• Send out a formal written invitation, in print or electronic form, informing participants
when and where the meeting will be held and what to expect, including a brief agenda,
and the anticipated duration of the meeting. Use plain and correct English.

• Remember that these meetings can sometimes be stressful for all participants, especially
parents or guardians. Use humor wisely. Don’t try to impress parents with a superior
knowledge base. Be yourself, be prepared, and do the best you can.

Earle Knowlton
Developing Effective Individualized Education Programs: A Case-Based Tutorial, 2e
©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved. page 1 of 3
 • Briefly review the student’s present levels of educational performance when the time is
appropriate for doing so. Focus on what he or she is able to do as much as on what his or
her difficulties are. Ensure that parents or guardians have adequate time for questions.

• Review the annual goals as drafted and explain their relationship to the student’s present
performance levels and their relevance in terms of the student’s involvement and progress
in the general education curriculum, his or her progress in functional skill areas, and his
or her participation in other educational activities. Again, ensure that parents or guardians
have adequate time for questions and suggestions.

• Discuss special education, related services, supplementary aids and services, and program
modifications and supports for personnel involved with implementation of the student’s
IEP. This is why IDEA requires the attendance of someone who can vouch for school
district resources. Availability does not determine the services provided. Need is the
primary determinant of required services. Look at placement options after, not before,
discussing services.

• Be sure it is clear to all participants, prior to ending the meeting, who will do what for
whom, when, where, how, and why. This includes when parents or guardians will receive
progress reports, and how progress will be reported to them. If you have committed to a
task, do it. When your word is trusted, you will find it easier to hold others accountable.

General Educators

When you are involved in the IEP process, please:

• Provide clear, reliable data and information about the student’s achievement,
socialization, and behavior in your classroom. He or she is your student as much as the
special educator’s or the paraprofessional’s.

• Be aware that although the student appears on a general education class roster, it is in fact
the role of the special educator to facilitate the implementation of the IEP. To assure the
student’s participation in general education, components of the IEP’s implementation
may be a general educator’s responsibility. However, the overall operation of the
program is typically the special educator’s responsibility.

• Provide input from the perspective of a knowledgeable, skillful general education

teacher. Ms. Maheady, who appeared in video clips in Section II of this CD-ROM, is a
wonderful model of how the perspectives of a general education teacher can benefit the
entire IEP team.

Earle Knowlton
Developing Effective Individualized Education Programs: A Case-Based Tutorial, 2e
©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved. page 2 of 3
 • Know that the IEP binds a school district, not an individual, to the provision of services
to which the parties have agreed. It is not a contract binding any one signatory legally to
the provision of a given service. IDEA 2004 continues to encourage dispute resolution
through several remedies, including mediation. In the worst-case scenario, if anyone gets
sued, it is the school district, not a teacher.

• Don’t worry that the student needs annual goals for all general education academic and
performance areas. The eighth-grade student with a learning disability in reading likely
will not need a goal or goals specific to an algebra class. He or she might require some
adaptations to circumvent difficulties with reading comprehension related to algebra
word problems, but those adaptations would be reflected in more pointed goal statements
that would be inclusive of algebra, geography, computer applications, and so forth.
Rarely would separate goal statements be necessary.

• Consider the IEP a confidential document available on a need-to-know basis. As a

general education classroom teacher, if the student enrolled in your class needs test
accommodations, program modifications, or instructional adaptations as called for in the
IEP, you need to know even if you are not a member of the IEP team. Legally and
ethically, however, those who do not have a need to know should not be privy to the
document.

Earle Knowlton
Developing Effective Individualized Education Programs: A Case-Based Tutorial, 2e
©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved. page 3 of 3