Contents of the IEP

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet your child’s individual needs. Every child who receives special education services must have an IEP.

It is important to consider the “Big Picture” of the IEP—its purposes, how it serves as a blueprint for your child’s special education and related services under the federal special education law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the scope of activities and settings it covers.

Purpose of the IEP

The IEP has three general purposes:

1. To identify your child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, and how his or her disability affects your child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum
2. To establish measurable annual goals for your child; and
3. To state the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services that the public school will provide to, or on behalf of, your child.

When constructing an appropriate educational program for a child with a disability, the ARD committee broadly considers the child’s involvement and participation in three main areas of school life:

1. The general education curriculum
   • By general education curriculum, we mean the subject matter provided to children without disabilities and the associated skills they are expected to develop and apply. Examples include math, science, history, and language arts.
2. Location of services
   • Special education services can be provided in a general education classroom, a classroom with only students with a disability, in the child’s home, a hospital, a district’s disciplinary center, or a private facility or prison.
3. Extracurricular and nonacademic activities
   • When we talk about extracurricular activities and nonacademic activities, we are referring to school activities that fall outside the realm of the general curriculum. These are usually voluntary and tend to be more social than academic. They typically involve others of the same age and may be organized and guided by teachers or other school personnel. Examples: yearbook, school newspaper, school sports, school clubs, lunch, recess, band, pep rallies, assemblies, field trips, after-school programs, recreational clubs.

Who Develops the IEP?

Your child’s IEP is developed by a team that includes school personnel and you (parent or guardian). In Texas, the IEP Team is called the ARD committee and an IEP meeting is referred to as an ARD meeting (ARD stands for Admission, Review and Dismissal).

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Texas rules, certain people must be part of your child’s ARD committee. The ARD committee members work together to craft a plan that will address your child’s individual needs and enable him or her to participate in the general education curriculum, and school activities, learning alongside his or her nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. The ARD committee then puts its crafted plan down in writing–resulting in the IEP that will guide the delivery of your child’s special education and related services for up to one year.

If you would like to read more in depth about the ARD committee, read The IEP Team | ARD Committee.

What an IEP Must Contain

When you and the other members of your child’s ARD committee meet and consider how your child will be involved in and participate in school life, they must be sure that the resulting IEP contains the specific information and decisions required by IDEA and state rules. The IEP must include:

• Your child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP), describing how he or she is currently doing in school and how your child’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum
• Appropriate challenging annual goals for your child, meaning what you and the school team think your child can reasonably accomplish in a year
• The special education and related services to be provided to your child, so he or she can be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities. This includes specially designed instruction, supplementary aids and services (such as a communication device), accommodations, modifications and changes to the program or supports for school personnel
• If your child will be educated separately from nondisabled children or not participate in extracurricular or other nonacademic activities such as lunch or clubs (called extent of nonparticipation), and how much this will occur during the school day
• How your child is to participate in state and district-wide assessments, including what allowable accommodations he or she needs to use
  • Note: If the ARD committee determines that your child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular State or districtwide assessment of student achievement, the IEP must include a statement of why your child cannot participate in the regular assessment and why the particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for him or her;
• Service delivery details, such as when services and modifications will begin, how often they will be provided, where they will be provided, and how long they will last
• How and when school personnel will measure and report your child’s progress toward the annual goals

Extra IEP Content for Youth with Disabilities

For students approaching the end of their secondary school education, the IEP must also include statements about what are called transition services, which are designed to help youth with disabilities prepare for life after high school.

Texas state law requires that at age 14 the ARD committee consider:

• Appropriate student involvement in the student’s transition to life outside the public school system;
• Appropriate postsecondary education options, including preparation for postsecondary-level coursework; an appropriate functional vocational evaluation;
• Appropriate employment goals and objectives;
• Appropriate independent living goals and objectives;
• Appropriate circumstances for facilitating a referral of a student or the student’s parents to a governmental agency for services or public benefits;
• The use and availability of appropriate: (A) supplementary aids, services, curricula, and other opportunities to assist the student in developing decision-making skills; and (B) supports and services to foster the student’s independence and self-determination, including a supported decision-making agreement. TAC 89.1055(h)

IDEA requires that, beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the ARD committee, the IEP must include:

• Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills; and
• The transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.

Also, beginning no later than one year before the child reaches the age of majority under State law, the IEP must include:

• A statement that the child has been informed of the child’s rights under Part B of IDEA (if any) that will transfer to the child on reaching the age of majority.