IEP stands for Individual Education Plan and it is the framework or “map” of your child’s immediate educational future. It is a plan that is devised by the IEP team. That team includes any and all professionals, teachers, experts and most of all you.

Your child’s IEP is probably the most important document that’s written about him or her over the course of his or her years in school. Evaluations and tests are only snapshots of what your child did or didn’t do in the few minutes they saw the evaluator. But the IEP is the plan that’s formed based on the testing, evaluations and input from the IEP team. It is the “in writing” statement about what your child needs, what his goals are and how the educational team will help him or her reach those goals.

With that in mind, we have prepared many links and information that will help you understand the IEP process. Our links button will also bring you to more specific information on the web to help you in your quest for an appropriate education for your child.

Links:

The Arc on IEPs
http://www.thearc.org/faqs/qa-idea.html

Free Special Education Articles
http://www.reedmartin.com/specialeducationarticles.htm

What Makes a Good IEP for Your Child?
http://www.pacer.org/parent/iep.htm

Ten Common Mistakes Parents Make in the IEP Process
http://www.thegraycenter.org/ten_common_mistakes_parents__mak.htm

Writing IEPs for Success
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.success.bateman.htm

IEP Information and Resources
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.index.htm

Your Child's IEP: Practical and Legal Guidance for Parents
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/iep.guidance.pf.html

Writing Good IEP Goals and objectives
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/plan_iep_goals.pf.html

Creating Useful IEPs
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/iep/ed449636.html

Understanding the IEP Process
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/iep/understanding_iep_process.html

Designing IEP Transition Plans
http://ericec.org/digests/e598.html

Legal Requirements for the Transition Component of IEPs
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/trans.legal.bateman.htm

Assistive Technology in the IEP
http://www.nls.org/atiep.htm

Accommodations and Modifications in IEPs
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/accoms.mods.kelly.htm

Art and the IEP
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/iep/art_and_the_iep.html

Recommended Reading

Better IEPS: How to Develop Legally Correct and Educationally Useful Programs
by Barbara D. Bateman and Mary Anne Linden
Better IEPs presents a powerful, three-step IEP process that focuses on the individual student and avoids the all too common routinized approach to program development. This "how-to" guide will empower IEP teams to plan for and provide an appropriate education. ISBN: 1-57035-164-3

Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy—The Special Education Survival Guide
A practical "survival guide" designed to teach you how to advocate for children with disabilities. Learn about obstacles, common reasons for parent-school conflict, and how to manage a crisis. Learn advocacy skills - how to organize, plan, present, and prepare. Learn how to organize the child's file, write SMART IEP goals and objectives, and measure progress objectively. Learn to create paper trails, write persuasive letters, and maintain control in school meetings. Includes worksheets, forms, sample letters; appendices; bibliography; index. To order go to www.wrightslaw.com

Wrightslaw: Special Education Law
. Designed to answer questions about special education law, Wrightslaw: Special Education Law includes the full text of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, FERPA, implementing regulations, and special education decisions by the U. S. Supreme Court. To order go to www.wrightslaw.com

Coming Soon: Wrightslaw Smart IEPs
This book will teach you how to use present levels of performance to write SMART IEP goals and objectives, how SMART IEPs measure progress, how to include modifications and accommodations, assistive technology, and transition plans, and how to write SMART IEPs that comply with the law.