The IEP and Your Role
Every autistic student who receives special education has an individualized education program, or IEP. In Texas, the team that writes it is called the ARD committee. The IEP is a legal document, but it only helps a student when the adults who work with that student every day understand it and use it. This module explains what an IEP must contain, what the 2017 Endrew F. decision means for the goals you see, and what your role is as a classroom teacher.
The module has two parts. Each part has a short reading followed by practice activities built around real classroom moments. Work through the sections in order; your progress is saved as you go. Plan on about 30 minutes, including the video.
- Name the main parts every IEP must include
- Explain the Endrew F. standard for meaningful progress
- Describe the classroom teacher’s role on the IEP or ARD team
- Explain what IDEA requires schools to share with each teacher
- Recognize that IEP supports apply in every class and setting
Watch first: The IEP and Your Role (7 min)
Watch the overview, then work through the readings and activities below.
The Blueprint for a Student’s Program
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), every IEP must include the student’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, measurable annual goals, how progress will be measured and reported, the special education, related services, supplementary aids and supports the student will receive, how much time the student will spend apart from peers without disabilities, accommodations for state and district tests, and when, where and how often services happen. Starting by age 14 in Texas (16 under federal law), it also includes transition planning for life after high school.
In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, a case about an autistic student. The Court said an IEP must be “reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.” Goals must be appropriately ambitious. Minimal progress year after year is not enough.
Read the federal list of what an IEP must contain. Notice how each part connects to the next: present levels lead to goals, goals lead to services, and progress reports show whether it is working.
Open 34 C.F.R. § 300.320 →- The required parts of an IEP
- How present levels connect to goals
- How progress must be measured and reported
- When transition planning begins
What Teachers Should Know About IEP Contents
Use these ideas when you first read a student’s IEP.
Present levels drive everything.
The present levels section describes what the student can do now and how autism affects learning and participation.
Goals must be measurable.
A goal like “will improve social skills” can’t be measured. A goal names a skill, a condition, a level and a timeframe.
Supports are more than services.
Supplementary aids, accommodations, and supports for school staff are part of the IEP, not optional extras.
Endrew F. raised the bar.
Progress must be appropriately ambitious for the student, not just a little better than nothing.
Mateo is an autistic fourth grader who joins your class for science and social studies. While reading his IEP, you notice his communication goal is word for word the same as last year’s and the year before: “Mateo will improve his ability to ask for help.”
His progress reports say “some progress” each grading period.
The case manager asks you to track how often Mateo asks for help during independent work for two weeks.
What should you record?
Which of these is a required part of every IEP under IDEA?
Reveal the Best Answer
For each statement, choose Accurate or Inaccurate, then check your answers.
1. Present levels describe what the student can do now and how the disability affects learning.
2. Under Endrew F., any amount of progress is enough.
3. In Texas, transition planning must be addressed by age 14.
4. Accommodations for state and district tests are listed in the IEP.
Every Teacher Is Part of the IEP
IDEA requires at least one general education teacher on the IEP team when a student is, or may be, in general education. That teacher helps the team decide on positive behavior supports, supplementary aids and services, and supports for school staff. Even when you are not at the meeting, you are expected to carry out the IEP in your class.
Federal rules also say each teacher and provider responsible for carrying out a student’s IEP must have access to the IEP and be informed of their specific responsibilities, including the accommodations, modifications and supports they must provide. If you teach an autistic student and haven’t seen the IEP, ask your case manager. In Texas, if a student has a behavior intervention plan, it must be given to each teacher who works with the student.
Read the Department of Education’s questions and answers on Endrew F. Focus on what it says about present levels, ambitious goals, and reviewing the IEP when a student isn’t making expected progress.
Open the Endrew F. Q&A →- What “appropriately ambitious” means
- How teams should consider past progress
- When an IEP should be revised
- How behavior that impedes learning must be addressed
Your Responsibilities
What carrying out an IEP looks like in a general education classroom.
Know the IEP.
Read the present levels, goals, accommodations and any behavior plan for each student you teach.
Provide supports consistently.
Accommodations and supports apply in every class, on every day, including tests.
Share what you see.
Your observations about strengths, triggers and progress help the team write better goals.
Ask when unsure.
If a support doesn’t make sense or isn’t working, talk to the case manager.
Two weeks into the semester, Ava, an autistic seventh grader, transfers into your math class. She hasn’t said much and has put her head down several times when the class gets loud.
You haven’t received any information about her besides her schedule.
The IEP lists noise-reducing headphones, a quiet space for breaks, and written directions.
When should you provide these supports?
At an ARD meeting, what is the most valuable contribution a general education teacher can make?
Reveal the Best Answer
For each statement, choose Accurate or Inaccurate, then check your answers.
1. A general education teacher is part of the IEP team when the student is, or may be, in general education.
2. Teachers may skip an accommodation if it doesn’t fit their lesson plans.
3. Each teacher responsible for a student’s IEP must have access to it.
4. Only special education teachers carry out IEPs.
What to carry into Module 2
- An IEP includes present levels, measurable goals, services, supports and progress reporting.
- Endrew F. requires appropriately ambitious goals, not minimal progress.
- Every teacher who works with the student carries out the IEP.
- Ask for the IEP and know your responsibilities.
References
- Definition of individualized education program, 34 C.F.R. § 300.320. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-300.320
- IEP Team, 34 C.F.R. § 300.321. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-300.321
- When IEPs must be in effect, 34 C.F.R. § 300.323. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-300.323
- U.S. Department of Education. (2017). Questions and answers (Q&A) on U.S. Supreme Court case decision Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District Re-1. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/idea-files/qa-endrew-f-v-douglas-county-school-district-case-qa/
- Individualized education program, 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 89.1055. https://law.cornell.edu/regulations/texas/19-Tex-Admin-Code-SS-89-1055