Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Planning
Domain 3: Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Planning
This domain tests the IEP as both a legal document and a planning tool: required team members, present levels, measurable goals, services, placement, progress reporting, and transition.
Core rules and concepts
- Required IEP team: parent, general education teacher if the child is or may be in general education, special education teacher/provider, district representative qualified to supervise services and allocate resources, someone who can interpret evaluation results, the student when appropriate, and others with knowledge.
- Required content: PLAAFP (present levels of academic achievement and functional performance), measurable annual goals, how progress is measured and reported, special education and related services with frequency/location/duration, accommodations/modifications, least restrictive environment explanation, and transition services by age 16 or earlier under state law.
- Goals need baseline, target behavior, conditions, criterion, and timeframe. Services are not goals; “receive speech twice weekly” belongs in the service grid, not as a goal.
- LRE means education with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, with supplementary aids and services before removal. Placement is determined after goals and services, not before.
- Transition planning includes measurable postsecondary goals in education/training and employment, and independent living if needed, plus transition services and age-of-majority notice.
Worked example
Baseline: Mario reads 68 words per minute with 90% accuracy on grade-level probes. Annual goal: “Given a fourth-grade nonfiction passage, Mario will read 105 words per minute with 95% accuracy on three consecutive weekly CBM probes by May 15.” The goal is measurable, has a baseline and criterion, and names progress monitoring. Speech minutes go in the service grid; extended time is an accommodation.
Traps
- Writing “improve reading” without baseline or criterion.
- Putting services in the goal field.
- Choosing placement before defining needs.
- Forgetting transition or progress-reporting statements.