In the United States an Individualized Education Program, commonly referred to as an IEP, is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In Canada an equivalent document is called an Individual Education Plan.
In the US, the IDEA requires public schools to develop an IEP for every student with a disability who is found to meet the federal and state requirements for special education . . The IEP must be designed to provide the child with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) . The IEP refers both to the educational program to be provided to a child with a disability and to the written document that describes that educational program.
Key considerations in developing an IEP include assessing students in all areas related to the suspected disability(ies), considering access to the general curriculum, considering how the disability affects the student’s learning, developing goals and objectives that make the biggest difference for the student, and ultimately choosing a placement in the least restrictive environment.
An individualized educational plan means one that is designed to meet the unique educational needs of one child. The IEP must be tailored to the individual student's needs as identified by the evaluation process and must help teachers and related service providers understand the student and how best to work with that student. In other words, the IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and how the school staff and student will work together to help the student learn better. Sometimes though the individual is not "retarded", they could be a complete genius, they just learn differently.
Under no circumstances should an IEP be written “to fit” a particular placement. Services for each student must be individually considered and recommended and should not depend on known or existing services. Each IEP must be designed to meet the specific needs of one student and must be a truly individualized document
The IDEA 2004 requires that an IEP must be written according to the needs of one student, and it must include the following:
IEPs also include other pertinent information found necessary by the team, such as a health plan or a behavior plan for some students.
The outcome of the IEP development process is an official document that describes the education plan designed to meet the unique needs of one child with a disability.
After the IEP is developed, the IEP team then determines placement—that is, the environment in which the child's IEP can most readily be implemented. IDEA requires that the IEP be complete before placement decisions are made so that the child's educational needs drive the IEP development process. Schools may not develop a child's IEP to fit into a pre-existing program for a particular classification of disability. The IEP is written to fit the student. The placement is chosen to fit the IEP.
IDEA requires state and local education agencies to educate children with disabilities with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. A child can only be placed in a separate school or special classes if the severity or nature of the disability is such that appropriate education cannot be provided to the child in the regular classroom, even with the use of supplementary aids and services. When determining placement, the starting assumption must be that the child will be educated alongside his or her typically developing peers. After examining the child's needs and considering possible in-class aids and services are insufficient to meet the child's needs can the IEP team consider placing the child in a more restricted environment.
The goal of the IDEA is that, as much as possible, children are to be educated in the same classroom as the child's non-disabled peers in the school nearest the child's home.
After the IEP is developed and placement is determined, the child's teachers are responsible for implementing all educational services, program modifications or supports as indicated by the individual education plan.
Schools must have an IEP in effect at the beginning of the school year. Initial IEPs must be developed within 30 days of the determination of eligibility, and the services specified in the child's IEP must be provided as soon as possible after the IEP is developed.
After the IEP is developed and placement is determined, the child's teachers are responsible for implementing all educational services, program modifications or supports as indicated by the individual education
School personnel have an obligation to provide parents with a Procedural Safeguards Notice, which must include an explanation of all of the procedural safeguards built into IDEA. In addition, the information must be in understandable language and in the native language of the parent.
Schools must give parents a copy of the child's IEP at no cost to the parent. (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(1)(B)(i).
Modifications to the content of the program Lowered success criteria for academic success increased emphasis on daily living skills and decrease Alternative state assesswments, such as off-grade level assessments
Some of a student's educational needs may be met using accommodations. Accommodations are typically provided by general educators within the general education environment. Accommodations do not involve modifying the material content but do allow students to receive information or to demonstrate what they have learned in ways that work around their disabilities.
Accommodations may include such provisions as preferential seating, providing photocopies of teacher notes, giving oral rather than written quizzes, alternative or modified assignments, extended time for tests and assignments, use of a word processor or laptop, and taking tests in a quiet room.
The IEP team must reflect on the affect the disability(ies) has on educational progress and then identify accommodations, if any are needed, for the student to make effective progress.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Individualized Education Program.