585805

research-article2015
ISCXXX10.1177/1053451215585805Intervention in School and ClinicPatti

What Works for Me

Theresa Earles-Vollrath, Associate Editor
Intervention in School and Clinic 2016, Vol. 51(3) 151­–156
© Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2015
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1053451215585805
isc.sagepub.com

Back to the Basics: Practical Tips for IEP Writing

Angela L. Patti, PhD1

Abstract
The individualized education program (IEP) is the foundation for the provision of special education services for a child with
a disability. While special education teachers learn about IEP writing in their teacher preparation programs, it can still be
difficult to translate this knowledge into practice. Therefore, when faced with the task of leading the IEP team in drafting
portions of this critical document, many special education teachers feel underprepared and overwhelmed. This article
provides five practical tips to facilitate the process of IEP writing. The tips are: (a) gather input, (b) tell the child’s story,
(c) incorporate data, (d) make it flow, and (e) utilize resources. By following these simple and practical suggestions, special
education teachers can be well on their way to successful IEP writing.

Keywords
disabilities, Individualized Education Program (IEP) process

Ms. Garcia, a first-year special education teacher, has been Ms. Garcia is facing a situation many special education
doing her best to keep up with the intense demands of her teachers encounter. In carrying out the role of case manager
job, including designing and implementing lessons and for a particular student, a special education teacher is often
assessments, managing her students’ behavior intervention asked to lead the team in drafting sections of the IEP prior
plans, communicating with parents, consulting with other to an annual review meeting. Special education law requires
professionals, and a myriad of other tasks that go along a team of individuals who know and work closely with the
with the job. It is midyear, and she feels she is just keeping student, including teachers, other school professionals, par-
her head above water, when her special education adminis- ents, and the student himself or herself, be included in the
trator informs her one of the students on her caseload will process of developing an IEP (Individuals with Disabilities
have an annual review in a few weeks. The administrator Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], 2004). However, one
also tells Ms. Garcia she needs to bring a draft of the pres- person, often the special education teacher, is commonly
ent levels section of the student’s new individualized educa- responsible for gathering information from team members
tion program (IEP) as well as ideas for annual goals, and developing portions of the IEP (e.g., present level state-
program modifications, and testing accommodations. The ments, suggested annual goals, recommended modifica-
administrator tells Ms. Garcia these items will be discussed, tions/accommodations) in draft form to bring to the
revised, and finalized at the annual review meeting, but she, committee meeting. Then, at the meeting, the team uses the
as case manager, needs to work with other members of the draft as a conversation starter and flushes out each section
team to prepare a draft in advance as a starting point for into a formal document.
the discussion. Writing an IEP is an important and challenging task. The
Ms. Garcia learned about IEP writing in her teacher IEP outlines a child’s current abilities, identifies his or her
preparation program, but does not feel prepared to lead the needs, sets forth goals, and provides a guide to implementing
team in developing a draft IEP for the upcoming meeting. In
light of everything else she is trying to keep up with, she also 1
Buffalo State College, NY, USA
feels overwhelmed by this added responsibility. That eve-
Corresponding Author:
ning, she logs in to her school’s IEP writing program; as she Angela L. Patti, PhD, Assistant Professor, Buffalo State College, Ketchum
stares at the blinking cursor on the computer screen, she Hall #215, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, USA.
thinks she has no idea where to even begin. (See Note 1.) Email: [email protected]
152 Intervention in School and Clinic 51(3)

an appropriate special education program (IDEIA, 2004). In addition to existing documentation, the special edu-
Thus, it is perhaps the most important document in the educa- cation teacher can develop a questionnaire (such as that
tion of a child with a disability. found in Figure 1) asking for input on how the respondent
It is particularly important for teachers to be supported feels the child is doing academically, socially, and physi-
in their efforts related to IEP writing, as the burden of cally, as well as areas of need that may be addressed
paperwork has often been cited as a major contributing fac- through special education services. The questionnaire can
tor in special education teacher attrition (Berry, Petrin, be disseminated and collected in hard copy or electroni-
Gravelle, & Farmer, 2011; Billingsley, 2004). Since the cally. This can be a simple and efficient way to gather input
IEP is so critical in nature, and because it is so complex, from general education teachers, related service providers,
many teachers may feel underprepared and overwhelmed and other relevant personnel.
as they approach the task of drafting the document. Even In addition to gathering input from school personnel, it is
veteran teachers may struggle with this complex task, par- essential to involve parents throughout the process of IEP
ticularly when trying to keep up with regulatory updates development (Diliberto & Brewer, 2012; Fish, 2008). Not
and changes in administrative expectations. The following only is this required by special education law (IDEIA,
five tips may help teachers who are facing the challenge of 2004), but parents offer a unique perspective on their child.
drafting an IEP. Further, parents tend to have more positive perceptions of
the IEP process when they are respected, valued, and treated
1. Gather input. as equal members of the IEP team (Diliberto & Brewer,
2. Tell the child’s story. 2012; Fish, 2008).
3. Incorporate data. Gathering parental input can occur in an IEP planning
4. Make it flow. meeting in which a teacher sits down with the parents and
5. Utilize resources. discusses the student’s progress, strengths, and concerns
(Diliberto & Brewer, 2012; Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin,
Soodak, & Shogren, 2011). When gathering input from
Tips for IEP Writing parents, it is also important for a teacher to share informa-
tion such as assessment results and progress reports so that
Tip 1: Gather Input
parents can understand their child’s performance in
Many teachers, like Ms. Garcia, may feel overwhelmed regards to particular skill areas (Diliberto & Brewer,
by the idea of developing an IEP. Even though one teacher 2012). This shared dialogue is critical as it “respects the
may be responsible for leading the team in developing a family’s right to state their priorities and enables profes-
draft of certain IEP sections for a meeting, he or she sionals and families to gather and consider relevant infor-
should still reach out to other members of the IEP team mation before making any final decisions” (Turnbull et al.,
and those individuals who know and work with the child 2011, p. 220).
to gather input at this stage of IEP development. Before In the event a face-to-face meeting is not possible, other
even sitting down to begin writing, a teacher should work means of communication can be utilized. Teachers and par-
to gather information from all other teachers working ents can hold phone or video conferences, share informa-
with the child, related service providers, other relevant tion back and forth via written reports and surveys, or
school personnel, the child’s parents, and the child him- correspond through email messages.
self or herself. During this information gathering phase of IEP develop-
The special education teacher can gather information he ment, a teacher should also gather input from the student
or she has from progress monitoring of annual goals, class- himself or herself (Konrad, 2008; Van Dycke, Martin, &
room work samples, informal and formal assessments, and Lovett, 2006). Many students have great insight into their
so forth. In addition, most other professionals working with own strengths, preferences, and learning needs. Hence,
a child will also have a great deal of existing documentation another important perspective is gained when students con-
that can be shared for IEP development. This documenta- tribute. Although federal law does not require direct student
tion includes classroom work samples, progress monitoring involvement until the age of 16 (IDEIA, 2004), the earlier
records, behavioral charts, anecdotal notes, grades, student students get involved, the more likely they will be to engage
inventories, attendance records, and health information. In in meaningful participation in the process (Van Dycke et al.,
today’s schools, when students are first referred for special 2006). Students can contribute to IEP drafting in a variety of
education evaluation, oftentimes a variety of data have ways, including identifying strengths and needs, creating
already been collected through response to intervention vision statements, and setting personal goals (Konrad, 2008).
(RTI) systems. Therefore, building-level instructional sup- As a teacher collects documentation from a variety of
port teams are another valuable resource for collecting data, sources and in a variety of formats, he or she can place it in
particularly for the initial IEP. a file for the student’s IEP development. Once all of this
Patti 153

IEP Input Questionnaire

Child’s name: Date:

Person completing: Role:

Please take a few moments to respond to the following questions based on your knowledge and experiences
with this child. Also, please attach any supporting documentation that may be useful in developing this child’s
Individualized Education Program (IEP).

How is the child performing academically?

What are the child’s academic strengths and interests?

What are the child’s academic needs?

How is the child performing socially?

What are the child’s social strengths and preferences?

What are the child’s social needs?

How is the child performing physically?

What are the child’s physical strengths?

What are the child’s physical needs?

What other comments, concerns, suggestions, or information would you like to share?

Figure 1.  Sample Individual Education Program (IEP) Input Questionnaire.

valuable input has been gathered, the teacher can begin to started is she has not gathered information about her
piece it together into a cohesive document. student from others. So, instead of trying to start drafting
While sitting at her computer, Ms. Garcia realizes one sections of the IEP, she sets about making a list of who
of the reasons she is having such a tough time getting she can contact to provide input, and developing
154 Intervention in School and Clinic 51(3)

questionnaire and interview forms to use in gathering Tip 3: Incorporate Data

that input.
Once the teacher has written the basic narrative about the
child, it is then time to go back and add in specific data to
Tip 2: Tell the Child’s Story support the narrative and make the picture even clearer.
Having a wealth of information to refer to could certainly These data can be both qualitative and quantitative in
help a teacher, like Ms. Garcia, in the IEP writing process, nature. Qualitative data may include more detailed narra-
but it can still be difficult to begin writing. The first portion tive descriptions of a student’s performance, while quanti-
of an IEP to be written is usually the statements regarding tative data may include numerical scores and information
the child’s present levels and needs since developing the from assessments, work samples, rating scales, and behav-
child’s special education program is based on a solid under- ioral observations. This step will require the teacher to turn
standing of the child’s current performance. The present back to the documents that were gathered to pull specific
levels and needs sections are narrative in nature; therefore, comments, scores, and levels of performance from various
when approaching these sections, it may be helpful for a assessments and reports.
teacher to liken the process to writing a story. Adding in more specific data is critical in setting the
Before starting to write, a teacher needs to read through foundation for later parts of the IEP. For example, when
and consider all of the information that has been gathered. writing an annual goal on a particular student need, the team
Next, he or she needs to begin piecing all of this informa- needs to know what level the student is currently at as well
tion together. It may be helpful for the teacher to flip these as the student’s expected rate of progress in order to set
papers over, or put them aside, and just think for a few min- appropriate criteria for success. Including specific data in
utes about what he or she knows about the child. At this present levels statements facilitates this process. These data
point, it is important to consider the audience of the IEP, can also be used to justify or support recommendations for
including a variety of school professionals and parents, as special education or related services, testing accommoda-
well as what that audience needs to know and understand tions, and program modifications.
about the child. After some thought, but without looking As an illustration, the following statements show how a
back at the documentation, the teacher can begin to write a teacher could take the general statements written as a frame-
narrative that tells the story of the child. The following are work and add in more specific data.
examples of statements a teacher could write about a child
without even looking back at the documentation gathered. Academic: Sierra is able to read grade-level text fluently.
On one-minute oral reading fluency probes with mid–
Academic: Sierra is able to read grade-level text third-grade-level material, Sierra averages 100 words
fluently. per minute with 3 or fewer errors. This is on par with
Social: Megan has difficulty with peer relationships and grade-level expectations.
does not seem to have any close friends. Social: Megan has difficulty with peer relationships and
Physical: Elias often appears tired in the classroom and does not seem to have any close friends. Teachers note
has difficulty focusing on class lessons. she tends to work alone when given a choice to work
independently or in a small group. She frequently gets in
By starting out with writing a basic narrative about the verbal arguments with her peers, on average of once per
student, some teachers may find it easier to begin. A teacher day. Anecdotal records indicate these arguments are usu-
can ask himself or herself the following questions: What are ally related to Megan not getting a preferred material or
the greatest strengths of this student? What are the greatest option during a classroom activity.
areas of need of this student? What do others really need to Physical: Elias often appears tired in the classroom and
know about this student? The IEP should tell the child’s has difficulty focusing on class lessons. Behavioral
story so individuals reading the IEP can get a clear picture observations indicate during a 20-minute teacher-led
of who the child is and be able to distinguish the given child instructional period, Elias is on task (as defined by hav-
from other children described in other IEPs. ing his eyes on the teacher or task) an average of only
Two weeks later, Ms. Garcia is sitting back in front of her 30% of recorded intervals. When off task, his most fre-
computer with a great deal of information she was able to quent behavior is laying his head on his desk.
gather from those people who know and work closely with
her student. After reading through the information, she sets As demonstrated, a teacher can set up a narrative outline by
it all aside and drafts an outline of the present level sections “telling the child’s story” and then add in more specific data to
of the IEP by focusing on the few major strengths and areas create a solid foundation on which to build the rest of the IEP.
of need that really stood out across the various sources of Once Ms. Garcia completes the present levels outline,
documentation she reviewed. she goes back to her information and adds in specific details
Patti 155

present levels were thoroughly described and plans for

Student’s How student’s addressing the need have been included.
Student’s need need will be
present level
addressed After completing her work, Ms. Garcia looks back over
the draft carefully to ensure ideas within the IEP flow well.
In particular, she ensures every major need mentioned in
Figure 2.  Flow of Individual Education Program (IEP) the present levels section is somehow addressed later in the
Development. IEP recommendations. When finished, she feels she has
developed a solid foundation for the IEP team to work from
in the upcoming meeting.
from the data she gathered. She now feels like she has a
solid foundation for building the rest of the IEP, so she
moves on to developing suggestions for the annual goals Tip 5: Utilize Resources
and other IEP recommendations. Even with consideration of these tips, IEP writing is cer-
tainly not an easy task. The good news for a teacher like
Tip 4: Make It Flow Ms. Garcia is there are many resources available to aid the
process. A resourceful teacher can easily search the Internet
The first three tips relate to setting a solid IEP foundation by and find a variety of helpful documents, including IEP
gathering information, telling the child’s story in narrative writing guides, manuals for selecting appropriate testing
fashion, and then adding in more specific data. When fol- accommodations, sample language for writing measurable
lowing these steps, it is important that the information flows annual goals, checklists for completing IEPs, and so forth.
well throughout the document. One way to do this is to Additionally, teachers and teams can develop their own
ensure a consistent voice. When information is pulled tools to support IEP writing.
together from a variety of sources, each with a unique writ- Many resource documents are published by state educa-
ing style, the result can seem choppy and fragmented. As a tion departments and reputable special education organiza-
teacher works to combine this information, special consid- tions. For example, the Michigan Department of Education
eration should be made to modify elements of writing such (2010) has developed and posted reference guides for vari-
as language use, verb tense, and tone to ensure the docu- ous components of IEP writing such as “Quick Reference
ment flows well. This will make the IEP easier to read, fol- Guide, Section 7: Special Education and Related Services,”
low, and understand. which provides tips on making decisions about service
In addition to the flow of the writing style, a teacher also delivery and how to document these decisions on the IEP. In
needs to consider the flow of information. Ideas presented New York State, “Test Access and Accommodations: Policy
in one section of the IEP should clearly build off of earlier and Tools to Guide Decision-Making and Implementation”
sections as well as lead to later sections. For example, when is a document available to guide decisions about testing and
the reader of an IEP gets to an annual goal related to reading related accommodations (The University of the State of
fluency, he or she should not be surprised to see it because New York, The State Education Department, Office of
presumably, the student’s difficulties with reading fluency Vocational and Education Services for Individuals with
would have already been thoroughly discussed in the pres- Disabilities, 2006). Also, the National Dissemination Center
ent levels sections of the IEP. Further, the reader might for Children with Disabilities (2010) has information avail-
expect to see a special education service and/or testing able on their website under the heading of “Annual Goals,”
accommodation related to reading later in the IEP. In this which explains the components of annual goals, along with
way, the various sections of the IEP build off one another, examples and tips for making sure goals are measurable.
with a clear and well-defined flow of ideas. In addition to guiding documents, a variety of software
The graphic in Figure 2 shows a general map for how and web-based programs are available to either directly or
ideas should flow within the IEP. First, a student’s present indirectly support IEP writing. Programs designed specifi-
level in a particular area is described. This leads to a discus- cally for IEP writing, such as e-IEP PRO and IEP Direct,
sion of the student’s need in relation to that area. Then, can be adopted for use by school districts to assist in writing
throughout the remainder of the IEP, components fall in line and managing IEPs.
to communicate how this need will be addressed—through Other programs indirectly support IEP writing, such as
annual goals, special education and related services, testing Goalbook, a program designed to help teams develop and
accommodations, and/or other components of the IEP. monitor IEP goals as well as select appropriate teaching
One way for a teacher to ensure this flow is to go back strategies to address goal areas (https://goalbookapp.com/).
through an IEP draft and use different colored highlighters The program features resources the authors assert are
to trace the path of different need areas throughout the IEP. aligned to Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS),
In this way, the teacher can ensure that for each need area, principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and
156 Intervention in School and Clinic 51(3)

research-based practice. Another example, ClassDojo, is a Declaration of Conflicting Interests

program designed to collect, monitor, and communicate The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
behavioral data (http://www.classdojo.com/). Programs like to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
these can be relevant for students with disabilities and IEP
writing but can also be applicable to school-wide initiatives Funding
for all students, including positive behavioral intervations The author received no financial support for the research, author-
and support (PBIS) and data-based decision making. ship, and/or publication of this article.
Additional resources may be developed by a school dis-
trict, team, or individual teacher. For example, a district Note
may develop an outline of required timeframes for transi-
1 The vignette of Ms. Garcia is a fictionalized account drawn
tion planning components of the IEP, as well as a list of
from a number of authentic situations.
resources to help prepare students to move from high school
to adult life. Or, as demonstrated previously in Figure 1, a
References
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be used for gathering input from others to develop the draft Berry, A. B., Petrin, R. A., Gravelle, M. L., & Farmer, T. W. (2011).
of the IEP. Issues in special education teacher recruitment, retention, and
professional development: Considerations in support of rural
The suggestions described here are primarily general in
teachers. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 30(4), 3–11.
nature. A teacher or team will want to search out and Billingsley, B. S. (2004). Special education teacher retention and
develop specific resources relevant to their state and needs. attrition: A critical analysis of the research literature. Journal
Further, it is critical to bear in mind that due to the individu- of Special Education, 38(1), 39–55. Retrieved from http://sed.
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cut-and-paste fashion. Rather, resources can serve as guides, Diliberto, J. A., & Brewer, D. (2012). Six tips for successful IEP
with the individual levels, strengths, and needs of the child meetings. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 44(4), 30–37.
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004,
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resources she used into a binder. In her binder, she places National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.
(2010). Annual goals. Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/
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