Individualized Education Program

An Individualized Education Program is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. IEPs must be reviewed every year to keep track of the child's educational progress. Similar legal documents exist in other countries.
An IEP highlights the special education experience for all eligible students with a disability. It also outlines specific strategies and supports to help students with disabilities succeed in both academic and social aspects of school life. An eligible student is any child in the U.S. between the ages of 3–21 attending a public school and has been evaluated as having a need in the form of a specific learning disability, autism, emotional disturbance, other health impairments, intellectual disability, orthopedic impairment, multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, deafness, visual impairment, deaf-blindness, developmental delay, speech/language impairment, or traumatic brain injury. The IEP describes present levels of performance, strengths, and needs, and creates measurable goals based on this data. It provides accommodations, modifications, related services, and specialized academic instruction to ensure that every eligible child receives a "Free Appropriate Public Education" in the "Least Restrictive Environment". The IEP is intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would. The four component goals are: conditions, learner, behavior, and criteria. In all cases, the IEP must be tailored to the individual student's needs as identified by the IEP evaluation process, and must help teachers and related service providers understand the student's disability and how the disability affects the learning process.
The IEP describes how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning, and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively. Developing an IEP requires the team to evaluate the student in all areas of disability, consider the student's ability to access the general education curriculum, consider how the disability affects the student's learning, and choose a federal placement for the student.

Legal basis

In the US, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 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. As long as a student qualifies for special education, the IEP is mandated to be regularly maintained and updated up to the point of high school graduation or prior to the 21st or 22nd birthday. If a student in special education attends university upon graduation, they are no longer "children with disabilities" under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 and are instead protected under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

IEP components

The IEP must be designed to provide the child with a Free Appropriate Public Education. The term IEP refers to both the educational program provided to a child with a disability and to the written document that describes that educational program. The IDEA requires that an IEP be written according to the needs of each student who is eligible under the IDEA; an IEP must also meet state regulations. The following must be included:

The student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance is an essential component of the IEP.
Measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals
How the student's progress toward meeting annual goals is to be measured and reported to the parents
Special-education and related services, as well as supplementary aids to be provided to the student
Schedule of services to be provided, including when the services are to begin, the frequency, duration, and location for the provision of services
Program accommodations or supports provided to school personnel on behalf of the student
Least Restrictive Environment data which includes calculations of the amount of time to be spent each day by the student in general-education settings compared to special-education settings. LRE requires that students with disabilities be educated with their non-disabled peers as much as possible and that schools must provide justification for any placement outside the general education classroom.
Explanation of any time the student will not participate along with non-disabled children
Accommodations to be provided during state and district assessments that are necessary to measuring the student's academic and functional performance

An IEP must also include other pertinent information found necessary by the team, such as a health plan or a behavior plan for some students.

Accommodation

Some of a student's educational needs may be met using class accommodations. Accommodations are typically provided by general educators within the general education environment. Accommodations do not involve modifying the material's content but rather allows students to receive information or to demonstrate what they have learned in ways that work around their impairment, thereby minimizing the likelihood of a significant disability. Furthermore, an accommodation enables a student to complete the same assignment as their peers, but with adjustments in areas such as timing, format, setting, schedule, response method, or presentation. For example, a child may complete fewer/different parts of a homework assignment or an assessment than other students. They may also write shorter papers or be given different projects and assignments in replacement of the original task.
Accommodations may also include provisions such as preferential seating, providing photocopies of teacher notes, giving oral rather than written quizzes, extended time for tests and assignments, use of a word processor or laptop, taking tests in a quiet room, prompts and reminders for focus breaks for sensory needs, and assistance with specific subject areas.

Modifications

Modifications in the curriculum can occur if a student needs to learn material that the class has moved on from, like working on exponents while the class is moving on to applying them in the order of operations. In other words, a modification changes the lesson or what the student needs to learn. Modifications involves adjusting the curriculum. They also may occur in grading rubrics, where a student with an IEP may be assessed on different standards than other students.
Modifications can be made to the program's content, such as lowering criteria for academic success, decreasing alternative state assessments, such as off-grade level assessments, or allowing the student to receive a "focused grade"a grade that is recognized in a high school diploma, but is noted as "focused".

Specially designed instruction

Specially designed instruction affects the instructional content, method of instructional delivery, and the performance methods and criteria that are necessary to help the student make meaningful educational progress. This instruction is designed by or with an appropriately credentialed special education teacher or related service provider. Students may have better success with small-group instruction as presented in a resource room particularly with language-based instruction.
For some students, teachers may need to present information through the use of manipulatives. For other students, teachers may need to select and teach only important key concepts and then alter evaluation activities and criteria to match this content change.
The IEP team determines whether a specific type of instruction is included in a student's IEP. Generally, if the methodology is an essential part of what is required to meet the individualized needs of the student, the methodology is included. For instance, if a student has a learning disability and has not learned to read using traditional methods, then another method is used. When including such an IEP recommendation, the team describes the components of the appropriate type of methodology, as opposed to naming a specific program.

Supplementary aids and services

Supplementary aids and services are determined by the IEP team and are based on the unique needs of the student/child. Some may include:

Assistive technology
Specialized Equipment
Environmental accommodations like, designated seating
Social Skills and Interaction support, for example, social stories, cooperative learning groups
Staff support like a teacher's aide in classroom that provides additional support for one or more specific students.
Related services

If the child needs additional services to access or benefit from special education, schools are required to provide the related services, which include: speech therapy, occupational or physical therapy, interpreters, medical services, orientation and mobility services, parent counseling, and training to help parents support the implementation of their child's IEP, psychological or counseling services, recreation services, rehabilitation, social work services, and transportation. If necessary a student is provided with specialized transportation. This can be the case if the student has a severe disability and requires a wheelchair, or is identified to have an emotional problem.

Eligibility

Before an IEP is written for a student with a disability, the school must first determine whether the student qualifies for special education services. To qualify, the child's disability must have an adverse effect on the child's educational progress. To determine eligibility, the school must conduct a full evaluation of the child in all areas of disability.
If the child is found to be eligible for services, the school is required to convene an IEP team and develop an appropriate educational plan for the child. The IEP should be implemented as soon as possible after the child is determined eligible. IDEA does not state specific time frames for each step, but each state determines its own laws for identifying the criteria regarding education and how it should be followed. States have added specific timelines that schools must follow for the eligibility, IEP development, and IEP implementation milestones.
As outlined by IDEA, students can receive free appropriate education under special education law if they fall under one of 14 categories:

Although teachers and school psychologists have the ability to initiate evaluations for special education service eligibility, they are unqualified to make medical diagnoses. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and physical and developmental delays must be diagnosed by a clinician, whether nurse-practitioner or physician. When children are diagnosed early, they can start receiving services at earlier stages of development. State health and/or education departments offer early intervention services for children under the age of three years, while the public school system offers services for children from ages three through twenty-one.