Individualized Education Programs

IEP Overview

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the cornerstone of the special education process for each individual student. As described in the State Education Department’s Guide to Quality Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development and Implementation, the IEP is a strategic planning document that should be far-reaching in its impact.

What IEPs do:

• Identify the students’ unique needs and how the school will strategically address those needs;
• Identify how specially designed instruction will be provided in the context of supporting the students in the general education curriculum and in reaching the same learning standards as nondisabled students;
• Guide how the special education resources of the school need to be configured to meet the needs of students with disabilities in that school;
• Identify how students with disabilities will be prepared for adult living;
• Measure students’ progress toward goals and objectives, providing schools with information to determine if they have appropriately configured and used their resources to reach the desired outcomes for students with disabilities.

To assist students in becoming involved and progressing in the general education curriculum, the IEP team must consider both the state’s learning standards and the school-based instructional curriculum which should be aligned to the state’s learning standards. In developing IEPs that are linked to standards, the State Education Department recommends that IEPs should:

1. Review the content as well as the expectations for how the student will learn or demonstrate knowledge and skill in the content areas.
2. Identify the strengths and challenges for the student in relation to those expectations in the present levels of performance section of the IEP.
3. Identify how a student’s needs are linked to the general curriculum (e.g., a student’s difficulty with visual processing may affect graphing skills required to achieve the math standards).
4. Identify the goals that the student will be expected to achieve in one year. The development of annual goals should be guided by the following question: What knowledge, skills, behaviors and strategies does the student need to master the content of the curriculum?
5. Identify the special education services, including the adaptations, accommodations or modifications to the general curriculum, and/or instructional environment and materials, as needed by the student to reach those standards.

Every student with a disability must have an IEP in effect by the beginning of each school year. Federal and state laws and regulations specify the information that must be documented in each student’s IEP. In addition, IEPs developed for the 2011 school year and thereafter must be on a form prescribed by the Commissioner of Education. The electronic IEP in the NYC DOE’s Special Education Student Information System (SESIS) is designed to meet the state requirements.

Source: State Guide to Quality Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development and Implementation, pp. 1-4

IEP Resources

• SESIS IEP Crosswalk
  A comparison of the current NYCDOE IEP to the new New York State IEP in SESIS
• Learn DOE webcast recordings of SESIS “Brown Bag” sessions
  Recordings cover a wide range of topics including Creating an IEP in SESIS.
• Guide to Quality Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development and Implementation
  This is the guide for the new state IEP.
• State Regulations: 8 NYCRR §200.4(d)
• Creating a Quality IEP: Individualized Education Program Manual, January 2005
• Alternate Assessment Standards for Students with Severe Disabilities in New York State Learning Standards
• Payroll Administration Memorandum #20, 2000-2001: IEP Arbitration Decision
  This document states that when a teacher loses his/her preparation period due to attendance at an IEP conference, this conference shall not be considered as an "emergency." Consequently, the teacher must be compensated.
• UFT Special Education Complaint Form