Planning the IEP for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

The IEP is the driving force in planning an effective educational program for the student.Wood (1992) calls the IEP a "road map for instruction" (p.11).The 1996 report from the Wingspread Conference on Accountability in Special Education called the IEP the "heart of the special education system" (National Association of State Directors of Special Education, p. 1).It is a safeguard for students and the students' families-it is the document that ensures that children receive specially designed instruction to meet their individual needs. MAY 2002The Wingspread conference called the IEP both a process and a document.The process involves all of the individual planning steps taken by the team of individuals as they determine an appropriate educational program based on assessment, eligibility, and needs of the student.The document is the concrete confirmation of the decisions reached by the team.The IEP personalizes education by motivating the system to face the need for accommodations to assure that the student with individualized needs has an equal opportunity to education.A number of revisions to the IBP process, designed to strengthen its role, were made in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA 97) and its accompanying regulations.A teacher should not put the IEP in the drawer and forget it until it is time for the annual review; a new requirement assures that parents are updated on a regular basis (at the same time as report cards are issued) on the progress of the student toward that student's goals and objectives (or benchmarks).