“This helps me with IEP meetings! It makes me remember to stop and take a breath because I have it all and the check list shows that, plus it made my IEP meetings for meaningful with the data.”
There are so many parts to a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP)… and these parts are constantly being changed and revised on at least a yearly basis at minimum. An IEP is a living document!
As part of the IEP Team, you are responsible for drafting the entire IEP (this depends on what state you live in and how your district handles caseload responsibilities)… and this can be very time consuming.
You’ve got to make sure the student information is correct and updated, service times, additional services, accommodations and modifications… not to mention the IEP goals and Present Levels!
Over the last 10 years, I’ve written an IEP or two (or hundreds) and the best thing I ever did was make myself an IEP Toolkit. IEPs are so important and it does take time to write everything up – but it takes less time when you have templates ready to go and can plug and play!
Play? You’re probably thinking, “There’s no playing when it comes to writing IEPs – this is serious business!” And you’re right, just like the IEP Toolkit is serious business.
And how and when do you use each part of the IEP toolkit for? Why do you need all of these parts and how will these editable templates be helpful for you?
I want to walk you through each part of the IEP Toolkit and not only share how you’ll use it, but also why it’s going to be a game changer for you.
Starting here makes sense because it outlines what needs to be done and by when. This simple chart is a printable visual that keeps you on top of your game when it comes to all the IEP paperwork… oh yeah, and when to schedule the meeting, send home the draft, and all of the in-between.
The editable calendar lets you plan out all of your caseload meetings, due dates, testing schedules, and more. You’ll never lose track of what’s coming up between the calendar and the timeline.
The IEP meeting to checklist is also a great addition to your timeline and planning calendar because it tells you what to do before the IEP meeting, what to do during the IEP meeting, and what to do after the IEP meeting.
The Present Levels should tell the story of the child. If Mr. B picks up Celeste’s IEP, Mr. B should have a full painted picture of who the child is, what the child can and cannot do, including baseline data and skills to be mastered, strengths and weaknesses, preferences, etc.
And without a properly written PLAAFP (or PLOP), the IEP goals won’t align or make sense to the greater good of the rest of the IEP.
Now depending on what program your school or district uses to write IEPs, you may have a built in accommodation list to plug into student IEPs.
BUT – from experience, those lists are not extensive or categorized by student need. You scroll and scroll waiting for the right one to pop out.
OR – your school has a basic list of accommodations that every child with special needs gets, whether they actually need it or not.
I’ve been in both situations, which is what prompted me to build this list of 340 accommodations and modifications. I wanted something where allllll of the accommodations and modifications were in one place, that I could edit and then copy/paste into an IEP, and really make the student’s services individualized (that IS what the I in IEP stands for).
The list includes accommodations under these categories: Presentation of Academic Content, Methodology, Giving Directions, Behavioral, Note Taking and Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Transitions and Changes, ESL/ELL, General Materials, Highlighting, Technology, Grading, Organization, Assessments. Accommodations also include environmental accommodations: environmental, seating, peer interaction, rules and expectations, sensory.
If you are looking for more specifics on IEP’s like writing IEP goals and behavior plans – you’re in the right place!
You can join The Intentional IEP to gain access to over 150+ different IEP related trainings, and access to our IEP Goal Bank. Click the image above to join!
While an IEP is individualized, and your report card comment should be very individualized based on student IEP goal progress, the report card comments gives you a home base starting point. There’s no need to start from scratch every marking period or semester.
The range of achievement scale partnered with the powerful words to use in progress reporting makes writing progress reports and filling in IEP goal data so much quicker and more meaningful to you and to parents.
The IEP Meeting Toolkit portion of the IEP Toolkit brings everything full circle. Inside is everything you need to schedule, plan and prepare for, and hold an IEP meeting… and all of it is editable so you can change wording to really make it work for you and the students and families you service.
Nothing puts all of this into your teacher perspective more than hearing first hand from a classroom teacher just like you.
Beth sent me this email at the beginning of November and it made my heart so very happy (for her and for the families she serves!):
“Let me describe my current evening: dread and doom as I write my first IEP of this COVID year…..Then I remember that I am a member of the Intentional IEP!!
I truly just copied and pasted PLAAFP verbiage and plugged in my data! It was that easy! My county just switched IEP systems, so we are “building” the new IEPs from the ground up. I really was dreading writing this document – but with the present levels template from the IEP toolkit AND The Vault of goals (with the professional verbiage!!) made it quick and painless. I really loved that I can search the goals by subject and grade level. It helped me plan next steps for the future goals.
I feel like I owe you a debt – seriously! Can I bake you a cake? Clean out your car? Make you dinner? Buy you a coffee? SERIOUSLY! THANK YOU FOR THIS RESOURCE!
I am a second year teacher in a self contained room that is in a new state with new “rules and regulations.” I tried to pin down colleagues last year to explain the IEP system to me – but nobody could lay it out the way this website did.”
Danica says:
“This is such a beneficial resource for new teachers who are intimidated by the IEP process! All of the paperwork is simple, easy to understand and use, and functional! Thank you!”
As special education teachers we are always strapped for time – with lesson planning, teaching, and simple things like making copies and even using the restroom. Our plates are so full and IEP writing is no stranger as a main course on our dish.
Having simple systems put in place that help you save one minute here, five minutes here, ten minutes there – add up to a lot of saved minutes in one day or week that we get to do more of what we love. And that’s teach!
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