Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are notorious for taking over the lives of special education teachers.
How can you actually plan during your planning period when you have 3 IEPs to write? These documents carry a lot of weight and have a LOT of sections, and to put it simply – IEPs take TIME to write.
While faster IEP writing comes with time and experience, there are some really effective hacks to cut down on all the brain space and time each document can take.
Writing annual goals can take a lot of time and brain power. We want IEP goals and objectives to be measurable, challenging yet attainable, easy to track, and be exactly what the student needs.
Using an IEP Goal Bank can significantly streamline the process of writing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) while ensuring quality, consistency, and efficiency. Using a goal bank, like The Intentional IEPs searchable goal bank, or a set of pre-written goals to choose from, can also take writing time down by almost half. How? When you know what skills you are going to be writing IEP goals for, having goals already in a template that you can copy and paste then individualize – you aren’t reinventing the wheel or starting from scratch each time.
Some school districts purchase access to goal banks that they endorse for special education teachers and related service providers to use, or it can be something you look into independently. The other special education teachers in your school or district can also create your own bank of IEP goals. Using an IEP Goal Bank to then create a Google Doc of useful goals that fit the unique requirements of your district or school can be a real time saver.
The data collection, the assessments, the work samples…ahhh! It is SO easy for special education teachers to end up drowning in a pile of papers. The main reason why we need all this stuff is for each student’s IEP.
If you’re spending an hour finding the right paperwork every time you’re trying to sit down to write an IEP, that is a definite time suck. Finding the organizational structure that works for you is essential in streamlining the IEP process. Using a file cabinet with color coded files, a hanging file organizer, paper trays, or scanning and adding to a digital file on your computer – any of those options (or something else that works for you!) can be a real life saver.
Organizing by student so you know that all of their important information is in one spot is a great way to keep IEP writing time less stressful and more effective.
IEPs are individualized – it even says it in the name! They need to be specifically tailored to the unique needs of each student.
This being said, that does not mean you need to completely reinvent the wheel for each IEP that you write. A great time saving tip is to create a template for word-heavy sections of the IEP, like the present levels of performance.
Take the IEP you’re writing right now and make it a perfect example. Once you have perfected it, save it into a document on your computer or Google Drive. When your next IEP comes around, copy and paste that template into your IEP, and go through each sentence to customize it for the student you’re writing about. While some sentences will need to be added or removed, it feels great to have a template to know that you’re not forgetting any important information or spending way too much time searching for the perfect way to begin a sentence.
The important thing here is to re-read several times to ensure that you have changed out all of your information from the previous IEP.
Getting families on board with the IEP process is not only important for relationship and trust building, but it is also a time saver (see our recommended IEP writing timeline here). This means that draft IEPs equals time saver! If the first time families view the IEP is during the meeting when you’re all around the table, the playing field is not level because parents don’t have the same information to start that the IEP team does. Your IEP meeting will also take a bit longer because you’ll be spending time starting from the beginning.
They will have questions, they will want to include their input, and they may need more time to process the information presented… and when a draft IEP is sent home prior and discussed with the family, you can start ahead of the game.
IEP writing is going to take time; this is an integral part of our job as special education teachers. While IEPs are important and drive our entire school day, they do not have to take endless hours to create.
Working to create a system using some, or all, of these time saving hacks can help you get your time back.
Writing effective IEPs is so much easier when you have the right tools in your toolbox! Inside The Intentional IEP, you’ll get access to expert-led trainings, a searchable IEP goal bank with IEP Screeners, and ready-to-use resources that take the guesswork out of IEP writing and implementation. With the right tools at your fingertips, you’ll save time, reduce stress, and feel confident in creating IEPs that truly support your students. Join today and fill your IEP toolbox with everything you need!
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