585805

research-article2015
ISCXXX10.1177/1053451215585805Intervention in School and ClinicPatti

What Works for Me

Theresa Earles-Vollrath, Associate Editor
Intervention in School and Clinic 2016, Vol. 51(3) 151­–156
© Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2015
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1053451215585805
isc.sagepub.com

Back to the Basics: Practical Tips for IEP Writing

Angela L. Patti, PhD1

Abstract
The individualized education program (IEP) is the foundation for the provision of special education services for a child with
a disability. While special education teachers learn about IEP writing in their teacher preparation programs, it can still be
difficult to translate this knowledge into practice. Therefore, when faced with the task of leading the IEP team in drafting
portions of this critical document, many special education teachers feel underprepared and overwhelmed. This article
provides five practical tips to facilitate the process of IEP writing. The tips are: (a) gather input, (b) tell the child’s story,
(c) incorporate data, (d) make it flow, and (e) utilize resources. By following these simple and practical suggestions, special
education teachers can be well on their way to successful IEP writing.

Keywords
disabilities, Individualized Education Program (IEP) process

Ms. Garcia, a first-year special education teacher, has been
doing her best to keep up with the intense demands of her
job, including designing and implementing lessons and
assessments, managing her students’ behavior intervention
plans, communicating with parents, consulting with other
professionals, and a myriad of other tasks that go along
with the job. It is midyear, and she feels she is just keeping
her head above water, when her special education adminis-
trator informs her one of the students on her caseload will
have an annual review in a few weeks. The administrator
also tells Ms. Garcia she needs to bring a draft of the pres-
ent levels section of the student’s new individualized educa-
tion program (IEP) as well as ideas for annual goals,
program modifications, and testing accommodations. The
administrator tells Ms. Garcia these items will be discussed,
revised, and finalized at the annual review meeting, but she,
as case manager, needs to work with other members of the
team to prepare a draft in advance as a starting point for
the discussion.
Ms. Garcia learned about IEP writing in her teacher
preparation program, but does not feel prepared to lead the
team in developing a draft IEP for the upcoming meeting. In
light of everything else she is trying to keep up with, she also
feels overwhelmed by this added responsibility. That eve-
ning, she logs in to her school’s IEP writing program; as she
stares at the blinking cursor on the computer screen, she
thinks she has no idea where to even begin. (See Note 1.)
Ms. Garcia is facing a situation many special education
teachers encounter. In carrying out the role of case manager
for a particular student, a special education teacher is often
asked to lead the team in drafting sections of the IEP prior
to an annual review meeting. Special education law requires
a team of individuals who know and work closely with the
student, including teachers, other school professionals, par-
ents, and the student himself or herself, be included in the
process of developing an IEP (Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], 2004). However, one
person, often the special education teacher, is commonly
responsible for gathering information from team members
and developing portions of the IEP (e.g., present level state-
ments, suggested annual goals, recommended modifica-
tions/accommodations) in draft form to bring to the
committee meeting. Then, at the meeting, the team uses the
draft as a conversation starter and flushes out each section
into a formal document.
Writing an IEP is an important and challenging task. The
IEP outlines a child’s current abilities, identifies his or her
needs, sets forth goals, and provides a guide to implementing
1
Buffalo State College, NY, USA
Corresponding Author:
Angela L. Patti, PhD, Assistant Professor, Buffalo State College, Ketchum
Hall #215, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, USA.
Email: pattial@buffalostate.edu
152 Intervention in School and Clinic 51(3)
an appropriate special education program (IDEIA, 2004).
Thus, it is perhaps the most important document in the educa-
tion of a child with a disability.
It is particularly important for teachers to be supported
in their efforts related to IEP writing, as the burden of
paperwork has often been cited as a major contributing fac-
tor in special education teacher attrition (Berry, Petrin,
Gravelle, & Farmer, 2011; Billingsley, 2004). Since the
IEP is so critical in nature, and because it is so complex,
many teachers may feel underprepared and overwhelmed
as they approach the task of drafting the document. Even
veteran teachers may struggle with this complex task, par-
ticularly when trying to keep up with regulatory updates
and changes in administrative expectations. The following
five tips may help teachers who are facing the challenge of
drafting an IEP.
1. Gather input.
2. Tell the child’s story.
3. Incorporate data.
4. Make it flow.
5. Utilize resources.
Tips for IEP Writing
Tip 1: Gather Input
Many teachers, like Ms. Garcia, may feel overwhelmed
by the idea of developing an IEP. Even though one teacher
may be responsible for leading the team in developing a
draft of certain IEP sections for a meeting, he or she
should still reach out to other members of the IEP team
and those individuals who know and work with the child
to gather input at this stage of IEP development. Before
even sitting down to begin writing, a teacher should work
to gather information from all other teachers working
with the child, related service providers, other relevant
school personnel, the child’s parents, and the child him-
self or herself.
The special education teacher can gather information he
or she has from progress monitoring of annual goals, class-
room work samples, informal and formal assessments, and
so forth. In addition, most other professionals working with
a child will also have a great deal of existing documentation
that can be shared for IEP development. This documenta-
tion includes classroom work samples, progress monitoring
records, behavioral charts, anecdotal notes, grades, student
inventories, attendance records, and health information. In
today’s schools, when students are first referred for special
education evaluation, oftentimes a variety of data have
already been collected through response to intervention
(RTI) systems. Therefore, building-level instructional sup-
port teams are another valuable resource for collecting data,
particularly for the initial IEP.
In addition to existing documentation, the special edu-
cation teacher can develop a questionnaire (such as that
found in Figure 1) asking for input on how the respondent
feels the child is doing academically, socially, and physi-
cally, as well as areas of need that may be addressed
through special education services. The questionnaire can
be disseminated and collected in hard copy or electroni-
cally. This can be a simple and efficient way to gather input
from general education teachers, related service providers,
and other relevant personnel.
In addition to gathering input from school personnel, it is
essential to involve parents throughout the process of IEP
development (Diliberto & Brewer, 2012; Fish, 2008). Not
only is this required by special education law (IDEIA,
2004), but parents offer a unique perspective on their child.
Further, parents tend to have more positive perceptions of
the IEP process when they are respected, valued, and treated
as equal members of the IEP team (Diliberto & Brewer,
2012; Fish, 2008).
Gathering parental input can occur in an IEP planning
meeting in which a teacher sits down with the parents and
discusses the student’s progress, strengths, and concerns
(Diliberto & Brewer, 2012; Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin,
Soodak, & Shogren, 2011). When gathering input from
parents, it is also important for a teacher to share informa-
tion such as assessment results and progress reports so that
parents can understand their child’s performance in
regards to particular skill areas (Diliberto & Brewer,
2012). This shared dialogue is critical as it “respects the
family’s right to state their priorities and enables profes-
sionals and families to gather and consider relevant infor-
mation before making any final decisions” (Turnbull et al.,
2011, p. 220).
In the event a face-to-face meeting is not possible, other
means of communication can be utilized. Teachers and par-
ents can hold phone or video conferences, share informa-
tion back and forth via written reports and surveys, or
correspond through email messages.
During this information gathering phase of IEP develop-
ment, a teacher should also gather input from the student
himself or herself (Konrad, 2008; Van Dycke, Martin, &
Lovett, 2006). Many students have great insight into their
own strengths, preferences, and learning needs. Hence,
another important perspective is gained when students con-
tribute. Although federal law does not require direct student
involvement until the age of 16 (IDEIA, 2004), the earlier
students get involved, the more likely they will be to engage
in meaningful participation in the process (Van Dycke et al.,
2006). Students can contribute to IEP drafting in a variety of
ways, including identifying strengths and needs, creating
vision statements, and setting personal goals (Konrad, 2008).
As a teacher collects documentation from a variety of
sources and in a variety of formats, he or she can place it in
a file for the student’s IEP development. Once all of this
Patti 153

IEP Input Questionnaire

Child’s name: Date:

Person completing: Role:

Please take a few moments to respond to the following questions based on your knowledge and experiences
with this child. Also, please attach any supporting documentation that may be useful in developing this child’s
Individualized Education Program (IEP).

How is the child performing academically?

What are the child’s academic strengths and interests?

What are the child’s academic needs?

How is the child performing socially?

What are the child’s social strengths and preferences?

What are the child’s social needs?

How is the child performing physically?

What are the child’s physical strengths?

What are the child’s physical needs?

What other comments, concerns, suggestions, or information would you like to share?

Figure 1.  Sample Individual Education Program (IEP) Input Questionnaire.

valuable input has been gathered, the teacher can begin to started is she has not gathered information about her
piece it together into a cohesive document. student from others. So, instead of trying to start drafting
While sitting at her computer, Ms. Garcia realizes one sections of the IEP, she sets about making a list of who
of the reasons she is having such a tough time getting she can contact to provide input, and developing
154 Intervention in School and Clinic 51(3)
questionnaire and interview forms to use in gathering
that input.
Tip 2: Tell the Child’s Story
Having a wealth of information to refer to could certainly
help a teacher, like Ms. Garcia, in the IEP writing process,
but it can still be difficult to begin writing. The first portion
of an IEP to be written is usually the statements regarding
the child’s present levels and needs since developing the
child’s special education program is based on a solid under-
standing of the child’s current performance. The present
levels and needs sections are narrative in nature; therefore,
when approaching these sections, it may be helpful for a
teacher to liken the process to writing a story.
Before starting to write, a teacher needs to read through
and consider all of the information that has been gathered.
Next, he or she needs to begin piecing all of this informa-
tion together. It may be helpful for the teacher to flip these
papers over, or put them aside, and just think for a few min-
utes about what he or she knows about the child. At this
point, it is important to consider the audience of the IEP,
including a variety of school professionals and parents, as
well as what that audience needs to know and understand
about the child. After some thought, but without looking
back at the documentation, the teacher can begin to write a
narrative that tells the story of the child. The following are
examples of statements a teacher could write about a child
without even looking back at the documentation gathered.
Academic: Sierra is able to read grade-level text
fluently.
Social: Megan has difficulty with peer relationships and
does not seem to have any close friends.
Physical: Elias often appears tired in the classroom and
has difficulty focusing on class lessons.
By starting out with writing a basic narrative about the
student, some teachers may find it easier to begin. A teacher
can ask himself or herself the following questions: What are
the greatest strengths of this student? What are the greatest
areas of need of this student? What do others really need to
know about this student? The IEP should tell the child’s
story so individuals reading the IEP can get a clear picture
of who the child is and be able to distinguish the given child
from other children described in other IEPs.
Two weeks later, Ms. Garcia is sitting back in front of her
computer with a great deal of information she was able to
gather from those people who know and work closely with
her student. After reading through the information, she sets
it all aside and drafts an outline of the present level sections
of the IEP by focusing on the few major strengths and areas
of need that really stood out across the various sources of
documentation she reviewed.
Tip 3: Incorporate Data
Once the teacher has written the basic narrative about the
child, it is then time to go back and add in specific data to
support the narrative and make the picture even clearer.
These data can be both qualitative and quantitative in
nature. Qualitative data may include more detailed narra-
tive descriptions of a student’s performance, while quanti-
tative data may include numerical scores and information
from assessments, work samples, rating scales, and behav-
ioral observations. This step will require the teacher to turn
back to the documents that were gathered to pull specific
comments, scores, and levels of performance from various
assessments and reports.
Adding in more specific data is critical in setting the
foundation for later parts of the IEP. For example, when
writing an annual goal on a particular student need, the team
needs to know what level the student is currently at as well
as the student’s expected rate of progress in order to set
appropriate criteria for success. Including specific data in
present levels statements facilitates this process. These data
can also be used to justify or support recommendations for
special education or related services, testing accommoda-
tions, and program modifications.
As an illustration, the following statements show how a
teacher could take the general statements written as a frame-
work and add in more specific data.
Academic: Sierra is able to read grade-level text fluently.
On one-minute oral reading fluency probes with mid–
third-grade-level material, Sierra averages 100 words
per minute with 3 or fewer errors. This is on par with
grade-level expectations.
Social: Megan has difficulty with peer relationships and
does not seem to have any close friends. Teachers note
she tends to work alone when given a choice to work
independently or in a small group. She frequently gets in
verbal arguments with her peers, on average of once per
day. Anecdotal records indicate these arguments are usu-
ally related to Megan not getting a preferred material or
option during a classroom activity.
Physical: Elias often appears tired in the classroom and
has difficulty focusing on class lessons. Behavioral
observations indicate during a 20-minute teacher-led
instructional period, Elias is on task (as defined by hav-
ing his eyes on the teacher or task) an average of only
30% of recorded intervals. When off task, his most fre-
quent behavior is laying his head on his desk.
As demonstrated, a teacher can set up a narrative outline by
“telling the child’s story” and then add in more specific data to
create a solid foundation on which to build the rest of the IEP.
Once Ms. Garcia completes the present levels outline,
she goes back to her information and adds in specific details
Patti 155
Student’s How student’s
Student’s need need will be
present level
addressed
Figure 2.  Flow of Individual Education Program (IEP)
Development.
from the data she gathered. She now feels like she has a
solid foundation for building the rest of the IEP, so she
moves on to developing suggestions for the annual goals
and other IEP recommendations.
Tip 4: Make It Flow
The first three tips relate to setting a solid IEP foundation by
gathering information, telling the child’s story in narrative
fashion, and then adding in more specific data. When fol-
lowing these steps, it is important that the information flows
well throughout the document. One way to do this is to
ensure a consistent voice. When information is pulled
together from a variety of sources, each with a unique writ-
ing style, the result can seem choppy and fragmented. As a
teacher works to combine this information, special consid-
eration should be made to modify elements of writing such
as language use, verb tense, and tone to ensure the docu-
ment flows well. This will make the IEP easier to read, fol-
low, and understand.
In addition to the flow of the writing style, a teacher also
needs to consider the flow of information. Ideas presented
in one section of the IEP should clearly build off of earlier
sections as well as lead to later sections. For example, when
the reader of an IEP gets to an annual goal related to reading
fluency, he or she should not be surprised to see it because
presumably, the student’s difficulties with reading fluency
would have already been thoroughly discussed in the pres-
ent levels sections of the IEP. Further, the reader might
expect to see a special education service and/or testing
accommodation related to reading later in the IEP. In this
way, the various sections of the IEP build off one another,
with a clear and well-defined flow of ideas.
The graphic in Figure 2 shows a general map for how
ideas should flow within the IEP. First, a student’s present
level in a particular area is described. This leads to a discus-
sion of the student’s need in relation to that area. Then,
throughout the remainder of the IEP, components fall in line
to communicate how this need will be addressed—through
annual goals, special education and related services, testing
accommodations, and/or other components of the IEP.
One way for a teacher to ensure this flow is to go back
through an IEP draft and use different colored highlighters
to trace the path of different need areas throughout the IEP.
In this way, the teacher can ensure that for each need area,
present levels were thoroughly described and plans for
addressing the need have been included.
After completing her work, Ms. Garcia looks back over
the draft carefully to ensure ideas within the IEP flow well.
In particular, she ensures every major need mentioned in
the present levels section is somehow addressed later in the
IEP recommendations. When finished, she feels she has
developed a solid foundation for the IEP team to work from
in the upcoming meeting.
Tip 5: Utilize Resources
Even with consideration of these tips, IEP writing is cer-
tainly not an easy task. The good news for a teacher like
Ms. Garcia is there are many resources available to aid the
process. A resourceful teacher can easily search the Internet
and find a variety of helpful documents, including IEP
writing guides, manuals for selecting appropriate testing
accommodations, sample language for writing measurable
annual goals, checklists for completing IEPs, and so forth.
Additionally, teachers and teams can develop their own
tools to support IEP writing.
Many resource documents are published by state educa-
tion departments and reputable special education organiza-
tions. For example, the Michigan Department of Education
(2010) has developed and posted reference guides for vari-
ous components of IEP writing such as “Quick Reference
Guide, Section 7: Special Education and Related Services,”
which provides tips on making decisions about service
delivery and how to document these decisions on the IEP. In
New York State, “Test Access and Accommodations: Policy
and Tools to Guide Decision-Making and Implementation”
is a document available to guide decisions about testing and
related accommodations (The University of the State of
New York, The State Education Department, Office of
Vocational and Education Services for Individuals with
Disabilities, 2006). Also, the National Dissemination Center
for Children with Disabilities (2010) has information avail-
able on their website under the heading of “Annual Goals,”
which explains the components of annual goals, along with
examples and tips for making sure goals are measurable.
In addition to guiding documents, a variety of software
and web-based programs are available to either directly or
indirectly support IEP writing. Programs designed specifi-
cally for IEP writing, such as e-IEP PRO and IEP Direct,
can be adopted for use by school districts to assist in writing
and managing IEPs.
Other programs indirectly support IEP writing, such as
Goalbook, a program designed to help teams develop and
monitor IEP goals as well as select appropriate teaching
strategies to address goal areas (https://goalbookapp.com/).
The program features resources the authors assert are
aligned to Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS),
principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and
156 Intervention in School and Clinic 51(3)
research-based practice. Another example, ClassDojo, is a
program designed to collect, monitor, and communicate
behavioral data (http://www.classdojo.com/). Programs like
these can be relevant for students with disabilities and IEP
writing but can also be applicable to school-wide initiatives
for all students, including positive behavioral intervations
and support (PBIS) and data-based decision making.
Additional resources may be developed by a school dis-
trict, team, or individual teacher. For example, a district
may develop an outline of required timeframes for transi-
tion planning components of the IEP, as well as a list of
resources to help prepare students to move from high school
to adult life. Or, as demonstrated previously in Figure 1, a
teacher can develop a set of interview questions or a form to
be used for gathering input from others to develop the draft
of the IEP.
The suggestions described here are primarily general in
nature. A teacher or team will want to search out and
develop specific resources relevant to their state and needs.
Further, it is critical to bear in mind that due to the individu-
alized nature of IEPs, any resources should not be used in a
cut-and-paste fashion. Rather, resources can serve as guides,
with the individual levels, strengths, and needs of the child
ultimately shaping the IEP into a distinctive, personalized
plan.
Once a teacher locates and develops resources he or
she finds helpful, the resources can be gathered together
in one place as to be readily available during IEP writing
time. Some teachers may want to organize hard copies of
the resources in an IEP writing binder, while others may
want to save and catalog electronic versions. Either way,
a teacher will likely find it beneficial to have an organized
collection of resources when it comes time to write an
IEP.
Ms. Garcia is happy with her results and now realizes
what hard work it is to lead the drafting of an IEP. She
decides to take a few minutes to organize the various
resources she used into a binder. In her binder, she places
the forms she developed for gathering input, an annual goal
writing guide a colleague shared with her, and a list of web-
sites she found useful for IEP writing. Ms. Garcia feels she
is now much better prepared for writing IEP drafts in the
future.
Final Thoughts
Special education teachers play an integral role in IEP writ-
ing. Although the task can seem daunting, a teacher should
not feel alone in the process. By gathering data from a wide
variety of sources, utilizing available resources, and follow-
ing a few practical tips for writing such as those found in
this article, a teacher can be well on his or her way to lead-
ing the team in successful IEP writing.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
Note
1 The vignette of Ms. Garcia is a fictionalized account drawn
from a number of authentic situations.
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