Information Sessions on New IEP Forms

The educational system is full of acronyms that tend to make me more nervous than the long, uninformative names that they replace.  Sometimes though, we just have to dive in and call all of them up. Today, we’re going to talk about the Individualized Education Program, commonly referred to as an IEP.

From Wikipedia: In the United States an Individualized Education Program, commonly referred to as an IEP, is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). An IEP is designed to meet the unique educational needs of one child, who may have a disability, as defined by federal regulations. The IEP is intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would. 34 CFR 300.320

In all cases the IEP must be tailored to the individual student’s needs as identified by the IEP evaluation process, and must especially help teachers and related service providers (such as paraprofessional educators) understand the student’s disability and how the disability affects the learning process.

Here is what is new:
The state developed a new form to help Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams focus on services that are most important for your child and to reduce variation of IEP forms across the state. The expectation is that IEPs will be more individualized to each student while at the same time held to the same standards across New York State.

Information Sessions for 2012 to learn what you need to know:
Please join members of the Division of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners at one of the following sessions to learn about New York City’s Special Education Reform. The following sessions will describe the process for developing the Individualized Education Program (IEP), including parent and family participation throughout the IEP process. Click to download a copy of this schedule.