Addressing Standards and Assessments on the IEP

The purpose of this study was to examine state Individualized Education Program (IEP) forms to determine the extent to which they include documentation of standards and assessments. All 50 states were asked to send their IEP forms and to indicate whether they were required, recommended, or simply sample forms. Out of the 41 states with IEP forms, only 5 specifically addressed educational standards on their forms; 31 addressed the general curriculum on their IEP forms. IEP forms in 30 states listed three or more options for assessment participation, including standard participation in general state or district assessments, accommodated participation, and alternate assessment participation. Because IEP forms may be the only source of information to guide decisions during IEP team meetings, we make several recommendations for IEP forms that will provide decision-making guidance to IEP teams.