Individual Education Plan (IEP)

The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. The IEP is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a disability.

What is an IEP?

IEP Team

The IEP team members include the parents, the child's teacher, the special education teacher, and LEA representative, the child (when appropriate), and other professionals or specialists that make sense. This collective group of individuals who attend the IEP meetings is called the IEP team.

  • Case Manager- The case manager is responsible for making sure the child's special education services and supports are in place.

  • General Education Teacher- The general education teacher is who provides differentiated instruction to students and will get accurate, reliable data on the student's behavior and progress toward meeting the child's annual goals.

  • District Representative/ LEA- Local educational agency or LEA is the person who is there to represent the school district. This person should know what resources are available to the district and have the authority to allocate such resources.

  • Parent- The parents are vital to the IEP team process. They provide information on the child's strengths and weaknesses at home, background information on the child's history and development, and information on any family factors that may affect the child's learning.

  • Special Education Teacher- This may be a Special Education Teacher other than the Case Manager that assists with the childin a resource room or special class devoted to children recieving special education services, teaam teach with the child's regular educaiton teacher, or work with other school staff to provide expertise about addressing the child's unique needs. 

  • Other Attendees- Other individuals will also attend that can provide insight into the child’s special needs that prevent them from moving forward on their own down the educational road to success like related services staff. 

IEP Plan

An Individualized Education Program or Plan (IEP) is a blueprint for a child’s special education experience at school. The plan describes what services and supports the child gets. IEPs tend to have many common elements. Below are some of the important parts of an IEP.

Annual Goals

These should consist of academic and functional skills that the child can reasonably accomplish during the school year. Each is broken down into shorter-term objectives.

Present Level of Performance

This describes the child’s current abilities, skills, challenges, and strengths. It may also discuss social skills and behavior.

Accomodations

IEP Accommodations are adjustments to the environment, instruction or materials that allow a student with a disability to access the content or complete assigned tasks. Accommodations do not alter what is being taught.

Examples:

  • Extended Time to complete Assignments

  • Untimed Tests

  • Reduced Number of Test Questions

  • text-to-speech

Services

Gifted Services

A gifted child is defined as a school-age person whose intellectual ability paired with subject matter aptitude/achievement, creativity/divergent thinking, and/or problem-solving/critical thinking meets the eligibility criteria.

Gifted Education in New Mexico is under the umbrella of Special Education. In the New Mexico Administrative Code (6.31.2.12) a gifted child is defined as a school-age person whose intellectual ability paired with subject matter aptitude/achievement, creativity/divergent thinking, and/or problem-solving/critical thinking meets the eligibility criteria in this section and for whom a properly constituted Individual Education Program (IEP) team determines special education services are required to meet the child's educational needs. Programs are developed for each student through the Individualized Education Program (I.E.P.). Gifted services are provided through a variety of classroom models.

What is a gifted IEP?

Gifted students have needs that cannot be met meaningfully using only the regular, unaltered education curriculum. The result is that Gifted IEPs are, by definition, education plans individualized according to each gifted student's needs.

Resources

Gifted Education in New Mexico PED Technical Assistance Manual

National Association for Gifted Children

New Mexico Association for the Gifted

Parent's Unofficial Guide to Gifted IEPs and Gifted IEP Meetings

Related Services

Transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education

  • Occupational Therapy

  • Physical Therapy 

  • Psychological Services

  • SPED Social Workers and the Behavior Response Team

View the Anatomy of an IEP here. 

Who Gets IEPs?

IEPs are a part of public education. They are given to eligible kids, ages 3 and up, who attend public school. This includes charter schools. 

To be eligible for an IEP, a student has to:

How to get an IEP