What is an IEP?

Updated: December 15, 2025. Reviewer: Dr. Rose Sebastian, Ed.D.

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Understanding IEPs

IEPs or Individual Education Plans are both the written plan and the program that supports students with disabilities in K-12 schools. The term comes from the federal law, IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). IDEA specifies exactly how students qualify for IEPs, what should be in the IEP, and what IEP meetings should look like.

While we often use IEP as a short hand for special education, that is not accurate. Some students in K-12 schools get special education supports under a different federal law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Those students also have qualifying disabilities but the school and family have agreed that the disabilities mean that the students just need accommodations, not additional services, to meet their disability related needs.

This whole site is really about IEPs. We have pages on how to write them– but also a huge section on how to read them with examples from most states in the US. This page is the super brief intro to them– feel free to dive in further with out how to read an IEP guide!

Summary: The Basics of an IEP

IEPs mean both a student’s individual education program and the written plan that spells out that program. The written plan is revised at least once a year at annual IEP team meetings. The plan lists a student’s strengths, where they are performing academically and functionally, goals for the student for the next year, accommodations and supports for the student, their services and where they will be received, and other key details of their special education program.

A Brief Overview of IEPs

What needs to be in an IEP? (Short version)

In plain language, an IEP, per 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A) needs to have:

Present levels of performance that provide detailed information on a student’s baseline in academic, socioemotional functioning, and motor skills (really? yes! put something in the box– and if they have no physical challenges amazing– write the positives!)
Measurable annual goals that match areas of need identified in the present levels
Checkboxes that state you will inform parents of progress at report card periods
Information on all services students will receive for the next year, including the number of hours and locations of services– and the start date of services
Information on any supports the students will receive (like extra time on tests or a text-to-speech reader) and where and how they will have access to it
Information on any state test accommodations the student will need
A justification for any service hours you listed that are not in general ed

That’s it! Districts might divide up this information differently, but every single IEP in the United States HAS to have this exact stuff on it! The law is federal so formatting changes district to district but this content needs to be in there!

What needs to be in an IEP? (Long version)

IDEA is incredibly specific about what needs to be in an IEP. Rather than writing the content myself, I am pasting below from IDEA. The IEP, per 34 C.F.R. § 300.320 must contain:

(1) A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including—

(i) How the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum as for nondisabled children); or
(ii) For preschool children, as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities;

(2)

(i) A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to—
- (A) Meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and
- (B) Meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability;
(ii) For children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate academic achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or short-term objectives;

(3) A description of—

(i) How the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals described in paragraph (2) of this section will be measured; and
(ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided;

(4) A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child—

(i) To advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals;
(ii) To be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and
(iii) To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities described in this section;

(5) An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in the activities described in paragraph (a)(4) of this section;

(6)

(i) A statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and districtwide assessments consistent with section 612(a)(16) of the Act; and
(ii) If the IEP Team determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular State or districtwide assessment of student achievement, a statement of why—
- (A) The child cannot participate in the regular assessment; and
- (B) The particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for the child; and

(7) The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications described in paragraph (a)(4) of this section, and the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services and modifications.

How often are IEPs updated?

IEPs are written for one year. The district is legally required to hold a new meeting and get a new IEP in place before 365 days pass from the last IEP (20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(4)(A)).

IEPs can be held more often than that and meetings can be combined. For example, if an annual is due in December and a triennial in February for a student, you hold both in December. There are no penalties for being early and many for being late!

Parents also have the right to request interim IEPs. These are meetings that are formal, legal meetings but held between annual meetings (20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(3)(D)). Typically at these small changes are made to an IEP. Schools can also request them. For example, I used to do interims for my fifth graders at the end of the year to, in consultation with the middle school, update the services for their transition.

IEPs are also required to be held within 60 days of a parent signing an assessment plan (see 34 C.F.R. § 300.301(c)(1)).