IEP Compliance and why I'd never survive IEP jail.

Is IEP jail a real thing?  Will garbage IEP's and court cases send me to the land of orange jumpsuits and horizontal stripes? I'm not sure but I know that neither are for me.  IEP compliance doesn't come naturally to me.  I don't ooze organization.  I don't color code my folders and couldn't tell you a student's annual review date without looking.

But, what does come naturally to me is loving my students.  So, one of the ways I love them is to maintain a compliant IEP that provides for their needs.  Also, see orange jumpsuit statement above.

Also I am an Alabama fan.  We don't do orange.  Should have mentioned that.  

Anyway, back to compliance.

So how do I fight against all of my natural tendencies and maintain compliant IEP's?  I outsmart myself.

I have to make it easier to be compliant than not.  Which sounds impossible, I get it.

So how do I do this?

1.  I collect data ALL THE TIME.  Do I do formal progress monitoring probes for students' goals every few weeks?  Yes.  But I frontload those assessments so I look at them in August and NEVER AGAIN.  See why I don't like data collection here.  But also Kahoot games, Quizzizz activities, and Blooklet give me tons of real time data for both my instruction and their IEP.

2. Use templates.  I'm talking spreadsheets that give you at a glance looks at a student's information.  Goal banks. Cut and paste statements that you frequently use in IEP documents.  NOTE:  I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU SHOULD CUT AND PASTE AN IEP.  THAT IS A BAD IDEA.

3. Work ahead.  Don't rush.  Start that IEP as soon as you can.  If you're collecting data often, add information to that draft as you go along.

4. Send a draft to the parent.  So this is required by my district but it forces me to work ahead (see #3).  Less stress, happier teacher, and better IEP.  You think you can write a good IEP the night before a meeting but you can't.  Don't believe that lie you tell yourself, ok?

5. Give yourself grace.  I drop the ball on compliance all the time.  Last week, after feeling really good about my recent IEP meeting, I took a glance at an IEP written earlier in the year.  IT WAS TRASH AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN THROWN IN THE LANDFILL.  After being shredded to maintain all student confidentality, OF COURSE. So what did I do?  I called the parent and we scheduled a special review meeting to tweak a few things.  And guess what?  The parent thanked me for my transparency and we moved on.

So yes, IDEA requires compliant IEPs.  But more than that, our kids deserve it.  So here's to wearing colors other than orange and prints that aren't stripes....