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Rochelle’s Special Education Tips
There Is No Need to Write the IEP Version of War and Peace When You Are
Developing Present Levels and Goals and Objectives
The IEP is a working document. It is supposed to be helpful to the reader. Too often, school staff include so much information in the Present Levels that it is difficult to understand exactly what is the student’s Present Level in any given area. Sometimes this happens because it is just easier for the writer to transfer, verbatim, what is in an assessment report. But it also happens that some parents’ attorneys/advocates, want you to include information to show that they are effective in their advocacy or there is an ulterior placement/LRE motive in including certain information. The school based members of the IEP team are ultimately responsible for deciding what goes into the Present Levels. While you must consider parental input, it does not mean you have to agree.
The same principal is true for the number of goals and objectives in an IEP. Only include those goals and objectives that are reasonably achievable by the student in a year. Not every weakness needs a goal. Goals do not need a large number of objectives.