I pulled some information from the US Dept of Ed, OSEP docs regarding annual IEP reviews.
Step 9. IEP is reviewed.
The child's IEP is reviewed by the IEP team at least once a year, or more often if the parents or school ask for a review. If necessary, the IEP is revised. Parents, as team members, must be invited to attend these meetings. Parents can make suggestions for changes, can agree or disagree with the IEP goals, and agree or disagree with the placement.
If parents do not agree with the IEP and placement, they may discuss their concerns with other members of the IEP team and try to work out an agreement. There are several options, including additional testing, an independent evaluation, or asking for mediation (if available) or a due process hearing. They may also file a complaint with the state education agency.
Step 10. Child is reevaluated.
At least every three years the child must be reevaluated. This evaluation is often called a "triennial." Its purpose is to find out if the child continues to be a "child with a disability," as defined by IDEA, and what the child's educational needs are. However, the child must be reevaluated more often if conditions warrant or if the child's parent or teacher asks for a reevaluation.
A Closer Look at the IEP
Clearly, the IEP is a very important document for children with disabilities and for those who are involved in educating them. Done correctly, the IEP should improve teaching, learning, and results. Each child's IEP describes, among other things, the educational program that has been designed to meet that child's unique needs. This part of the guide looks closely at how the IEP is written and by whom, and what information it must, at a minimum, contain.
Contents of the IEP
By law, the IEP must include certain information about the child and the educational program designed to meet his or her unique needs. In a nutshell, this information is:
n Current performance. The IEP must state how the child is currently doing in school (known as present levels of educational performance). This information usually comes from the evaluation results such as classroom tests and assignments, individual tests given to decide eligibility for services or during reevaluation, and observations made by parents, teachers, related service providers, and other school staff. The statement about "current performance" includes how the child's disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum.
n Annual goals. These are goals that the child can reasonably accomplish in a year. The goals are broken down into short‑term objectives or benchmarks. Goals may be academic, address social or behavioral needs, relate to physical needs, or address other educational needs. The goals must be measurable‑meaning that it must be possible to measure whether the student has achieved the goals.
n Special education and related services. The IEP must list the special education and related services to be provided to the child or on behalf of the child. This includes supplementary aids and services that the child needs. It also includes modifications (changes) to the program or supports for school personnel‑such as training or professional development‑that will be provided to assist the child.
n Participation with nondisabled children. The IEP must explain the extent (if any) to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and other school activities.
n Participation in state and district‑wide tests. Most states and districts give achievement tests to children in certain grades or age groups. The IEP must state what modifications in the administration of these tests the child will need. If a test is not appropriate for the child, the IEP must state why the test is not appropriate and how the child will be tested instead.
n Dates and places. The IEP must state when services will begin, how often they will be provided, where they will be provided, and how long they will last.
n Transition service needs. Beginning when the child is age 14 (or younger, if appropriate), the IEP must address (within the applicable parts of the IEP) the courses he or she needs to take to reach his or her post‑school goals. A statement of transition services needs must also be included in each of the child's subsequent IEPs.
n Needed transition services. Beginning when the child is age 16 (or younger, if appropriate), the IEP must state what transition services are needed to help the child prepare for leaving school.
n Age of majority. Beginning at least one year before the child reaches the age of majority, the IEP must include a statement that the student has been told of any rights that will transfer to him or her at the age of majority. (This statement would be needed only in states that transfer rights at the age of majority.)
n Measuring progress. The IEP must state how the child's progress will be measured and how parents will be informed of that progress.
Reviewing and Revising the IEP
The IEP team must review the child's IEP at least once a year. One purpose of this review is to see whether the child is achieving his or her annual goals. The team must revise the child's individualized education program, if necessary, to address:
n the child's progress or lack of expected progress toward the annual goals and in the general curriculum;
n information gathered through any reevaluation of the child;
n information about the child that the parents share;
n information about the child that the school shares (for example, insights from the teacher based on his or her observation of the child or the child's classwork);
n the child's anticipated needs; or
n other matters.
Although the IDEA requires this IEP review at least once a year, in fact the team may review and revise the IEP more often. Either the parents or the school can ask to hold an IEP meeting to revise the child's IEP. For example, the child may not be making progress toward his or her IEP goals, and his or her teacher or parents may become concerned. On the other hand, the child may have met most or all of the goals in the IEP, and new ones need to be written. In either case, the IEP team would meet to revise the IEP.
Look at Those Factors Again!
When the IEP team is meeting to conduct a review of the child's IEP and, as necessary, to revise it, members must again consider all of the factors discussed under the section "Writing the IEP." This includes:
n the child's strengths,
n the parents' ideas for enhancing their child's education,
n the results of recent evaluations or reevaluations, and
n how the child has done on state and district-wide tests.
The IEP team must also consider the "special factors," as listed in that section.
OSEP Monitoring
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) regularly monitors states to see that they are complying with IDEA. Every two years OSEP requires that states report progress toward meeting established performance goals that, at a minimum, address the performance of children on assessments, drop--out rates, and graduation rates. As part of its monitoring, the Department reviews IEPs and interviews parents, students, and school staff to find out:
n whether, and how, the IEP team made the decisions reflected in the IEP;
n whether those decisions and the IEP content are based on the child's unique needs, as determined through evaluation and the IEP process;
n whether any state or local policies or practices have interfered with decisions of the IEP team about the child's educational needs and the services that the school would provide to meet those needs; and
n whether the school has provided the services listed in the IEP.
This guide is intended to help states and school districts write IEPs that comply with IDEA. Writing effective IEPs is a very important first step in improving educational results for children with disabilities."
The fact is that all kids are different and each child has their own unique needs. It's difficult to determine the best way to keep up on top of determining what those needs are. I've seen too many parents learn that their child has somehow fallen another year or two behind.
But with that said, not every student needs a re-evaluation every year.
