Step 6: Implementation of the IEP
Once the IEP is developed, the student's services and individualized program begin. The IEP now lays out what constitutes an appropriate education for the student, the extent to which the student participates in the general education curriculum, the accommodations the student receives both for instruction and for testing, and the array of multidisciplinary services from related service providers that support the student's educational program. For students who are participating in a different curriculum or whose goals differ from those of the general education curriculum, the IEP has specified alternate assessment procedures as well.
Minor adjustments in students' goals or in the benchmarks that indicate their attainment do not signal a need for a new IEP or another IEP meeting. Services continue. However, major changes in goals, services, or placement do require parents to be notified in writing. Some changes, particularly if they involve a more restrictive placement, may necessitate a meeting of the IEP Team and the family. Most often, this situation arises when issues surrounding discipline are the reason for the change in placement or services. Later in this chapter you will learn more about behavioral intervention plans, which must be developed as part of students' IEPs when serious behavioral infractions (e.g., bringing guns or drugs to school, fighting, being "out of control") occur. You will also learn about the rules that must be followed when such infractions cause students' placements to be changed, even for a relatively short period of time. Even under these circumstances, however, educators and students are to persist in their progress toward attainment of the goals specified in the students' IEPs. Special services, as indicated in the IEP developed during Step 5, must continue.