If you were to talk to most school-based occupational therapists [or other related service providers], I bet IEPs would not be at the top of the list for their favorite parts of the job. We love creatively problem solving with school teams to help support student success. We thrive on analyzing classroom activities and comparing them to students’ current skills/abilities to determine strengths and needs. Finding supportive modifications or adaptations and building underlying skills are what we do best! We love our kiddos, but then there are IEPs…
Documentation in general is easily the part of the job most often deemed the “least favorite”. However, the time spent planning, documenting, drafting/writing, traveling to, and sharing input for IEPs takes up a large part of a related service provider’s day [week, month, and school year!]. If you’re like me, you have 85+ students on your caseload, and you are doing this whole process MANY times throughout the year. But what if this process could be a little bit easier? What if we didn’t have to feel like we love our jobs despite the paperwork. I think organization of IEPs is a key component to not dreading IEP season. Here are a few of my favorite ways to organize IEPs:
- Plan out the whole school year in the summer/fall
- Use Google Calendar to manage due dates
- Have a binder to organize data for each student
- Make yourself a template to work from
Year at a Glance
When I get my caseload, the first thing I do is make a list of all the known compliance dates. Of course, parents can request evaluations at any time. The team could decide to (re)evaluate a student prior to the date you have listed, but at least we know the latest date each IEP/reevaluation will be due. I also like to see the whole year laid out. While the list is long, it can be motivating to check things off the list and see the whole year fitting nicely on one [double columned…] page!
I use our IEP writing system to look up compliance dates rather than nagging case managers. Thankfully, we have a nice way of easily finding out this information for each student. When I am writing down all of my student’s services times, teachers, case managers, etc., I make sure to add in their compliance dates. I have a large document with all of this information as well!
If a student is due for a reevaluation this school year, but happens to have an annual IEP date before that, I make an asterisk by the IEP compliance date. The likelihood of team completing the reevaluation earlier is higher in this instance, and I want to remind myself to follow up and inquire about this [especially if I’d like to complete updated testing that needs to go on a permission to evaluate].
Google Calendar Task List
My school district tries to send drafts of all documents out one week prior to the meeting. When a permission is signed, or an annual IEP date is coming up, case mangers typically schedule meetings [within the compliance] at least one month in advance. I know this is not always a common practice, but my district likes to ensure legal compliance on all documents. As soon as I get a Google Calendar invitation to an IEP meeting, case management meeting, (re)evaluation meeting, etc. I put it on my task list. Google as a great feature called “Tasks” that I like to pull up on the side of both my Gmail and Google Calendar tabs.
I order my tasks based on due date [one week prior to the meeting], and when I put the due date on the tasks, it shows up on my calendar. When you check something off your task list, it disappears [so satisfying!], but still shows up [just faded and crossed off] on the Google Calendar. This is a GREAT way to keep on top of those due dates and plan for the week ahead!
IEP & Data Binders
The SSE IEP Binder resource might be a great places to start as you are looking to create templates. This resource includes: student profile sheets, IEP reminder sheets, goal planning sheets, areas of need & strength lists, parent surveys [including Google Forms!], team input surveys, IEP team contact sheets & contact information, an IEP sign in sheet, IEP meeting things to remember, a parent contact log, IEP quick goals, IEP at a glance, meeting notes, as well as binder covers and spines. I think having a way to track goals/data is the most important thing as a related service provider. However, having a parent contact log as well as ways to collect team member [school and home!] input is also essential.
While related service providers aren’t necessarily completing all the sections of the IEP, having a uniform way that you keep track of all the information you need for each student is crucial. Use these resources as a starting place to customize a system that works for you! I keep a binder for each of my schools with tabs for each student I see in that building.
Each student’s name is on a tab. I like to keep them in the order that I see the students [schedule-wise] rather than alphabetically so I can “grab and go” as I move throughout my day. Each double pocket tab divider includes the student’s data sheet with all OT goals/objectives as well as charts so that I can easily track each goal. Lots of room for notes is also included. I tend to keep a post it note on the front of each divider to jot down what I want to work on in future sessions as ideas pop into my head. See how I set up my data sheets in this blog!
Keeping all work samples and previous data sheets in the back pocket for each student works well for me. I staple each marking period’s samples and data sheets together to keep in the back of their “folder”. I’d love to switch to digital data sheets, but I’m not quite there yet! Check out SSE’s Data Bundle for resources on print and digital data collection!
When it is time to write an IEP, I simply pull the student’s folder, and have easy access to their data/progress, work samples, and any notes related to the student all in one place! We do this electronically, but this would also be a good place to keep track of parent communications. I keep an attendance sheet in the front pocket of the binder for each school to make sure I have accurate documentation of how much time I saw each student monthly [as well as absences, etc.].
Templates
Last, but arguably the most important, work smarter not harder with templates! Each annual review will need the following information:
- Updated Present Levels of Functional Performance
- How has the student improved over the last year?
- What have you been working on?
- What has been helpful [or not]?
- Update on current IEP goal progress
- I copy and paste their most recent progress report and add in the most recent data. I include comments to support the raw data.
- Updated related service time
- Updated SDIs/Accommodations [review annually to make sure they are all necessary/beneficial]
- Updated Goals
- Review strengths/needs [to make sure they’re still applicable]
- Consider a need for ESY
I typically “make a copy” of last year’s Google Doc version of my report as my template. I highlight all the old text in red, and then start working from there. Any new/current information gets put in black so I know I have reviewed and updated it all. My advice to use a template also goes for 504 plans! See Tiffany’s blog on the difference between a 504 and an IEP for more information on the differences!
As you prep for next year, remember that Simply Special Ed has a FREE welcome letter template! My blog on OT welcome letters includes interactive welcome letter ideas for OT students!
We have another FREEBIE that might be helpful as you start organizing your IEPs for next year! Service Logs are so helpful to keep track of IEP minutes and have documentation for parents.
Happy organizing!
