Analysis of Literacy Content in IEPs of Students With Complex Support Needs

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) should include a summary of the student’s current skills and needs as well as annual goals that support their progress in the general education curriculum; however, IEPs for students with complex support needs may be missing required information. We investigated IEP goals and Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) statements for 112 students with complex support needs in four educational placements to understand (a) similarities and differences in the literacy skills identified in IEP goals, (b) the extent to which students’ IEP goals aligned with the literacy skills identified in their PLAAFPs, and (c) how this alignment differed across placements. Results revealed some students were missing literacy-focused content in their IEP, very few K–2 students had goals focused on early literacy skills, few students in Grades 3 to 6 had expressive writing goals, and IEP goals were inconsistently aligned with PLAAFP statements.