Present levels
Describe current academic achievement and functional performance, including how disability-related needs affect involvement and progress in the general curriculum.
My Journey CurriculumStart a conversation Individualized planning in practice
From an IEP
to daily teaching.
A strong IEP is more than a document. It gives a team a shared picture of the learner, meaningful goals, the services and supports required, and a clear way to notice progress.
The connected parts
One individualized plan.
Eight teaching connections.
These elements summarize key federal IEP content requirements. State and local forms may organize them differently, and every decision must be individualized by the learner’s team.
Measurable annual goals
Name observable academic and functional outcomes that address disability-related needs and support progress in the general curriculum and other educational priorities.
Progress measurement
State how progress toward each annual goal will be measured and when progress reports will be provided.
Services and supports
Specify special education, related services, supplementary aids and services, program modifications, and supports for school personnel.
Participation and LRE
Explain any time the learner will not participate with nondisabled peers and connect placement decisions to the individualized IEP.
Assessment access
Identify individually appropriate assessment accommodations and document alternate-assessment decisions when applicable.
Frequency, location, and duration
Make clear when services and modifications begin, how often they occur, where they are provided, and for how long.
Transition planning
Connect education to post-school goals and coordinated transition services on the applicable federal and state timeline.
The daily bridge
Make the plan visible
in the lesson.
The curriculum creates places to practice IEP priorities. The IEP determines what is individualized for the learner.
- 01
Read the whole learner
Start with strengths, interests, family priorities, communication, culture, access, evaluation information, and current performance—not the disability label alone.
- 02
Find the instructional connection
Identify where an IEP priority naturally connects to the lesson’s essential concept, authentic purpose, or participation demand.
- 03
Plan the access
Prepare needed AAC, assistive technology, visual supports, sensory or physical access, response options, staff support, and prompt-fading plan before teaching.
- 04
Teach the meaningful goal
Keep the purpose visible. Use explicit modeling, supported practice, repetition, choice, and age-respectful materials.
- 05
Capture usable evidence
Record what the learner did, the context, response mode, prompt level, accuracy, initiation, and whether the skill transferred.
- 06
Respond as a team
Use the evidence to maintain, fade, generalize, reteach, revise access, or bring a concern back to the IEP team.
Learner voice
Plan with the learner,
not only about them.
Give learners accessible ways to contribute: conversation, AAC, supported choice, photographs, objects, rating scales, demonstrations, portfolios, or trusted communication partners. Participation should be meaningful, not ceremonial.
What matters to me?
Interests, relationships, routines, identity, culture, goals, worries, and the future the learner wants.
What helps me participate?
Communication modes, sensory and physical access, technology, pacing, people, environments, and recovery time.
How will my plan change teaching?
Make learner contributions visible in goals, supports, materials, opportunities, and the evidence the team collects.
Questions worth asking
Keep the meeting focused
on access and progress.
What can the learner already do, and under what conditions?
What does the learner communicate about their strengths, needs, preferences, and future?
Is the goal measurable without requiring a response mode that is not the target?
Are the services, supports, and staff responsibilities specific enough to implement consistently?
Can progress be observed across people, materials, and settings—not only on one worksheet?
What evidence will tell us that a support should be faded, maintained, changed, or expanded?
Plain-language reference
Special education
acronym guide.
A quick reference for educators, families, and team members. Meanings and preferred terminology can vary by state, agency, and document, so use the learner’s current records and local guidance when a term affects a decision.
Plans, rights & safeguards
The documents and protections that shape individualized special education.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The federal special education law for eligible children and youth.
Individualized Education Program
The written plan for a learner’s goals, services, supports, access, and progress measurement.
Individualized Family Service Plan
The family-centered plan used for eligible infants and toddlers receiving early-intervention services.
Free Appropriate Public Education
Special education and related services provided at public expense and in conformity with an IEP.
Least Restrictive Environment
The requirement to educate learners with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, with needed aids and supports.
Section 504
A federal civil-rights protection that can provide equal access and accommodations for qualified learners with disabilities.
Americans with Disabilities Act
A federal civil-rights law prohibiting disability discrimination in covered settings.
Prior Written Notice
The school’s written explanation of certain proposed or refused actions involving identification, evaluation, placement, or FAPE.
Independent Educational Evaluation
An evaluation completed by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the learner’s education.
Access & instruction
Terms connected to participation, communication, materials, and individualized teaching.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Tools and strategies that supplement or replace speech, from gestures and boards to speech-generating devices.
Assistive Technology
A device or service used to increase, maintain, or improve a learner’s functional capabilities.
Accessible Educational Materials
Materials designed or converted so learners can perceive, navigate, interact with, and respond to the content.
Specially Designed Instruction
Adaptations to content, method, or delivery that address disability-related needs and provide access to the curriculum.
Universal Design for Learning
A framework for planning multiple ways to engage, access information, and demonstrate learning.
Supplementary Aids and Services
Aids, services, and other supports that help a learner learn with nondisabled peers and participate in school.
Extended School Year
Individualized special education and related services provided beyond the normal school year when required for FAPE.
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard
A technical standard used in producing accessible versions of print instructional materials.
Evaluation, planning & evidence
Language teams use to understand needs, plan supports, and monitor outcomes.
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance
The IEP’s current, evidence-based picture of what the learner can do, their needs, and the effect on access and progress.
Present Level of Performance
A shorter or older term sometimes used for the learner’s current performance; current forms may use PLAAFP.
Functional Behavioral Assessment
A process for understanding what may be contributing to a behavior and the context in which it occurs.
Behavior Intervention Plan
A proactive plan for teaching, preventing, and responding to behavior based on the learner’s needs and available evidence.
Manifestation Determination Review
A required team review in certain disciplinary situations to consider the relationship between conduct and disability or IEP implementation.
Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team
A term commonly used in Arizona for the team that reviews evaluation information and eligibility.
Evidence-Based Practice
An instructional or support practice backed by a body of relevant, credible evidence and applied with professional judgment.
People & related services
Common professional roles that may contribute to evaluation, access, instruction, and IEP services.
Occupational Therapist / Occupational Therapy
Supports access and participation involving daily activities, motor skills, sensory needs, and environments.
Physical Therapist / Physical Therapy
Supports functional movement, positioning, mobility, and physical access in educational routines.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Evaluates and supports speech, language, communication, and related access needs.
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
A credentialed professional who may support behavior assessment, skill building, and team planning.
Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments
A specialist who supports access, instruction, and expanded core curriculum needs related to vision.
Orientation and Mobility
Instruction that supports safe, purposeful movement and navigation across environments.
Schools, systems & agencies
Federal, state, and schoolwide terms—plus language that is especially useful in Arizona.
Arizona Department of Education
Arizona’s state education agency.
Exceptional Student Services
The ADE unit responsible for special education oversight, support, and technical assistance.
Public Education Agency
The Arizona term used for public agencies responsible for providing education; similar to LEA but broader in state use.
Local Educational Agency
A public board or other authority legally responsible for public education in a local area.
State Educational Agency
The state-level education authority responsible for statewide administration and oversight.
Office of Special Education Programs
The U.S. Department of Education office that administers IDEA programs and related guidance.
Office for Civil Rights
The federal office that enforces civil-rights laws in education, including disability protections.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
The federal law governing access to and privacy of student education records.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports
A schoolwide framework for organizing academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports at increasing levels of intensity.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
A framework for building positive, predictable, and supportive learning environments.
Response to Intervention
A tiered approach that uses instruction and progress data to respond to learning needs; it cannot be used to delay a special education evaluation.
Eligibility & disability terms
Abbreviations often seen in records and conversations. They describe eligibility or support areas—not the whole person.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
A commonly used clinical and educational abbreviation; IDEA’s federal eligibility category is autism.
Developmental Delay
An IDEA eligibility category states may use for eligible young children within the state’s defined age range.
Deaf or Hard of Hearing
A commonly used umbrella term; records may use more specific IDEA eligibility language.
Emotional Disability / Emotional Disturbance
Terminology varies by state and system; IDEA regulations use emotional disturbance.
Intellectual Disability
An IDEA eligibility category involving intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior with an educational impact.
Multiple Disabilities
An IDEA category for certain combined impairments that create needs not addressed by a program for one impairment alone.
Other Health Impairment
An IDEA category for certain health-related conditions that affect strength, vitality, or alertness and educational performance.
Specific Learning Disability
An IDEA category involving certain disorders in psychological processes used to understand or use language.
Speech or Language Impairment
An IDEA category for communication disorders that adversely affect educational performance.
Traumatic Brain Injury
An IDEA category for an acquired brain injury caused by external physical force with an educational impact.
Visual Impairment, Including Blindness
An IDEA category for vision impairment that adversely affects educational performance, even with correction.
Need a term that is not listed? Use the federal IDEA acronym directory for a more comprehensive index, or Arizona’s education acronym guide for state-specific language.
Official foundations
Read the current
requirements.
This page is educational guidance, not legal advice or a substitute for state rules, district procedures, evaluation data, or an IEP team decision.
Continue the pathway
Turn individualized priorities
into accessible instruction.
Explore practical ways to differentiate teaching, provide accommodations and supplementary supports, and think carefully about least restrictive environment.
Explore access & LRE