Engaging ALL Families: Making IEPs Accessible and Comprehensible

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: SIG-Family, School, Community Partnerships Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

An individualized education program (IEP) is a legally binding document that details services and support students with disabilities receive. Families, who need to determine if they should agree with the IEPs proposed by schools, need to first read and comprehend the document. The purpose of this study was to examine the reading level of 82 IEPs that were written in 2021-2023. Results indicated that all sections of the IEPs were written at a high school to college graduate reading level, much higher than the recommended reading level. Many variables, such as large number of terminology and acronyms and typographical errors, were found which further hindered the comprehensibility of the documents. The author discusses the implications for research to practice.

Author

• Lusa Lo, University of Massachusetts - Boston