Chris calls me on my frustration with IEPs... I have to say he makes a compelling argument. Comparing IEPs to goal setting for students is an interesting one. In fact, after telling my wife I posted a rant about this she called me on the floor for it also :-)

Perhaps I am attributing too much of the "victim syndrome" that we see today to IEPs. I have an image of IEPs as a way that a student can say "actually, I have a hard time listening to lectures, I would prefer that you provide me with a written transcript of the lecture at least two days beforehand"... I know of at least one IEP that required lesson plans from the teacher for the rest of the school year - most teachers are lucky if they keep a week ahead, let alone a year.

"IEP's, in actuality, are a tool for developing short and long term goals, and tracking a students progress towards those goals. Parents, Teachers, and evaluators (speech, learning-impaired, etc) have equal share in building a students IEP; an initial IEP is completed, and then reviewed annually to track the students progress." - Chris

Sounds great. Provided that IEPs aren't used as crutches and try to transfer more work from students and parents to the teachers, I will withdraw my frustration...