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Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A legally binding document developed for each student receiving special education services, specifying the student's learning goals, accommodations, services, and placement in the least restrictive environment.

Reviewed by OpenSchoolData Editorial Team

How It Works

An IEP is required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for every student who qualifies for special education services. The IEP is developed annually by a team that includes the student's parents, regular education teacher, special education teacher, a district representative, and when appropriate, the student. The document includes the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, measurable annual goals, the special education and related services the student will receive (such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, or assistive technology), accommodations and modifications for instruction and testing, and the extent to which the student will participate in the general education setting. The IEP also specifies how the student's progress toward annual goals will be measured and reported to parents. Parents have extensive procedural rights in the IEP process, including the right to consent before any evaluation or placement change, the right to participate in all IEP meetings, and the right to dispute decisions through mediation or due process hearings. Approximately 7.5 million students (about 15% of public school enrollment) have IEPs. The percentage of students with IEPs varies by school and can affect aggregate test score data because some students with significant cognitive disabilities take alternative assessments. On OpenSchoolData, the percentage of students with IEPs is reported as demographic context on school pages.

Related Terms

  • Special Education, Specially designed instruction provided at no cost to parents for students with disabilities, as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  • School Accountability, The system by which schools and districts are held responsible for student outcomes, including state ratings, improvement plans, and potential interventions for chronically low-performing schools.
  • Achievement Gap, Persistent differences in academic performance between student groups defined by race, ethnicity, income, disability status, or English proficiency, one of the most studied problems in American education.

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Real federal data: NCES CCD enrollment (2022), EDFacts proficiency rates (2020, district-level), EDFacts graduation rates (2019, district-level).

About This Definition

This definition is part of the OpenSchoolData Education Glossary, 33 terms explaining how school performance data works in the United States. All definitions are written in plain language for parents, educators, journalists, and researchers.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) is one of the U.S. K-12 school outcomes and enrollment concepts that recurs across this site. The definition above is the technical answer; the paragraphs below add the practical context for how the concept connects to the NCES Common Core of Data and EDFacts data behind every per-entity page on the site.

In the NCES Common Core of Data and EDFacts data, this concept shapes one or more of the fields that drive the per-entity grades and rankings on this site. The methodology page describes which fields feed into which output; this glossary entry documents the underlying term.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, 2026.