This digital workbook is used in our professional development sessions on implementing the new Massachusetts IEP form. It includes the activities we do during the training, space for note-taking, links to key resources we reference, and additional tools to support your learning.
Use it to follow along during the session or to review and reflect afterward.
Click the button below to download, scroll down to see contents.
You can also access the slides from your professional development session here.
Download Slide Deck here
Setting the Stage
Imagine This Was Your IEP
| How would you feel if this happened to you?
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| What might that experience do to your confidence, motivation, or sense of ownership over your future?
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| What small shifts in our practice could make a student feel more like a full member of their IEP team? | |
| How do we avoid this in our own IEP processes?
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Student Voice and Family Engagement
Strengths Mapping Practice
Consider:
- What are their academic strengths?
- What are their personal interests and hobbies?
- How do they best communicate or express themselves?
- What are their hopes or dreams for the future?
- What challenges have they overcome, and what helped?
Centering Student Voice
Think: Take a moment to jot down:
How can students participate in the IEP process?
What are ways you can actively promote student voice?
Pair: Talk with a partner or small group.
Do you have any positive examples from your school or district (without naming individuals)?
Share: Be ready to share one insight or example with the larger group. Take notes on ideas you hear below.
Partnering Across the IEP Process
Use this space to capture ideas for improving partnerships that you plan to use:
- Before the Meeting:
- During the Meeting:
- After the Meeting:
Family Engagement Resources
Partnering_with_Families_IEP_Process_Handout.docx
Strengthening Partnerships Framework: https://masfec.org/strengthening-partnerships/
DESE’s Better Together: Family School Partnership Fundamentals online training module explains how family-school partnership is everyone’s job. You can review this resource as part of the RLO or separately in a handout form.
DESE has information and resources on culturally and linguistically sustaining practices.
English Language Learners
From the IEP form
English Learner
Has the student been identified as an English learner?
☐ Yes ☐ No
If yes, describe the student’s English Learner Education program, English as a Second Language services, and progress toward English language proficiency benchmarks:
Identify any language needs and consider how they relate to the student’s IEP:
English Language Learner Resources:
DESE has developed Guidance for Supporting English Learners with Disabilities and Guidance for the Use of Benchmarks Toward Attaining English Proficiency.
The Massachusetts Blueprint for English Learner Success includes a Quick Reference Guide on Classroom Level Effective Family Engagement.
Data
Data Reflection: What We Collect vs. What We Use
Use this space to record action steps for how you will refine your use of data in the IEP process.
What patterns do you notice in the data your team collects?
What is one source of data you’d like to explore more deeply?
What is one action step you’ll take to use data more effectively?
Performance Levels
Performance Levels Self-Check: A Team Reflection Tool
✔️ Clear & Concise Language
☐ We used plain language that a family member or non-educator could understand.
☐ We avoided jargon or explained any technical terms and acronyms.
☐ The statement is focused and free from unnecessary detail.
✔️ Concise Evaluation Summary
☐ We summarized relevant data instead of copying full evaluation sections.
☐ We included multiple data sources (e.g., classroom performance, assessments, observations).
☐ We explained what the data means for the student’s current functioning.
✔️ Holistic Perspective
☐ We included insights from various team members (e.g., general education, related services, family, student).
☐ We described the student’s performance across multiple settings, not just one class.
☐ We addressed both academic and functional skills.
✔️ Strengths, Interests & Preferences
☐ We identified the student’s academic and personal strengths.
☐ We included the student’s interests inside and outside of school.
☐ We acknowledged the student’s learning style or preferences.
✔️ Relevance & Usefulness
☐ The needs we described clearly connect to the student’s disability.
☐ We explained how the disability affects participation in the general curriculum.
☐ The information we provided can be used to develop meaningful, measurable goals.
Goals
Xavier
Xavier is a hard worker who is excited about reading and loves listening to books. Xavier reads grade 1 texts with 100% accuracy and good confidence. When reading grade 2 texts, he currently reads at 45 words per minute with 70% accuracy in word recognition and 60% accuracy in comprehension. His inferencing skills are emerging but limited, with support often needed to draw conclusions from text. He benefits from repeated readings, vocabulary previews, visual supports, and small-group instruction. He is learning strategies such as chunking and rereading but does not yet apply them independently.
Luna
Luna is a bright and thoughtful student who shows kindness to others and enjoys participating in class when she’s present. She loves reading, making art, and learning about animals. Luna has been struggling with school-related anxiety that has led to frequent absences and late arrivals. In the 2024-25 school year, she had been absent an average of 2 days per week and late to school an additional 2 days per week. This makes it hard for her to fully access learning and connect with peers. School staff, her family, and attendance data all reflect this ongoing challenge. When Luna is at school, she benefits from quiet spaces, predictable routines, and check-ins with trusted adults. These supports, along with her behavior plan, are helping her slowly re-engage. The plan focuses on easing transitions, supporting emotional regulation, and working closely with her family to build her confidence and participation over time.
Use the following to develop a measurable annual goal and short-term objectives for Luna, a student experiencing school-related anxiety that significantly impacts her attendance and classroom participation. Your goal should focus on increasing her access to learning and/or engagement with the school environment.
Step 1: Define the Student’s Baseline
What is Luna currently able to do in this area? What data supports this?
Step 2: Write a Measurable Annual Goal
What skill should Luna achieve in 12 months? Use SMART criteria.
Step 3: Develop Short-Term Objectives or Benchmarks
Break the goal into smaller, measurable steps. Include behavior, condition, and criteria for success.
Objective 1:
Objective 2:
Step 4: Specify Measurement and Reporting
How will Luna’s progress be measured? How often will data be collected? Who will be responsible?
Step 5: Collaborate and Review
How can the team (including Luna and her family) help develop and review this goal over time?
Accommodations and Modifications
Accommodations: List the accommodations the student needs to make progress in the areas of academic achievement and functional performance.
| Presentation of Instruction The way information is presented. | Response The way the student responds. | Timing and/or Scheduling The timing and scheduling of the instruction. | Setting and/or Environment The characteristics of the setting. | |
| Classroom accommodations | ||||
| Nonacademic settings | ||||
| Extracurricular activities | ||||
| Community/ workplace |
Modifications: List the modifications, if any, that are needed to the student’s program so they can meet their goals, make progress, and participate in activities alongside students with and without disabilities.
| Content | Instruction | Student Output | |
| Classroom modifications | |||
| Nonacademic settings | |||
| Extracurricular activities | |||
| Community/ workplace |
Final Reflection
Use this worksheet to reflect on your own professional practice in five key areas of the IEP process. Write a performance level statement, set a goal, and create short-term objectives for your own growth.
IEP Skills Self-Reflection Worksheet
Use this worksheet to reflect on your own professional practice in five key areas of the IEP process. Write a performance level statement, set a goal, and create short-term objectives for your own growth.
Area 1: Family Engagement
Performance Level:
What do you currently do to build authentic, respectful partnerships with families? What are your strengths? What are your growth areas?
Goal:
What would meaningful growth look like in your practice?
Area 5: Supporting English Learners with Disabilities
Performance Level:
How confident are you in supporting EL students with disabilities, including language access and culturally responsive practices?
Goal:
Area 3: Writing Performance Levels
Performance Level:
How confident are you in writing clear, strengths-based, data-informed descriptions of student skills and needs?
Goal:
What would growth look like for you in this area?
Area 4: Setting Measurable Goals
Performance Level:
How effective are your IEP goals? Are they measurable, relevant, and aligned with student needs?
Goal:
Area 5: Accommodations & Modifications
Performance Level:
How well do you distinguish between accommodations and modifications, and align them to performance levels and goals?
Goal:
Tip: Think of these just like IEPs for students. Start with what you know, be honest about what you need, and focus on steps that move your practice forward.
Additional Useful Resources
MA DESE Educational Vision
Massachusetts Individualized Education Program (IEP) Technical Guide
DESE has information and resources on culturally and linguistically sustaining practices.
The U.S. Department of Education offers research-based strategies in Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement.
Direct families to the Federation for Children with Special Needs’ Parent Training and Information Center for additional support.
The U.S. Department of Education offers research-based strategies in Strategies for Equitable Family Engagement.
Dear Colleague Letter, English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents at 26-27 [1/7/2015 ]: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf).
Chapter 6 of the English Learner Tool Kit from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) provides an overview of Tools and Resources for Addressing English Learners with Disabilities.
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education delivered guidance via a Dear Colleague letter, which addresses how schools can fulfill obligations to English learners and Limited English Proficient parents.
Resources available through the WIDA website can help educators understand WIDA Access Scores and use them to design effective instructional supports. Interpretation guides are available for the ACCESS Test (Grades K-12), as well as the Alternate ACCESS Test designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Please also see WIDA’s bulletin on access to complex language for English learners with disabilities.
Chapter 5 of English Learner Toolkit offers guidance for creating an inclusive environment and for avoiding the unnecessary segregation of English Learners. Three tools are available, including (Tool #3) a self-monitoring rubric for LEAs.
The most recent guidance from the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs related to English learners with disabilities is included in this policy letter: Policy Letter (November 15, 2021).
The WIDA Consortium offers resources to strengthen connections with families.
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education have published Information for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parents and Guardians and for Schools and School Districts that Communicate with Them
Chapter 10 of the EL Toolkit from the U.S. Department of Education’s OELA provides a guide and resources for collaborating with parents with limited English proficiency.
The National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages (NAETISL) summarizes Best Practices for Special Education Interpreters in this infographic. See page 2 for specific considerations for school leaders and educators.
