Doing a data or document deep dive is excellent and a great start, but it’s what you do next that can help your child get the most out of their IEP. Knowing what’s in the IEP is good, and keeping track of all the details is better. When you track IEP goals over time, you are in a better position to advocate for change!
What IEP Goals Should You Be Tracking?
First, all of it. Which isn’t helpful at all since IEPs are complicated, long, and full of jargon. One way I work with clients to track IEP goals is to pull out some key points:
- Assessment data, by test and then by specific component (like a subtest). When you can pull-out specific data points, like WIAT-IV, Reading Composite given on 01/23/24, you can then track that same exact data point over multiple assessments. Tests aren’t usually given for just one assessment cycle. Instead, your child will likely take the same battery of specific assessments or assessment types. When you have the data pulled out by test, composite/skills, and date, you can see at a glance any fluctuations over time.
- Current IEP goals and data with progress reports. There shouldn’t be a “feeling” that your child has achieved a goal. There should be hard data, with lots of evidence. Now, evidence can look different for different goals: running reading records, math tasks, observation logs, self-reflection sheets, etc. But there should be oodles of data.
- IEP goals between different IEP versions. Goals can be similar between each IEP cycle, as in a decoding goal on last year’s IEP and this year’s IEP. But the actual target should shift. Basically, if your child has been working on decoding CVC words last year, they should ideally be working at the next level of word decoding for this year or working on a different decoding/reading goal.
- Communication with teacher(s) or other school personnel. Keep your emails, ideally with labels or tags to help you sort and find emails quickly over time. This also applies to behavior logs or other communication methods that you receive via email or as a physical document.
- Information about your child’s services and instruction. Basically, did your child see the people they were supposed to see for the amount of time the IEP requires? Now, there are always caveats and reasons why time might be missed: field trips, all school assemblies, student absence, etc. But in general, you’ll want to collect the details of your child’s day at school. This piece does rely on your child to be a good narrator and reliably tell you about their day at school. If that’s not your child’s strength, don’t be afraid to ask for a log of instruction or service minutes.
Yes, this is a lot of stuff to collect and monitor. However, IEPs are based on data and evidence. If you’re looking to advocate for a change, you’ll want to have facts on your side.
How to Collect and Track IEP Data
There are so many ways to monitor data over time, but it all starts with collecting the materials. At a minimum you’ll want:
- Current IEP and historic IEPs, including the Prior Written Notice
- IEP progress reports for the last two academic years
- General Education progress reports for the last two academic years
- IEP assessment data, for at least the last two eligibility cycles
- Current and historic diagnostic information from medical providers
- Academic screening data, usually collected in the Fall, Winter, and Spring
- Data from outside providers, like your child’s BCBA, speech therapist, and medical provider
- Work samples, if desired
- Communication logs between home and school
- Email and written communication between home and school
Next, decide how you’d like to maintain your records. Some parents really like having physical copies of all the records. Often they use three-ring binders, bankers boxes, file folders, or filing cabinets to store everything neatly. Other parents prefer digital records, uploading files to a cloud-based storage system like Google Drive, DropBox, or Microsoft One Drive.
No matter how you choose to store, your organization system is critical. Ideally, you want to be able to pull out a document quickly and easily. Fast access makes it easier to track IEP goals seamlessly.
For physical records, you might consider keeping everything in chronological order, from oldest to newest. You could also organize documents by type — IEP, progress report, assessments, eligibility, communication, school work, etc. If you opt to sort and store things by type, it’s also important to still stick to chronological order.
For digital records, you can use similar organization strategies, sorting by type and/or chronological order. But you’ll also get to name each file specifically. It’s important to use a standard format that will let you search and find things quickly!
You might want to use a format like this:
DATE_FILE TYPE_CHILD NAME
In your digital records, it might look like this:
July 10 2025_IEP Amendment_JohnDoe
Tracking IEP Assessments and Goals Over Time
Each record and document holds golden nuggets of data that you can pull out and track over time. Assessments and goals are especially wonderful items to monitor closely.
One of the best ways to track assessments and goals over time is with a spreadsheet. When you have data on a spreadsheet, it becomes easier to sort and compare information over time. For example, your child took the WJ-IV in 2021 and 2024. When you have your data recorded in a spreadsheet, you can look at the results overall, by composite, and by individual subtest. In this way, you’ll be able to spot slight fluctuations over time on the same test.
You can do the same thing for the goals, too. IEP goals should be designed to be achieved within one calendar year. They should not be repeated verbatim from one IEP to the next. When you record your child’s IEP goals, and break them down by area, progress status, responsible people, and IEP date.
Why Tracking is Important for IEPs
Individual Education Plans are all about data and compliance. IEPs are a contract between a school and a student, an agreement that says the school will do certain things because a student needs it based on data.
An IEP is truly and always only as good as the data used to develop it and monitor progress over time. Which means that data collection and analysis is critical to ensure that the school is fulfilling their side of the contract. Working together with the teacher to track IEP goals is important.
Parents are critical in holding schools and staff accountable for following an IEP, exactly as written. Teachers and staff have a lot of moving parts and dozens of students with IEPs to keep track of every year. When you are on the ball with collecting and reviewing your child’s data, it can help alert teachers to concerns before they become urgent.
Honestly, this is a lot of work with lots of documents to collect and data to analyze. However, the pay off is worth it in the long run. When you know your child’s IEP and data inside and out, you’re better able to advocate for your child. You’ll be able to push for needed changes that meet your child’s needs. And that’s a huge win!