Review and Error Analysis of Individualized Education Program Annual Reviews of Rochester City School District

Abstract

As part of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is required to be developed for each student who has a disability or special need. The IEP is a written plan which specifies the special education programs and services to be provided to meet the needs of the student. To improve the accuracy of the Phase I IEPs developed by the Rochester City School District, proofreading for errors was undertaken and an error analysis was created to identify the specific errors made, the frequency of those errors, and their source. The error analysis also provided information for the anticipated revision of the process of writing Phase I and Phase II IEPs for the District to address issues of time and cost. The error analysis covered all Phase I IEPs for the 1992-1993 school year, with 3,202 annual reviews being proofread by one of two reviewers using the Annual Review guidelines created in 1991. The study found many errors in the Rochester City School District IEPs. The error analysis was distributed to each of the responsible subcommittee chairpersons in charge of completing the IEPs, so that each individual would be better aware of their weaknesses. The results indicate the highest percent of errors were from high school Coordinators of Special Education, which may reflect the differences of job duties outside the IEP process. Proofreading the Phase I portion of the IEP and returning them for correction provides a format to detect and reduce errors in the annual reviews which improves the quality of the reviews and improves the appropriateness of students’ educational programs.