IEP Progress Isn’t Enough—Closing the Gap Is the Goal
One of the biggest misconceptions I see in special education is the idea that if a child is making progress, their IEP is working. While progress is important, the true goal of an IEP is to close the gap between a student's current achievement levels and grade-level standards. If a child continues to fall further behind year after year, despite having an IEP, that is not a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
A student cannot be considered prepared for postsecondary life if they cannot read, write, or complete math problems at a functional level.
Promoted, But Not Prepared
Simply being promoted from grade to grade does not mean a student has mastered previous grade-level standards. Schools often justify a lack of additional services or targeted goals by pointing to passing grades or acceptable state test scores. However, grades and state assessments don’t tell the full story. I frequently work with middle and high school students with dyslexia who earn good grades and even score at a Level 3 on the FAST test, yet their actual reading skills (decoding and encoding) are at a kindergarten or first-grade level. This is a direct denial of FAPE—a student cannot be considered prepared for postsecondary life if they cannot read, write, or complete math problems at a functional level.
Requesting the Right Evaluations
To ensure your child's IEP is actually closing the gap, parents should request a comprehensive academic/achievement evaluation every year using the same measurement tool, such as the Woodcock-Johnson or KTEA, and include a Dyslexia Index if applicable. This will provide clear, measurable data on whether your child is catching up to grade level. If the school resists writing goals outside of general education standards or refuses to increase services because your child is “doing fine in class,” insist on an updated evaluation. Data doesn’t lie—the truth about your child’s progress (or lack thereof) is in those results.
The Right IEP Can Close the Gap
When an IEP is truly effective, you will see a significant increase in your child’s academic achievement scores over time. But until your child is on grade level across all measures, keep pushing. If your child's current rate of progress means they will never catch up, the IEP is failing. I testify on this exact issue frequently, and judges agree—for a student working toward a general education diploma, mastery of all reading, writing, and math standards is required to provide FAPE.
Ask the Right Question
Parents, ask the school: When will my child be on grade level in these deficit areas? If the school cannot give you an answer, then the IEP needs to be rewritten with stronger goals, increased services, and more intensive supports. On average, with the right interventions, a child needs three to four years to reach grade level in their areas of need. That should be the target—and the IEP should be built to achieve that outcome.
Your child deserves more than slow progress. They deserve an IEP that actually closes the gap. Keep pushing until it does.
