For any teacher that works through an IEP, the first task is to assess how the individual student's disability impacts her learning habits. The evaluation is just as important for students with learning or mental disabilities as it is for those with physical disabilities, such as students who are wheelchair bound. Because of the wide range of disabilities a student may have, an IEP program needs to be built around the way each particular student learns best. This might include accommodating a learning classroom to a student's specific physical disability or understanding how a student retains knowledge.
An IEP requires a set time table for student achievement. A state's education department, the regulating agency of IEPs, regularly tests academic and life skills of IEP students as set out in the IEP plan. An IEP, which is the combined work of the student, the student's parents and the student's teachers, must include a learning plan and timeline for meeting curricular goals before it is filed with the state education department. The education department uses that time table as a litmus test for how well the student in the IEP program is performing. Therefore, teachers and the parents of the student with disabilities must create a time table with reasonable expectations the child. If the state education department determines that the student has not met his IEP goals, it can deny him promotion to the next grade level.
The purpose of the IEP is for students with a disability to gain a meaningful education. One IEP requirement mandates that teachers, the parents and the student discuss long term career goals. The State Department of Education for Connecticut, for instance, advocates that teachers ask straightforward questions like, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" These questions encourage a student's mindset of success in life both with her disability and regardless of her disability. It also helps focus career planning goals for the IEP. For example, if the student wants to work in an office environment, the IEP can gear the daily curriculum towards office and computer skills and office communication, and prepare the student for the typical daily routines found in an office environment.
The IEP requires that teachers and parents draft a daily routine itinerary for the student. The daily routine planning helps the student get used to a daily rhythm for the rest of his life. Simple activities such as how to organize a desk space, how to display written homework or important documents, and learning what tasks in a day take priority are essential skills. If the student has severe mental disabilities, an IEP program helps the student prepare for work and life outside of school through everyday tasks. An IEP program can help students with socialization skills, how to perform errands such as food shopping and how to keep a home organized and clean.