Title: Understanding IDEA and the IEP Process: Ensuring Compliance and Collaboration for Students with Disabilities

In a 1,000-1,250 word essay, articulate your knowledge of IDEA and the IEP process. The essay should address the following:
Summarize IDEA. Include discussion of professional practice standards and how these are used to guide the special education teacher in ensuring key components of the law such as free appropriate public education (FAPE), appropriate evaluation, least restrictive environment (LRE), and procedural safeguards are upheld (approximately 250 words).
Explain the importance of collaboration between members of the IEP team. Include discussion about who should be included on the IEP team, how parents and students participate in decision-making, which IEP team members’ attendance is required and which is optional, and how CEC Ethical Principles and Professional Practice Standards guide collaboration and execution of the lEP process (approximately 250 words).
Describe the IEP process. Explain what IDEA indicates must be done before, during, and after an IEP meeting. Include discussion of why executing the lEP process according to the established standards is essential to avoid due process disputes (approximately 250-500 words).
Identify the major components of the IEP and explain why each is important. Discuss the specific legal, ethical, and policy responsibilities related to developing the lEP to ensure it meets the educational, developmental, and medical services requirements for students with disabilities and their families. (approximately 250 words)