The Individual Education Plan (IEP) - A Resource Guide, 2004

Establish Roles and Responsibilities
All team members have important roles and responsibilities in the IEP process.
The roles and responsibilities of various team members in the development,
implementation, and monitoring of an IEP are outlined below. The list
attempts to cover all aspects of an IEP; however, responsibilities and tasks
will vary depending on the circumstances of the individual student and may
not all be required in each situation. All participants are expected to cooperate
in the IEP process.
Responsibilities that are
mandated by Regulation 181/98
are marked with an asterisk (*).
The role of the educators and other professionals on the team
The principal:
• assigns to one teacher the responsibility for coordinating (not developing)
the student’s IEP;
• facilitates collaborative planning, evaluation, and updating;
• ensures that IEPs are completed within 30 school days of a student’s
placement in a special education program;*
• signs IEPs within 30 school days of a student’s placement in the program;
• ensures that IEPs are implemented and that, as part of implementation,
the student’s learning expectations are evaluated and updated at least
once every reporting period;
• ensures that the recommendations of the IPRC (with respect to special
education programs and services such as support personnel, resources,
and equipment) are taken into account in the development of the IEP;*
• ensures that parents and the student, if the student is 16 years of age or
older, are consulted in the development of the IEP;*
• ensures that consultation with community agencies and postsecondary
institutions that he or she considers appropriate is conducted as part of
the preparation of a transition plan for students who are 14 years of age
or older and who are not identified solely as “gifted”;*
• ensures that a copy of the IEP is provided to the parents and to the student,
if the student is 16 years of age or older;*
• ensures that the current IEP is stored in the OSR, unless a parent of the
student objects in writing.*
The classroom teacher:
• contributes first-hand knowledge of the student’s strengths, needs, and
interests;
• fulfils the role of the key curriculum expert on how the IEP can be developed
to help the student progress through the Ontario curriculum;
• develops any modified or alternative learning expectations required to
meet the student’s needs, plans instruction to address those expectations,
and assesses the student’s achievement of the expectations. (Note that, in
Phase 2: Set the Direction
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