Drafting an IEP with AI

— 01

What we’re doing

You’ll use AI to draft an IEP for a fictitious student profile. The point isn’t speed — it’s seeing how structured prompting and privacy-conscious habits turn AI into a genuine partner for instructional leaders.

By the end you’ll have a complete first-draft IEP addressing all eight IDEA components, plus a working model you can adapt — without ever exposing student data to a public AI tool.

Privacy first

We will never enter a real student’s name into AI. Throughout this activity we use the placeholder [STUDENT] in place of any identifying information. This is the habit to model for your faculty when they begin using AI in their own workflows — and it costs nothing to build in from day one.

— 02

Meet [STUDENT]

This profile is deliberately common — a learner most special education teams will recognize immediately.

Grade: 5th Grade
Age: 10 years old
Primary Disability: SLD (Dyslexia)
Co-Occurring: ADHD-PI

[STUDENT] is a 10-year-old 5th grader with strong verbal reasoning and creative thinking. [STUDENT] reads at a 2nd grade equivalency and struggles with decoding, fluency, and sustained attention during independent work.

Math computation is near grade level, but word problems present a barrier due to reading demands. [STUDENT] benefits from preferential seating, chunked tasks, and frequent check-ins.

Family reports that [STUDENT] enjoys building, science, and soccer, but expresses frustration and low confidence around reading tasks. [STUDENT] has not previously received special education services.

— 03

The IDEA framework

Every IEP in the United States must include these eight components, mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We’ll ask AI to address all of them — and then check whether it did.

PLAAFP

Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance.

Measurable Annual Goals

Specific, measurable, achievable goals tied directly to the PLAAFP.

iii

Special Education Services

Type, frequency, and provider of services and related supports.

Participation with Peers

Extent to which the student participates in general education.

Assessment Accommodations

Adjustments for state and district assessments.

Service Logistics

Dates, frequency, location, and duration of services.

vii

Transition Services

Required by age 16 — postsecondary planning and skill-building.

viii

Progress Monitoring

How and when progress will be measured and communicated.

— 04

Your prompt

Open your district-approved AI tool in a new tab, copy the prompt below, and submit it. Then we’ll examine the document it produces.

Before you paste — turn on document mode

Most AI tools have a mode that renders output as a live, editable document rather than a chat reply: Canvas in Gemini and ChatGPT, Artifacts in Claude, Pages in Copilot. Turn it on before you submit.

It matters more than it sounds. Document mode renders tables, headers, and formatting cleanly, and lets you refine one section — a single goal, the PLAAFP, a service line — without re-prompting from scratch. That’s the difference between a chat reply and a usable working draft.

IEP drafting prompt

Draft a complete IEP for [STUDENT] using the Federal Model IEP Form (OSEP standard) and a grid-based service delivery matrix.

Student Profile:
- Age/Grade: 10-year-old, 5th Grade
- Eligibility: SLD (Dyslexia) and ADHD (Inattentive)
- Data: Reads at 2nd-grade level; struggles with decoding/fluency. Math computation is grade-level; word problems are a barrier.
- Strengths/Interests: Verbal reasoning, creative thinking, building, science, soccer

Structural Requirements:
1. PLAAFP: Format using two distinct sub-sections: "Strengths/Interests" and "Impact of Disability."
2. Goals: Present in a table including Area, Goal Statement, and Success Criteria.
3. Service Matrix: Use the Grid A/B/C format (Consultation, General Ed, and Special Ed settings).
4. Accommodations: Categorize as Environmental, Instructional, or Assessment.
5. IDEA Compliance: Include all 8 required components (Transition, LRE, Progress Monitoring, etc.).

Output Style: Use professional, compliant language suitable for a legal document. Format using tables and bold headers for high scannability. Use [STUDENT] as a placeholder throughout — do not generate a fictional name.

— Option A

Type or paste

Copy the prompt above and paste it straight in. Notice how a structured prompt produces a structured response.

— Option B

Upload an image

Photograph this page with your phone and upload the image instead. Watch how multimodal input changes the output — then compare with a colleague.

— 05

After you see the output

Don’t just read what AI generated — interrogate it. Work through these at your table.

Did AI address all eight IDEA components, or did it skip any? Which ones, and why might that matter?
Are the measurable annual goals actually measurable? Could you take what AI wrote into an IEP meeting today, or does it need rework?
What did AI assume about [STUDENT] that wasn’t in the prompt? Are those assumptions reasonable, or do they introduce bias?
What’s missing that an experienced special educator would have included? What does that tell you about AI’s role in this work?
Where would human expertise need to enter the draft to make it ready for a real student?