Aligning Services and Accommodations to Student Needs

In this week’s episode of Special Education for Beginners, we’re continuing our October series all about writing IEPs that are clear, meaningful, and truly connected.

So far this month, we’ve talked about how your Present Levels (PLAAFPs) act as the blueprint of the IEP and how to use that information to write strong, measurable goals.

Now we’re moving one step further — connecting those goals to the services, accommodations, and supports that make them work in practice.

If you’ve ever caught yourself copying last year’s IEP just to “save time,” you’re not alone. But today, we’re hitting reset and walking through five simple steps to make sure every service and accommodation in your IEP is backed by data and directly connected to your student’s current needs.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ How to use data from the Present Levels to guide your decisions
✅ What questions to ask yourself before adding or adjusting services
✅ How to ensure every support ties back to an IEP goal
✅ Why alignment matters for both compliance and student success
✅ Tips for knowing when it’s time to remove outdated accommodations or services

Plus, I’m sharing how AI tools can actually help you pull out student strengths and needs more efficiently — without replacing your professional judgment.
If you want to try this for yourself, check out my resource Using AI to Write IEPs: Identifying Strengths and Needs, which walks you step-by-step through how to use AI responsibly to analyze data and identify key areas for growth.
And if you’re looking for more support with goal writing, my IEP Goal and PLAAFP Forms are designed to simplify the process while keeping your writing precise, professional, and personalized.

📎 Resources Mentioned:

• Using AI to Write IEPs: Identifying Strengths and Needs
  
  

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The IEP Series Context
• 1:41 Host Intro And Mission
• 3:21 The Copy-Paste IEP Problem
• 4:39 Why Alignment To Data And Goals Matters
• 7:08 Five-Step Alignment Framework
• 10:52 Step 1: Start With The Data
• 14:25 Step 2: Tie Services To Goals

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Well, hey there. Welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. We are continuing our October series all about writing IEPs that are connected, meaningful, and easy to understand. In episode 280, we talked about the present levels and how they act as the blueprint of the IEP or your foundation. And then in episode 281, we moved on to building strong, measurable goals based on the needs identified in that blueprint. Today we are taking the next step in the process. We are going to be making sure that the services, accommodations, and supports you include are directly tied to those same needs and goals. Because once you've built the framework, the next step is furnishing that house, deciding what supports are needed to help the student succeed in that space. So let's get to it. Hey special educator. Are you overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list? Do you wish you had the skills to build a rock solid team with your staff? Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the needs of each student on your caseload? Well, hey there, I'm Jennifer Hoffaber, an award-winning veteran special education teacher and current instructional coach who has walked in your shoes through each of these challenges. And yes, I have the metaphorical blisters to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain, and now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me. Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom to help you handle all the classroom curveballs that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So, are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever-crazy, completely overwhelming laugh so you don't cry profession of being a special education teacher. So let's be honest here, we have all seen it happen, or maybe we've even done it ourselves when the clock is ticking. Yours truly is guilty of this as well. You pull up last year's IEP, you scroll down to the accommodations or the services page, and you just copy and paste. And while that feels like a lifesaver in the moment, it is also exactly how we end up with IEPs that are full of accommodations or services that don't actually match the student's current needs. So today's focus is all about intentional alignment. Every accommodation, every modification, every related service, every minute of support should have a clear line back to the present levels and the goals. I've had teachers tell me, I didn't know I could change the services, or I thought we always had to use that accommodation. And honestly, that breaks my heart a little bit, because yes, yes, you can, and you should. Services are not meant to stay the same year after year after year. Students grow and change, and the services they receive should grow, shift, or even fade out completely depending on what the data shows. A student who once needed 60 minutes of reading support may now only need 30 minutes or 15 minutes. Another might need more frequent check-ins or a co-taught setting instead of a pullout instruction. On the flip side, maybe a student received inclusion support in first or second grade, but now that gap has widened and they would greatly benefit from some small group pullout time. The same goes for accommodations and supports. Maybe the student still has reduced number of problems on assignments long after the student has developed the stamina and accuracy to complete full assignments. Or access to fidget tools that were once essential for regulation now have become more of a distraction than a support. I've also seen small group testing accommodations that were written when anxiety or focus were major concerns, but after consistent progress and self-regulation strategies, the student now tests just fine in the general education setting. Or maybe the student doesn't want to be pulled out at all because they look different than their peers. These things happen all the time, not because we don't care, but because we are stretched so thin and it's usually just easier to keep what's worked in the past than to dig in and find out what is truly needed now. So now that we have talked about the problem, how services, accommodations, and supports sometimes get carried over year after year without real purpose, let's talk about how to fix it. I want to share with you five steps and a bunch of guiding questions to make sure every part of the IEP stays aligned and meaningful, and I want to give you a way to make this whole process smoother and quicker. So step one is to start with the data. When deciding on services or supports, always start with the data from your present levels. Your present levels should guide all of your decisions. What is working well for the student, what's not, and where those gaps are. Without that foundation, every decision you make is really just a guess. So ask yourself these guiding questions. What does the data say that the student needs to access the curriculum? What is preventing them from doing that independently? What has been tried before and did it work? What specific skills or behaviors are interfering with progress in the general education setting? Is this a skill deficit, meaning they can't do it, or a performance deficit, meaning they won't do it? Does the data show a pattern across settings or in just one environment? How much support is currently required for success? Verbal prompts, visual cues, direct instruction? What accommodations or strategies are currently in place and are they effective? Are there any environmental or sensory factors affecting performance? How does the student's disability specifically impact access, participation, or progress? What does the student say they need to be successful? A lot of times we forget that one. What strengths can be leveraged to address the areas of need? And what testing has been done and what were the results? So before you make any decisions about services or supports, take the time to really study your data. Look for patterns, the progress, and the pain points. The present levels should tell you exactly what that student needs and why. And if you want a list of those guiding questions, just download the transcript from my website, spedprepacademy.com/slash podcast, and go to episode 282 and you can get those guiding questions. Step two is to align services to goals. Once you know what the data is telling you, it's time to look at your goals and connect the dots. Services are where you put your plan into action. They are the how behind helping the student meet those goals. Each service in the IEP should exist for one reason only, to help the student make progress toward a specific goal. If you have written a reading comprehension goal, then your services should clearly reflect support in reading. If you've written a behavior or a self-regulation goal, then maybe the service is social skills instruction or behavioral support within the general education setting. If a service cannot be tied back to a goal, that's a red flag for you. It might mean that it's outdated, unnecessary, or misplaced. I can't tell you how many times I've reviewed IEPs and found services that don't connect to anything currently in the plan. I've seen where a student still has 60 minutes of math support, but their only goal is in reading. Or a student is receiving weekly speech services even though they no longer qualify based on their latest evaluation. I've seen where a student wasn't able to decode but had a comprehension goal on grade level. So here are a few guiding questions I'd like to ask when reviewing or planning services. What goal does this service support? Does the frequency and duration make sense based on the student's current needs? Could that same support be provided in a different setting, maybe inclusion instead of pull out? Has the student outgrown this service or do they need more intensive support? And are there any overlapping services that could be streamlined, such as OT and written language goals, or speech and language goal that overlaps with reading comprehension? When services overlap without communication, it can lead to duplication or even confusion for the student. Step three is to align accommodations to needs. And when I say accommodations, I'm lumping it all together. The accommodations, the modifications, the assistive technology. So the accommodations are the tools and strategies that help the student access learning in real time. But remember, accommodations should not be one size fits all. They should reflect what the data says the student actually needs right now, not what has always been there. And they shouldn't be assigned to every student across the board. For example, if the data shows that a student struggles with auditory processing, the accommodation might be written directions in addition to verbal ones. If a student has attention challenges, it might be breaking assignments into smaller chunks or allowing short movement breaks throughout the day. But not every kid needs written and verbal directions. Not every kid needs breaking assignments into smaller chunks. Not every kid needs short movement breaks throughout the day. Each accommodation should have a clear purpose and connection to the present levels. You should be able to explain the why behind each one. If you can't, it's worth reevaluating whether it still belongs in the IEP. A good rule of thumb to go by is if the accommodation isn't helping the student access instruction or demonstrate what they know, it's time to rethink it. Step four is to consider the frequency and the setting. Even the best services and accommodations can miss the mark if they are not happening in the right place, at the right time, or with the right person. That's why this step is all about logistics, getting specific about how often something happens, where it's delivered, and who is responsible for it. This means being crystal clear about things like how many minutes per week the student will receive each service, whether it's delivered in the general education or the special education setting, whether the support is direct, face-to-face, or indirect consultation, and who is responsible for providing the support. Is it the special education teacher, a paraeducator, or a related service provider? The more detailed and specific you are here, the easier it is for everyone, from the gen ed teachers to the parents to the paras to understand what implementation should look like day to day. And then step five is to eliminate the extras. Take a step back and do a little spring cleaning. Yes, even if it is October. This is your chance to remove what's outdated, unnecessary, or no longer effective. Remember, our ultimate goal is to build independence. If a student doesn't need an accommodation or a service anymore, that is not a loss. It is growth. So go through each support and ask yourself, is this still needed? Does the data support keeping it? Is it helping the student move closer to independence or is it holding them back? It is actually best practice for IEPs to evolve. When we adjust based on current data, we are honoring the student's growth and we are keeping the plan meaningful and individualized. Now, I know that even if we did have extra time on our hands to dig deep into that data, analyzing information isn't always a teacher's favorite thing. And honestly, it's not always our strongest area either. And I'll be the first to admit, sometimes seeing the true needs buried in all that data can feel very overwhelming. I mean, you've got test scores, progress monitoring graphs, classroom observations, teacher input, parent input, and maybe even behavior data all staring back at you, and it's just a lot to sort through. That's where AI, artificial intelligence, can actually be a total game changer. Lately, I've been showing the teachers I coach how to use AI tools responsibly to help analyze their present levels and pull out potential strengths and needs based on patterns in the data. It doesn't replace your professional judgment, it just helps you organize information faster and see things more clearly. Way back in episode 142, I shared how you can use AI responsibly to streamline parts of the IEP writing process, especially when it comes to analyzing data and identifying those strengths and needs. And I have a resource I created called How to Write an IEP Using Artificial Intelligence. The forums in this resource give special education teachers a simple, structured way to write IEP goals and present levels that are both precise and personalized to each student's unique needs. They streamline the entire IEP writing process so you can save time without sacrificing quality or professionalism. It is the perfect tool to make IEP development more efficient so that you can focus on what truly matters, supporting your students. So what I have my teachers do is I take the testing results, observations from the teacher, I take any para information, I take any progress monitoring, I take all of that and I take out student names and I put it into the system and I ask it to write me a strength section, a needs section, a current performance section, and an impact section. And you will be amazed at the detail that AI can provide to you. So if you're interested in learning about AI and how it can make your IEP process easier, faster, and more accurate, you can just search artificial intelligence in the search bar of my TPT store, Speed Prep Academy, or I will link it in the show notes and you can just click on it there. So to wrap it all up, aligning your services, your accommodations, and supports starts and ends with your data. When every piece of the IEP connects back to those present levels and those goals, you will create a plan that truly serves the student, one that is clear, defensible, and designed for progress. Next week, we are bringing in a special guest, my very own special education director, to talk about IEP alignment from an administrative perspective. We will be discussing what compliance really looks like, how administrators review IEPs for quality, and how you can make your IEPs stronger from both a legal and an instructional standpoint. See you next week.