Are Individual Education Plans a waste of paper?

Paul Cooper, Lecturer in Education (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties) and Director of Research at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Education, considers the nature and origins of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and some of the key issues of concern and debate surrounding them and their implementation. Emergent areas of concern are: the types of learning needs that are addressed in IEPs; the involvement of students and parents in the development of IEPs; and problems relating to implementation. Research findings suggest that the degree of care that is taken in the construction, implementation and evaluation of IEPs determines whether the resultant document is a valuable tool in facilitating educational progress or simply another paper exercise.