Teaching · Special Education

Every need, its evidence, and where the plan answers it.

Start with strengths, then list each need with the data behind it, a priority and how the plan will meet it. The summary shows what the plan does not cover yet and which needs still rest on impressions.

Start a needs recordWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Special Education toolkit, $99 for 130 items.

The needs organizer

One record per student and planning cycle. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Special Education$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A list of needs by domain with evidence and priority, the needs the plan does not cover yet, and the student’s own words, ready for drafting present levels and goals.
Who it is for
Special education teachers and case managers drafting IEPs, and the teams that review them.
Format
Browser organizer. One saved record per student and cycle; printed with its summary or as a blank form; CSV of the needs; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Special Education toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
needs grow from strengths
Drawn for this page. The organizer starts with what the student does well, then lists the needs the plan must answer.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with a code or initials.
  2. Write strengths and interests first; they shape how needs are met.
  3. Add each need with the evidence behind it, in numbers where you have them.
  4. Set a priority and mark how the plan will meet it, or not yet.
  5. Ask the student what is hard and what helps, and add their words.

Start a needs record

What the organizer is for

Why strengths first

The IEP team must consider the student’s strengths. Writing them down first keeps the plan from becoming a list of deficits and points to ways in.

Evidence, not impressions

Present levels describe how the disability affects involvement and progress in the general curriculum, in terms the team can measure again. A need with no evidence is a question for the next data collection.

What it is not

A planning sheet, not the IEP. It writes no goals for you and makes no decision about services or placement.

Sources

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.320(a): content of the IEP, including present levels and, from age 16, postsecondary goals and transition services.
  2. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.324(a)(1): the team considers the strengths of the child and the concerns of the parents.
  3. Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1, 580 U.S. 386 (2017): an IEP reasonably calculated to enable progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.
  4. Center for Parent Information and Resources. Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, parentcenterhub.org.

The example student and needs are made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.