IEP Progress Monitoring in Washington
How often should you receive IEP progress reports in Washington?
Washington requires that the IEP include both a description of how the district will measure the student's progress toward each annual goal and when it will report that progress to parents (WAC 392-172A-03090(1)(d)). Parents must be informed of their child's progress at least as often as report cards are provided to students without disabilities. For students taking alternate assessments, benchmarks or short-term objectives provide additional checkpoints (WAC 392-172A-03090(1)(c)). The IEP team must review goals at least annually and must revise the IEP when a student fails to make expected progress toward annual goals — this is an affirmative obligation under WAC 392-172A-03110(2)(a). OSPI promotes data-driven IEP practices through its Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network (IPTN) and statewide IEP improvement initiatives, emphasizing regular progress monitoring to drive instructional decisions. Progress monitoring data is also central to reevaluation decisions and to determining ESY eligibility through regression/recoupment analysis (WAC 392-172A-02020).
What Washington Requires
The IEP must include a description of how progress toward each annual goal will be measured (WAC 392-172A-03090(1)(d)).
Parents must be regularly informed of progress at least as frequently as report cards are issued to students without disabilities (WAC 392-172A-03090(1)(d); 34 CFR 300.320(a)(3)).
When a student is not making expected progress toward annual goals, the IEP team must revise the IEP accordingly (WAC 392-172A-03110(2)(a)).
Benchmarks or short-term objectives for students on alternate assessments provide intermediate progress markers (WAC 392-172A-03090(1)(c)).
Progress monitoring data informs ESY eligibility decisions, particularly regression and recoupment assessments (WAC 392-172A-02020).
Key Timelines
Progress reports must be issued at least as frequently as report cards for students without disabilities (WAC 392-172A-03090(1)(d)).
The IEP team must review progress at least annually (WAC 392-172A-03110(2)).
If progress is insufficient, the IEP team must revise goals and/or services (WAC 392-172A-03110(2)(a)).