Why was SEAMLESS developed?

Schools, districts, and states are legally required to collect and report certain data on students with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including the number of students served, their educational environments, and certain demographic information. Under the IDEA, each student with a disability receives an Individualized Education Program (IEP) outlining the type, nature, and intensity of their personalized program of special education services.

IEPs are a crucial roadmap to providing a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities, as well as evidence of whether that program of education is effective. An IEP contains data about: 

  • What the student can currently do  
  • How the student’s disability affects their education  
  • Goals for what the student should be able to do by a given date  
  • The program of services outlined to help the student reach their goals, including their frequency and intensity as well as the person who will oversee and implement those services 
  • What accommodations the student needs to participate in the school environment and to take tests  
  • The student’s least restrictive environment (LRE), or the setting in which they will receive the majority of their education 

However, the value of IEP data and uses for IEP data are currently under-realized.

Given the significant time teachers spend in developing IEPs and the important role IEPs can play in student success, there is a missed opportunity for leveraging the rich information contained in IEPs. Although special education teachers often complain about paperwork burden and describe IEPs as cumbersome (e.g., Rotter, 2014), these documents are filled with rich data that could inform improvement strategies at the state, district, and school levels. 

The questions below illustrate how IEP data can be used to answer questions at different levels. 

  • Do we see patterns across student groups or grade levels that could indicate insufficient individualization or differences in service delivery? 
  • Are services based on student need or the school schedule? (e.g., 30 min/2x week; 45 min/5x week)?
  • Are services delivered in the least restrictive environment, or do patterns exist by grade level? 
    Are IEP goals appropriate for a group of students (e.g., by disability, grade, or student background)?
  • Are minimal services being prescribed, indicating a reconsideration in eligibility?
  • What amount of different services results in improved outcomes for students with varying needs? 
  • Are services delivered in the least restrictive environment, or do patterns exist by school?
  • Are IEPs substantively compliant with the IDEA (e.g., sufficiently individualized, educationally meaningful, components of IEP are logically connected and based on student need)? 
  • When comparing across caseloads, schools, or districts, is student progress similar for different student groups who share the same disability-related needs?
  • Does the amount or type of services/accommodations relate to student test scores or other outcomes among otherwise similar students with disabilities?
  • Can we forecast personnel needed to implement IEPs, including specialists and related services personnel? 
  • What characteristics of students with disabilities are associated with increased special education costs?
  • Can we forecast costs across schools, districts, or states at the beginning of the year based on student populations and the services/accommodations in their IEPs? 
  • Which districts are composing the highest-quality IEPs? Are high-quality IEPs connected to improved outcomes for students with disabilities?
  • What are the most common services, accommodations, and dosages of services and accommodations prescribed for students with disabilities in each state? 

The SEAMLESS project is working to improve access to and the usability of IEP data at scale

Three features of IEPs make accessing these documents difficult for non-approved personnel, like data analysts, researchers, or even other educators: 

  1. Most IEPs are filled with narrative text and contain several open-ended response sections. 
  2. All IEPs contain student information that is protected under federal law (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA), limiting who can access these documents. 
  3. IEP templates often vary across districts, even within the same state, depending on the user’s IEP software system. 

The SEAMLESS project has tackled these barriers through the development of two innovative tools. Learn more about how SEAMLESS works here.

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