What Is an IEP in Connecticut? A Plain-Language Guide for CT Parents

Your child's teacher used the word "IEP" and now you're at home at midnight trying to figure out what that means for your family — whether it's serious, whether you need a lawyer, and whether you should be worried. Here is what you need to know about how the IEP process actually works in Connecticut, not just the federal framework that applies to every state.

What an IEP Is (and What It Isn't)

An IEP — Individualized Education Program — is a legally binding document describing the special education services your child will receive from a public school. It is not a diagnosis. It is not a label. It is a written agreement between you and your school district that specifies what your child needs and what the district will actually provide.

In Connecticut, that document is governed by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the state's Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (RCSA), specifically § 10-76a through § 10-76d. Connecticut has some of the most detailed procedural requirements in the country, including rules that go beyond what federal law demands.

The IEP must include:

• Your child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (the baseline from which everything else is measured)
• Annual measurable goals with specific criteria for success
• Short-term objectives for every goal — this is a Connecticut-specific requirement under RCSA § 10-76d-11; federal law only requires short-term objectives for students taking alternate assessments, but Connecticut requires them for all IEP students
• The specific services the district will provide — how often, how long, in what setting, by whom
• How much time your child spends in the general education classroom versus specialized settings
• Accommodations and modifications
• How progress will be measured and reported to you

Who Qualifies for an IEP in Connecticut

To receive an IEP, a student must meet two criteria: they must have one of the 13 disability categories recognized under IDEA, and that disability must adversely affect their educational performance in a way that requires specially designed instruction.

The 13 categories are: Autism, Deaf-Blindness, Deafness, Developmental Delay (for students ages 3-8), Emotional Disturbance, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment (which covers ADHD, among other conditions), Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Visual Impairment Including Blindness.

A diagnosis alone does not guarantee eligibility. A child can have an autism diagnosis or ADHD and still not qualify if the school determines the disability does not require specially designed instruction. That determination is the job of the PPT — Connecticut's name for the IEP team.

Connecticut's PPT: The IEP Team with a Different Name

In most states, the IEP team is simply called the IEP team. In Connecticut, it's the Planning and Placement Team (PPT). The name is different; the function is the same. The PPT makes decisions about evaluation, eligibility, IEP goals, services, and placement.

Required PPT members include at least one general education teacher who works with your child, a special education teacher, a district representative who has the authority to commit district resources (not just someone who has to "check with administration"), someone who can interpret evaluation data, and you. You are a required member of this team — not a guest, not an observer.

One thing Connecticut parents need to know: if a required team member is absent from a PPT meeting, the district must get your written agreement before excusing that member. If the district simply proceeds without a required member and without your written consent, the meeting has a procedural problem you can raise later.

Connecticut's 45-School-Day Evaluation Timeline

This is where Connecticut diverges significantly from federal law, and it matters for every parent in the state.

Federal IDEA gives districts 60 calendar days from receipt of your consent to complete an evaluation. Connecticut is different: under RCSA § 10-76d-13, the timeline is 45 school days — not calendar days. The clock starts the day after the district receives your written referral. It can be paused for up to 10 school days each time a consent form is returned, but that is the extent of the permitted pause.

Because the clock runs only on school days, the practical effect depends heavily on when you submit the referral. A referral submitted in March gives the district roughly 9 calendar weeks (if no pauses are used). A referral submitted in late April may push the evaluation period into summer — but the clock technically pauses over the summer if school is not in session. This is a point of frequent confusion and occasional district abuse. If your district claims the summer pause gives them unlimited time, that interpretation is worth challenging.

The sequence in practice:

1. Referral — You submit a written request asking the district to evaluate your child. Connecticut's referral form is the ED622. An email requesting evaluation also works, but the district will send you the ED622 to formalize it. A teacher, physician, or the district itself can also make a referral.
2. Evaluation consent — The district sends you a written evaluation plan within 10 school days of the referral. You sign it. The 45-school-day clock starts.
3. Evaluation — The district conducts assessments in all areas of suspected disability at no cost to you. Connecticut uses the SRBI (Scientific Research-Based Interventions) framework — the state's version of RTI. Districts may have collected data from SRBI interventions, but SRBI cannot be used to delay or deny a formal evaluation.
4. PPT eligibility meeting — The team reviews results and determines eligibility. You receive a written report before this meeting, not at it.
5. IEP development — If eligible, the PPT develops the IEP at the same meeting or at a scheduled follow-up PPT. The IEP is entered into CT-SEDS, Connecticut's statewide special education data system.
6. Implementation — Once you provide consent for initial services, those services must begin.

CT-SEDS: What Parents Need to Know

Connecticut manages IEPs through CT-SEDS — the Connecticut Special Education Data System. Unlike some states that use locally managed software, CT-SEDS is a centralized state system. That creates some benefits (standardized documents, statewide accessibility) and some friction for parents.

Key things to know about CT-SEDS from the parent side: the parent portal times out after 60 minutes, so lengthy review sessions may require logging in multiple times. Access codes expire within five hours of being issued, so if the district sends you a code on a Friday afternoon, don't wait until Saturday. Parents cannot upload documents through the portal — if you want to submit evaluations, records, or letters, you'll need to provide them directly to the district.

Prior Written Notice generated through CT-SEDS has been criticized — including in a 2026 WestEd review commissioned by the Connecticut State Department of Education — for lacking sufficient detail. If the PWN you receive seems vague about why the district made a particular decision or what data they relied on, you can request a more detailed explanation in writing.

The Standard the District Must Meet

Connecticut districts are not required to maximize your child's potential. They must provide what the U.S. Supreme Court called "meaningful educational benefit" in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017) — progress that is appropriately ambitious given your child's circumstances. If your child's IEP goals have not changed meaningfully in two or three years, that is worth examining.

Connecticut has one of the highest rates of outplacement to private special education programs in the country — approximately 6.2% of students with IEPs attend approved private special education programs (APSEPs), compared to a national average of about 2.4%. That rate reflects both the availability of quality private programs in Connecticut and the number of parents who have determined that the public school program cannot meet their child's needs. Outplacement is a legitimate outcome of the PPT process, but it requires the team to formally determine that no public school setting can provide FAPE.

Where 85,483 Students Start

In the 2023-2024 school year, approximately 85,483 Connecticut students received services under an IEP. That's a significant percentage of the public school population, spread across districts that range from high-performing suburban schools in Fairfield County to the 36 Alliance Districts — the state's highest-need urban districts including Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven — where resource pressures are most acute.

Where your child goes to school affects what the process looks like in practice. Alliance Districts often face more significant staffing shortages. Districts in the state's higher-resource DRG (District Reference Group) A and B categories may have more evaluators on staff but also more organized resistance to costly placements.

Get the complete toolkit — the Connecticut IEP & 504 Blueprint covers the full process from ED622 referral to compensatory services, with CT-SEDS guidance, state-specific timelines, and editable template letters built for Connecticut's PPT process.

See more United States homeschool guides →