IEP Progress Monitoring in Indiana: What Schools Must Report and When

Indiana requires progress reports on IEP goals to be sent concurrent with regular report card intervals — typically quarterly. But "progress is being made" is not a progress report. Here is what Article 7 actually requires, what good progress data looks like, and what to do when your child's reports are telling you nothing useful.

What Indiana's Article 7 Requires for Progress Reporting

Under 511 IAC Article 7, the IEP must describe how the student's progress toward annual goals will be measured and how parents will be informed of that progress. The law requires that parents receive progress reports at least as often as parents of non-disabled students receive report cards — in most Indiana districts, that means quarterly, every nine weeks.

This is a minimum. More frequent reporting (monthly, bi-weekly for high-stakes skills) is better practice and can be requested.

What a legally adequate progress report must include:

• A statement of the student's current level of performance on each goal
• An indication of whether the student is on track to meet the annual goal by the IEP anniversary date
• Data supporting that conclusion (not just a rating or checkbox)

The "on track" determination is critical. If your child is not on track to meet a goal by the annual review, that should trigger a CCC meeting to discuss whether the goal needs to be revised, services increased, or strategies changed — not a note saying "keep trying."

What Good Progress Data Looks Like

Every IEP goal should specify how it will be measured. Common measurement methods for different types of goals:

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM): Short, standardized probes assessing fluency or accuracy in a specific skill area. For reading, this might be oral reading fluency probes (words per minute correct). For math, it might be computation probes (digits correct per minute). CBM data is plotted over time on a graph — the trend line tells you whether the student is progressing fast enough to hit the goal.

Percent accuracy: How many times the student performs a skill correctly out of opportunities presented. "Student answered comprehension questions with 70% accuracy on 3/4 probes this week."

Frequency counts: How often a specific behavior or skill occurs during a defined observation period. "Student independently initiated peer interaction 3 times during 20-minute lunch observation."

Rubric scores: For writing or complex skills, scored consistently using a defined rubric.

Trial data: In discrete trial instruction, data is collected on individual trials — how many trials presented, how many correct, with what level of prompting.

The key is consistency: the same measurement method used across reporting periods so you can see a real trend.

The Indiana IEP & 504 Blueprint includes an IEP progress monitoring review guide — how to read data, what questions to ask when progress is flat, and how to request a goal revision or service change based on progress data. Get the complete toolkit

Red Flags in Indiana Progress Reports

Checkbox ratings without data: A report that shows "emerging," "progressing," or "goal met" without any numerical data or specific performance description is not adequate. Ask: what data supports this rating?

"Progress is being made" with no specifics: This means nothing. What was the student doing in September? What are they doing now? What does that change look like in numbers?

Every goal marked "progressing" despite obvious lack of growth: If your child is still reading at the same level as last year and every goal is marked "progressing," something is wrong. Request the raw data.

Data collected infrequently: If a goal is measured quarterly at the time the progress report is written rather than through ongoing data collection throughout the quarter, you're looking at a point-in-time snapshot, not a trend. Good progress monitoring collects data weekly or bi-weekly.

No trajectory analysis: The most important question isn't "where is the student now" but "at this rate of progress, will they meet the goal by the annual review date?" If the report doesn't answer that question, ask explicitly.

How to Request Better Progress Reports

If your child's progress reports are inadequate, start with a direct request:

1. Request a CCC meeting specifically to discuss progress monitoring procedures
2. Ask: "What data collection method is being used for each goal? How often is data being collected? Can I see the data?"
3. Request access to ongoing progress data rather than only quarterly summaries — many Indiana schools use digital IEP systems where data can be shared with parents in real time
4. Propose specific data collection methods if the current approach isn't producing useful information

If the school doesn't have meaningful data because services aren't being consistently delivered, that is an IEP implementation problem — different from a progress monitoring problem, and separately actionable.

When Progress Isn't Happening

If progress data shows your child is not making meaningful growth toward their IEP goals, Indiana law requires the CCC to act — not wait until the annual review.

You can request a CCC meeting at any time. At that meeting:

• Present the progress data (or lack thereof)
• Ask the team what's driving the lack of progress — is it the goal (too ambitious, not the right skill), the service (not enough time, wrong methodology), or implementation (services not delivered consistently)?
• Request specific changes: revised goals, increased service time, different instructional approach, additional evaluation

If the team cannot explain why progress isn't happening and proposes no changes, file a state complaint with IDOE's Office of Special Education. A school that can't produce progress data for an IEP goal and isn't proposing to do anything differently is not providing your child with meaningful educational benefit.

Progress Monitoring and the Annual Review

The annual CCC meeting is supposed to be driven by progress data — looking at whether goals were met, what the student can do now that they couldn't do at the start of the year, and what new goals are appropriate based on current performance.

Before the annual CCC:

• Request all progress data collected throughout the year, not just the final quarterly report
• Note which goals were met and which weren't
• For unmet goals: ask whether the skill still needs to be targeted (carry it forward) or whether the approach needs to change (revise the goal or service)
• For met goals: identify what skill comes next and ensure a new goal is written for it

A well-run annual review builds directly on the progress monitoring data from the year. A poorly run one presents a new IEP without grounding it in what the data showed.

Progress Monitoring for Early Intervention Transitions

If your child is transitioning from Indiana's First Steps (Part C early intervention) program to school-based special education (Part B), note that progress monitoring frameworks change significantly. Part C uses family outcomes and developmental milestones. Part B uses the academic, functional, and behavioral goal framework described above.

The transition CCC (which must occur between 9 months and 90 days before the child's third birthday) should begin establishing the Part B progress monitoring system — don't arrive at the transition expecting the same reporting format your early intervention provider used.

Progress monitoring is how you know whether the IEP is actually working. Without reliable data, you're guessing — and so is the school. Get the Indiana IEP & 504 Blueprint for a complete guide to IEP progress monitoring, including what to request, how to read the data, and how to push for changes when the numbers aren't moving.

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