Indiana Teacher of Record and Teacher of Service: What These Roles Mean for Your Child's IEP

If you've been to a Case Conference Committee (CCC) meeting in Indiana, you've probably seen "TOR" and "TOS" on documents and heard the school staff use these terms without explaining what they mean. This is part of Indiana's unique Article 7 terminology that doesn't appear in federal IDEA guidelines — and understanding the difference matters when you're trying to figure out who is legally responsible for what in your child's IEP.

Teacher of Record (TOR): The Legally Responsible Educator

The Teacher of Record is the licensed special education teacher who holds primary legal responsibility for your child's IEP. In practical terms, this person:

• Is legally responsible for monitoring the implementation of the entire IEP
• Tracks your child's progress toward all annual goals
• Ensures that the required services documented in the IEP are actually being delivered on the schedule and frequency specified
• Completes progress reports on IEP goals and communicates them to you
• Is the primary coordinator for CCC meetings, including annual reviews
• Ensures that all procedural compliance requirements under Article 7 are met

The TOR is a required participant in every CCC meeting. You cannot hold a legally valid CCC without the Teacher of Record present (or, if absence is unavoidable, the TOR must submit written input and the CCC must decide whether to proceed without them — which generally requires your written agreement).

One thing that surprises many parents: the TOR may or may not be the person spending the most direct instructional time with your child. In an inclusion-heavy or resource room model, the TOR might spend one period per day with your child, while a general education teacher delivers most of the academic content. The TOR's role is coordination and legal accountability, not necessarily the highest number of contact hours.

Teacher of Service (TOS): Everyone Who Delivers

Teacher of Service is Indiana's term for any educator who provides direct instruction or services to your child under the IEP. This is a broader category and includes:

• General education teachers who provide instruction to the student
• Related service providers: speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, orientation and mobility specialists
• Specialized instructors in pull-out or resource settings other than the TOR
• Paraprofessionals, in some contexts, though their role is typically supervised by a TOS or TOR

Unlike the TOR, a Teacher of Service does not have the same comprehensive legal accountability for the IEP as a whole. Each TOS is responsible for delivering their piece of the service grid accurately — but they don't carry the overall coordination and compliance oversight that belongs to the TOR.

This matters when services aren't being delivered. If your child's IEP says they receive 30 minutes of speech therapy twice a week, the speech-language pathologist serving them is a TOS who is legally required to provide those sessions on that schedule. If they're not happening, the TOR is the person responsible for identifying and correcting the gap. If the TOR is unresponsive, you escalate to the Public Agency Representative (PAR).

The Other Required CCC Role: Public Agency Representative (PAR)

While you're learning Indiana's unique terminology, it helps to understand the third key role: the Public Agency Representative. This is the administrator — often a principal or special education director — who represents the school at CCC meetings.

The PAR must have the authority to commit the school's resources. That's not just a formality. If the CCC proposes a new service, additional minutes of therapy, or an assistive technology device, the PAR must be someone who can legally agree to fund and provide it on the spot. A general education teacher or a coordinator who has to "check with administration" after the meeting is not a valid PAR.

If you show up to a CCC meeting and the only administrator present tells you they don't have authority to commit resources, you can decline to finalize the IEP at that meeting and request the district send someone with proper authority. This is your right.

Why This Terminology Matters in Practice

Federal resources, national advocacy guides, and even some special education attorneys who practice in other states will refer to the "IEP Team" — a term that doesn't appear in Indiana's Article 7. What Indiana calls the Case Conference Committee, federal law calls the IEP team. When you're preparing for a CCC meeting, searching for templates, or reading about your rights online, most of what you find will use federal terminology.

This means:

• When a national guide says "the IEP team must include a special education teacher," Indiana's equivalent is "the TOR must be present at the CCC."
• When a guide says "the school must send a notice of the IEP meeting," Indiana's rule is that you receive notice of the CCC.
• When you see "LEA representative" in federal materials, the Indiana equivalent is the Public Agency Representative (PAR).

The substance of the rights is the same; the vocabulary is different. Knowing this prevents you from being told your rights don't apply because you used the wrong term.

Questions to Ask at Your Next CCC

When you sit down at your child's CCC, you can ask directly:

• "Who is the Teacher of Record for my child's IEP?"
• "Who is responsible for ensuring each service in the IEP is delivered on schedule?"
• "If I have a concern about a specific related service not being provided, who do I contact first?"
• "Does the PAR at this table have the authority to commit resources today, or would changes need to go through someone else?"

These aren't confrontational questions — they're organizational ones. Getting clear answers at the start of the meeting saves confusion later.

The Indiana IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a full CCC meeting preparation checklist, Article 7 terminology guide, and notes on who does what at each stage of the IEP process. Get the Blueprint at /us/indiana/iep-guide/

See more United States guides →