This book is designed to give special educators, regular educators, and parents the confidence and know-how to develop Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) that are both legally correct and educationally useful. Chapter 1 highlights the five main components of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): evaluation and identification, IEP program planning, placement, funding, and procedural safeguards. Chapter 2 discusses who develops the IEP, how the IEP team operates, when the IEP team must convene, where the IEP meeting happens, why IEPs must be written, and what the IEP must contain. Chapter 3 explains how not to develop IEPs by dissecting real-world examples of flawed IEPs and identifying severe common errors in IEP process and content. Chapter 4 presents the"Non-Form" and explains how to create an educationally useful IEP. Attention is focused on the three-step IEP development process, illustrating each step with examples. Chapter 5 tackles troublesome issues that have plagued schools since the IDEA was enacted and reviews judicial decisions and agency rulings. Appendices include: (1) the 1997 IDEA statute; (2) proposed IDEA regulations; (3) an appendix to the regulations that interprets, in question and answer format, the requirements of IDEA; and (4) a model parental notification notice. (CR)