Are Your IEPs Working? How Connecting Services to Progress Data Can Improve Outcomes

May 2025

In many school districts, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are carefully crafted with the best intentions. Services and supports are selected to meet each student’s unique needs, and goals are outlined to track progress across the year. But what happens when those goals aren’t met—and yet the services and supports remain unchanged?

It’s a scenario we hear far too often from special education leaders:

• The same services are used year after year.

• Goals aren’t being met, but nothing changes.

• Teams are unsure whether supports are truly moving the needle for students.

When services become static and disconnected from student progress, the IEP becomes less of a living, responsive document—and more of a compliance checkbox. The good news? There’s a way to reconnect services with student outcomes to create more dynamic, effective IEPs.

The Missing Link: Connecting Service Tracking and Goal Progress

Too often, service documentation lives in one silo while goal progress lives in another. Teachers track what they’re providing, case managers monitor goal achievement—but rarely do those data points intersect in a meaningful way.

When service and progress data are viewed together, powerful patterns begin to emerge:

• Which students are receiving high levels of support but showing little progress?

• Which services consistently align with meaningful gains?

• Where are supports being delivered inconsistently—and how might that affect outcomes?

These insights allow educators and administrators to make more informed decisions and adjust IEPs based on what’s actually working.

Realigning for Results

Let’s say a student has received the same 30 minutes of weekly reading intervention for three consecutive years—but they continue to fall short of their reading comprehension goals. That’s a red flag. With connected data, teams can ask:

• Has the intervention been delivered with fidelity?

• Is the intensity or frequency appropriate?

• Should we consider a different instructional strategy?

By tracking and reflecting on both service delivery and student progress over time, teams can better determine what to change, when to change it, and how to individualize supports more effectively.

Why This Matters for Compliance and Equity

From a compliance standpoint, IDEA requires that services be reasonably calculated to help students meet their goals. If progress isn’t happening, and services remain unchanged, districts may face increased scrutiny during audits or due process cases.

From an equity standpoint, students deserve more than status-quo services—they deserve plans that evolve with their needs. A static IEP doesn’t reflect a student’s growth, challenges, or changing environment. A dynamic one does.

Bringing It All Together with Brolly

At Brolly, we help districts unify service tracking and progress monitoring so teams can make smarter, data-informed decisions. By bringing these insights into one clear, easy-to-use platform, educators can:

• Quickly identify students who need adjusted supports

• Ensure services align with goal achievement

• Strengthen documentation for compliance

• Spend less time piecing together reports—and more time planning instruction

Want to learn more?

Join us for a free webinar hosted in partnership with CASE:
📅 Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
🕒 Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time (12:00 PM Central / 11:00 AM Mountain / 10:00 AM Pacific)
🎙️ Featuring: Stacy Hunt, Customer Success Manager at Brolly and former Special Education Leader
🔗 Register here: Are Your IEPs Working? Free Webinar for Special Education Leaders

Together, let’s make IEPs more effective, dynamic, and student-centered—because every student deserves a plan that works.