With all the increased talk about teacher shortages, especially in special education, there are more and more articles popping up offering suggestions to reduce their workload or other suggestions to make the teaching profession more appealing. One recent article I came across caught my attention. Education Week posted “Can AI Write A Good IEP”?  

My immediate reaction is a hard no as a mother of two children; one on an IEP. An IEP sets the stage for what services and support our children receive. It is a legal contract and offers a lot of protections for our children, when written properly. An IEP can make or break a child’s educational trajectory. When we initially started on this educational journey with my son, we didn’t know he was autistic. He had some speech delays and a few other delays, but nothing major stood out. He was 3 years old and he had been at home with me his entire life. All of his struggles weren’t apparent until we had him evaluated by our local school district and he then started attending preschool. We were new to the whole IEP process and some mistakes were made along the way. Mistakes that hurt my son and ones I wish I could go back and do over.  It took us years to finally get to the point of having a solid, fair IEP for my son and getting him on the right path (and in the right environment) academically. This was after years of data, evaluations and even some legal action.  

I believe an IEP team should be made up of experts, both from the special education profession, therapists that work with the child and the child’s parents. IEPS should be individualized and personalized to the child. Machines and software, in my opinion, would take away a lot from the IEP process. AI may be great for some industries, but I am completely against it when it comes to special education and writing an IEP. What are your thoughts on it?

Can AI Write a Good IEP? What Special Education Experts Say (edweek.org)