IEP Management
Platform
A system that translates complex IEP documents into actionable, trackable workflows for teachers supporting special education students.
The Problem Space
🔍 Core Problem
Teachers struggle to track individual IEP goals and progress, leading to inconsistent instructional support and inequitable learning outcomes for students with special needs.
💡 Our Solution
Automatically translate IEP objectives into actionable guidance and reminders — so teachers can better support students without extra planning overhead.
Who We're Designing For
The primary users are K–8 special education teachers, many of whom did not grow up with technology. This shaped every decision: explicit labels, one-click navigation, and a supportive tone throughout.
Reduced Planning Overhead
Teachers spend excessive time manually parsing IEP documents. They need instant, digestible goal breakdowns they can act on.
Clear Progress Visibility
Without a centralized system, tracking progress across multiple students is fragmented. Teachers need one source of truth per student.
Accessible Interface
Many users are not tech-comfortable. The interface must prioritize clarity over visual flair — usability wins every time.
Visual & UX Principles
Inspired by Khan Academy's clarity, Playground IEP's warmth, and ChatGPT's minimalism — the goal was a platform that feels like a supportive co-teacher, not a cold tool.
Typography
Poppins for headers — rounded, friendly, educational. Nunito Sans for body — warm and readable at all sizes.
Design Principles
Rounded everything. Pastel-based calm contrast. Explicit labels. No hover dropdowns. Large, obvious CTAs. One-click navigation throughout.
Original Concept & Wireframes
Before any high-fidelity screens, the flow was mapped out by hand — sketching the student dashboard grid, the IEP goal view, and the lesson plan generator inputs. These wireframes defined the core layout logic before any visual decisions were made.
Interface Design
Four screens define the full teacher workflow — from onboarding a student to generating a lesson plan.
Student Dashboard
The central hub showing all students in a class. Each card is large and clearly labeled — tap to enter that student's IEP profile.
- Grid layout with large touch targets
- Select Class dropdown for multi-class teachers
- + card to add a new student inline
- Consistent avatar colors per student
Add Student Form
When a teacher clicks +, they enter student name, grade, and upload the IEP file. The system parses it automatically to build the student's profile.
- Minimal fields — name, grade, IEP upload
- IEP parsed on submit to extract goals
- Teacher approves the profile before it's created
Lesson Plan Generator
Select one or more students — their IEP context auto-populates the prompt. Upload supplementary files and type specific instructions.
- Student selector with avatar IDs
- Upload IEP file for auto-parsing
- Free-text instruction area
- Does NOT look like ChatGPT — educational framing throughout
Student IEP View
Clicking a student surfaces their full IEP goals — organized by subject (ELA, Math, Speech) with a Switch Student panel on the right.
- One student shown at a time, no clutter
- Quick-switch sidebar for class roster
- Generate Lesson Plans CTA anchored to context
- Color-coded subject areas
What the Platform Does
Four core feature pillars, each building on the last.
IEP Upload & Parsing
Teachers upload a PDF, DOCX, or TXT. The backend scans for Annual Goals and Objectives, tagging each by subject area, skill type, standard, and end date.
Student Dashboard
Once profiles are created, teachers see a holistic weekly breakdown with checkboxes to mark progress, an editing feature, and an accommodation checklist.
IEP Goal Tracker
Goals are spread over the school year accounting for frequency, timeframe, difficulty, and dependencies. Teachers can adjust at any time.
AI Support Assistant
Each weekly goal has a "Generate Materials" button that opens a chat with the student's context pre-loaded — producing worksheets, visual aids, and more.
Database Schema
A clean relational model: each teacher connects to students, each student has one IEP, and each IEP holds subject-specific goals.
👩🏫 Teachers
- teacher_id (PK)
- first_name
- last_name
- email (required)
- password (required)
- department
🎒 Students
- student_id (PK)
- first_name
- last_name
- grade_level
- date_of_birth
- teacher_id (FK)
📄 IEPs
- iep_id (PK)
- student_id (FK)
- ela_goals
- math_goals
- general_goals
- start_date / end_date
🎯 Goal Tracker
- goal_id (PK)
- iep_id (FK)
- subject_area
- skill_type
- frequency
- mastery_date
What I Learned
🧠 Designing for Non-Tech Users
Every decision had to be justified by "will a 55-year-old teacher understand this immediately?" It pushed me toward radical clarity — more labels, bigger buttons, zero hover-only interactions.
⚖️ Usability vs. Aesthetics
The design doc's core rule — if usability and beauty conflict, choose usability — forced me to cut several clever UI patterns in favor of predictable, obvious ones.
🏗️ System Before Screens
Mapping the database schema before designing ensured every UI element had a data source. This caught gaps early and made the product feel coherent end-to-end.
🚀 What's Next
Phase 2 includes a generated lesson plan PDF view, parent-facing progress pages, and a live prototype for usability testing with real teachers.
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