Moving to GO-IEP
What's actually different.
Georgia districts are consolidating onto GO-IEP, the state's online IEP system. The forms look familiar. The behavior isn't. These are the thirteen places where GO-IEP works differently from most district or vendor systems, with each claim linked to the GaDOE help page that says so.
The short version. GO-IEP is built around dates and audits rather than documents. Meetings start from the Timelines page, the meeting notice date drives everything downstream, every accommodation has to be justified in Present Levels, prior progress reports never close on their own, and Finalize is gated by a compliance audit and can't be undone. Learn those five and the rest is data entry.
| Task | How it usually worked before | How GO-IEP does it |
|---|---|---|
| Signing in | A separate login for the IEP system, often set up by the vendor. | Your SLDS username and password. There is no separate GO-IEP account; if SLDS works, GO-IEP works. Edge, Chrome, or Firefox only. GaDOE |
| Where a meeting starts | Open the student, click New IEP, pick a meeting type. | Annual reviews, initial IEPs, and reevaluations must start from the student's Timelines page, because that is where the federally reported dates are recorded. Amendments start from the Amend IEP button on the IEP tab. GaDOE |
| The meeting notice | A form you fill in and print; the IEP is a separate document. | The notice is the spine of the meeting. Its date flows onto every form. It won't submit without a Parental Rights choice, attendees come only from the Team Members tab, and nothing tied to it can be finalized until a schedule response is recorded. GaDOE |
| Parent information | Pulled from the student information system. | Typed by hand on the Profile page. Georgia doesn't send parent data into GO-IEP. Whatever is there prints on the final PDF, and the Profile page is the only place to fix it. GaDOE |
| Accommodations | Free-text lists, sometimes one list for classroom and testing. | State Testing accommodations are limited to what the Student Assessment Handbook allows for each test and subject. Student Supports pre-fills from State Testing. Every accommodation must be justified in the Present Levels area of need or the audit stops. GaDOE |
| Present Levels | A narrative box per area. | Called Academic and Functional Areas Assessed. Each area takes dated sources one at a time, an impact decision, and a choice of how it will be addressed (goal, accommodations, embedded goal, services, or not addressed with an explanation). Checking "goal" creates an audit that requires one. GaDOE |
| Services | A few fields; end dates often free-form. | Thirteen fields, and Save stays disabled until all are set. The end date can be no later than one year minus one day from the meeting date. Any service outside general education requires a written rationale. GaDOE |
| Progress reports at annual review | The new IEP replaced the old one; old progress reports were simply superseded. | Nothing closes automatically. Every open progress report from the prior IEP must be finalized or inactivated before the new IEP will finalize, by the halfway rule: before the halfway point of its period it can be inactivated, after it must be completed. GaDOE |
| Prior Written Notice | A separate form, often after the meeting. | Built into the IEP. Each section carries a PWN yes/no question, all of which must be answered before the audit passes; the PWN tab itself unlocks on the meeting day. GaDOE |
| Finalizing | Save, print, sign. | An audit gate. Audit/Finalize IEP runs a compliance check and blocks finalize until every flag clears; the blue text names the section. Finalize is one-way: the Draft watermark drops and any change afterward is an amendment. GaDOE |
| Amendments | Edit the IEP and re-sign. | Amend IEP copies the whole active IEP and the original meeting notice, including its date. Change the date first; the copied date decides which old progress reports must be completed. An amendment can never extend the IEP past the parent IEP's allowable end date. GaDOE |
| Session timeouts | Varied. | The session ends on inactivity. Only Save, Audit, Validate, or opening another page keeps it alive. GaDOE's own advice for meetings: present from the draft PDF and keep the live site closed until the discussion ends. GaDOE |
| Where the finished IEP lives | In the vendor system; sometimes a PDF in a shared drive. | The finalized PDF is attached to the student's SLDS profile for anyone with access, and each view is logged in GO-IEP. GaDOE |
"Before" describes common practice across district and vendor systems, not any one product. If your previous system already worked the GO-IEP way on a row, skip it. Anything on the GO-IEP side is drawn from the linked GaDOE page; confirm district-specific procedure with your GO-IEP administrator.
Where to go next
Get the GO-IEP Quick Cards
Six printable reference cards, one per task, plus the full start-to-finalize walkthrough. Free, with one practical GO-IEP tip a week during the transition. Unsubscribe anytime.