Routines First: IEP Planning within the BRIDGE Operating Framework (A Conceptual Model v1.0)

IEPs are meant to be practical plans for personalised learning. Yet in many schools, they drift into a familiar pattern: goals multiply, targets become loosely tied to daily teaching contexts, data becomes burdensome or ambiguous, and review meetings focus on updating paperwork rather than updating decisions. The result is a “plan–practice gap”—a situation where the IEP exists, but does not reliably shape what adults and learners do each day. This report introduces a practitioner-academic conceptual model of IEP planning within BRIDGE, an operating framework that treats high-frequency routines as primary learning contexts and emphasises coherence between planning, teaching, and review. BRIDGE is positioned as the school’s operating framework for learning—Build Routines, Integrate Domains, Grow Engagement—and as a logic that organises curriculum, routines, and staff actions. The model reframes the IEP as a personalisation overlay on the school’s operating system: rather than functioning mainly as a standalone document, the IEP selects priorities, defines targets as performance within real contexts, and runs a review loop that updates decisions over time. The paper is intentionally non-procedural; it clarifies assumptions and constraints so schools can adapt the model within their own realities. Record contents: PDF (concept paper / working paper), v1.0.Companion record: BRIDGE Framework for SPED Curriculum Reform (Operating Framework Specifications & Curriculum Architecture) — DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18504680.