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- In essence, an IEP meeting brings together a team of educators, specialists, and you—the parent—to create a personalized learning plan for your child. This collaborative effort aims to address your child’s unique strengths and challenges, setting clear goals and outlining the specific services and accommodations they’ll receive.
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Jan 30, 2022 · An IEP meeting is a meeting in which a student’s individualized education program is created, discussed, and reviewed. All students who receive special education services have an annual IEP meeting where the IEP team collaborates together to create the final version of the IEP document.
Sep 20, 2021 · Learn more about the Individual Education Program (IEP), a special education plan to help kids with learning differences. Our parent advocate discusses IEP, the IEP process, and the IEP meeting. IEP's Throughout the Years and Beyond (2018)
In this guide, our focus is to help you understand how an IEP meeting works and how you and your child, working together with the school, can get the most out of this process for the benefit of your child.
- 3 Things to Keep in Mind While Preparing For An IEP Meeting
- Preparing For An IEP Meeting
- Preparing For An IEP Meeting: What to Expect
- What to Do After The IEP Meeting
- The Bottom Line on Preparing For An IEP Meeting
1. Assume the best of the school team
School staff are doing their best with the resources they have. Try to start out assuming the best of the IEP team, your child’s teacher, and other school personnel. Going in with an adversarial approach may result in you not being invited back or being sidelined from collaboration. I’m not saying all school teams will do this in response, but setting a positive tone from your first email or phone call can set you up for future success. Assume they wantto work collaboratively with you, and th...
2. Understand your role in the child’s IEP meeting
Ensure you have a good understanding of your child’s rights and your role and responsibilities as a parent in the IEP process. This will be different from region to region, so make sure you have a basic understanding of this ahead of time. This is not intended to start you off on an adversarial note, but rather to manage expectations of the IEP process so you aren’t frustrated or disappointed. Examples include: 1. What bearing does last year’s IEP have on the current IEP? 2. Do I have to sign...
3. The IEP is considered a ‘living’ document
An IEP is intended to be updated throughout the school year. Specific practices and timelines on this will vary greatly from school district to school district, but the intention of an IEP is for students to meet goals and then have new goals put into place. An IEP is not intended to be filed away and never looked at again until June (although, this happens). If you’re concerned that the initial goals are too easy for your child, but the school has assessed them at the right level for the sug...
Have a basic understanding of education rights, laws, and legislation in your area
Part of preparing for an IEP meeting is being aware of your rights as a parent and most importantly, those of your child. It’s unlikely you’ll have to bust these out during an IEP meeting, but it can be helpful to know some specifics about IEPs, likely legislated by law in your area, so you can engage in effective advocacy for your child: 1. By what date does the IEP need to be completed? 1. Who will get to have input on the IEP? 2. Where is the IEP stored, how is it shared and with whom? 3....
Have a list of ‘very important’ and ‘would-be-nice’ items in mind
Showing up at the meeting prepared with some goal ideas that are important to you and your child can make the process efficient. Sometimes these have been submitted to the school already. Considering the public school environment, go into the meeting with realistic goals for your child BUT work with the team to hold a high standard of learning for your child. When preparing for an IEP meeting, it’s important to consider what is reasonable within the constraints of the school’s resources, whil...
Be clear with the school team on your child’s involvement as a member of the IEP team
Ideally, children, and especially adolescents, are involved in the creation of their IEP. Having goals that are meaningful to the child is important. That being said, sometimes there are adult conversations that aren’t appropriate for a child to participate in. Speak with the school team about how your child can be involved in the process. If they aren’t participating in the actual meeting, how will they be included? Can a teacher or educational assistant do some activities with them to deter...
The purpose of the IEP is to specify the measurable goals for a student’s education, as well as how and when a student with any sort of additional learning support needs will have those additional supports provided to them. IEPs may be written for students with diagnosed intellectual, physical, or learning disabilities. However, not all students wi...
Thank the team
As mentioned previously, teachers have really hard jobs. A quick thank you email can go a really long way to building good rapport and setting a positive tone moving forward.
Follow up on action items
Ensure anything you were assigned to complete after the meeting is done before checking in with the school to remind them about any outstanding action items.
Review the IEP
As goals are met, the IEP should be updated. There are often times during the year in which an IEP will be reviewed, although sometimes this is only required at the end of the school year. However, if you notice your child is achieving goals and you want to know what else is being worked on at school, you can request an IEP review. Again, this is a very general recommendation. Each region will have different procedures and policies around IEP reviews.
Working with a school team to consult on your child’s IEP can be an experience that is really positive, really challenging, or anything in between. These pointers are written from the perspective of a teacher and behaviour analyst who loves working with parents. These thoughts are from reflecting on my experience in many IEP meetings and wanting fa...
Introduction. Each public school child who receives special education and related services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document.
Oct 19, 2023 · Parenting a child with special needs comes with its unique set of challenges, and one of the most critical moments in your child's educational journey is the Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting.
