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So what happens at an IEP meeting? The meeting should follow a definite agenda. Sometimes the person heading the meeting ( the teacher or special education representative) will have a written agenda to distribute. If possible, get this person to share the agenda prior to the meeting.
Note: Parents often report that they show up at the meeting and receive an already drafted IEP awaiting their approval. While having the educators show up with an outline ready isn’t a bad idea, the IEP meeting is not about rubberstamping an already-discussed IEP. Even if the other team members have declared that they’ve “already met” about this IEP, all discussions and decisions need to occur again. Read this article from the Wrightslaw website on pre-drafted IEPs.
The IEP (Individualized Education Plan) has two major purposes:
1. First it is developed at a meeting designed as a communication vehicle between parents and school personnel that enables them, participating equally, to decide jointly on what the child’s educational needs are, what will be provided and what the anticipated outcomes are.
2. Second it becomes a management tool (and a legally binding document) that is used to insure that each child with a disability is provided special education and related services appropriate to his/her specific learning needs.
IEPs are developed, by law, by considering:
• The child’s strengths
• The parents’ concerns
• The results of the initial evaluation and the most recent evaluation
• The academic, developmental and functional needs of the child.
Present Levels of Academic Performance . This is usually where the meeting starts, as a discussion of what the child’s current functioning is. Test scores, grade equivalents and testing results are reported here. Teacher observations are given. Samples of work are frequently shown. The point of discussing present levels of performance is to describe the areas of need that arise from your child’s disability. One of the was this part of the meeting, and ultimately the IEP document developed from this meeting can be made stronger is by presenting measurable data of performance. Ask questions about the grade or age level of the tests and examples cited.
Goals and Objectives. Often the longest discussion and the most difficult part of the IEP to develop, the IEP goals should meet the child’s academic, developmental and function needs and enable the child to have access to the general curriculum (be taught the same curriculum as other students). Specific, measurable goals are difficult to write, but necessary. This is an area where IEP Teams often fall down. Teachers and parents alike need to get creative and think outside the box as to how they can set realistic, specific goals that address the child’s educational needs. The goal should describe exactly what a child should be able to do, with what accuracy and frequency. And the action should be something that is observable, making it measurable. Each goals should be broken down into smaller steps, where observable behavior can be counted.
Note: IDEA 2004 eliminated the requirements for short-term objectives and benchmarks in IEPs, except for students taking alternative assessments.
Placement. Toward the end of the meeting, after discussing the child’s evaluations, the child’s needs, the child’s present level of performance and what goals and objectives should be established to address the child’s needs, the IEP Team will discuss placement. This is where the child will be educated. Two things you should remember about placement:
1. Special education is NOT a place, it is a service. This means that sending children needing special services to a special place is not the answer. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) dictates otherwise.
2. Eligibility does NOT drive placement. If a child is eligible for special education, his/her eligibility classification does not determine only one choice of placement. An example of this would be grouping all the children with autism in the same classroom. (In fact, most autism experts discourage this practice, as it provides no typical peer role models for socialization.)
