What you need to know before your child's initial IEP meeting: The Notebook series, part 1
Welcome to The Notebook series! Every parent deserves to feel like an equal, important partner in their child's education.
That's why I created The Notebook series: to help parents effectively navigate the IEP process—and get the services and support their child needs to thrive.
Each post in this series will have helpful tools and information to ensure parents
Can approach IEP meetings with confidence
Have more positive experiences working with their IEP team
Advocate for their child effectively
If you haven’t had a chance to read the introduction post to this series, check it out here.
What happens before an Initial IEP?
Before the Initial IEP meeting can be held, a student is first assessed, reports are written, and IEP documents are drafted. There are many firsts that come with an Initial IEP. The meeting itself is actually the final step in the process.
The first step in the process is assessing the student. Whether the assessment is in response to a parent’s concerns or concerns raised by the school, once the student is identified as being potentially eligible for special education, they are assessed. (We’ll dive into the assessment process in a separate post.)
The assessment process leads to one of two outcomes: the student is found eligible for special education services or they are not. Either way, an initial IEP is held to review the assessment results. If the student is found eligible, recommendations are made for services, goals, and accommodations. If the student is not found eligible, any number of things could happen next. (But more on that in another post.)
Before any recommendations can be made, an eligible student is given a disability category. The school psychologist typically determines the category. The IEP team—including parents—will discuss this determination during the meeting. (We’ll also get into what each IEP team member does in…you guessed it, a separate post.)
Students can meet eligibility for special education services under any one category. Students can also be found eligible with a combination of categories. The most common disability categories or classifications that can result in eligibility for special education services include (in alphabetical order):
Autism
Deaf-blindness
Deafness
Emotional disturbance
Hearing impairment
Intellectual disability
Multiple disabilities
Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairment
Specific learning disability
Speech or language impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment
Developmental delay
To make a very long story short, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the primary source of federal funding, allocates money to each state. This funding provides special education programs and services for students who are eligible under one of the disability categories. Basically, these disability categories are critical to secure funding for each state, school, and student.
What to expect before the Initial IEP meeting
Once a student is assigned a disability category, the IEP team will draft an Initial IEP full of individualized recommendations. These recommendations must strive to ensure a free and appropriate education (FAPE) is provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE). But that’s all just legal jargon required by IDEA.
Essentially—and without all the jargon—IEPs are developed to meet a student’s specific needs. Their priority is to support students in meeting their individual goals. These goals can be educational, social, behavioral, etc. The main components of that document vary by state and even by school district.
Essentially each Initial IEP includes:
Present Levels of Performance (PLOPs; my favorite acronym to say!)
Measurable Goals and Objectives
Special Education and Related Services
Accommodations and modifications
Statement of Eligibility
A quick note: you may not receive the Special Education and Related Services page with your draft. It’s very common for teams to leave that page out—or leave it blank. Assessments inform goal development, and goals drive services. So, until the team can present the goals and make recommendations for services—type, length, frequency—in the meeting, they typically don’t fill out that page. Or, they shouldn’t!
Prior to the Initial IEP meeting, the team should provide parents with a draft of all assessment reports and a draft of the Initial IEP documents listed above. Each report and document should say “Draft” on it. Until parents give consent for the IEP to be implemented, nothing is final.
The key to the draft IEP documents are assessment results. They are presented in the draft assessment reports. They are summarized in the PLOPs. They inform the goals and objectives. They determine which services are recommended. And, they lead to the accommodations and modifications suggested to support a student’s specific needs.
Two additional documents parents can expect to receive before an Initial IEP meeting are Parents’ Rights and an Agenda. They should also be available for reference during the meeting.
In summary, the documents a parent should have prior to the Initial IEP meeting include:
Invitation (here is a sample from Pennsylvania)
Draft reports (here is a sample eligibility determination from Washington state)
Draft IEP (here is a sample from a district in Washington state)
Parents’ Rights (here is the version available in Washington state)
What to Expect During the Initial IEP Meeting
We’ve finally made it to the meeting! Once in the meeting, the Agenda acts as a guide to (hopefully) keep everyone on track. The example Agenda linked above provides a general overview of what to expect in the meeting. I’d like to highlight two agenda items: Student Strengths and Parental Concerns.
As a Case Manager, I started every meeting by asking the parent(s) and each team member to share the student’s strengths. As many of them as they could think of. It was an effective way of reminding everyone why we were gathered in that room: for the student. A positive tone was set, and parents felt like their child was recognized and celebrated. And, if the student was in the meeting with us, we got to hype them up!
Deciding when to ask for Parental Concerns, on the other hand, can be trickier. I would often ask parents about their concerns during a pre-meeting, over the phone, or through email before the meeting. Then, I could read the concerns while we reviewed the PLOPs rather than putting parents on the spot in the meeting. Parents were always encouraged to share additional concerns during the meeting, but at least we had a starting point.
I would encourage parents to ask teams to start a meeting with strengths. I would also encourage parents to share their current concerns in an email—or a letter—to their child’s Case Manager. Just because a team doesn’t automatically offer to do these things doesn’t mean they aren’t crucial for setting up a successful IEP meeting. Taking control of how strengths and concerns are shared can help to establish a parent as an active participant at the start of the meeting.
Another thing parents should ask for is a copy of the notes taken during the meeting. The notes contain critical information—and comments—shared throughout the meeting. If not provided, parents should also ask for a complete updated draft of the IEP. Having a copy of the meeting notes and updated draft IEP affords parents the opportunity to revisit recommendations and discussions once they get home.
The final important document a parent may want to add to their own version of The Notebook is a Prior Written Notice. This document should be given to a parent—after the meeting—along with meeting notes and an updated draft of the IEP. The Prior Written Notice explains the proposed changes to their child’s program. This document can also serve as the document parents use to give their consent for a team to implement the proposed IEP.
The Initial IEP meeting is done…now to decide what you want
After the meeting is over and the team has presented their reports and recommendations, the parent(s) must decide whether they want to move forward with the Initial IEP as written. If they want their child to receive the recommended services, goals, and accommodations, they must provide their consent.
Consent looks different depending on the state. As I just mentioned, Prior Written Notice can serve as the document parents use to give consent. In some states, a signed Parent Consent form is required before the IEP can be implemented. In states that don’t require signed consent, parents must still provide informed written consent. If a parent isn’t sure what’s required in their state, they can ask their team.
The final takeaways for parents preparing for an Initial IEP are:
Before the meeting
Assessments are conducted and an IEP is drafted
Parents should receive drafts of all assessment reports and a draft of the IEP
During the meeting
The Agenda guides the team through each IEP component
Strengths and concerns are key to ensuring parents can be active participants
After the meeting
Parents are provided an updated draft of all IEP documents and meeting notes
Consent is given so goals, services, accommodations can be implemented
Ideally, the IEP team has been in communication with parents throughout the Initial IEP process. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being included and respected by your child’s team. But, if that’s not the case, start building your own version of The Notebook. Keep a copy of every draft assessment report, draft IEP, Agenda, and Parents’ Rights (you’ll have a hundred copies, and that’s ok!).
The Notebook doesn’t have to serve solely as a secret weapon for future meetings. But maybe holding a physical object full of documents from years of meetings can act as a reminder to a parent that they have every right to seek respect and receive it. And, if it all feels like too much, message me—we can work together to ensure your child has the services they need to thrive.
Stay centered out there, friends!
Mischa
