Information and Preparation for the Annual IEP Meeting

Hello all, I hope you had a great weekend!

To prepare for your student’s annual IEP meeting, I want to share some important information and tips in order to relieve any stress or concerns you may have.

Before the Meeting:

• Review your student’s progress reports or report cards and any notes or comments from the general or special educator. It’s also important to review your child’s IEP and make any notes about questions/concerns you may have or things that you feel should be made up to date or changed based on your observations.
• While reviewing your students IEP, it might be helpful to use post-it notes to write any comments or questions that you wish to bring up about certain goals or your child’s progress.
• Talk to the members of the IEP team before, to ask them any questions you may have about how to read the IEP or about the use of certain vocabulary words. The general education teacher as well as myself would be glad to help you with any concerns or questions that you wish to have brought up at the meeting.
• If this is your first IEP meeting, it may be helpful to talk to the IEP team about what to expect so that you can attend the meeting with an idea of what will be discussed and what you would like to bring up.

During the Meeting:

• Introductions and the purpose of the meeting will be discussed at the beginning. Other members of the team will provide you with a copy of the IDEA Procedural Safeguards.
• If you have been to an IEP meeting in the past, you may have these and can jot down any questions you may have about them to ask, or you can choose to waive the discussion about them so that you may move on with the meeting.
• During meetings, members share information about the child, discuss needs, and determine the most appropriate way to meet those needs. Decisions are made by consensus. Make sure you are heard! You are an active part of the IEP team and it is important to let your ideas and concerns be heard.
• Goals and objectives will be written based on looking at your child’s assessment scores to determine a present level of performance (what your child is capable of achieving at this point).
• A summary of the meeting will be written up and given to you and it is important that you receive a copy of your child’s revised IEP.

After the Meeting:

• Review the IEP again to check for any other questions or concerns you may have. Check to see if there’s anything that needs more clarification. Review the IEP with your spouse or significant family members in the child’s life if you feel necessary to ensure that everyone is on the same page about the child’s learning process and goals.
• Talk to your child about what happened at the meeting. Discuss any changes or new parts of the child’s school day that may take place due to the new IEP. (Your child will not understand everything that occurred, just make sure they are aware of any changes in their school day, so that they will not be thrown off when changes are implemented in their classroom).
• Don’t be afraid to ask any questions or talk to another member of the IEP team about concerns that may arrive after the implementation of the new IEP.

More Tips/Links:

• Take notes and be informed before the meeting.
• Make sure to participate and voice your ideas and opinions. You are an important member of the team and know a lot more about your child and their habits.
• Ask questions! Ask any other member of the IEP team any questions or concerns you may have.
• If you’re uncomfortable attending the meeting alone, it is always beneficial to bring another person (spouse, family member, family friend) to advocate for the child and share your ideas.
• Make sure to get copies of any papers/documents that you sign for your own records.
• Here’s a link that tells you a little bit more about the IEP meeting:  Annual IEP Meeting
Here’s a video of what an annual IEP meeting may look like

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me!

Have a great week!

~ Ms. Pike