What is an IEP Meeting?
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. There are other types of IEP meetings as well (i.e. triennials, amendments), which we will cover later. The purpose of this article is to outline a typical IEP meeting agenda and provide some examples of meeting agendas from the field.
Who is the IEP team?
The IEP team always consists of:
- Case Manager (typically Special Education Teacher/Education Specialist)
- Administrator
- Parents/Guardians
- General Education Teacher (for all grades except for adult transition programs)
The IEP team sometimes consists of related service providers, such as:
- Speech and Language Pathologist
- Occupational Therapist
- School Psychologist
- Vision Specialist
- Physical Therapist
- Behaviorist
If your student receives direct services, receives consultation with a related service provider, is being assessed for a related service, or an IEP team member has requested the presence of a related service provider, the appropriate related service providers will be in attendance at the IEP meeting. Related service providers who provide a direct service to a student must be invited to an IEP meeting unless the parent/guardian has agreed to excuse them in advance. Related service providers on consultation are not required to attend the meeting, however they can be present if requested by a team member or if the student is demonstrating areas of concern in that domain.
Any individuals through the school district, related services, or the student’s personal life who are involved in their educational progress can be considered “IEP team members”. IEP team members are stakeholders in the student’s education. Additionally, some families prefer to bring an advocate or attorney to their IEP meetings, and these individuals would be considered IEP team members as well. The IEP meeting is intended to be a collaborative process between all team members.
The Main Elements of an IEP Meeting
While there are many different purposes for an IEP meeting and a variety of items to cover, these are the most common items to include in all IEP meetings:
- Introductions
- Purpose of the Meeting
- Establish Time Parameters
- Review Procedural Safeguards
- Review Excusal Form
- Time for team member questions/concerns
- Signatures (either for consent to the finalized IEP document or just for participation in the meeting)
Types of IEP Meetings with Sample Agendas
There are many different types of IEP meetings. In the sections below, a few different types of IEP meetings are described, with a link to download a google drive folder of 10 different editable IEP meeting agenda templates for FREE.
Also, check out this FREE resource on our Teachers pay Teachers store to help you get started with the IEP process: IEP Checklists! IEP Meeting/Process Preparation Templates: All types of IEP Meetings
Annual (Plan Review) IEP Meeting Agenda
An Annual IEP Meeting is where the IEP team reviews the new IEP draft. This draft includes information such as the student’s goals, services, and present levels of performance. In this meeting, the primary focus is to review each element of the draft, address team members’ questions/concerns, and come to an agreement as a team with a finalized program.
Link to 10 FREE editable IEP Meeting Agenda Templates: includes Annual (Plan Review) IEP Meeting Agenda
Triennial (Eligibility Evaluation) IEP Meeting Agenda
A Triennial IEP Meeting takes place every 3 years. This is where the special education teacher and related service providers report on their assessments of the student conducted over the past 60 days. The assessments could cover any or all of the following domains:
- Academic Achievement
- Health
- Intellectual Development
- Language/Speech Communication Development
- Motor Development
- Social Emotional/Behavioral
- Adaptive Behavior
- Post-Secondary Transition
- Other (should be specified in the assessment plan)
Sometimes, when a triennial is due, the IEP team will decide that a student does not need a full assessment done for eligibility determination. When this happens, the team is doing a Triennial Re-evaluation Determination. This typically only occurs for students with moderate-severe disabilities who have been receiving special education services for a long time. Additionally, the entire IEP team must be in agreement that the assessment results would not impact the current educational plans and services in place, meaning that there would be no value in conducting the assessments. However, if any team member is not in agreement with skipping the assessments and doing a re-eval instead, that can be voiced.
Link to 10 FREE editable IEP Meeting Agenda Templates: includes Triennial (Eligibility Evaluation) IEP Meeting Agenda
SCIA Evaluation IEP Meeting Agenda
A SCIA (Specialized Circumstance Independence Assessment) evaluation is when the case manager conducts an assessment of a student’s support needs to work towards more independence. These evaluations are only for students who receive one-on-one support of an instructional assistant throughout their school day for instructional, behavioral, health, or safety reasons. These evaluations should take place every 6 months.
Link to 10 FREE editable IEP Meeting Agenda Templates: includes SCIA Evaluation IEP Meeting Agenda
Amendment IEP Meeting Agenda
An Amendment IEP meeting can be called by any team member throughout the year for a variety of purposes including:
- Correction
- Continuation
- Amendment
- Periodic Review
- Interim Placement
- 30-Day Review
- Exit
- Transition
- Pre-Expulsion
- Other (should be specified)
Amendments are most commonly used for making changes to the IEP document prior to the next annual IEP meeting.
Link to 10 FREE editable IEP Meeting Agenda Templates: includes Ammendment IEP Meeting Agenda
Combined Types of IEP Meeting Agendas
Depending on timing throughout the school year, some IEP meetings will be combined into one meeting. Below are some of the possible IEP meeting combinations:
- Annual/Triennial
- Annual/SCIA
- Annual/Reevaluation
Link to 10 FREE editable IEP Meeting Agenda Templates: includes 30 Day Review, Annual/Reevaluation, Annual/SCIA, Annual/Triennial, Exit, and Initial IEP Meeting Agendas