A lot of parents, or even school staff, might be wondering: “What is an IEP meeting?” An IEP meeting is an annual meeting for a student who qualifies for special education services. Typically, the parents/guardians, special education teacher, general education teacher, school administrator, and any other stakeholders in the student’s education are participants in the IEP meeting. At this meeting, the IEP team develops, discusses, and reviews the student’s IEP document.
What is an IEP document?
An IEP is an Individualized Education Program designed for students who qualify for special education. The IEP is primarily written by the student’s case manager (the special education teacher or education specialist), with input from the rest of the IEP team. The IEP is intended to be a collaborative process between all stakeholders in the student’s life and education.
Who are the IEP stakeholders?
The student’s IEP team is made up of stakeholders. The IEP stakeholders are individuals invested in the student’s life or education, so the amount of stakeholders or speciality of each stakeholder present depends on the student and their needs. Below is a list of possible stakeholders:
- Student
- Parents/Guardians
- Other Family Members/Family Friends
- Special Education Teacher
- General Education Teacher
- School Administrator
- Related Service Providers
- Family-hired Attorney/Advocate
Related Service Providers are professionals who provide educational services to students who demonstrate areas of concern in their professional domain. Below are some examples of different related service providers who might provide input on an IEP or may be in attendance at an IEP meeting
- Speech and Language Pathologist
- Occupational Therapist
- School Psychologist
- Vision Specialist
- Physical Therapist
- Behaviorist
Who is Legally Required to be at an IEP Meeting?
Legally, every IEP meeting must have a special education teacher, general education teacher (except for adult transition programs), and an administrator present. The parents/guardians should be in attendance as well, however they are not legally required to be.
Parent/Guardian Participation
As a best practice, the case manager should provide the family with at least 3 different possible dates/times for the IEP meeting, well enough in advance. Additionally, the meeting can be held virtually or via teleconference. If the family is unresponsive after repeated contact attempts, the school district can hold the IEP meeting without the family present, however this is extremely uncommon since the case manager typically prioritizes the involvement of the family as they are important stakeholders.
Related Service Provider Participation
If a student receives direct services from a related service provider (i.e. receives 30 minutes a week of speech therapy or 30 minutes monthly of occupational therapy), then that related service provider MUST be in attendance unless the parents/guardians sign an excusal form per IDEA Sec. 300.321 (e). The parents/guardians always have the right to refuse to sign an excusal form for any reason.
Any related service providers who provide consultation services (i.e. consultation between the physical therapist and education specialist/staff to support the student) are not legally required to be in attendance at the meeting. Any of the stakeholders can request a related service provider to be at the IEP meeting, however the team might deny the request if they believe the student does not have any areas of concerns in the domain of the requested related service provider.
Legally Required Team Members Overview
To sum it up, a Special Education Teacher, General Education Teacher, and Administrator are legally required to attend a student’s IEP meeting. Additionally, the school district must reach out to the parents/guardians with multiple proposed meeting dates/times and alternative ways to meet (i.e. virtually) if necessary, so that the family can attend. Any related service providers who provide direct services to the student are legally required to attend the IEP meeting as well, unless the parent signs an excusal form to excuse them from the meeting. On the excusal form, it must be indicated if the related service provider is still providing written input as it relates to their speciality or if their domain is not being discussed in the meeting as it relates to the student and their education.
The primary participants of an IEP meeting are:
- Parents/Guardians
- Special Education Teacher (Case Manager)
- General Education Teacher (excused from adult transition IEPs)
- Administrator
- Related Service Providers (as applicable)
IEP Meeting Requirements
- Official IEP Meeting Notice
- Excusal Form
- Procedural Safeguards
- Previous Goal Summaries
The school district must send the family an official IEP meeting notice for them to sign in agreement to the proposed meeting date and time. Additionally, the school district must send the family an excusal form if any of the IEP team members have requested to be excused. As stated earlier, the family can refuse to sign the excusal form.
At the meeting, the parents/guardians should be provided with their procedural safeguards. It’s a best practice to provide the family with their rights prior to the meeting so that they have time to review them.
What Happens in an IEP Meeting?
The student’s case manager facilitates the IEP meeting. At the start of the meeting, all team members should introduce themselves, the meeting purpose should be shared, and any questions the family has about their procedural safeguards should be addressed.
Next, the student’s previous IEP goal summaries should be reviewed. This is when the team evaluates the data, and the case manager/related service providers share whether or not the student met each of their annual goals.
Finally, each of the IEP forms are reviewed, discussed, and revised. The IEP forms typically include:
- Information/Eligibility
- Individual Transition Plan (ITP) for students 16 years and older
- Present Levels of Performance
- Input parent concerns
- Special Factors
- Statewide Assessments (not applicable for adult transition)
- Annual Goals
- Offer of Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
- Services
- Educational Setting
- Emergency Plans (prompted by COVID-19 Pandemic)
After all of the IEP document forms have been reviewed, IEP participants will sign to indicate their participation in the meeting. If the family is ready to agree to the contents of the document, they will also sign for their consent. Once the parents/guardians have signed their consent, the new IEP is in action. This means that the service minutes begin and the teachers/related service providers can begin working on the new annual goals.
Types of IEP Meetings
Every student who receives special education services has an IEP Plan Review Meeting once a year (Annual Review). This is the typical “IEP Meeting”. Additionally, there is an IEP Eligibility Evaluation Meeting once every three years (Triennial) to determine placement, eligibility for services, and conduct assessments. For students with more severe disabilities where eligibility or placement are not a question for any of the IEP members, and the entire team agrees that assessments are not necessary, the Eligibility Evaluation can be replaced with a Triennial Re-evaluation. This means that no assessments are conducted, placement is not discussed, and special education eligibility is not reviewed or changed.
The main IEP meetings are the Plan Review (Annual) and Eligibility Evaluation (Triennial). Sometimes, the Annual and Triennial are due around the same time, so these meetings can be combined into one meeting.
At any point throughout the school year, any member of the IEP team can request an IEP meeting. This type of meeting will typically be classified as an amendment, and can be used to address a particular issue or revise any part of the IEP (i.e. annual goals, services).
For students who receive one-on-one instructional assistant support for personal hygiene, mobility, behavior, or instructional needs, the district should hold a SCIA Evaluation (Specialized Circumstance Independence Assessment) twice a year to create/revise a fading support/independence plan for the student.
The school district will hold an Initial IEP Meeting for students who are not currently receiving special education services but have been identified to be assessed to evaluate eligibility.
IEP Meeting Checklist
If you’re looking for IEP meeting agenda templates, examples, or checklists, check out this article.