Your child's IEP must be updated annually, so expect at least one IEP meeting per school year. Additional IEP meetings can be held per your request, or if a change needs to be made to the IEP. I will reach out to you to schedule the IEP meeting as the date approaches.
Who attends (this is considered the IEP team):
You!
Your child (if you choose)
The special education teacher(s)
Your child's general education teacher
Our special education director or principal
Other faces that you might see could be our speech language pathologist if your student has a speech goal, or additional Grant Wood AEA staff that work with your child. Before the IEP meeting, I will send a meeting notice that lists who will be present.
Meeting Agenda (The six boxes): This agenda is our typical structure of IEP meetings. Because everything that goes into an IEP is a team decision, we like to come in with ideas rather than a completed IEP. As a parent, you know your child best. We want to hear from you during the meeting! I will send out a copy of this agenda for you to jot down notes prior to the meeting if you are interested.
Box 1- Strengths: You child is interviewed ahead of the meeting, so this is our opportunity to share their perspective of their strengths. Sometimes, these are spot on! Other times, the team adds a few ideas to what your child came up with. :) This is also a great chance for teachers to learn from you about what your child is like outside of school.
Box 2- Interests/Preferences: This is another opportunity for your child to have their voice heard in the IEP about their interests and how they learn best. The team will also add to this box. We love hearing how your child has learned best at home to see if it matches what we see at school.
Box 3- Future: Although this isn't necessarily asked in the IEP itself, I think it is really helpful to keep the long term goal in mind. Especially as they keep getting older, their future matters! As the parent, you can answer this question however you wish, whether it's their future a few months from now or years from now. It helps the team have perspective on your child.
Box 4- What child can do now: The school team has the opportunity to share the progress your child made through the last year. We will show the graphs from their previous IEP, discuss in class work and progress, and other information we have noticed. This is also a great opportunity to hear what your child does at home! Do they read independently? Do they talk about school?
Box 5- What we would like to see your child doing a year from now: Based on what we all see your child doing now, it is time for us to write goals for the upcoming year! The special education teacher typically comes with some ideas to propose. Don't hesitate to chime in. What do you want to see from your child?
Box 6- What we need to do to get them there: Now that are goals are written, what services, accommodations, and modifications do we need to provide to ensure your child is successful? We will discuss how much time the student will spend with the special education teacher and what other supports will be needed. Here is a list of some accommodations. We would love to hear your ideas!
Finally, we always ask what additional concerns you would like to discuss. If there is anything we did not already talk about, now is the time to share! Everyone on the IEP team is here to support your child, and your input matters.
**Re-Evaluations: Every three years, we have a re-evaluation meeting to ensure your child is still eligible for special education services. For these meetings, our Grant Wood AEA Special Education Consultant will also attend the meeting. She will share out what our data over the last three years has indicated and any additional testing results she conducted.