IEP Team Members & Meetings

Roles and Responsibilities in the IEP Process 

Following is the list of individuals who are required by law (IDEA 2004) to contribute and participate in IEP development. All required team members must attend the entire meeting.

Student

• May attend as appropriate at any age; required to be invited to meetings during which transition is discussed and for IEP to be in effect when student is 16 (so, as early as age 15)

• Participate actively in all discussions and decisions.  

• Communicate his/her preferences and interests regarding what he/she wants to do after completing school.  

• Communicate his/her strengths, areas where help is needed, how he/she is doing in classes and community experiences, what accommodations, modifications and supports are needed for the student’s success in school and in the community. 

•  Participate in development of the IEP

Parent

•  Support the student.

• Reinforce the value of an individually appropriate educational program.

• Provide information about the student’s strengths and interests and areas where assistance is needed.  

• Provide information about the student’s independent living skills and the help the student may need in order to achieve the desired post-school goals. 

•  Be actively involved as equal partners in all aspects of the IEP planning, discussion and decision making. 

Special Education Teacher

Special education teachers are responsible for teaching and assisting each child in achieving his or her goals for the academic year. Setting goals through the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is an important part of working with disabled students. An IEP is a legally binding document developed by a team of teachers, school district representatives, members of a student’s family and sometimes the student. While literacy and other academic goals are part of an IEP, the team also addresses nonacademic and extracurricular goals.

•  Provide information on the student’s strengths, past achievements and progress on the current IEP.  

• Provide strategies for effectively teaching the student, including appropriate accommodations and / or modifications so that the student can successfully access the general curriculum by the general education teacher.  

• Suggest courses of study and educational experiences that relate to the student’s preferences and interests and provide a foundation and skills to help the student achieve his/her desired post-school goals. 

•  Identify needed related services (such as speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy or other). 

•  Provide appropriate input for Transition service needs and post-school agencies, services and / or supports and incorporate those into the IEP. 

•  Link students and parents to the appropriate post-school services, supports and agencies before the students leave high school.  

• Coordinate all the people, agencies, services or programs in the transition planning. 

• Manage the implementation of the goals and objectives through specially designed instruction.

• Progress monitoring to/on specific goals and data collection for progress reporting

• Ensure appropriate vocational skills/interests assessments/evaluations are conducted and corresponding reports and recommendations are included in the IEP. 

Administrator or District Representative

• Provide training and support for special education teachers, regular education teachers, paraprofessionals and related service providers.  

• Allocate the necessary resources to ensure that the IEP is fully implemented.  

• Attend all annual / triennial IEP meetings. 

• Meeting notetaker. Use EDPlan for taking notes as it is FERPA-compliant and makes it easy to have the notes as part of the special education record.

General Education Teacher

If a student is or may be participating in the general education curriculum or environment, not less than one of the student’s general education teachers shall participate in developing the IEP, to the extent appropriate. The general education teacher’s role in the development, review, and revision of the IEP includes: 

• Describe the student’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.

• Contribute to appropriate positive behavioral interventions and other strategies for the student.

• Provide input on supplementary aids and services, program accommodations/adaptations, to be provided by or as supports for school personnel in the general education classroom.

•  Assist in planning the courses of study and the general curriculum that will assist the student in achieving his/her post school goals. 

•  Assist in identifying and providing needed positive behavioral strategies and interventions to assist the student in the regular education setting.  

• The general education teacher must be present for the entire meeting.

 School Psychologist

• Make recommendations for and ensure appropriate assessments are conducted by professional experts in the areas of adaptive behavior, functional behavioral assessments and corresponding positive behavior management plan, auditory, visual and sensory perception.  

• Provide summary reports for all psychological behavioral related assessments and ensure integration within IEP goals, objectives and behavior plans. 

•  Attend all annual/triennial Eligibility & IEP meetings. 

Related Service Provider

• Required participant if their area of assessment or services will be discussed at the meeting.

• May include speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, or others as determined by the student's IEP team.

Before the Meeting

• Invite the parent; print the email chain and/or document phone calls/other communication.

• Add/create contact log in EDPlan.

• Create the meeting invitation; print a copy for file; send invitation to parent by email or hard copy

• Put the meeting on the calendar (Sage/Forge Special Education) using student initials only and invite personnel by adding their names; if OT isn’t able to attend but there are OT goals, create and print excusal for parent to sign at meeting.

• Especially in secondary: confirm directly with at least one general education teacher that s/he will attend.  You may choose to include all of the student’s teachers on the calendar invite, but you need to communicate clearly which teacher has prep and is expected to attend.  Not all staff are consistent about using Google Calendar to RSVP for events, so--when in doubt, follow up.

• Draft the document (IEP, amendment, eligibility report).  Proofread VERY CAREFULLY to ensure that all information is current, accurate, and specific to the student.

• Print a hard copy of the document single-sided; make double-sided copies for meeting attendees; note somewhere on the document that it’s a draft (EDPlan should print that way).

• Compile paperwork and get a copy of Procedural Safeguards to offer at meeting.

During the Meeting

• Run the meeting!  Let the document be your guide; summarize where appropriate.

• Have someone else type meeting minutes within EDPlan.  As the person guiding the meeting, you have enough to do without trying to take notes.  Notes should include what was discussed, responses to parent questions, parent input, etc.

• Note any changes to the document e.g. add parent input, update written notice sections (e.g. other options considered), changes to service time, and typos or errors.

• At the end of the meeting offer to have notes read aloud. If printing the meeting notes right away is possible, all attendees who were present for the entire meeting should initial the meeting notes page next to their name.  If someone left the meeting early/joined late the notes should indicate where they arrived/left and that person SHOULD NOT initial the notes.  The cover of an eligibility report has participants check yes/no if they agree with report; on an IEP or amendment the yes/no checkboxes are for whether each person attended. Participants who attend in person should sign these cover pages next to their names. Document any team members who attended by phone or online.

After the Meeting--Complete these steps within five days of the meeting

• Edit the document to reflect the meeting discussion and any needed changes.

• Print the final document single-sided; compile with the signed cover page(s).

• Scan the complete final document including signature page; upload in EDPlan AND in Skyward--this is how gen ed teachers and administrators can easily access current information, which they must have in order to support and implement the student’s IEP.

• Meeting minutes: print out if typed, compile with signature page and cover page; scan and email to yourself and upload in EDPlan.

• Send home a copy of the finalized document and the minutes packet--can be hard copy sent home with student, or emailed directly to parent/guardian.

• Bring hard copies to the file room, hole punch at the top, and file.

• If needed--update or create the accommodations/modifications summary and distribute to teachers.  You can also let teachers know that there is a new IEP in Skyward (you may need to show them where to find it).