Navigating Special Education
Student-led IEP Meetings
For background information or term definitions, click on the Special Education Services link in this post.
What is an IEP meeting
Often confused with conferences, IEP meetings are meant to educate (the adults) and decide on educational programming that will increase opportunities for success. Unfortunately, many IEP meetings are used as a time for teachers to show up and tell what a student is/isn’t doing in class. It’s easy to see why students end up avoiding their meetings altogether, when in actuality students should be leading their meetings. Below are ideas for implementation, look fors (and look out fors) and variations.
Implementation
A bit of planning on the front end is required for student-led IEPs but the juice is worth the squeeze. For case managers (IEP authors) - enjoy the process. For parents - relish the outcome. Hearing students of any age speak to their strengths, explain their current and future desires, and discuss options for what might help them be more successful at school is priceless, even when we’re talking about the price of our most precious resource (time).
Survey student and parent/guardian
Student: Prior to the meeting, your child should be given the opportunity to share current hobbies and strengths, favorite year of school and why, what they want to be able to do better (at school or not), types of instruction they prefer (provide options - I just give a list and have them circle), anything else pertinent to the student you are getting to know.
Parent/guardian: You should be given the opportunity to share hopes for your child, describe your child, tell which methods you prefer for home/school communication, give input about any formative historical school events (positive or negative), and share where you see their child in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years.
Links to sample surveys available. If you aren’t asked for your input, it’s ok to share this type of information anyway. Just shoot an email or send a completed questionnaire. Typically case managers and teachers do not purposely exclude this type of input and would be happy to receive all information you can provide.