Preparation is EVERYTHING!
Who doesn’t wish for a successful IEP meeting? Let’s be honest, IEP’s can be quite daunting. We want them to be smooth and positive. Well, I’ve had 12 years of experience to learn and I am going to give you the best steps on having an amazing IEP. It won’t be easy, but with enough practice you will be flying through meetings and walking away happy!
1. Plan The Year
The first thing that will help you plan a successful IEP meeting is writing down when every IEP is due for the students on your caseload. By having your year at a glance written out you will be able to visualize all due dates and the months that will be particularly busy.
2. Schedule Meetings in Advance
When scheduling your meetings, make sure parents have plenty of time to plan. They may need to find childcare or take time off work. Depending on how your school site schedules meetings, you may even want to ask parents or guardians what days and times work best for their schedule. Try your best to accommodate them!
3. Gather Input
Don’t forget, parents are part of the IEP team! Their input is valuable. This Google form is part of Simple Special Ed’s IEP Binder, even better that it’s electronic! You can find it here. Parents usually have a good sense on what they want their child to work on. Getting this information will help you write goals that you feel are appropriate and parents will feel as though they are included and their input is important.
4. Send Home Ahead of Time
DO NOT wait until the last minute or the night before to write an IEP! Believe me, been there and done that.. can you guess how smooth the meeting went? Not at all smooth. I guarantee you, writing draft goals and sending them home 3-4 days before the meeting will make your life easier. Sending progress and draft goals ahead of the meeting will let your families digest the information and have time to give you feedback before the meeting. Who doesn’t like to know what parents think before the meeting?
You may need to sweet talk your service providers to get them sent home ahead of time, too. Not everyone will be on the same page and you might get backlash, but it will be worth it. It also looks better if everyone sends them home the same time so you look like a united front.
5. Follow up & Review
You’ve done all the hard work up until this point. Now, it’s important that you follow up with parents before the meeting. This might include sending multiple reminders home about the date/time of the IEP meeting. It might also include asking if they’ve read the drafted goals and if they have any questions before the meeting. It might feel weird and awkward but having that open line of communication will make for a successful IEP meeting.
Another important aspect for a smooth meeting is double checking your work- look for spelling or grammar errors and make sure the services are entered correctly and everyone has the same benchmark dates.
FREE DOWNLOAD
Use this FREE preference assessment to learn about student interests to include in the IEP! This helps for a more well rounded IEP should the student ever leave you or your district. This is a free download!
