As a new special education teacher, IEP meetings, short for Individual Education Plans, can be the most stressful, scary, and overwhelming thing! I remember spending hours slaving over my first IEP and hardly being able to sleep the night before due to nerves! Over the years, I’ve learned that taking some time to prepare ahead of time can make these meetings a walk in the park and help solidify your relationship with families and your role as an advocate for your students! Now that I’ve done over 100 IEP meetings, I have my process nailed down! Here’s what I do to prepare and plan for my IEP meetings throughout the year.
IEP Basics
Who: Who needs to attend your IEP meetings may depend on your district and the individual student. Here is who I often invite to the meetings, and if they are required or not.
- The Parent/Guardian (Required): This is the most important member of the IEP team. We will discuss this more later!
- A General Education Teacher (Required): At least one general education teacher is required to attend the IEP by law. If your student has a learning disability in math problem solving, for example, it would make sense to have the math teacher attend. Make sure it is a teacher who the child currently has as a teacher so they can share information about how the student is currently performing in the classroom.
- Service Providers, such as Speech, Social Work, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, etc. (Required): These are essential members of the IEP team, as they directly or indirectly service the child.
- A District Representative (Required): In some districts, the special education teacher can serve as the district representative. In my district, we are required to have the principal or assistant principal attend and fill this role, if possible.
- An Evaluation Team Representative (Required): Again, in some districts, the special education teacher can also serve this role. In my district, I serve as the evaluation team representative unless it is a three year evaluation, when the school psychologist serves as the representative. Whoever holds this title should be able to explain any evaluation results, if needed.
- Teacher Consultant (Not Required): Since I work with 8th grade students who are transitioning to the high school, I invite a representative from the high school team to attend 8th grade IEPs. We have a consultant in our district who attends to serve this role, but it is not required!
- Student Teachers (Not Required): I take a lot of student teachers from neighboring colleges, and they often need to attend at least one IEP meeting during their tenure. I invite them, but make sure it is approved by the parent at the time of scheduling!
- The Student (sometimes required): Because of the age of students that I work with, my students are not legally required to be invited to their own IEPs. If a parent asks, I let them know the child doesn’t have to be there, but is welcome to join. When students are in high school and begin transition services, they are a required member of the team.
What: IEPs are meetings that you must hold annually to update a student’s Individual Education Plan. Think of it as a meeting of the minds: the IEP team comes together to share information about how the child is doing, what is working for them, and what could be improved. It is a conversation centered around a very detailed document.
Where: Where you hold your IEP meetings is also up to you and your district. Before Covid, I would hold IEP meetings in my classroom or our school conference room. Currently, I hold IEP meetings using Zoom and speakerphone, depending on what the parent is most comfortable with.
When: I hold IEPs after school most often, but sometimes will hold them during my planning period or before school if parents need a time that works with their schedule. If you are lucky, your school may provide sub coverage to ensure you can hold IEPs during your contractual hours. IEP meetings tend to take about 45 minutes to an hour.
The Timeline
At the start of the school year:
Once I receive my caseload list of students, I record which students have IEPs or Evals due in which month, the date they are due by, and if it is a three-year evaluation in the “year at a glance” section of my planner. This helps me to visualize what is coming up and plan for if I may need to move an IEP up to avoid conflicts, such as school breaks. Be sure to leave some extra space for move-ins or initial IEP meetings! If I have students who need reevaluations, I make sure to email the school psychologist for my building to make sure the evaluations are on their radar as well.
Six Weeks Before IEP Due Date
Planning for an IEP meeting is very important since there are so many schedules that need to align! To help juggle everyone’s preferences and availability for the meeting, I use Doodle.com to schedule my IEPs! I highly recommend it (this is not sponsored, I just love it). This website allows me to provide multiple options that work for me for the IEP. I email a link to the poll to the school staff who need to attend the IEP (more details on who is required above), including all general education teachers who work with the student. The staff members I invite can select which dates and times work for their schedules. They can actually mark ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘if needed’. The doodle shows me the results in a visual format, allowing me to easily see which dates work best for the team as a whole!
I try to send this out around six weeks before the IEP due date, but give teachers about two weeks to complete the poll. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the general education teachers that I work with regarding these polls. It’s a total win-win-win: they feel like a valued member of the team and not an afterthought, I ensure that I have a general education teacher that can attend, and I have options in case the original date I offer doesn’t work for the parent!
If you aren’t sure what to say in your email, use this example as a template!
If, after a week or so, you haven’t heard back from everyone, simply reply to that email and say something like “Hey, team! I just wanted to send a reminder regarding this IEP! If you haven’t, please make sure that you let me know when you are available for this meeting! Thanks!”
Sometimes, teachers will email me and say that none of the options work for them for whatever reason! When this happens, I thank them for letting me know and let them know it’s no big deal. Because I have sent the poll to all of the general education teachers who can fill that role, I always have a backup. If you are working with a smaller group of teachers, such as if you are working with students who only have one general education teacher, it may be a good idea to get a list of days or times that work for that teacher before sending out the Doodle poll!
Note: There are some circumstances, such as student move-ins or IEPs due close to the beginning of the school year, that you may not be able to start scheduling 6 whole weeks in advance. That’s okay! You can still use the steps I share in this post, but just in a shorter time frame!
Four Weeks Before IEP Due Date
After you have given team members enough time to complete your doodle poll, evaluate the results to come up with a date and time that works for every required member of the team. Once you have a date and time in mind, reach out to parents with a suggested date through email or phone. If parents do not answer my call, I leave a message. Make sure to make a note of the date you contact parents – you’ll need this later! If the parents cannot make it to that date and time, simply look at the poll to see if a replacement date works better.
If parents do not respond to my first attempt at communication, I try using a different method a few days later, such as email or text message through Google Voice. If parents do not respond after three attempts at communication, we are legally able to hold the IEP without them, but still be sure to mail them the IEP invitation promptly!
After confirming the date and time with a parent, I let the IEP team know by simply responding to my previous email with the doodle poll to let the team know what date and time have been confirmed and which general education teacher will be attending. I also send out a google calendar invitation to the members who will be in attendance to serve as an additional reminder. Clear communication helps make sure that no one forgets and misses the IEP meeting!
If you aren’t sure what to say to parents when it comes to scheduling, use this template as a guide!
If they respond with yes, you can reply with something like…
“Wonderful! Due to COVID – 19, we are currently holding all IEPs through Zoom or phone conferences. Which of these options are you more comfortable with?”
Be sure to make note of their preference! You could also respond with…
Perfect! I’ll be sending the IEP invitation through the mail and the Zoom link will be emailed to you about 24 hours before the IEP meeting. Have a great day!
If the parent is unable to make the time and date you suggested, look at your doodle poll for other options! If you have none that work with the parent’s needs, let them know you will talk with the team and get back to them as soon as possible. I gladly accommodate parents to the best of my ability, since they are a valuable part of the IEP team!
That being said, be reasonable! I once had a parent ask for an IEP meeting at 7:00 pm! You are not expected to hold IEPs at a time that is outside of reasonable office hours, and your school can’t force you to hold a meeting outside of your contract hours. If a parent is requesting a time that is difficult to accommodate, you should be kind, but firm. If able, offer something a little out of the box. Could they join the IEP during their lunchtime or a break from work? As a last resort, the IEP team can have the meeting without the parent, and you can meet with them separately to review the document and answer any questions. Try saying something like…
“I understand that finding time for another meeting can be difficult with your work schedule/other responsibilities. Unfortunately, our team cannot accommodate that time for an IEP meeting, but we would love for you to join us for this IEP to share Michael’s progress with you. Do you have a lunch break at work? We could do a phone conference during that time if you are able to join.“
Note: If you have a student teacher or teacher consultant that you would like to attend the IEP, be sure to ask the parents if it is okay that they come when you discuss the IEP date and time. Most of the time, they will say yes, but be sure to ask for their permission!
Two – Three Weeks Before IEP Due Date
About three weeks before the IEP, I mail home the official IEP invitation, which lists the date, time, and location of the IEP along with who will be in attendance and their role. In my state, this is required to be mailed home 10 school days before the IEP, which is two full school weeks ahead of time, which is why I like to plan ahead! Make sure to note the day you mail this home. I also include the procedural safeguards, which is a pamphlet that lists all of the laws related to special education and the rights of the parents. We are required to mail this home each school year. Since I have already been in communication with parents, this serves as another reminder to them about our upcoming meeting.
A Few Days in Advance:
A few days before the IEP, I send two separate reminder emails – one to the teachers/service providers, and one to the parents.
The email to the IEP team members is just a reminder and includes the Zoom link for our IEP meeting.
My email to parents goes a little more in-depth and includes details about how to use Zoom or join via phone. If we were meeting in person, I would include directions on where I would meet them.
In the next parts of the Easy Breezy IEPs: A Beginner’s Guide to Organizing and Leading IEP Meetings, we’ll talk about writing an IEP and actually leading the meeting!
What are your questions about IEP meetings? Let me know in the comments!
Disclaimer: This blog post is not meant to serve as legal or lawful guidance on special education topics. It is only intended to share my experience as a special education teacher. Please consult with your state’s laws and school district’s guidelines when creating and implementing Individualized Education Plans and other special education services.