As special needs attorneys, we know that every parent or guardian wants to be an effective, confident advocate at their child’s first Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting. It’s hard to know who to trust and where to turn for help. The good news is that IEP meetings are collaborative and encourage input from all team members–including you. You play a key role in creating a comprehensive, collaborative, and effective plan for your child.
At Sussan, Greenwald & Wesler, we help parents and guardians just like you prepare for your first IEP meeting, advocate for your child’s needs, and achieve success. Keep in mind the following tips as your prepare for the initial IEP meeting or contact us to schedule a private consultation for additional information.
Understand the Purpose of the IEP Meeting
One primary goal drives every IEP meeting: the ability to bring students with disabilities an individualized education plan tailored to their unique needs. The more specific goals are academic, behavioral, functional, social, and communication-based. IEP teams use these goals to measure your child’s progress and effectiveness.
Your first meeting is an opportunity for you and your team to prioritize the skills your child needs to access the general education curriculum aligned with the Common Core State Standards for your child’s grade level. Smart and effective IEP goals include time frames, conditions, skills, support, evaluation criteria, and measurement methods.
There’s one piece of advice we give all parents and guardians before their first IEP meeting: expect to hear plenty of unfamiliar terms, industry jargon, abbreviations, and acronyms. You want to familiarize yourself with IEP terminology before your first meeting. Our IEP attorneys can walk you through the terms that matter.
Review Your Child’s Current IEP
IEP and progress reports keep track of important metrics, milestones, and goals. The primary goal is simple: is your child making progress, maintaining their current performance, or regressing? There is also numerical data.
One goal could be to increase accuracy of math computation on addition and subtraction problems from 40% to 90%. Knowing your child is making progress is one thing. However, knowing your child progressed to 50% or 80% helps even more.
Gather Documentation
Speaking of progress reports, there are more documents you need to compile before your first IEP meeting including your child’s educational records, medical and psychological reports, and samples of work.
Gather official documents including your child’s current IEP, recent progress reports, and report cards, as well as any homework, tests, and notes from the teacher. Gather your own notes and observations, too, and keep everything together in an IEP binder for convenience.
Prepare Your Notes and Questions
As New Jersey IEP lawyers, we know that you probably have plenty of concerns and questions about your first meeting. We encourage all of our clients to start by writing down a list of basic questions like:
- What is the goal of this IEP meeting?
- Can we create an agenda?
- May I have a copy of my child’s most recent IEP document to follow along as we talk in the meeting?
During your meeting, you can ask more detailed questions about your child like:
- How does everyone at the meeting know or work with my child?
- Could you tell me about my child’s day so I can understand what it looks like?
- Can you explain how my child’s situation is different from other kids in the classroom?
The more questions you ask, the more confident you can feel about your child’s plan and progress. Don’t be afraid to ask your team to walk through your child’s program piece by piece.
Find out what kind of support your child can expect from the teacher and what you can do at home to support your child’s IEP goals. You also have the right to see a copy of your child’s final IEP before you agree to any changes suggested at your meeting.
Set Goals and Priorities
Your first IEP meeting is a time to set goals and prioritize needs. We encourage you to focus on effective goals that are both specific and measurable. As a parent or guardian, you play a key role in helping your IEP team understand and create effective goals for your child.
There are three essential priorities: the current level of your child’s performance, the specific and measurable milestones, and the services to support your child in attaining the goal. Since this is your first IEP meeting, start by focusing on the assessment of your child’s current ability in the specific skill area covered by that goal.
Collaborate With the School
Collaboration is the key to an effective and efficient IEP plan. Speak with your child’s teacher about specific goals and how each team member will help your child achieve them. You’ll spend more time upfront involving your child’s entire team – but teamwork makes the dream work!
Make sure all team members understand not only their own role in supporting your child, but also the roles of their colleagues both inside and outside the classroom. The real magic happens when teachers and other team members can adapt their services to build on each other’s work.
Involve Your Child
Don’t forget to make your child part of the team. Seek input and participation from your child, opening the doors for self-advocacy and learning. As IEP attorneys, we always encourage parents and guardians to help their child:
- Practice goal-setting and teamwork skills
- Understand the impact of his or her disability
- Learn how to ask for and accept help from others
- Understand his or her own strengths and needs
- Express his or her own needs
- Participate in a process of resolving differences
By helping your child practice self-advocacy now, you can better prepare them for the world and their future beyond school.
Know Your Rights
We’re here to help you understand NJ IEP laws. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), for example, protects every child’s right to a formal evaluation for a disability including individualized education programs and services. IDEA requires school districts and other local education agencies to provide you with procedural safeguards including a written explanation of your rights under both IDEA and New Jersey state laws. You have the legal right to:
- Parent participation in IEP meetings
- Access to your child’s educational records
- Confidentiality of information
- Informed consent (or parental consent)
- Prior written notice of changes to your child’s special education experience
- Understandable language
- Independent educational evaluation (IEE)
- “Stay put” rights
- Dispute resolution options
You also have the right to file a complaint with the state of New Jersey for Individuals with Disabilities IDEA violation and with the Office for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education for discrimination against your child.
Procedures and timeframes that school districts are required to follow to determine IEP eligibility, meetings, and providing services are outlined within New Jersey’s special education law.
Bring a Support Person
We see great things happen when parents or guardians invite a friend or advocate to their first IEP meeting. People who know your child and can help you make decisions can make your meeting and life easier. It’s not uncommon for parents to bring doctors, childcare providers, relatives, or other advocates to their first meeting.
Stay Organized
Paperwork is an important part of the process. Organize your documents and create an agenda to smooth out your first IEP meeting. Write down a list of topics to cover including:
- the purpose of the meeting
- team member introductions
- reviews of procedural safeguards and rights
- the various roles of IEP team members
- reviews of your child’s current performance
- discussions of goals and objectives
- identification of services and accommodations
- determination of placement
Share your agenda with your team before the meeting to keep everyone on the same page and to allocate enough time to explore and address each topic and issue.
Be Prepared to Collaborate
Active listening can help the IEP collaboration process so don’t be afraid to ask questions for clarification. Keep an open mind to new ideas and focus on building consensus with your team. Your goal is for everyone to walk out of your IEP meeting with their own action items to help your child. Outline goals for each team member and a timeline, rallying everyone around the central purpose of helping your child succeed.
One thing we’ve learned as New Jersey IEP lawyers is that even in disagreement, compromise is possible when everyone feels heard and understood. Make it a goal not to interrupt each other and pay close attention to body language. Use video conferencing for online IEP meetings to build trust, transparency, and engagement. Like all group efforts, IEP meetings are most efficient when all stakeholders work together.
Follow Up After the Meeting
Make it a goal to review the finalized IEP and monitor your child’s progress. Share your notes from your meeting with your case manager including any scheduled meetings or mediation sessions coming up on the calendar. Put everything in writing to keep everyone on the same page.
Review and sign the final IEP before the deadline and keep a copy for yourself. You can also send a simple but sincere “thank you” note to your team. (Even a quick email or phone call goes a long way to express your gratitude).
The best thing you can do after the meeting and down the road is connect with your child. Talk about the meeting including the positive things people said about your child. If your child was at the meeting, ask how it felt to be there. Praise your child’s hard work and effort.
The last thing to do is update your IEP files at home. Organize your documents and make a copy of the new IEP. Write down important dates about progress reports and keep your notes and documents in your IEP binder.
Contact Our IEP Attorneys for More Information
Contact our attorneys for more information or advice on your first IEP meeting. SGW Law is always here to help you with legal representation and consultation for IEPs and more.