How to Prepare for an IEP

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In the last year, I've prepared parents for dozens of IEP meetings. When I work with families, I try to teach them the "flow" of how to prepare because IEPs become (at least) a yearly meeting, and that meeting follows the same structure every time. This helps parents and caregivers feel prepared, and hopefully, a little less anxious about the process. 

Start with parent concerns

When I meet with parents before the IEP, I tell them that one of the most important things they can do is prepare the "parent concerns" section of the IEP. This is where they outline their concerns for their child, their hopes for their child, and the support, accommodations, and goals they believe their child needs at school. I spend considerable time coaching parents through what their concerns actually are, and I give them a template that prompts them on the concepts that should be covered in this section.

Request the agenda and draft IEP in advance

Next, we request that the IEP agenda and draft IEP be sent to us at least three days ahead of time, so parents can meaningfully participate in the process. "Meaningful participation" isn't just advocacy language — it's a standard rooted in IDEA itself and reinforced by the courts. The Supreme Court affirmed in Winkelman v. Parma City School District that parents have their own enforceable right to be equal partners in their child's education, not just a procedural formality. Under 34 CFR § 300.322, that means parents must be offered reasonable accommodations to participate in the meeting, must be included in IEP communications, and must have an equal voice at the table. Having the parent concerns section written, along with an agenda and draft IEP in hand before the meeting, is what makes that meaningful participation possible.

Walk through what to expect at the meeting

Finally, we go over the agenda together in plain language, so nothing at the meeting catches parents off guard. Here's a typical IEP agenda I'll walk parents through:

• Intro — Procedural safeguards including parent rights and responsibilities, team member introductions

• Strengths — the team shares student’s strengths

• Concerns — this is where you share your parent concerns; ask to read the letter verbatim to the team

• Present levels — how student is currently performing in school; usually the special education teacher will walk through this

• Goals — reiterate what's in your parent concerns around goals

• Accommodations — the team shares their thinking, then you share what you believe would be best for the student under accommodations

• Service summary — the team determines the minutes each provider will spend with your child (special education teacher, OT, SLP), you will weigh in on this and ask questions for clarity

• Percent removal — the team explains how much of the school day this adds up to in special education services

• Special factors — for some students the team must specifically address things like assistive technology, communication needs, behavior supports, or English language needs. If any of these apply to the students you typically support, it's worth a line in the agenda so parents know it's coming.

• Extended School Year (ESY) — at annual reviews, the team is supposed to at least touch on whether the student needs services over the summer to avoid regression. Easy to miss if it's not flagged ahead of time.

• Testing/assessment accommodations — accommodations for state or district testing sometimes get folded into "accommodations" generally, but some teams treat it as a separate agenda item, and parents can be caught off guard if it comes up unexpectedly.

• Transition planning — if student is 16 or older (or younger in some states), this is its own required agenda item, not just a subset of goals.

• Behavior Intervention Plan — if a student has a BIP or FBA or one's being proposed, that's often its own discussion, separate from accommodations.

• Closing procedural pieces — consent/signatures and reissuing the Procedural Safeguards Notice
  

Review the draft IEP together

Once we receive the draft IEP, we go through it together to make sure parents are clear on the advocacy points they want to highlight. We revise the parent concerns section if needed, then send the final version to the school team as a PDF prior to the IEP meeting. We request that it be copied verbatim into the IEP.

Plan how I'll support parents during the IEP

Last, we talk through how the family wants to be supported during the meeting itself. As an advocate, my role is to center the voice of the student and the parents. I'm there to help elevate what they have to say, not speak over them. I ask parents how they'd like to communicate with me during the meeting: some prefer texting or a shared Google Doc, while others would rather stay fully present and skip the sidebar conversations.

Stay tuned for the next post in this series, where I'll cover what actually happens during the IEP meeting, how I work with families in real time, and what to do when surprises or denials come up.

Want me to join your team? Get in touch.