The Process

Before the Individualized Education Program (IEP) can even begin, a child must be identified as having a disability. The parents or a professional (i.e. teacher) at a child's school can request that a child be evaluated to determine if a disability exists. Parental consent is required if the parents do not initiate the request. Sixty calendar days from teh tiem of consent is allowed for this testing.

The child's evaluation must encompass anything that can be related to the suspected disability. Qualified professionals sit down with the parents and review the results of the evaluation. Together they decide if the child meets the criteria to be classified as having a disability. If diagnosed with a disability, the results of the evaluation are used to determine what types of services and special educational programs will best suit the child. The parents can challenge the review by the professionals and even request that the school system pay for a second, independent educational evaluation. If the child meets the criteria to be classified as having a disability, the IEP team is required to meet within 30 days to write the IEP for that child.

Organizing the IEP team meeting is the responsibility of the school and its staff. The staff must contact all of the participants and select a time and place that works out for the parents and school administrators. Staff must also inform the parents about who will be attending the meeting and allow the parents to invite people they feel would be helpful to the planning. Once the team meets, they will discuss the child and the evaluation results to write an IEP.

Prior to writing the education program for a child, team members review any past classroom evaluations, go over observations made by people involved with the child, and cover any standardized test results that have been completed by the child. Members also discuss the child's strengths in any areas and address any additional factors necessary for the child to be better prepared to meet the annual goals. Additional factors can include: visual or hearing impairments, communication difficulties, behavioral issues, and assistive technologies. Team members need to keep in mind that the results of their efforts need to help advance the child to meet the annual goals. When possible, the IEP should also help guide the child toward involvement in the general curriculum of the school and extracurricular activities, and help the child interact with other children in the educational setting.

Before the child can begin receiving services and special instruction under the IEP, the parents must approve of the plan. If the parents do not approve, they may negotiate with other team members to re-write the IEP, or parents may ask for mediation with the school. The parents could also file a due process complaint about the IEP and meet with the school staff before a hearing officer to present both sides of the dispute. The final appeal would involve the parents filing a complaint with the state education agency and requesting a hearing with mediation at the state level.

Once the IEP is approved, the child's school will begin implementing the program. The child's progress needs to be measured according to the guidelines written into the IEP to make sure the child is staying on schedule to meet the annual goals. Parents should be given progress reports on how their child is doing. The reports should be made as often as needed or, at a minimum, whenever the regular education students receive their progress reports.

At least once a year the IEP team re-assembles to assess how well the child is being served by the IEP. This review should include the child's progress or lack of progress toward reaching the annual goals. The parents and school staff may also have new information based on their observations of the child. At this time, team members can make recommendations on how to change the IEP to meet the child's developing needs, and revise services or education plans to better serve the child. At least once every three years the child should be re-evaluated, to determine if the child still meets the disability criteria. The child can be re-evaluated more often if a teacher, parent, or circumstances warrant an updated evaluation.