The start of school is an exciting time! If your child is going into Kindergarten this year, then you might have all kinds of thoughts, and even doubts, swirling around in your mind. What if your child needs an IEP? How do you even begin to start the IEP process? Many parents are confused and unsure about what the IEP process is, or how to get started. In today’s blog post I’m going to go over the exact steps to the entire IEP process and what to expect at each step.

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Step 1: The IEP Referral meeting

This is the first step in the IEP process, and is usually a shorter meeting. This is where the IEP team formally recognizes your child’s need for special education services. The team will also recommend any evaluations are necessary in order to understand exactly what areas your child needs help in for the school year.

The type of evaluations can be any of the following, depending on what services you child might need: speech and language evaluation, physical evaluation, motor skill evaluation, academic evaluation, behavior evaluation. The evaluations will collect the necessary data to make the best recommendation for services for your child’s school year.

PARENT INPUT: At this meeting make sure you clearly state what your child is doing well at home, and what you believe that your child needs help with. You can ask for specific evaluations to take place at this stage.

For example: When my now 7 year old was going through the IEP process, we requested a speech-language evaluation because we noticed that his speech was not “catching up” to his age level. We also requested a physical therapy evaluation because we noted at home that he had trouble with his mobility. 

Step 2: Evaluations

At this point in the process members of the IEP Team will meet with you and your child in a specialized classroom so that they can perform the evaluations. Based on the age of the child, the evaluations are usually play- based and allow the specialists to get a well-rounded view of the academic strengths and weaknesses of your child. 

Depending on what evaluations are needed, you might meet with: a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and a Speech Language Pathologist. Often the school Psychologist does an evaluation on the mental health and cognitive functioning of your child as well.

PARENT INPUT: This meeting is mostly for your child! You will have a lot of forms to fill out while your child is being assessed by the specialists. You can have the option of being in the room with your child during these evaluations, or sitting in another room and filling out the forms while the evaluation is taking place.

I want to make a quick note to parents here: Ask to be notified about the outcome of the evaluations before the IEP meeting! The worst thing is to go into the IEP meeting and find out information for the first time! Make sure you request a phone call to go over the outcome of the evaluations. On the call, ask what services the school is going to recommend in the IEP meeting so that you can plan your goals and questions before the IEP meeting occurs.

Step 3: Schedule the IEP Meeting

After you have talked with someone from the IEP team about the outcome of your child’s evaluations, now you can schedule a time for the actual IEP meeting to take place. Make sure that you are able to block off 2-3 hours for the IEP meeting. There is a lot to discuss at this meeting and you will want plenty of time to ask questions and fully understand what services your child will be receiving. 

PARENT INPUT: Before the IEP meeting occurs, the IEP team will ask for your input on the personal and academic goals for your child, and what you would like to see them achieve in either the short term (year of school) or long term (over the course of 12 years of school). Parents, you drive the IEP meeting! If you say nothing, then the school will make the decision for you. You know your child best and it is very important for you to have input into what they are learning through their IEP in school. If your child is old enough to participate in the decision- making, then involve them in the decison- making as appropriate.

Step 4: The IEP Meeting

For a more in- depth description of the IEP meeting, read my blog post IEP Meeting- Prep Like a Pro

This is the step where you will write the actual IEP document with the IEP team. You will set the goals that will be addressed during the school year. To be honest, this is the step that most parents dread. There are a lot of feelings and emotions around IEP meetings. I will say from experience that it is best to go in with a mindset that everyone is working together to help your child. The goal of the meeting is to find a solution so that your child can have a better educational experience. 

You are also allowed to invite anyone to the meeting that you need for support. If you have a mentor working with you, then you are welcome to invite them. It is important to note that only you can speak on behalf of your child. Your mentor is there to support your decisions, but is not there to make the actual decisions or to discuss anything with the IEP team.

For tips on three questions to always ask the IEP Team, read this blog post on Master IEP Coach.

After the IEP meeting is over, the Special Education Director will send you the minutes to review and sign from the meeting, plus any final paperwork to sign to start the IEP. The IEP services will start immediately, as soon as everything is signed and official. 

Next Steps

Congratulations! You made it through your first IEP meeting! Allow the school to work with your child for a few months and monitor the progress of how your child is completing the goals. It can take at least 2-3 months of working with a child to see the progress, so my best advice is to give the IEP time to work and the IEP team time to collect data about what is or is not working for your child. The IEP is a fluid document and is always changing and evolving as your child learns and grows through their school year.

Generally, the IEP team will meet with you once per year (usually in April or May) and reevaluate services for the next school year. However, you are allowed to call an IEP meeting at any time during the school year! I also recommend being in contact with the IEP team before calling a meeting just to check in and see how progress is going for your child.

And that is it! I hope that this post de-mysitfied the IEP process and helped make it a smoother process for you and your child. 

What did you find helpful from this article? Let me know in the comments!

Did you like this blog post? Don’t miss a more in-depth look at the actual IEP Meeting by going to by blog post-

IEP Meeting- Prep Like a Pro