Guaranteeing Special Education Rights: Individual Education Plans
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33 Tips You Should Know about IEPs (Individual Education Plans)
(and a couple of bonus tips included!)
What should be in an IEP?
1. A statement of what the student is doing in school now.
2. For preschool children, how the disability affects the student's ability to take part in activities like other children of the same age.
3. Yearly goals related to the student's needs.
4. An explanation of the services to be provided for the student.
5. An explanation of what will be provided to
• help the student meet his or her goals
• help the student be involved in school and other activities
• help the student be educated with students without disabilities.
6. An explanation of how much the student will be in a regular school or classroom and how much in a special program.
7. Details about how often parents will be told about how their child is doing. This can be done by report cards or some other way.
8. Details about any important tests the student will take.
9. Details of when services will start, how often the student will get them, and how long will they go on.
10. An idea of whether the student needs year-round or during school services.
11. A discussion of whether the student will have the same requirements for high school graduation as other students.
12. An explanation of how the team considered the student’s strengths and abilities, not just her disability.
14. Proof that the team addressed parent concerns.
15. Results of the most recent tests taken by the student.
16.Transition Planning should be included. This is for students 14 or older and means the IEP should discuss how the student is going to move from the world of school to the world of working.
Things to Know about the IEP Process
As much as possible, students with disabilities are to be taught in regular classrooms with a variety of students.
17. Every student who gets special education services is required to have an IEP.
18. For students in special education, there should be an IEP already agreed upon at the beginning of each school year.
18. The IEP should be completed before special education services are provided to a student.
19. The IEP meeting is held ONLY to make educational decisions for the good of the student with the disability.
20. The IEP is implemented as soon as possible after the meeting.
21. The IEP is reviewed at least once a year to consider any new information such as new test results or how the student is doing with meeting school and other goals.
22. The school gives the parent a copy of the IEP at no cost.
23. The parent is provided with a copy of the reports on tests and any other information used to decide if the student should receive special education or other services.
24. For students referred for special education, the school has 15 days to come up with a plan of how to decide whether the student is eligible for special education. Also, within 15 days, parents must be provided notice of their rights.
25. The school has 50 days to get all information and hold the IEP meeting as soon as parents sign a plan that agrees to test and decide if the student should receive special services.
26. The school, the student’s teachers and anyone else providing services should have a copy of the IEP or at least know what it says.
27. If neither parent can attend the IEP meeting the school must in some way ensure parent participation. This can include phone calls to the parent.
28. Once a parent has requested a meeting in writing, the IEP meeting should be held within the next 30 days.
Moving/ New School Placement
29. When a student moves into a new district, the school has 30 days for an IEP team to meet and make decisions for the student’s education. All of the same requirements must be met as for any IEP meeting. That is, parents must be informed, yearly goals must be set, and so on.
SUSPENDING OR EXPELLING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
30. If a student with a disability is going to be suspended for more than 10 days or expelled, the school must take these steps.
- Notify the parents on the same day the decision is made about whether the student should be suspended.
- Give the parents a copy of their rights.
- Hold an IEP meeting within 10 days to decide if the behavior that caused the student to be suspended was due to the student’s disability, and if the decision to suspend or expel the student was correct.
- Write up a plan to correct the behavior that caused the student to be suspended or expelled.
In deciding if a student should be suspended or expelled, the school must decide whether behavior problems were being addressed in the student’s IEP. The school must also think about whether the student’s disability interfered with the student’s ability to understand and control the behavior that led to suspension or expulsion.
31. While the student is expelled the education discussed in the IEP must be given to the student.
Please re-read #31. In our experience, this is often not done on some reservations, even though it is the law. Schools often just send students home for days and provide them no educational program at all. If this happens to your child – COMPLAIN. Even though it may not be usual for you, your child is being denied an education. If you don’t feel comfortable bringing this up to the school yourself, get someone to go with you or write a letter of complaint for you.
32. Parents may request a delay of the IEP meeting of up to three school days. The school cannot demand that you come in right away. If you need time to get help preparing for the meeting, or you just cannot get off work or find a sitter for your other children right away, you can have the meeting delayed.
33. The expulsion hearing is conducted only after the IEP team finds that the behavior was not due to the student's disability. It happens after it is determined that placement was appropriate and that behavior programs on the IEP had been tried.
NOTE: Adapted from the 72 point IEP checklist.