The IEP Team Process: Chapter 5 - The IEP Meeting

After careful planning and preparation,

the IEP team members come together to write the IEP.

One member will act as IEP team coordinator.

Today that will be the student's special education teacher.

Another staff member has been assigned to take notes

and will ensure that the IEP forms and other needed paperwork are completed.

Let's watch the team in action.

Well,

welcome everyone.

As you know,

we're here for Dominic's annual review of his IEP,

and let's start with introductions.

I'm

Sandra Miller,

who's Dominic's special education teacher.

Hi,

it's nice to see everyone here.

My name is Michelle Atkins,

and I am Dominic's regular education teacher.

And I'm Ally Peterson.

I'm Dominic's mom.

And I'm Stan Peterson,

and I'm with her.

Actually,

I'm Dominic's dad.

I'm Dominic.

Hi.

Good morning.

I'm Gretchen Adams,

the school psychologist.

Hello,

it's nice to be here.

I am Rosa Lopez.

I am here from the middle school.

And I'm Diane Woods,

and I'll be the note taker today.

And I'm Francis Lumson.

I'm the assistant principal and the representative for the local school district.

All right,

thank you.

Well,

I think we're ready to start.

Everybody should have copies of the draft.

You can go ahead and refer to that.

We're

gonna start with the student profile.

Dominic continues to be eligible for special education in a

category specific learning disability in

written expression and reading comprehension.

And looking at Dominic's strengths,

we've

made some notes that he's a team player, gets along well with peers,

he draws well,

strong in math,

and he likes using a computer and has good verbal skills.

Mom,

dad,

do you have anything you'd like to add to that?

Yes,

I would.

Dominic is a great kid with great athletic abilities.

He's extremely creative and he has...

In addition to the parent sharing their thoughts,

the student is also encouraged to participate in the IEP process.

Well,

Dominic,

we're glad that you're here with us

today.

After all,

this IEP is all about you, and it's nice when the students able to attend

that.

How do you think school is going?

It's going okay.

What's your favorite part of the day?

Math,

it's fun and easy.

Is there something that's hard for you?

Reading and writing.

But we're gonna help you with that,

OK?

Dominic,

can you tell us all what you want to be when you grow up or what you're thinking

about?

I don't know.

Tell him what you told me yesterday.

I want to work at a video store.

That sounds like fun.

Sounds like fun,

Dominic.

Dominic,

is there anything else you want us to know?

No.

Thank you.

We're gonna do all we can to help you be successful.

And mom and dad,

what is your vision for Dominic's future?

Well,

we'd like him to go to tech school or college. And live on his own one day.

And be happy.

OK.

Well,

thank you very much.

This

is probably a good time for Dominic to go back and join his classmates.

It's been good having you here with us though.

Mr.

and Mrs.

Peterson,

this is a good time to talk about any

concerns that you might have about Dominic's education.

Well,

he doesn't seem to be meeting his goals.

He's getting further and further behind.

He gets frustrated.

He tears up;

he shuts down.

He's just not getting it.

He takes too much time doing his written homework.

Right,

his thoughts are all over the place.

And did you get that?

Yes,

I did.

OK.

Well,

thank you.

We'll

keep your concerns in mind as we work through the rest of the IEP.

Now, the next section is where we look at transitions and special factors.

Well,

one transition that we know Dominic is gonna have to make

next year is gonna be that move to middle school.

And that's why we asked Ms.

Lopez to join us here today.

I will help in any way I can, and I will be offering ideas as we work through the IEP.

OK.

Mr. and

Mrs.

Peterson,

did you have any special concerns about this move to middle school for Dominic?

Well,

since he's so far behind,

we're afraid that he's gonna have problems,

that he's gonna get further behind,

that he's gonna drown in the work,

and it's gonna be really,

really tough for him.

The team will keep working together

and consider any special factors that apply to the student.

If the team identifies any special factors,

they must be addressed in the IEP.

Well,

let's go ahead and move to the next page and discuss the first goal.

OK.

Let's begin with the writing goal.

OK.

And looking at the present level of academic and functional performance,

Dominic is able to write a loosely organized three to

four sentence paragraph with some errors in punctuation and indentation.

Giving assistance from his teacher and using a graphic organizer.

Excuse me,

what is the graphic organizer?

OK.

That's a tool that we use to help students with their writing.

I've

bought a few here.

Something like that.

I remember, he's brought one home before.

Yes,

I remember.

So, using a graphic organizer,

Dominic is able to add some details

and has shown some progress in writing multi-paragraph essays.

Dominic needs to be able to write a three

to five paragraph essay that's detailed and logically organized.

His weak written expression skills interfere with

his ability to make grade level progress.

OK,

let's read the proposed

goal.

Dominic will be able to write a three to five paragraph essay

with the independent use of graphic organizers upon request that's well

organized and adequately detailed on four out of five trials.

Does that sound okay to everybody?

That sounds like an ambitious goal considering his current performance.

You think it's a little too hard?

Can we change that later?

Sure,

I think it'd be best to aim high though.

So, we'll

leave that as it is.

Let's look at the next question.

Does a student require assistive technology and/or services?

Why would he need assistive technology when he only has a learning disability?

Well,

assistive technology is not just for a specific learning disability.

For

instance,

Dominic tends to do much better in my class

when he's journaling and writing and using a computer.

Can we put that on his IEP?

Yes,

I think we can try that.

We'll give him more opportunities to use the

computer

when he's doing his written work.

And as we discussed before,

Dominic does not need related services such as physical or speech

therapy.

So, we don't have to worry about integrating the goal.

So, let's move on to how we're gonna measure his progress.

We're gonna be using work samples such as his journaling,

essays,

and computer work.

We'll also use the results of the writing assessments.

Will he be handwriting or using the computer to do the journaling?

He'll have the opportunity to use both.

We'll keep weekly data on his progress.

After the team completes writing the goals,

they will map out the student's entire school day,

including non-academic time such as lunch and recess.

Using the map,

they will indicate all times and locations where any modifications,

accommodations,

aids,

or other supports will be provided.

If he needs assistive technology devices or services,

they will be listed on the IEP as well as any training

his teachers or other school personnel will need to use the device.

The team will then select appropriate accommodations

he may need during testing and assessments,

such as extra time or taking his tests in a separate room.

All right,

well,

I'm gonna be providing Dominic special education services

and have looked at what he'll be learning in my resource classroom.

I think that 30 minutes a day should meet his needs.

Wait a second,

why would we reduce his special-ed time when

we've increased his goals and they're much more challenging?

Well,

we didn't want to keep him out of the regular education classroom for

too long.

We

don't want to miss anything.

You know,

I agree with you.

We need to leave a time where it is right now.

He's not where he needs to be for a kid his age.

Well,

I think the parents have a very good point.

Can we all agree to keep the time at 45 minutes?

We can certainly revise it later.

Thank

you.

The team will now list all related services that will be provided

and will include

how often the services will be provided,

how long the sessions will be,

and where the services will be provided.

And to finish up,

the team will write a brief explanation for any periods of time

that the student will not be educated with his non-disabled peers,

determine how progress toward meeting his IEP goals will be reported to his parents,

and discuss whether the student will need services beyond the typical school year.

The last page of the IEP form will document

who attended and who participated in the meeting.

The parents will be given a copy of the meeting notes

and the revised draft of the IEP to take home.

A copy of a document called Prior Written Notice

that describes the changes being made to Dominic's educational program

will also be provided to the parents.

Thank you all for coming.

I think we can all agree this has been a very successful meeting.

(Overlapping Speech)

Mr. Peterson hadn't met you before.

Our hope is that the information included in this DVD

will give you the knowledge and skills to effectively

participate in the development of your child's IEP.

As you move forward,

keep communication between home and school open and positive.

Check on your child's progress often

and bring any concerns to your child's teacher or the IEP team early.

Use good advocacy skills to resolve disagreements as they come up.

And most importantly,

remember the ultimate goal is an educational program

designed to prepare your child for their future.