This powerpoint presentation was designed to help teachers learn and understand the policies and procedures needed to know in order to schedule an IEP meeting for students in Aiken County.
There are five types of meetings that may be held, that are related to the IEP. They include: Initial/Eligibility Annual Review Special Review Transition Manifestation Determination
The Initial/Eligibility meeting is the meeting held to determine a student’s eligibility to initially enter special education for the first time. This meeting is often held in conjunction with the IEP team meeting to develop the student’s IEP. Typically, the school psychologist will let you know when he/she has finished testing a student that appears to be an eligible candidate for Special Education services. If the student is eligible for special education services, you should go ahead and prepare a draft IEP. In order to develop an IEP with appropriate present levels, goals, and services, it is good practice to consult with the school psychologist to discuss deficit areas. In addition, it is good practice consult with the general education teacher(s) and to do your own assessments to help you write good present levels and to better understand the needs of the student.
The Initial/Eligibility meeting is the meeting held to determine a student’s eligibility to initially enter special education for the first time. This meeting is often held in conjunction with the IEP team meeting to develop the student’s IEP. Typically, the school psychologist will let you know when he/she has finished testing a student that appears to be an eligible candidate for Special Education services. If the student is eligible for special education services, you should go ahead and prepare a draft IEP. In order to develop an IEP with appropriate present levels, goals, and services, it is good practice to consult with the school psychologist to discuss deficit areas. In addition, it is good practice consult with the general education teacher(s) and to do your own assessments to help you write good present levels and to better understand the needs of the student.
The Initial/Eligibility meeting is the meeting held to determine a student’s eligibility to initially enter special education for the first time. This meeting is often held in conjunction with the IEP team meeting to develop the student’s IEP. Typically, the school psychologist will let you know when he/she has finished testing a student that appears to be an eligible candidate for Special Education services. If the student is eligible for special education services, you should go ahead and prepare a draft IEP. In order to develop an IEP with appropriate present levels, goals, and services, it is good practice to consult with the school psychologist to discuss deficit areas. In addition, it is good practice consult with the general education teacher(s) and to do your own assessments to help you write good present levels and to better understand the needs of the student.
The annual review IEP meeting is required every year for every student receiving special education services. At this meeting, you as the case manager, will review the students progress toward current goals, review the Present Levels of Performance and revisit all components of the IEP. In addition, you will make recommendations for the upcoming IEP term based on the student’s Present Levels. You should not assume that all services and goals in the previous IEP will automatically be continued.
In order to prepare for this meeting, you should begin by reviewing the current IEP. If the student has related services, you need to contact those service providers and invite them to attend the meeting. Based on the present levels in the IEP, you should assess those and any other known areas of deficit for the student. If you are unsure what assessments to use, consult with your special education coordinator. In addition, consult with the general education teacher to discuss how the student is performing in that environment and to discuss the appropriateness of current accommodations and modification and whether or not additional accommodations and/or modifications are needed. It’s good practice to begin planning the annual review about a month prior to the meeting.
A special review is held whenever it is necessary to review or revise an IEP during its effective dates. Any member of the IEP team may request a special review at any time. It is the responsibility of the case manager to set up the meeting and notify the IEP team members. When a request is made to conduct a special review, you should contact your special education coordinator prior to setting up the meeting. He/she can provide assistance and attend the meeting, if necessary.
Transition is addressed in all IEP meetings for students who are age 13 and older or who will turn 13 during the effective dates of the IEP. The student, as well as representatives of any agency likely to provide or pay for transition services, must be invited to the meeting. Written consent to invite outside agencies must be obtained each year prior to inviting the outside agency.
A manifestation determination review is held to determine whether a student’s behavior is related or not related to his/her disability. Manifestation must be determined before a student with a disability may be removed beyond 10 cumulative school days. Be sure to review the information in your Policies and Procedures Manual regarding Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans (pages 82-96). In addition, review the guidelines for addressing behavior and/or suspension and expulsion for students receiving special education services.
After you have determined the type of meeting, you will need to include this information on the meeting letter that you will send to the parents. Excent provides a checklist for you to mark the reason for the meeting. In addition, you will need to include any enclosures that you have included with the meeting letter. You should always include the parent and student Invitation Response Form and Prior Written Notice for every IEP meeting. The Listing of Parental Rights is required for all Annual Review and MDR meetings. Be sure to review the Prior Written Notice section of your Policies and Procedures Manual prior to sending home the Prior Written Notice.
It is important that you document all attempts to contact the parents and invite them to the meeting. Excent allows you to include the date, the type (example: phone call, letter of invitation, etc.), and the person making the contact. In addition, there is a box for contact notations, which allows you to provide more details regarding your contact attempts.
For EVERY meeting you have, you should ALWAYS include the following individuals as members of the IEP team: the parents, the special education teacher, the regular education teacher, and the LEA. In Aiken County the only approved LEA Representatives at the school building level are the Principal and the Assistant Principal.
For some students and/or circumstances, you will need to include additional members of the IEP team. Those team members may include: The interpreter of evaluation results. This person may vary depending on the circumstances of the meeting. (examples include: the school psychologist, SLP, or the vision or hearing teacher. In most cases the Special Education Teacher will fulfill this role by explaining the present levels in the IEP). In addition to the Interpreter, you will need to invite others with knowledge or expertise. This typically refers to the related service providers. (For example: OT, PT, ABT, etc.) Be sure to invite the student once he/she is 13 years of age or older and transition participants from outside agencies for students receiving services from participating agencies.
For some students and/or circumstances, you will need to include additional members of the IEP team. Those team members may include: The interpreter of evaluation results. This person may vary depending on the circumstances of the meeting. (examples include: the school psychologist, SLP, or the vision or hearing teacher. In most cases the Special Education Teacher will fulfill this role by explaining the present levels in the IEP). In addition to the Interpreter, you will need to invite others with knowledge or expertise. This typically refers to the related service providers. (For example: OT, PT, ABT, etc.) Be sure to invite the student once he/she is 13 years of age or older and transition participants from outside agencies for students receiving services from participating agencies.
When including team members on the meeting letter you only need to include them by title. IDEA no longer requires that we include team members by name. Although Excent provides you with a box to include team members names, it’s a good rule of practice to use numbers to represent the team members instead the their names. In addition, you will include the team members title. The process of using numbers instead of names simplifies things in the event that you need to use a different LEA, Regular Education teacher, etc when a team member is suddenly unable to attend. If you haven’t already experienced it, you will definitely run into circumstances where you may have invited the assistant principal but he/she is unable to attend due to a last minute student emergency. By using #’s instead of names, you can allow for the principal to serve as the LEA in place of the assistant principal. In the long run, this will make things easier for you.
Once you know what type of meeting you are having and you know who you need to invite, it’s in your best interest to call the parents and ask them to provide you with several dates and times that they would be able to attend the meeting. Within reasonable means, you must schedule the meeting at a time that is most convenient to the parent. Next, you should email your related service providers and general education teachers to see if they can attend during any of the times that you discussed with the parent. If’s a good rule of practice to schedule as far in advance as possible when you have to invite related service providers. Most related service providers provide service to multiple schools and their schedules are often packed weeks in advance.
Once you know what type of meeting you are having and you know who you need to invite, it’s in your best interest to call the parents and ask them to provide you with several dates and times that they would be able to attend the meeting. Within reasonable means, you must schedule the meeting at a time that is most convenient to the parent. Next, you should email your related service providers and general education teachers to see if they can attend during any of the times that you discussed with the parent. If’s a good rule of practice to schedule as far in advance as possible when you have to invite related service providers. Most related service providers provide service to multiple schools and their schedules are often packed weeks in advance.
When you are uncertain about a procedure or who to invite, refer to your Policies and Procedures Manual. If you can’t find the answer there or if you still have doubts, contact your coordinator for help and guidance. There is nothing wrong with double checking to make sure you are following the proper policies and procedures. The paperwork for special education can be tedious and confusing and as you will soon learn it changes all the time. So, when in doubt….ask your coordinator for help!
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