IEPs: Advocate for Your Child’s Education

Credit: Carol Brzozowski

There are now more than five million children in the United States with disabilities. If you are the parent of one of those children, efforts to meet your child’s educational needs can be filled with pain, frustration and confusion. But there are resources available to help you understand special education law, identify a child’s needs, prepare for meetings with school staff, develop an Individual Education Plan, and resolve disputes. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions.

What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?
Says Lawrence Siegel, author of “The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child” (Nolo Press) and The Least Restrictive Environment: A Paradox of Full Inclusion (L.R.P. Publications), and director of the National Deaf Education Project, says, “An IEP is a plan for children who have been identified and become eligible for special education. That is, they have a qualifying level of disability that entitles them to have an individualized program tailored to meet their unique needs.
Dennie Baldwin, Director of Kentucky Education Rights explains in an email that “After a student is determined to be eligible under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by an Admissions and Release Committee (ARC), a process begins by team effort to formulate a plan specific to the educational needs of a student. The determination for eligibility is based upon physical and/or emotional evidence that has an adverse effect upon the student’s ability to learn.”

What should be the major elements of an IEP?
Siegel says, “It should include an individualized look at the child, including her needs and how they can be served. The basic concept is certainly that the child is entitled to a free and appropriate public education. Appropriate is the key word, he explains, adding that the program has to include a specific development of goals and objectives, what related services are necessary and how they are to be provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

How does a parent work with school staff to develop a meaningful IEP?
“Above all else, the parent is the most knowledgeable about their child,” says Baldwin. “Your input is valuable, however you should enter this meeting with an open mind and not a pre-determined agenda. An ARC can be an intimidating environment where you feel ‘outnumbered’ and much of the conversation is lined with acronyms.” He encourages parents to speak up if they don’t understand something, if they object to a suggestion, but to keep in mind that this group has gathered for the benefit of your child.
The parent should be the child’s best advocate, and should become knowledgeable about the law, says Siegel, advising parents to organize their records in a single binder. “Once parents have a good idea of what the child’s needs are and have looked at the assessments on their child, they should develop a program they think would be appropriate as a starting pint. Not what the school district has to offer, not what’s necessarily practical, but something to start with.“

Should parents bring an advocate or pediatrician with them to an IEP meeting?
It’s not required, according to Baldwin. “An ARC should not be considered adversarial,” he says. “It is the time when you, teachers, administrators and experts gather to prepare an educational plan that will alleviate your concerns and provide a better school process for your child.” He adds that it can be helpful to take along an objective person who can take notes and provide input and support when needed. If you do feel an advocate is necessary in addressing an injustice or miscommunication, Baldwin advises you find one that is familiar with IDEA, have experience in the IEP process and is genuinely interested in providing a solution. “A true advocate is not caught up in seeking legal remedies to violations, bus is there to ‘fix’ the differences,” he says.

What should parents know before attending an IEP meeting?
“Parents should know what the law says about the IEP process,” says Siegel, “about assessment and about all the due process rights. The district has an affirmative duty to provide that information to the parents, although it doesn’t have to be provided before an IEP meeting? The district has the responsibility to provide parents not only with an explanation of their rights, but also a list of no-cost/low-cost special ed support services.

Who should be at the staffing of the IEP meeting?
“By law, the parent or the guardian and the child (if the parent feels it is appropriate) can attend,” says Siegel, adding that law also requires there to be someone who represents the district and who has the authority to make decisions, whether the child’s teacher or a regular education teacher.

How does a parent ensure that the goals for the IEP are individualized and not a fill-in-the-blanks type of school blueprint?
“The goals, interventions, accommodations and services written into an IEP to provide a student with specially designed instruction must be unique to the child’s educational needs and not a template of any other child with similar characteristics,” says Baldwin. “Essentially, within certain parameters, the plan should contain every resource possible to ensure that child will make educational progress.” He adds that an IEP is not “an absolute science” and usually needs revision from time to time, but that any adjustments must be made by the ARC, and no single person can make revisions or choose to not follow the IEP.

Who is accountable for the IEP?
Says Seigel, “An IEP is legally binding, and if a district does not follow through on what it has signed off on, it can be ordered to do so, be punished or fined money. But there’s absolutely no guarantee under the law that the child will achieve at a certain level. What you get into sometimes is a disagreement on what is meant by particular items on the IEP. Some of those things can be subject to interpretation. If the district says your child needs speech therapy, and you feel your child needs at least two-and-a-half hours a week in a group of no more than three other children broken down into time elements of 30 minutes, unless that is specifically outlined, exact times would be subject to interpretation.

What if the school does not have the resources to provide the program?
Although this doesn’t happen often, according to Baldwin, it can happen. “Public school districts receive federal funding for the implementation of IDEA. To report their inability to meet the needs of a special needs student identified under IDEA could place that funding in jeopardy for all students. In that regard, school districts generally take it upon themselves to seek out all available resources in order to satisfy their commitment and compliance.”

What is the best example of an IEP you’ve seen? What is the worst?
“The most important things in a child’s education are the classroom setting, the related services, the methodology that will be used for that child, the strategies and the peers,” says Siegel. “These get lost in an overly technical IEP. We lose the kid. A detailed, carefully crafted, individualized IEP reflects the team’s discussion and understanding of that child’s individualized needs and is written up in a way that’s clear. The worst IEP is one in which the school is not putting down what the parents are saying, but only recording what the school wants. It’s loaded down with numbers and goals, and again the child is lost in the process.”

How do you advise parents on becoming their child’s advocate?
Teachers are overworked and underpaid, says Seigel, adding that it’s important for parents to remember that most teachers try their best. He suggests that parents set up a reasonable process for reporting whether things are working. “For example, if the IEP states that a child’s teacher will send home a weekly progress report regarding certain areas, parents should – without becoming overbearing either for the class, the teacher or their child – visit the class on a reasonable basis.”

Carol Brzozowski is a freelance writer. This article appeared in the September 2010 issue of Cincinnati Family.