Sitting in the principal’s office, the gulf felt enormous. On one side of the table: a group of administrators and specialists — including a psychologist, literacy instructor, and occupational therapist. My husband and I were on the other, feeling like kids in trouble.
I’d requested the meeting to ask for additional support for my son, then 8 years old and recently diagnosed with dyslexia. But now that the moment had come, I felt overwhelmed and at a loss for what to say, except: Please help my child learn.
That’s when I first heard the three letters that have come to dominate his educational experience: IEP.
About 1 in 5 public school students in Massachusetts has an individualized education program, a legally binding document that describes the supports and services the school must provide over the course of a year. Having an IEP can give a student with a disability access to special education teachers, supplemental learning sessions, and more — and make a world of difference in their learning experience.
To qualify as having a disability, a child must fall into one of 12 categories outlined by state law, including autism, hearing and visual impairment, and specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia. There also has to be evidence that the disability impedes the child’s progress at school. But who determines this, and how? That’s where an IEP meeting comes in.
A parent or educator can suggest an evaluation at any time. Then, in Massachusetts, a school district has 30 school days to complete the necessary testing and 45 days to convene a meeting involving administrators, educators, and parents to decide whether an IEP is warranted. If so, it must develop one within that 45-day window.
As any parent who’s attended one of these meetings can tell you, they can be emotionally charged. The district’s assessment might not match what you observe at home. The meeting might feel rushed. And, even if the school agrees to services, the standardized language of an IEP might feel overwhelming.
So how can a parent who is new to the process navigate all this? I reached out to experts in the IEP process for advice. Here are six key suggestions.
1. Outside assessments can help
At my son’s IEP meeting, each of the various specialists had their own assessment of him. While this was understandable — they each completed separate evaluations — it felt jarring to hear about my son from so many different angles.
That’s one reason many parents seek an independent evaluation first. An outside evaluator, such as a neuropsychologist, can sometimes consider a whole child in a way fragmented school testing can’t.
Such an evaluator typically meets with a child for several hours to conduct tests, then produces an objective, comprehensive report integrating the child’s strengths and challenges.
“Neuropsychologists are licensed health care providers, and so we’re doing a more comprehensive look at: What is this child’s learning profile, what are their strengths and weaknesses, is there a diagnostic piece here at play? We can make diagnoses like autism and ADHD,” explains Anna R.M. Hebert, a psychologist with Dr. Joseph Moldover & Associates in Wellesley.
Some neuropsychologists attend IEP meetings at a parent’s request.
“We have experience in the special education system and can say… ‘This is what services [a student] would qualify for or what they’re legally entitled to. … And this is what your child needs on a long-term kind of basis,’” Hebert says.
Many parents also hire an educational advocate, a professional versed in the IEP process who attends meetings, interprets evaluations, and makes recommendations about what parents can request.
These costs can pile up quickly. Parents often pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for the evaluations (the required school district assessments are free), though insurance may cover neuropsychological testing in cases where a cognitive impairment is due to a medical or psychiatric condition.
If families disagree with a school evaluator’s findings, they can request an independent educational evaluation, funded by the district if they qualify financially. It’s also worth asking providers whether they offer sliding-scale fees.
And there’s more help out there. Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, has a free, multilingual helpline that offers parents and caregivers advice, resources, and referrals regarding special education and IEPs. In some cases, the group provides pro bono advocacy or legal representation.
Finally, each Massachusetts school district is required by law to maintain a Special Education Parent Advisory Council. These parent-led volunteer groups are excellent resources for provider recommendations and to network with parents in similar circumstances.
2. Do some homework
Parents are entitled to receive summaries of school assessments at least two days before an IEP meeting. Reach out to the school ahead of time to get the documents, says Ilana Blatt-Eisengart, a special education parent in Arlington who is also a clinical psychologist with Launch Psychological Associates in Wakefield.
Sometimes, schools don’t proactively provide the evaluations. In such cases, Blatt-Eisengart believes it’s best to give districts the benefit of the doubt.
“I think most of the time these are well-intentioned people who are overworked,” she says. “And, actually, I think that’s a good mind-set to come into the whole system with.”
Scan the results for scores below the average range, she advises; in the meeting, ask the evaluators to explain those areas of weakness and how they could impact your child’s learning.
It also pays to familiarize yourself with a standardized IEP form.
At its heart, an IEP outlines your student’s disability, current levels of performance, measurable educational goals, and how to meet those within a year (IEPs must be revisited with an annual meeting). The meeting is an important opportunity for you to add your own concerns and observations, helping to paint a holistic picture.
“[Parents] know their child,” says Allan Blume, a former special educator with Wayland High School and founder of the Blume Method, an app designed to help districts write effective IEPs.
“We, as educators, are going to come and go in that child’s life. … We don’t know what goes on for a child with the family at 7 o’clock in the morning when they’re getting ready.”
‘Be really clear: “I want my kid to read. How are we going to get there?” Knowing what you want is one advocacy skill that we teach all our families.’
Angela Gowans, an educational advocate in Beverly
3. Prep yourself emotionally
With parents pushing for as much support as possible, and districts often strapped for resources, it’s understandable why the IEP process feels adversarial to some. But experts say it’s wise to put those feelings aside.
“Our emotions are not particularly helpful in that setting,” Blatt-Eisengart says. “What the system cares about is: Is there data that show that your child is not able to learn from the typical school system?”
She urges parents to find avenues to voice their concerns beforehand. Write in a journal. Vent to a friend. Rehearse, so that when it’s time to articulate your position in a meeting, you’re not apt to stumble.
“It’s very emotional to talk about your child struggling, and I think it may be helpful to get those emotions out ahead of time,” she says. “It’s surprising, even to me who does this work, how many emotions that can bring up,” she says.
4. Set clear goals
Picture this: You’ve done the prep work and walk into the school ready to address your child’s challenges. Then the meeting begins, and everyone seems to want to talk about everything your kid is doing well.
Angela Gowans, an educational advocate in Beverly, says this is a common scenario because both educators and parents tend to emphasize where a child is succeeding. But this also means a meeting can devolve into pleasant observations.
She recommends boiling concerns down to roughly five questions or desired outcomes focused on what skills need to improve, and what is actually going to be done about it.
“Be really clear: ‘I want my kid to read. How are we going to get there?’ Knowing what you want is one advocacy skill that we teach all our families. Don’t look to the schools to tell you,” Gowans says.
An IEP lays out goals, how and when progress will be measured, and the point people involved. It should illustrate where your student is starting, where the team expects your student to be in a year, and the steps in between. A service-delivery grid then specifies when, where, how often, and for how long your child receives services.
The meeting can feel clinical, but it sets a baseline for a student’s growth, according to Blume.
“What you want to do is say, ‘This is where we see the student now, inclusive of parent information,’” he says. Once that has been established, “then the requirement of writing an observable and measurable goal becomes easier to do.”
‘Modifications are really the core of special education. A child wouldn’t be on an IEP if they didn’t need a modification.’
Allan Blume, a former special educator and founder of an app designed to help districts write effective IEPs
5. Know the difference: accommodations vs. modifications
After outlining parent and student concerns and progress, the IEP should explain how your student can make gains. This is accomplished through accommodations and modifications.
Blume explains that accommodations help your student access the same curriculum or learning environment as peers — for example, frequent movement breaks or using the speech-to-text feature on a computer. Modifications change the content, instruction, or way your student demonstrates learning to meet their disability-related needs, as required by the IEP.
“Modifications are really the core of special education. A child wouldn’t be on an IEP if they didn’t need a modification,” Blume says.
The IEP establishes the frequency, intensity, and duration of modifications, so this part of the meeting is crucial. For example, an IEP team could determine that your child needs two 45-minute pull-out sessions for reading instruction per week. If you believe your child needs more, this is your chance to advocate.
6. You’re on the team, too
In Massachusetts, once the school district has provided an IEP proposal — it can also decide a child is ineligible for special education — you can agree to the terms, reject portions or all of it, or appeal the findings through the Bureau of Special Education Appeals. You can also request to regroup, giving you time to talk with an advocate or seek an independent evaluation through the district.
But even if the IEP thoroughly addresses your child’s issues, there will always be bumps in the road. Recently, my son — now a successful high-schooler with several years of IEPs under his belt — failed a history test. This was unusual for him; when he takes tests orally, an accommodation in his IEP, he does well. But written assessments strain his stamina, especially at the end of a long school day.
At first, I was fired up: Was his IEP ignored? What happened to his accommodation? But, after taking a breath, I politely reached out to his teacher and his special education liaison to see what might have happened — from a place of curiosity, not accusation. Turns out, he had not taken the test orally, but after his liaison weighed in, he was given a chance to retake the exam in the way that works best for him.
The moment reminded me about the importance of treating your child’s education team as allies, rather than enemies.
This applies to IEP meetings as well, even if you don’t think one went perfectly.
As Hebert, the Wellesley psychologist, puts it: “You don’t have to walk out that door feeling defeated, like you don’t have any other options. . . . You’re still a member of that team.”
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.