How do I know if the IEP is working?

We are mid-way through the school year and at this point, you should have a good idea of how your student's year is going. It is very common that parents aren't quite sure what to expect from the District and how to measure if the IEP is helping your student.

While IEPs are individualized and different for all students, they should all provide one common thing: FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education). This means access to an educational program that provides your student with "meaningful progress" in light of their known disabilities.

The best way to tell if the IEP is working for your student is the review of progress at the end of each marking period. As the second nine weeks for most schools in the Commonwealth comes to a close, you should be receiving a report card and progress monitoring for your student. Report Cards can be very informative, but for many students receiving special education, progress monitoring is more meaningful. Progress monitoring is based on the goals agreed upon in your students IEP. It should be measurable and easily to understand. The data received from progress monitoring drives the educational programming and supports for your student.

What should progress monitoring look like?

There is no legal requirement as to the specific format, but you should receive data on the same schedule of report cards on every goal included within your student's IEP. This includes related service providers (Speech, OT, PT, Vision, O&M). This does not mean simple statement words without explanation or numerical information. For example, a statement like "Your student is making progress" is not sufficient to keep you informed as to your student's abilities and progress with programming. You should be able to understand how your student is working on their goal and if they have improved from the IEP development or regressed. This information helps you know if things are working or if your student needs a change in programs and supports.

Ideally, progress monitoring should include enough data that you can visually graph your student's abilities from the development of the goals (the baseline) to the current marking period.

What if my child isn't making progress?

There are a lot of reasons why a student may not make progress but an IEP team should discuss these reasons to ensure the programming moving forward is setting your student up for success. A lack of success, or very slow progress, might mean that the goal your student is targeting is very difficult for them. However, it could also mean that there is a new issue or the current program isn't working for your student.

As a parent you should understand the reason for progress or lack thereof and be able to engage with your school team to make appropriate adjustments so that your student can make progress. If you are seeing that your student isn't making progress or if you aren't receiving progress monitoring, it might be time to talk with the team at Extraordinary Law to understand your student's rights and what supports you can ask for.

Call today for a free consultation, let's make sure your student makes meaningful progress throughout the remainder of the school year!