Tag: prepare

Get Ready for School with IEP Essentials

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

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Every student deserves a strong start to the school year. For families of children with disabilities, preparing for school includes reviewing the Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP is a legal document and a living plan that outlines the supports and services a student needs to access their education. Families play a key role in shaping the IEP and making sure it works for their child.

A Brief Overview

  • The start of a new school year is a great time for families to revisit their IEP or create a new IEP to support their student’s learning.
  • If a student doesn’t yet have an IEP, requesting an evaluation is the first step to determining eligibility for special education services.
  • Review an IEP before school starts to prepare questions and suggestions for the team.
  • Talk with your student about what to expect, to reduce anxiety and build confidence.
  • Learn about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to understand your rights and responsibilities in the IEP process.
  • Communicate regularly with the members of the IEP team to monitor progress and adjust plans as needed.
  • Gather documents, write questions, and invite support to prepare for IEP meetings.
  • Follow up after meetings to confirm next steps and maintain communication.
  • Take small, manageable steps to stay involved and support your student’s success.

Introduction

The beginning of a new school year is the perfect time to revisit your student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). Whether your child already has an IEP or you’re just starting to explore the special education process, this season offers a fresh opportunity to reflect, plan, and engage.

As you and your student get ready for school, the most important thing is the “I” in IEP. The “I” is for “Individualized”. A thoughtful IEP highlights the student’s abilities and helps your student access the supports needed to learn. It helps ensure they receive the support necessary to learn, grow, and make meaningful progress—not just in school, but in life beyond graduation.

IEPs are built by teams, and families are essential members. When parents and students understand the process and actively participate, they help shape a plan that truly works.

What to do before the first day

If your student doesn’t have an IEP and you wonder whether a disability might be affecting their learning, now is a great time to explore the special education process. Understanding how evaluations work is the first step. If you’re unsure whether your child needs one, check out our article on How to Request an Evaluation, which explains how to get started.

If your student already has an IEP, review the IEP to prepare questions and suggestions for the team before the school year begins. PAVE recommends using their Steps to Read, Understand, and Develop an Initial IEP worksheet to guide this process.

After reviewing your student’s IEP or beginning the process to request one, the next step is ensuring your child is properly enrolled in school. Enrollment procedures vary by district, but they typically include submitting documentation, verifying residency, and understanding school assignment policies. For a clear overview of how and when to enroll your student, read this PAVE article: Starting School: When and How to Enroll a Student in School.

To help ease anxiety and build excitement, talk with your child about what to expect in the upcoming school year. Discuss new activities, classmates, and what will feel familiar. If your school offers an open house, plan to attend together. During your visit, take pictures and ask your child what they notice or wonder about. You can review the photos later to help them feel more prepared. PAVE’s article, Tips to Help Parents Plan for the Upcoming School Year, provides actionable strategies for easing anxiety, fostering independence, and creating a positive school experience.

What parents need to know about FAPE

At the heart of special education is the right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). FAPE means that students with disabilities are entitled to an education tailored to their individual needs—not a one-size-fits-all program. This is what makes IDEA unique: it ensures that every eligible student receives services designed specifically for them through an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

To qualify for an IEP, a student must go through an evaluation process to determine if a disability is impacting their education. If the student meets criteria under IDEA, they become eligible for special education services. These services are not about placing a student in a specific classroom—they’re about providing the right support, wherever the student learns. As you review your child’s IEP or prepare for meetings, ask: Is this plan appropriate and suitable for my child’s unique abilities and needs?

IDEA includes six important principles

The IDEA, updated several times since 1990, outlines legal rights for students with disabilities and their families. This PAVE article, Special Education Blueprint: The Six Principles of IDEA, explores the core principles: Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), Appropriate Evaluation, Individualized Education Program (IEP), Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Parent and Student Participation, and Procedural Safeguards.

Effective communication is key to student success

Understanding legal rights is just the beginning—clear, consistent communication with the IEP team is one of the most effective ways to ensure your student’s plan leads to meaningful progress. Consider creating a communication plan with your child’s teachers or case manager. This might include weekly emails, a journal sent home in the backpack, scheduled phone calls, or regularly scheduled progress reports. Be sure to have this plan written into the IEP or included in the Prior Written Notice (PWN) so everyone stays on the same page.

Writing down how you’d like to stay in touch helps the team understand what works best for your family. Get creative—what matters most is that the plan supports clear, consistent communication for the whole team. ​

Keep a log of communication with the school district and educational service providers. PAVE provides a downloadable Communication Log to help you track emails, phone calls, and texts. school district and educational service providers. PAVE provides a downloadable Communication Log to help you track emails, phone calls, and texts.

Ready, set, go! 5 steps for parents to participate in the IEP process

Understanding the laws and principles of special education can help parents get ready to dive into the details of how to participate on IEP teams. Getting organized with schoolwork, contacts, calendar details, concerns, and questions will help.

This 5-step process is downloadable as an infographic.

5 Steps for Parents to Participate in the IEP Process (English)

Download the IEP Essentials in 5 Steps in:
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1. Schedule

Parents or guardians should receive a written invitation to the meeting. The school and family agree on a date and time, and the school documents efforts to include families at all IEP team meetings. If the proposed time doesn’t work, remember that parents are required members of the team—you can request a different time that works better for you. 

Ask beforehand for the agenda and a list of who will attend. This helps ensure that there is enough time to fully address the topics being discussed. If a key team member can’t attend the meeting, you have the option to either provide written consent to excuse their absence or request to reschedule if their participation is important to you. ​For a list of suggested attendees and a downloadable form to save contact information, PAVE provides a Who’s Who on the IEP Team.​

If your student already has an IEP, a re-evaluation occurs at least once every three years unless the team decides differently. A parent can ask for a re-evaluation sooner if needed, though typically a re-evaluation will not occur more than once a year.

2. Prepare

You can ask for a copy of the evaluation results or a draft IEP before the meeting to help you prepare. It’s a good idea to gather letters or documents from medical providers or specialists that support your concerns. Writing down a few questions ahead of time can help you remember what you want to ask. You might also make a list of your student’s strengths and talents—this helps the team build on what’s already working. If you have specific concerns, you can write a letter and ask for it to be included in the IEP. Some families invite a support person to attend the meeting, someone who can take notes, help you stay focused, and offer encouragement.

3. Learn

Knowing the technical parts of an IEP will help you understand what’s happening at the meeting. The IEP is a living program—not just a document—and it can be updated anytime to better meet your child’s needs. The IEP is a work-in-progress, and the document can be changed as many times as needed to get it right and help everyone stay on track.

Familiarize yourself with the components of an IEP: 

4. Attend

At the meeting, each person should be introduced and listed on the sign-in sheet. Schools generally assign a staff member as the IEP case manager, and that person usually organizes the team meeting. Any documents that you see for the first time are draft documents for everyone to work on.

Be present and free of distractions so you can fully participate. Ask questions, share your perspective, and help keep the focus on your child’s needs and goals. If your child isn’t attending, placing a photo of them on the table may remind the team to keep conversations student-centered.

Everyone at the table has an equal voice, including you!

5. Follow up

After the meeting, follow through with the agreed communication plan. Make sure that everyone’s contact information is current and that you know how and when updates will be shared. If you still have concerns after the meeting, request a follow-up meeting or submit additional notes.

Stay organized with calendars, contact lists, and copies of important documents. Talk with your child about the upcoming year to ease anxiety and build excitement! your child about the upcoming year to ease anxiety and build excitement!

Tips for a smooth school year

As the school year begins, it’s important to think proactively about how to support your child’s learning and development. Establishing routines, setting goals, and building relationships with school staff can make a big difference.

If all of this sounds a little overwhelming, break the work into steps. Determine the best way to help your family stay organized with paperwork and information. Choose a calendar system that helps you track appointments and school events, such as back-to-school night or parent-teacher conferences.

Help your child’s team understand what works best for your student and share their strengths with a one-pager or a letter of introduction. PAVE provides a one-pager template, What You Need To Know About My Child, and a sample letter of introduction, Sample Letter to the IEP Team – Today Our Partnership Begins.

Let’s wrap things up!

Getting ready for school can feel like a lot, especially when your child has an IEP. But you don’t have to do everything at once. Take it one step at a time, and remember, you are not alone. This journey includes your child, and you’re walking it together. You are a vital part of your child’s team, and your voice truly matters. When families and schools work as partners, amazing things can happen. Trust yourself, speak up, and share what you know—because no one knows your child better than you. You bring love, insight, and hope to the table.

From all of us at PAVE, we wish you a happy and successful school year!

Learn More

Back To School Checklist!

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

Late summer is the time to gather school supplies, find out what time the school bus will pick up and drop off, and prepare to find new classrooms and meet new teachers. Parents of students with disabilities have some additional things to check off the list to be ready for the year ahead. As August is National Immunization Month, we are adding updated immunizations and flu and covid boosters to the reminders. These are fully covered medical expenses whether you have insurance or not and can go a long way to keeping your child and your family healthy as we move into the fall and winter months. There are multiple events across our state where families can go to for immunizations.  

Super important: As school begins, make sure you know what’s included in your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP), Section 504 Plan, and/or Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). For more, see PAVE’s article: Tips to Help Parents Plan for the Upcoming School Year. 

If you are new to Washington State, perhaps because of military service, you also may want to review some basic information about how education and special education are structured and delivered here. PAVE provides an article: Help for Military Families: Tips to Navigate Special Education Process in Washington State. 

Here’s a checklist to help you get organized:

  1. Create a one-pager about your child to share with school staff
    • Include a picture
    • List child’s talents and strengths—your bragging points
    • Describe behavioral strategies that motivate your child
    • Mention any needs related to allergy, diet, or sensory
    • Highlight important accommodations, interventions, and supports from the 504 Plan, IEP, or BIP
  2. Make a list of questions for your next meeting to discuss the IEP, BIP, or 504 Plan
    • Do you understand the goals and what skills your child is working on?
    • Do the present levels of performance match your child’s current development?
    • Do accommodations and modifications sound likely to work?
    • Do you understand the target and replacement behaviors being tracked and taught by a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)?
    • Will the child’s transportation needs be met?
  3. Mark your calendar for about a week before school starts to visit school and/or send an email to teachers, the IEP case manager, and/or your child’s counselor
    • Share the one-pager you built!
    • Ask school staff how they prefer to communicate—email, phone, a notebook sent back and forth between home and school?
    • Get clear about what you want and need, and collaborate to arrange a communication plan that will work for everyone
    • A communication plan between home and school can be listed as an accommodation on an IEP or 504 Plan; plan to ask for your communication plan to be written into the document at the next formal meeting
  4. Design a communication log book
    • Can be a physical or digital notebook
    • Plan to write notes every time you speak with someone about your child’s needs or services. Include the date, the person’s full name and title, and information about the discussion
    • Log every communication, whether it happens in the hallway, on the phone, through text, via email, or something else
    • After every communication, plan to send an email thanking the person for their input and reviewing what was discussed and any promised actions—now that conversation is “in writing”
    • Print emails to include in your physical log book or copy/paste to include in a digital file
    • Having everything in writing will help you confirm what did/didn’t happen as promised: “If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.”
  5. Consider if you want to request more information about the credentials of teachers or providers working with your child. Here are some things you can ask about:
    • Who is providing which services and supports?
    • Who is designing the specially designed instruction (SDI)? (SDI helps a child make progress toward IEP goals)
    • What training did these staff receive, or are there training needs for the district to consider?
  6. Ask  the special education teacher or 504 case manager how you can share information about your child, such as a one-pager, with school team members. This includes paraprofessionals or aids and other members of the school team.
    • Parents have important information that benefit all school team members. Ask who has access to your child’s IEP or 504 Plan and how you can support ensuring team members receive information
  7. Have thank you notes ready to write and share!
    • Keep in mind that showing someone you appreciate their efforts can reinforce good work
  8. Celebrate your child’s return to school
    • Do the bus dance on the first morning back to school!
    • Be ready to welcome your child home with love and encouragement. You can ask questions and/or read notes from your child’s teachers that help your loved one reflect on their day and share about the new friends and helpers they met at school

Below is an infographic of the above information.

Tip! you can click on the image and access an accessible PDF to print and keep handy.

Back to School Checklist click to find the accessible PDF

Click to access an accessible PDF of the infographic above

We also have this infographic in 8.5 x 11 easy to print size! Access it now!

Advocacy Tips for Parents

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

When a child has a disability, parents often learn that getting their child’s needs met requires persistence, organization, and advocacy. Advocacy is an action. A person is an advocate when they organize the work and press onward until a goal is achieved. Laws that protect the rights of students with disabilities also protect parents as legal advocates for their children.

This article includes tips for parent advocates working with the school. For more about parent rights, read PAVE’s article, Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law.

Before a meeting…

  • Invite someone to attend with you. A friend or family member can help you take notes, ask questions, and keep track of your agenda.
  • Make sure you understand the purpose of the meeting. Is it to talk about an evaluation, review the Individualized Education Program (IEP), write a Section 504 Plan, consider a behavior support plan, discuss placement, or something else? If you want a certain outcome, make sure it’s within the scope of the meeting. If not, you may need more than one meeting.
  • Make sure you know who will be at your meeting. An IEP team has required attendees. PAVE provides more detail about IEP team requirements in an article that includes a Sample Letter to Request an IEP Meeting.
  • Consider anyone else you want to attend. Parents have the right to invite vocational specialists, related service providers, behavioral health providers, peer support specialists—anyone with knowledge of the student and their needs.
  • Get copies of important documents (evaluation, IEP, 504 Plan, behavior plan, etc.). Read them carefully so you can use these documents to organize your concerns and questions. Keep in mind that a services program/plan is a draft until after you meet.
  • If the school doesn’t provide documents with enough time for you to prepare, consider rescheduling.
  • Mark up a Draft IEP with your suggestions and questions:
    • Read the educational impact statement carefully. Consider if it accurately summarizes your student’s strengths and needs. If not, makes notes about what you want to add or change.
    • Note any changes you want under Medical/Physical or Parent Concerns.
    • If a goal is too hard or too easy, make a note to ask about adjusting it.
    • If a goal is written with jargon and impossible to understand, ask for an explanation and maybe a rewrite
    • Prepare to ask how teachers are using Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) to help your student reach IEP goals.
    • Read the services table, sometimes referred to as a “services grid” or “services matrix” to understand how often and where your student is being served.
    • Consider any questions you have about placement or access to general education settings. If you believe your student could be successful in general education for more of their day, consider what supports would make that possible.
    • Write down any questions about how the classroom or curriculum are adapted to be accessible. You might ask if the teachers are using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies to support multiple types of learners.
    • Write down your questions about progress and how it’s being tracked.
  • For an IEP or 504 Plan, read the accommodations carefully and make notes to ensure they are individualized and implemented to truly support your student.
  • Highlight anything in the behavior plan that sounds like bias or prejudice and consider how it might be rewritten. PAVE provides examples in a video training about development of a Behavior Intervention Plan.
  • To help you organize your questions and concerns, PAVE provides: Get Ready for Your Meeting with a Handout for the Team.
  • Learn about student and family rights and practice the vocabulary that empowers your advocacy. PAVE provides a three-part video training to help: Student Rights, IEP, Section 504 and More.

At your meeting…

  • Do your best to arrive on time to make sure there is time to address concerns. If you notice there may not be enough time to do this, request to schedule another meeting.
  • Make sure the meeting begins with introductions and that you know everyone’s job and what role they serve on the IEP team. If it’s important to you, when you introduce yourself you can ask team members to use your name instead of mom, dad, gramma, or something else other than your name when they refer to you.
  • Ask school staff to explain acronyms or jargon while they are talking because you want to understand what everyone says.
  • If an IEP team member is absent (WAC 392-172A-03095), parents must sign consent for the absence. If someone is missing and you don’t think it’s appropriate to continue, ask to reschedule. If key members need to leave before the meeting is over, consider ending the meeting and schedule an alternative day/time.
  • Keep focus on your student’s needs. Here are a few positive sentence starters: I expect, I understand, My child needs….
  • If you notice the conversation steering into past grievances, the district’s lack of funds, or what “all the other children” are doing, bring focus back to your child and their current needs. Try stating, “I want to focus on [name].”
  • Use facts and information to back up your positions and avoid letting emotion take over. Ask for a break if you need time for some regulated breathing or to review documents or notes.
  • Notice other team members’ contributions that support your child’s needs. Here are a few phrases to consider:
    • “I think what you said is a good idea. I also think it could help to…”
    • “I think you are right, and I would like to add…”
    • “I hear what you are saying, and…”
  • If you don’t understand something, ask questions until the answer is clear.
  • If you disagree about something and your comments aren’t changing anyone’s mind, explain that you want your position included in the Prior Written Notice (PWN), which is the document the school is required to send immediately after an IEP meeting.
  • If you hear something confusing, ask the school to put their position and rationale in writing so you can follow up.
  • Request to end the meeting if it stops being productive. Tell the other team members that you would like to continue working with them and ask to schedule another meeting. This might include adding people to the team to help resolve issues.

After a meeting…

  • Review your notes and highlight or circle places where there is an action or something that needs follow through. Transfer relevant information into your calendar.
  • When the Prior Written Notice (PWN) arrives (usually within a few days), compare it to your notes. Make sure all key agreements, actions, and IEP/504 amendments match what you understood to be the plan when you left the meeting.
  • If you want something changed in the PWN, ask for those changes in writing.
  • If you disagree with the outcome of the meeting, review your Procedural Safeguards (downloadable in multiple languages) and consider your dispute resolution options.
  • If you consider filing a Community Complaint, PAVE provides a video training to walk you through that option.
  • Consider contacting school district special education staff if they didn’t participate in the meeting and you think your team needs more support.
  • Consider asking for another meeting, Mediation, or a Facilitated IEP meeting, if issues are unresolved.

PAVE’s Parent Training and Information (PTI) program can help family caregivers organize their concerns and options. Click Get Help for individualized assistance.