IEP help
IEP Help for Birmingham-Area Parents
If you've left an IEP meeting with more questions than answers, you're not alone. Here's what an IEP is, how a child gets one in Alabama, and the parts worth reading closely.
WHAT AN IEP IS
An IEP is a plan for teaching your child differently, not just a list of supports.
IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. It comes from IDEA, the federal special education law, and it's for children who have a qualifying disability and, because of it, need specially designed instruction. That means the teaching itself changes.
An IEP has to include measurable goals, the services your child will receive, and regular progress reports to you. It's reviewed at least once a year, and it isn't permanent. It changes as your child does.
How a child gets an IEP in Alabama.
It starts with a written request for a special education evaluation, and you can ask at any time of year. Alabama's rules say schools may not limit referrals by the number per year or the time of year. The school team then meets to review your request and decide whether to evaluate.
Schools also have their own duty to look, called Child Find. It covers children who are passing and moving up each year, too.
Once you sign consent, the school has 60 calendar days to finish the evaluation and 30 more to decide eligibility. Both clocks keep running over summer break. Plan on about 90 days from consent to decision, and count backward from any date that matters to you.
Sources: Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.01 and 290-8-9-.02; 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.111, 300.320, 300.324. Educational information, not legal advice.
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THE SHORT VERSION
You don't have to know whether your child needs an IEP or a 504 plan before you ask. You ask for an evaluation, and the evaluation answers the question.
WHAT TO
READ CLOSELY
FOUR PARTS OF THE IEP WORTH YOUR TIME
Present levels. Every goal and service should trace back to a need described here.
Goals. Each needs a starting point, or baseline, so you can tell if anything changed.
Services. Look for minutes, who provides them, and where they happen.
Progress reports. They should measure each goal in the same units it was written in.
REMEMBER:
let's work together
Pull up a chair.
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