Questions to Ask at an IEP Meeting
Questions for a parent attending an Individualized Education Program meeting. They focus on the parts of the document that are enforceable: service minutes, who delivers them, how goals will be measured, why a placement was chosen, and what to do if you disagree.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Can you send me the draft and the evaluation reports a few days before we meet?
Why ask it
Reading a draft cold in a meeting with six school staff present puts you at a disadvantage that has nothing to do with the merits. Schools will usually send a draft if asked, and are often required to provide evaluation reports before the meeting. Ask in writing, and ask for the raw scores as well as the summary.
Who will be at the meeting, and what is each person's role?
Why ask it
Whether an occupational therapist, a school psychologist or a district representative is in the room decides which of your questions can be answered on the day. It also tells you who has authority to agree to a cost. If the person who can approve a service is not attending, ask whether they can be.
What data are you using to describe where my child is right now?
Why ask it
Present levels are the foundation of the whole document, and everything after them is only as good as they are. Ask for the source of each statement: a standardised test, a classroom observation, work samples, a teacher's impression. Statements with no data behind them are the ones that quietly persist for years.
Take one of these goals and tell me what it will look like when it is met.
Why ask it
A goal that cannot be described in observable terms cannot be measured, and vague goals are the most common weakness in an IEP. You want a baseline, a target, a condition and a method: what the child does now, what they will do, under what circumstances, and how it will be checked. If the answer is that the teacher will judge improvement, ask for something countable instead.
Which goals from last year were met, and which were not?
Why ask it
This is the check on whether the plan works, and it is often skipped in a meeting focused on the year ahead. A goal carried over unchanged for a second or third year is a signal that the approach is not working, not that the child is not trying. Ask what will be different this time.
How many minutes of each service per week, and is that in the classroom or outside it?
Why ask it
Minutes are what makes a service enforceable. Language such as 'as needed', 'consultative' or 'as available' is not something you can hold anyone to, and it is worth asking for a number instead. Also establish whether support is delivered inside the general classroom or by removing your child from it, because those are different experiences.
What lesson does my child miss in order to attend those sessions?
Why ask it
Pull-out support has a cost that rarely appears in the document. A child taken out during science, or during the social time of the day, is losing something in exchange for the service. Ask whether the timetable can be arranged so that the same subject is not always the one missed.
Who will actually deliver each service, and what is their caseload?
Why ask it
There is a real difference between a licensed specialist and a paraprofessional supervised by one, and between a therapist carrying twenty children and one carrying sixty. Ask for the person's role rather than their name. Caseload is the best available indication of whether the minutes on paper will be delivered in practice.
What happens to these services if that person is absent or leaves the district?
Why ask it
Staff vacancies are the most common reason services on an IEP do not happen, particularly in speech and occupational therapy. Ask what the school does about missed sessions: whether they are made up, tracked, or simply lost. Getting a stated practice now gives you something to refer back to in February.
Which accommodations are the general education teachers responsible for, and how will they know?
Why ask it
Accommodations fail most often through a straightforward communication gap, where the teacher of one class never reads the document. Ask who tells them, in what form, and when. A one-page summary given to every teacher at the start of term is a practical answer; assuming they will read the full plan usually is not.
How will we know the accommodations are actually being used?
Why ask it
This turns a list into something checkable. Reasonable answers include periodic checks by the case manager, a note in progress reports, or asking the child. If there is no mechanism at all, the accommodations rely entirely on memory, and you will find out they lapsed only when a grade drops.
Why this placement, and what less restrictive option did the team consider and rule out?
Why ask it
Under federal law a child should be educated with peers without disabilities to the extent appropriate, so the team should be able to explain what else was considered and why it was rejected. The reasoning matters more than the conclusion. If no alternative was discussed, you are entitled to ask for that discussion to happen.
What would have to change for my child to spend more time in the general classroom?
Why ask it
This moves the conversation from a fixed decision to a set of conditions, and it often produces a concrete answer about a skill, a support or a staffing arrangement. Ask for it to be written down. It also gives you a way to revisit placement at the next review without reopening the whole argument.
Is there a behaviour plan, and is it based on a functional behavioural assessment?
Why ask it
A behaviour plan built without assessing what the behaviour is communicating tends to be a list of consequences, which rarely works and can escalate matters. Ask what the assessment concluded the behaviour achieves for the child. If no assessment has been done and behaviour is affecting learning, you can request one in writing.
Does anything in this plan allow restraint, seclusion, or removing my child from class, and how would I be told?
Why ask it
Ask this plainly and get the answer recorded. You want to know what is permitted, who decides in the moment, what is documented, and how quickly you would be notified. Rules on restraint and seclusion vary considerably by state, and a school's own reporting practice is worth establishing before anything happens rather than afterwards.
What assistive technology was considered, and can it go home?
Why ask it
The team is expected to consider assistive technology, which ranges from a pencil grip or a word processor to speech-generating devices. Ask what was considered and rejected, not only what was chosen. If a device is only available at school, the skill often does not transfer, so ask whether home use is included.
How will progress be reported to me, how often, and in what form?
Why ask it
Ask for the reporting to be tied to the goals with data rather than a comment such as 'making progress'. Quarterly written reports against each goal are common and specific enough to act on. If a goal shows no movement across two reporting periods, that is the point to call a meeting rather than wait for the annual review.
How is extended school year decided, and when will we know?
Why ask it
Services over the summer are decided on individual need, commonly around whether skills are lost during a break, rather than on a general policy or a diagnosis. Ask what evidence the team will use and when the decision is made, because a decision taken in May leaves no time to disagree. Ask what data is being gathered now to support it.
What does my child say about this, and can they attend part of the meeting?
Why ask it
Older children have views about which supports help and which single them out in front of classmates, and those views are often absent from the document. Even a written contribution changes the tone of the meeting. Ask what the team has heard directly from your child rather than about them.
What is the plan for what comes after school, and who is responsible for each part?
Why ask it
Transition planning begins in the teenage years and is where IEPs are most often thin, defaulting to a general statement about college or employment. Ask for named activities, dates and the person accountable for each. Also ask which supports do not continue after school, since eligibility works differently for adults.
If I disagree with part of this, what am I signing, and what are my options?
Why ask it
Signing usually records attendance rather than agreement, but that varies, so ask what your signature means on this form. You can note disagreement in writing, request the school's written explanation of its decision, ask for an independent evaluation, or use mediation or a formal complaint. Nothing obliges you to agree in the room, and you may take the document away to read.
What can we do at home that would help, and what should we leave to you?
Why ask it
The second half of the question matters as much as the first. Parents often duplicate a school programme in a slightly different way, which can confuse a child, and other times take on hours of work that is properly the school's job. Ask for one or two specific things, and ask what to stop doing.
Preparing for an IEP meeting
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the meeting
Put your requests in writing
Email is better than a conversation at the classroom door. Ask for the draft IEP, the evaluation reports and the list of attendees in advance, and keep the reply. A written record of what you asked for and when is the single most useful thing a parent can build up over several years, and it costs nothing at the time.
Read last year's document against this year's draft
Compare service minutes, goals and accommodations line by line. Reductions are sometimes appropriate and sometimes administrative, and they are easy to miss in a meeting. Mark anything that has changed and ask why for each one.
Write down three priorities
Meetings run to a schedule and cover a lot of ground, so decide in advance which two or three things you will not leave without. Reading is the common one, but it might be a service level, a placement question, or how progress will be reported. Everything else can wait for a follow-up.
Bring someone with you
You are allowed to bring a person of your choosing: a partner, a friend, an advocate, or a private therapist who works with your child. A second person can take notes while you listen, which changes how much of the meeting you retain. Tell the school in advance who is coming.
Check your state's rules on recording
Some states and districts permit parents to record IEP meetings, some require notice, and some restrict it. If you want to record, ask beforehand rather than at the table. Detailed notes with times and names serve much the same purpose.
In the meeting
- 1Ask for the present levels to be read out first. If you disagree with the description of your child, say so before goals are discussed, because everything else follows from it.
- 2Ask for numbers wherever a word will do instead: minutes, sessions per week, percentage accuracy, how often data is taken.
- 3When something is agreed verbally, ask for it to be written into the document before the meeting ends. Anything not in the document is not part of the plan.
- 4Say 'I need to think about that' rather than agreeing under time pressure. You may take the document home.
- 5If the discussion becomes an argument, return to the question of what the child needs and what evidence supports it.
- 6Before leaving, ask for a copy of the finished document and a date for the next check-in.
Wording to look at closely
- 'As needed', 'as available', 'consultative' and 'when appropriate' are not measurable commitments. Ask for minutes and a frequency.
- 'Access to' a support is different from being provided with it. A child who has access to a device that stays in a cupboard has nothing.
- Goals containing 'will improve' or 'will show progress' with no baseline cannot be assessed at the annual review.
- Check whether accommodations apply to tests as well as lessons, including state and district assessments.
- Check whether the plan says who is responsible for each item. An action with no owner tends not to happen.
- Look for a stated method of measurement next to every goal, not only a target.
If you disagree
- Ask the school to explain its decision in writing. In the United States, schools are generally required to give parents written notice explaining a refusal, which is useful whether or not you take it further.
- You can write your disagreement on the document or send a short email after the meeting stating which parts you do not accept.
- You may request an independent educational evaluation at public expense if you disagree with the school's evaluation. Ask for the district's criteria.
- Mediation is usually free, faster than a formal hearing, and does not require a lawyer. It is often the sensible next step.
- A state complaint and a due process hearing are separate routes with different timelines. Your state parent training and information centre can explain which fits your situation.
- Keep the relationship workable if you can. You will be dealing with the same people for years, and most disagreements are resolved without formal steps.
After the meeting
- Send a short email summarising what you understood was agreed, including anything promised verbally. Ask them to correct you if you have it wrong.
- Read the final document when it arrives and check it matches the discussion. Errors in service minutes are common and easier to fix immediately.
- Diarise the first progress report date, and read it against the goals rather than filing it.
- You can request a meeting at any point in the year. You do not have to wait for the annual review if something is not working.
- Keep one folder, paper or digital, with evaluations, plans, progress reports and correspondence in date order. It takes minutes to maintain and answers most questions that come up later.