I send home or give parents lots of things over the year--data, progress reports, and newsletters. I have many parents that ask for about reading levels about what students need to do either to move up or simply give them an idea about where they are in the big picture. The "Parent's Guide to Reading Levels" contains both DRA and Fountas and Pinnell reading levels 1st to 6th grade with a brief list of major themes that have to be mastered. The other form I use to track my students over several years. It's great for IEP meetings because everyone can see the students progress over the years. It is labeled in Fountas and Pinnell. My building uses both-we give the DRA twice a year and our core reading curriculum in labeled in Fountas and Pinnell. I'd love to hear what you share with parents throughout the year. Have a great Wednesday!!

I'm always on the hunt for anything that I can give parents to help them through the IEP process. Being in the Elementary grades, we are often the first ones to guide them through the process and should feel empowered not intimidated by the process.

For those of us in elementary education, we are offend the first to tell parents that their child needs extra help. Getting to that meeting sometimes is a great relieve and sometimes its not. I think that it depends on how the parents feel about the whole process along the way. RTI demands us to keep parents in the loop about student progress the whole way through. By the time you start thinking, the child needs an IEP (Individual Education Plan)  it shouldn't be a surprise.

When the student is part of the RTI process, you have the time to share with the parents and classroom teacher how the student is responding to the intervention(s). Its during these meetings that you can have the tough conversations about process/lack there of and what will happen next. Having open lines of communication is key. In Colorado, this information becomes the backbone of our IEP reports and evidence reports for giving a learning disability label. Its important to document the parents voice throughout the process and listening to them. This is a chance to educate them on what special education is and isn't. By the time you get to that conversation about looking at special education it should be a no brainer. Parents questions and concerns should have been answered about what they can expect prior to the first IEP meeting. I have created a parent checklist that can be given to parents when you send home an IEP prior to a meeting or have it for them at a meeting. You will find below a checklist that my team used last year as a checklist for ourselves. I'm planning on using it with my parents this year.

Click on the picture to grab your copy.  Have a beautiful Sunday and smile. Hug your family members a little more and tell them you love them.

I can't see the bottom of my desk right now. I'm knee deep in all the end of the year paperwork while finishing a couple of IEPs. However, each May before I leave, I go through all my IEP files to make sure that they are up to date. This is a daunting task since I want to keep everything.  My district doesn't give a lot of direction on what needs to be kept because as long as the IEP is document is in the system. But, but, but what about your own copies? The data, progress monitoring, and the testing protocols. With the help of a former exceptional needs teacher, I create a Exceptional Needs Student Records form and both parents and teacher could use to track what information you have for each student folder. How do you organize your personal student records after each IEP meeting?
Exceptional Needs Student Records

I know for some schools they have IEPs right from the beginning of the school year straight through to the end of the year. Some (like me) are supper busy the last half of the year. Since, I work in an elementary school many times my parents have no clue what an IEP is or if the student's ILP is the same thing. (No)

The road to special eduction is not a mystery and we should make possible to make sure parents understand the process. This removes confusion and makes that initial staffing go much more smoothly.

In response to this, I have a handout that I give to all parents when they sign permission for assessment. They have told me that it has helped in preparing for that first meeting and getting some clue about the special education process. Anyother ideas about helping parents through the process that you have found that work for you??

A Parent's Guide to the IEP