What is an IEP? - Deer Valley Unified School District

Parent Advisory Council
What is an IEP?

The Parent Advisory Council was established during school year 2007-2008 to advise the Deer
Valley Unified School District Student Support Services’ Parent Liaison. The Council is
composed of parents with children with special needs and are presently enrolled in DVUSD.
The Council represents the geographic area served by DVUSD.
Committee Members
Mindy Biernot
Lisa Bricker
Dawn Kurbat
Janet Lewark
Tracey Peters
Shelly Sedwick
Ginger Pottenger, Parent Liaison
A special thank you to Council member Dawn Kurbat for her work on drafting the “What is an
IEP” and to Kathy Wolter for putting the booklet together and making it look good!
Virginia McElyea, Superintendent
Governing Board
Tom Boone, President
Ann Ordway, Vice-President
Christy Agosta
Ron Bayer
Bill Maas

What is an IEP?
IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. It’s a legal document which is a written
agreement between you and the school. This annually written plan is a “map of your child’s
education services”. The IEP defines the special education and related services that your child
with disabilities will receive. The IEP ensures that your child’s unique needs will be met. Every
child receiving special education must have an IEP.
Who writes the IEP?
The IEP is written by a Team. The Team works together, collaborates, and decides by consensus
not by vote. Everyone on the team has an equal voice.
Who makes up the IEP Team?
• Parents/Guardians
Parents are equal partners in the IEP process and critical
members of the decision-making team. Parents should be
actively involved with developing, reviewing and revising
the IEP. Parental input and attendance at all meetings is
one of your rights!
• Your child (when appropriate)
• At least one general education teacher of your child
• At least one special education teacher of your child
• A school or district administrative representative (such as the school administrator or the
Intervention Specialist)
• Someone qualified to explain assessments and evaluation reports (such as a psychologist
or speech pathologist)
The school and/or parents may request other individuals to attend the IEP meeting. For instance,
it may be helpful to invite someone who can provide additional information, support, or expertise
about your child such as a neighbor, relative, friend, private therapist or parent advocate. Please
keep in mind that these guests may provide valuable input about your child.
Remember
Parents, you are your child’s best advocate! By learning to be a good advocate, you will help
ensure that your child receives the appropriate education to which s/he is entitled under law.

What must the IEP include?
• Description of your child’s abilities (strengths & needs) and present level of performance
• List of goals for the year that are meaningful, specific and measurable.
No goal should last forever. If progress is not being made, the IEP
team must meet to review the IEP and, if needed, to revise it.
• Description of related services that your child will receive such as
speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, assistive
technology etc. This description should include how often, when
and where the services will be received
• Description of how your child’s progress will be measured and by whom. The data
collected on progress will be reported back to parents at regular intervals
• Description of how much time your child will spend in a general classroom, known as
Inclusive Practices or
• Inclusive Education. The goal is to keep your child in the Least Restrictive Environment
which means that according to federal law, students with disabilities must be educated
with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate based on the students
needs.
• Details about necessary accommodations or modifications. Accommodations do not
change curriculum. They only change the way your child is taught or allowed to respond
or test (such as in the timing, formatting, setting, scheduling, response and/or presentation
of assignments). Modifications do change the type and/or amount of curriculum taught
and are used when the student is expected to learn less or different content.
Modifications can include less content for struggling students. Modifications help
customize assignments, tests, worksheets, and other classroom materials.
• Transition Planning after high school (begins at age 16)
• Whether your child will receive ESY (Extended School Year)
• IDEA does not include the Functional Behavioral Intervention Plan (FBIP) as a required
component of the IEP; it merely states that problem behaviors must be addressed by the
IEP team.
Key Points
• The purpose of the IEP meeting is to focus on the child’s educational services and work
towards finalizing and agreeing upon goals. Parents should receive a copy of both the
IEP and the meeting minutes
• The IEP is reviewed at least once a year, or more often if needed, to see if revisions are
needed
• The child is re-evaluated at least every 3 years (Triennial), or
• more often if needed, to determine if child still has a
disability and what are the educational needs
• No changes can be made to the IEP unless parents have had
the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process

and have received Prior Written Notice of the IEP team’s decision. All changes must be
supported by current data
• If concerns have not been fully addressed and agreed upon, parents need to request that
this is documented in the meeting minutes with a plan for follow-up resolution
• By signing the IEP, it is only an indication you were present and participated in the IEP
meeting
Practical Tips
Before IEP meeting parents should
• Be proactive
• Organize and collect your own data
• Communicate with other members of the Team ahead of time,
including your own child
• Review child’s current IEP (if applicable)
• Make a list of child’s academic and functional strengths and
needs
• Consider what motivates your child and what is your child’s learning style
• Create a list of desired goals that you would like for your child to achieve
• Submit all of your lists to the Service Coordinator at least 2 weeks prior to the IEP
meeting
• Request that you receive a copy of the IEP “Rough Draft” prior to the actual IEP meeting
so that you can keep working on continued concerns or desired changes. Remember, this
is only a draft
• Be prepared to work as an integral part of the Team in order to best meet the needs of
your child
• Be realistic and think “outside of the box”
During IEP meeting parents should
• Bring copy of IEP “rough draft”, along with questions and concerns that you may still
have
• Ask for a copy of the IEP Meeting Agenda
• While not an official part of the IEP, ask who is taking the minutes for the meeting so
that you may obtain a copy before leaving
• Take personal notes to include concerns, as well as positive feedback
• Address these 5 areas:
o Where are we now?
o Where are we going?
o How are we going to get there?
o What does success look like?
o How will progress be reported?
• Ask for a copy of the finalized IEP and meeting minutes

• Be assertive, not aggressive
* stay calm, be proactive, and focus on the needs of your child *
After IEP meeting parents should
• Periodically review IEP to compare it with class work and child’s progress
• Continue to communicate with other Team members
• Frequently talk with your child about school and encourage your child to learn selfadvocacy
skills
• You can request a meeting at any time if concerns arise
• When things are going well, tell your Team members
**Reminder – Be sure to fill out the Parent Involvement Survey**
When should I request informal conference vs. formal IEP meeting?
Not all concerns require a formal IEP meeting with the entire Team. First try to communicate
and resolve concerns by calling, emailing, writing the appropriate teachers, therapists, etc.
Perhaps an informal conference with the appropriate people will remedy a concern.
Some reasons to request a formal IEP meeting:
• To discuss unresolved concerns and CHANGES that need to be
made in your child’s program/IEP such as: child has met a
goal, child does not appear to be making progress, you feel
additional services are needed or services are no longer
needed, child has experienced a major change such as illness,
surgery, injury, death of a family member.
• To request that school re-evaluate your child
What if there is a dispute with the IEP?
Practical Dispute Resolution
• Attempt to address the issue with teacher(s) first
• Document concerns and efforts you made to resolve problems
Use the following road map after you have talked with your child’s teacher and feel there are
still unresolved problems:
o Talk with your child’s service coordinator
o Talk with your child’s IEP Team Intervention Specialist
o Talk with your child’s school principal
o Request an IEP review meeting
o Work with your IEP Team
• Request your school’s Student Support Services Facilitator come to a formal IEP
meeting
• If after following the above road map there are still unresolved problems contact one of
the Student Support Services Managers or the Director of Student Support Services. See

DVUSD webpage:
www.dvusd.org/pages_our_departments/educational_svcs_special_ed.htm
Formal Dispute Resolution
• Mediation – is the most informal dispute resolution
option. Mediation is a voluntary process that is held
only if both parties (the parent and the district) agree
to mediate. A mediator is provided by Arizona
Department of Education/Exceptional Student
Services (ADE/ESS) at no expense to either the
parent or the district.
State Complaint – Administrative complaints must be in
writing, signed and filed with the ADE. Complaint investigators have authority to investigate
alleged violations of state and federal special education laws. Once a complaint containing all
the required information is received by our ADE/ESS, an investigator is assigned to the case and
has 60 days to complete the investigation and issue a Letter of Findings.
• Due Process Hearing – is the most formal of the dispute resolution options, Parents,
districts or attorneys for either party submit a signed, written request for a special
education due process hearing. ADE/ESS forwards this request to the Arizona Office of
Administrative Hearing where the case is assigned to the Administrative Law Judge, who
will case manage and ultimately conduct the hearing.
Please visit the DVUSD website www.dvusd.org for additional resources and preparation
tools such as sample worksheets on how to write goals, formal request letters and more!

Deer Valley Unified School District
20402 N 15 th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027
623-445-5000
Parent Liaison
623-445-4983