What Happens At An IEP Meeting?
Updated: December 13, 2025. Reviewer: Dr. Rose Sebastian, Ed.D.
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An IEP is the written document that outlines a student’s goals, present levels, supports, and services. That document is created, reviewed, updated, or amended during IEP team meetings.
There are multiple types of IEP meetings. The most common is the annual IEP meeting where the IEP “is developed, reviewed, and revised” (34 C.F.R. § 300.324(b)(1)). At those meetings, the team sets new goals, reviews progress, shares strengths and concerns, and looks at services and placement. Those have to be held once a year. In addition, teams can meet more often to amend the IEP, as in make smaller changes to the IEP. Teams can also meet for progress monitoring, where the IEP is reviewed but not changed.
The point of IEP team meetings is for teams, including the parent, special education teacher, general education teacher, related service providers, district representative, student (as appropriate), and others, to come together and develop plans to support the student.
On paper, these are collaborative, solution-focused meetings where the IEP is created. In reality, writing an IEP is a slow and often painful process that occurs before the IEP meeting. Almost all special education teachers will walk into the meeting with a draft IEP. The team then reviews and suggests changes to that draft. Once all changes are in, the parent reviews it again and then can give or with hold consent.
At a good meeting, the parent is included and their ideas– and the student’s ideas– make it into the IEP. At a more typical one, the parent rubber stamps the pre-created IEP without always fully understanding what they have just signed.
How are IEP meetings structured?
Introductions
IDEA does not spell out the sequence of events at an IEP meeting, but most follow a similar structure.
Typically, IEP meetings begin with introductions. IEP teams often change meeting to meeting. Some people are at every IEP meeting but others shift. For example, if the family is facing broader challenges, a school social worker might attend the meeting. If the student is having behavioral issues, more administrators might attend. So, generally, the first thing that happens at the IEP meeting is each of the team members introducing themself and their role at the meeting (parent, student, etc).
Strengths and Progress
The next thing that will often happen is the sharing of student strengths and interests. The team will also share their progress. Often, this is when the general education teacher speaks, sharing growth they have seen, strengths, and then challenges. For people who want to include students at the IEP, this is a great opportunity for the student to take charge, sharing what is going well for them and how they think things are going.
Present Level of Performance and Goals
Many IEPs will go from there to progress reports from each team member on where the student is right now and where they should be in a year. So the speech pathologist might share growth the student has made, their current levels of performance, and a good goal for the next year. Then the special education teacher or other service provider will do the same thing.
Parent Input
If parent’s haven’t already been asked for input, this is often where their voice will be included. They might get asked about their concerns, what they would like to see their child work on, or how they think things are going relative to the previous year.
Accommodations and Supports
Then the team typically gets into the nitty gritty of the student’s supports including testing and classroom accommodations and service hours.
Other IEP Stuff
Some students get ESY (extended school year), transportation, or have other special supports. If that is true for the student, those will generally get discussed towards the end of the meeting.
Consent?
All of the IEP team should sign in that they were present at the meeting. The parent might sign consent for the new IEP at the meeting. Often, there are changes made to the draft IEP at the meeting. In that case, parents would wait to provide consent until they have seen the final IEP. So at the meeting, the team would discuss the process for consent– is the parent signing then? Will the IEP go home later for the parent to sign? There are also often often forms to get signed, like consent for SAT accommodations or other district specific forms.
Alternate Modes of Participation
Most IEP meetings are in person. They do not have to be, however. IEPs can be on Zoom or over the phone.
What IDEA says about alternate means of participation in 34 C.F.R. § 300.322(c)
(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend an IEP Team meeting, the public agency must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls, consistent with §300.328 (related to alternative means of meeting participation).
And in 34 C.F.R. § 300.328 IDEA says:
When conducting IEP Team meetings and placement meetings pursuant to this subpart, and subpart E of this part, and carrying out administrative matters under section 615 of the Act (such as scheduling, exchange of witness lists, and status conferences), the parent of a child with a disability and a public agency may agree to use alternative means of meeting participation, such as video conferences and conference calls.
