Requesting Draft Reports Prior to Your Child's IEP Meeting

It is best practice to keep ongoing communication with your child's teacher(s) and therapists about his or her progress. This is especially important in the weeks leading up to the IEP meeting. This is also a great opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas for what you would like to see addressed in your child's new IEP, including things you would like to be carried over from the old IEP.

About a week prior to the annual review meeting of the IEP, most school districts send home draft copies of progress reports and ideas for proposed new goals for your child, so you can review it ahead of time. If this is not a regular practice in your district, you may want to reach out to the team to request a draft copy of reports in advance. (Everything is considered a draft until finalized as a team in the IEP meeting). Working out some of these concerns ahead of time can make a meeting go more smoothly for all parties.

Some things that the team is unable to share with you in advance include eligibility results from evaluations and placement recommendations, as these are things that can NOT be "pre-determined" until the actual meeting.

Be sure to bring these draft copies of reports and goals with you to the meeting. Separate the reports by area (i.e.: academics, OT, PT, speech, etc) so you can easily refer to it when each teacher or therapist shares about his or her area during the meeting. You may want to highlight key areas of the reports, jot down follow up questions to ask, and share your thoughts throughout the meeting, as you are a member of the team!

The downside to receiving these draft reports in advance is that it can cause you to feel even more overwhelmed. Turning these draft reports over to an IEP consultant to review ahead of time with you can help alleviate that feeling, helping to prevent unpleasant surprises in the meeting. Report review by a trained eye can help you make sense of what the reports mean, bring to your attention concerns you may not have recognized in the reports, and advise you important follow up questions to ask, so you can be best prepared for your next IEP meeting.

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Written by: Carly Quinlan, IEP Consultant & Advocate with IEP Consulting, LLC

IEPconsultingLLC@gmail.com