When the ARD Committee (IEP Team) Meets

Your child’s ARD committee (referred to as an IEP Team in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is made up of individuals who bring different perspectives and expertise to the table. Pooling their knowledge, ARD committee members set out to craft an individualized plan to address your child’s needs, and takes into account your child’s strengths and talents.  There’s a lot of information shared at ARD meetings and a lot of discussion. The end product is your child’s individualized education program (IEP).

Parents or guardians are essential and equal members of their child’s ARD committee. Your thoughts and opinions on the eligibility, evaluation, services, goals, and placement of your child are important. There is no one as motivated to see your child succeed as you, and this alone places you in a crucial role as an active participant on the ARD committee.

Let’s start with an overview of key points about ARD meetings. Then, we’ll take a longer look at specific aspects of these meetings that will help you be an active partner in this critical activity.

Who Develops Your Child’s IEP?

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Texas rules, certain people must be part of your child’s ARD committee. It is important to note that there doesn’t have to be a different person for every role. Often, one person carries more than one responsibility on the committee.

ARD committee members are to include:

• You, as parent or guardian
• At least one regular education teacher, if your child is (or may be) participating in the regular education environment
• At least one of your child’s special education teachers or special education providers
• A representative of the public agency (school system) who (a) is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education, (b) knows about the general curriculum; and (c) knows about the resources the school system has available
• An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results, and needs, and talk about what instruction, and services may be necessary for your child
• Your child, when appropriate
• Others with knowledge or special expertise about your child

Together, these people will work as a team to develop your child’s IEP.

What’s in an IEP?

State and federal rules require that certain things must be considered and decisions made in developing an IEP. The ARD committee must consider, and discuss a large amount of data to develop an IEP. It may take more than one meeting to write the IEP.

The IEP must include:

• Your child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP), describing how he or she is currently doing in school and how your child’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum
• Appropriate challenging annual goals for your child, meaning what you and the school team think your child can reasonably accomplish in a year
• The special education and related services to be provided to your child, so he or she can be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities. This includes specially designed instruction, supplementary aids and services (such as a communication device), accommodations, modifications and changes to the program or supports for school personnel
• If your child will be educated separately from nondisabled children or not participate in extracurricular or other nonacademic activities such as lunch or clubs (called extent of nonparticipation), and how much this will occur during the school day
• How your child is to participate in state and district-wide assessments, including what allowable accommodations he or she needs to use
• Service delivery details, such as when services and modifications will begin, how often they will be provided, where they will be provided, and how long they will last
• How and when school personnel will measure and report your child’s progress toward the annual goals

What Happens at an ARD Meeting?

If this is the first ARD meeting after your child’s evaluation, the ARD committee will go over the evaluation results, and determine if your child meets the eligibility criteria for special education services. If your child is eligible or continues to be eligible, the ARD committee members (including you as the parent or guardian) will share their thoughts and concerns about your child.

After identifying your child’s strengths and needs, the ARD committee can discuss and decide on the statements associated with each of the IEP’s component listed above, especially:

• The “present levels” statement;
• The educational and other goals that are appropriate to address your child’s needs;
• The type of special education services your child needs;
• The extent of nonparticipation; and
• What related services are necessary to help your child benefit from his or her special education.

Special Factors to Consider

The ARD committee must also make decisions about whether or not any of the “special factors” identified in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) need to be considered. These include:

• If your child’s behavior interferes with his or her learning or the learning of others:
  • The ARD committee will talk about strategies and supports to address the child’s behavior.
• If your child has limited proficiency in English:
  • The ARD committee will talk about your child’s language needs as these needs relate to his or her IEP. A member of your child’s language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) is to work with the ARD committee.
• If your child is blind or visually impaired:
  • The ARD committee must provide for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille, unless it determines after an appropriate evaluation that this instruction is not appropriate.
• If your child has communication needs:
  • The ARD committee must consider those needs.
• If your child is deaf or hard of hearing:
  • The ARD committee will consider your child’s language and communication needs. This includes opportunities for direct communication with peers and school staff in their language and mode of communication (for example, sign language).
• If your child needs assistive technology devices and services:
  • The need for this should have been determined during the evaluation process.

In some cases the ARD committee may want additional evaluation to help determine need, and appropriate strategies in this, or other areas (e.g. behavior/functional behavior assessment, or social/emotional). This could involve recessing an ARD meeting or scheduling another ARD meeting. Specialists in a variety of areas (behavior, technology, health, autism, etc.) may need to attend the ARD meeting, or submit written reports and recommendations. To learn more about special factors of interest to you, see the discussion at Special Factors in IEP Development.

Excusing ARD Committee Members from ARD Meetings

Certain members of the ARD committee may be excused from an ARD meeting under specific conditions. When the ARD committee member’s area of expertise is not going to be discussed or modified, if the parent and the school system agree in writing that the member’s attendance is not necessary.

If an ARD committee member’s area of expertise is going to be discussed or modified, they may be excused from attending, if:

• You, the parent or guardian, consents in writing to the excusal;
• The school consent to the excusal; and
• The ARD committee member submits input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting. This input must be in writing and is submitted to the parent and the ARD members prior to the meeting.

In this situation, consent is more formalized than agreement. (See IDEA Sec. 300.9 Consent)

The U.S. Department of Education in 2006 stated that:

The IEP Team is expected to act in the best interest of the child. As with any IEP Team meeting, if additional information is needed to finalize an appropriate IEP, there is nothing in the Act that prevents an IEP Team from reconvening after the needed information is obtained, as long as the IEP is developed in a timely manner…

The parent can request an additional IEP Team meeting at any time and does not have to agree to excuse an IEP Team member. Likewise, if a parent learns at the IEP Team meeting that a required participant will not be at the meeting, the parent can agree to continue with the meeting and request an additional meeting if more information is needed, or request that the meeting be rescheduled. (71 Federal Register at 46676)

Parents who want to confer with an excused team member may ask to do so before agreeing or consenting to excuse the member from attending the meeting. (71 Federal Register at 46674)

School systems may not routinely or unilaterally excuse IEP team members from meetings as parent agreement or consent is required in each instance.

Schools systems need to carefully consider whether it makes sense to offer to hold the IEP team meeting when a particular member isn’t attending or whether it would be better to reschedule the meeting so that person could attend and participate in the discussion. (Id.)

An LEA that routinely excuses team members from attending IEP meetings would not be in compliance with the requirements of the Act, and, therefore, would be subject to the state’s monitoring and enforcement provisions. (Id.)

It is up to each public agency to determine the individual in the LEA with the authority to make the agreement (or provide consent) with the parent to excuse a team member for the meeting. The designated individual must have the authority to bind the LEA to the agreement with the parent or provide consent on behalf of the LEA. (71 Fed. Reg. at 46676)”

Putting It All Together—and in Writing

The resultant IEP will then guide how services are provided to your child in the coming year. Before the school system can provide your child with special education for the first time, you must give written consent. The ARD forms will have a place for parents or guardians to indicate agreement.

You are entitled to a copy of your child’s IEP at no charge, and all school personnel responsible in some way for implementing the IEP must know what their roles and obligations are and be given access to your  child’s IEP.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has developed a sample IEP form that includes all of the required items:
https://tea.texas.gov/academics/special-student-populations/special-education/programs-and-services/iep-model-form

While some school districts use the TEA’s sample form, many districts utilize computer software programs developed by an educational company. If an IEP document is completed in writing, the parent is usually able to leave with a copy. Often when computer software is used, parents must wait several days before they receive a copy. Parents may have to decide if they want to sign, and give consent then, or wait until they see the final document.

While state rules do not require that minutes or written notes of discussions be made, most schools take some form of notes of the discussions that occurred during the ARD meeting. TEA does say:

ARD committees must ensure that they document in sufficient detail their compliance with the requirements for developing, reviewing, and revising IEPs

The minutes or written notes of discussion can show if school staff considered any concerns the parents had or requests they made. Parents or the school can decide to tape record a meeting.

After the IEP Meeting

Implementing the IEP

Once the IEP is written, it is time to carry it out—in other words, to provide your child with the special education and related services as listed in the IEP. This includes all supplementary aids and services and program modifications that the ARD committee identified as necessary.

Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this post to discuss in detail the many issues involved in implementing a child’s IEP, but several points are worth noting. These are:

Point 1: IDEA states that, as soon as possible following development of the IEP, special education and related services are made available to the child in accordance with the child’s IEP. [Sec. 300.323 (c) (2)] Texas rules define this as 5 school days, unless the parent and school agree to less time.

Point 2: IDEA also requires that the school system ensure that “each regular education teacher, special education teacher, related services provider, and any other service provider who is responsible” for the IEP’s implementation:

• Have access to the IEP;
• Are informed of their specific responsibilities; and
• Are informed of specific accommodations, modifications, and supports to be provided to the child, in accordance with the IEP. [Sec. 300.323 (d)]

Texas rules say a district:

Must ensure that each teacher who provides instruction to a student with disabilities: (1) has access to relevant sections of the student’s current IEP; (2) is informed of the teacher’s specific responsibilities related to implementation of the IEP, such as goals and objectives, and of needed accommodations, modifications, and supports for the student; and (3) has an opportunity to request assistance regarding implementation of the student’s IEP.

There also must be a process for regular education teachers: (1) to request a review of the student’s IEP; (2) to provide input in the development of the student’s IEP; (3) that provides for a timely district response to the teacher’s request; and (4) that provides for notification to the student’s parent or legal guardian of that response.” TAC 89.1075(c) & (d)

When IEPs Must Be in Effect

IDEA is very clear with respect to when IEPs must be in effect, as can be seen in the regulation below.

§300.323 When IEPs must be in effect.

(a) General. At the beginning of each school year, each public agency must have in effect, for each child with a disability within its jurisdiction, an IEP, as defined in §300.320.

Reviewing and Revising the IEP

At least once a year an ARD committee meeting must be scheduled to review your child’s progress and develop an IEP for the next twelve months. The meeting will be similar to the initial ARD meeting described above. The ARD committee will talk about:

• Your child’s present levels of academic achievement, and functional performance,
• Your child’s progress toward the goals in the current IEP,
• What new challenging goals should be added,
• Whether any changes need to be made to the special education and related services your child receives, and
• Information about your child provided to, or by, you (parent or guardian), including concerns and requests

The ARD committee may also meet periodically throughout the course of the school year, if circumstances warrant it. For example, you may feel that your child is not making adequate progress toward his or her annual goals. Or–on the positive side–the special educator on the ARD committee may want to write new goals, because your child has made such great progress!

Amending the IEP Without Meeting

An IEP can be modified or amended in certain cases without an ARD meeting. The parent or guardian and the school can agree through a written “agreement” to not to hold an ARD committee meeting for making certain changes and instead develop a written document to amend or modify the child’s current IEP.

In IDEA under Sec. 300.324 Development, review, and revision of IEP:

(4) Agreement.

(i) In making changes to a child’s IEP after the annual IEP Team meeting for a school year, the parent of a child with a disability and the public agency may agree not to convene an IEP Team meeting for the purposes of making those changes, and instead may develop a written document to amend or modify the child’s current IEP.

(ii) If changes are made to the child’s IEP in accordance with paragraph (a)(4)(i) of this section, the public agency must ensure that the child’s IEP Team is informed of those changes.

(5) Consolidation of IEP Team meetings. To the extent possible, the public agency must encourage the consolidation of reevaluation meetings for the child and other IEP Team meetings for the child.

(6) Amendments. Changes to the IEP may be made either by the entire IEP Team at an IEP Team meeting, or as provided in paragraph (a)(4) of this section, by amending the IEP rather than by redrafting the entire IEP. Upon request, a parent must be provided with a revised copy of the IEP with the amendments incorporated.

Requirements Regarding IEP Amendments

• Parents and the school district must agree to not meet but to take this approach (amending the IEP) instead.
•  The amendment or modification to the IEP must be in writing.
• Members of the ARD committee and other appropriate school staff must be informed of the changes.
• In Texas this option cannot be used in place of the annual ARD meeting; for eligibility determination; changes of placement; or manifestation determination reviews.

Additional Information about Amending an IEP

• IDEA’s protections are still in effect. This means that a child’s IEP cannot be changed without prior notice by the school system and an opportunity for parents to discuss any changes with the school system.
• The parent does not have to agree to the school system’s request to amend the IEP without an ARD committee meeting. (71 Federal Register at 46685)
• With respect to the agreement between parents and school system to amend the IEP without meeting, the Department of Education observed that “. . . it would be prudent for the public agency to document the terms of the agreement in writing, in the event that questions arise at a later time. Of course, changes to the child’s IEP would have to be in writing” (Id.).