Questions to Ask at an IEP Meeting

Most IEP conversations start with present levels — a plain-language way of saying "here is how the student is doing academically and functionally right now." Getting a clear picture here makes every later section easier to follow.

• Can you walk me through my child's current academic and functional performance?
• What information is the team using to understand how things are going right now?
• What progress has the team seen since the last review?
• Where is progress slower than expected?
• Are there areas that are going particularly well?

Goals are where the plan becomes concrete. It can help to ask about the reasoning behind a goal, not only its wording.

• What is this goal intended to help my child do?
• How was this goal chosen?
• How will progress toward this goal be measured?
• What would meaningful progress look like over the year?
• How will I know how my child is doing between IEP reviews?

This section connects needs to what the school will actually do. If the connection isn't obvious to you, it's worth asking directly.

• What special education or related services are being proposed?
• What support will be provided, and by whom?
• How often is the service expected to occur?
• Where will it be provided?
• How long is each session expected to be, and for how long overall?
• How is this support connected to the needs and goals we're discussing?

Not every child needs every possible service. The useful question is usually why a particular support fits the goals on the table.

Accommodations often live in the details: where they apply, when they're used, and whether they're actually helping.

• Which accommodations are currently included?
• When and where are they intended to be used?
• How does the team know whether they are helping?
• Are they being used consistently in the settings where they are intended?
• Are any changes being discussed, and what prompted them?

An accommodation written for one setting does not automatically apply everywhere, so it can help to ask how the team describes its intended use.

Progress questions are worth asking even when things seem to be going well, because they tell you what information you'll see between meetings.

• How is progress toward each goal being measured?
• What information will I receive about progress?
• When does the IEP say those reports will be provided?
• What does the current information show?
• If progress is not what the team expected, what will the team discuss next?

For a longer walk-through of measurement and reporting, see understanding IEP progress.

These five questions turn a long discussion into a record you can use later. They also tend to surface anything that was left half-decided.

• What decisions did we make today?
• What is still unresolved?
• Is there anything someone will send or explain later?
• What next steps did we agree on?
• When will we next check in as a team?

If you have limited time to prepare, these five work in almost any IEP meeting and keep the conversation collaborative.

1. What does the current information tell us about how my child is doing?
2. What are the most important goals we're working toward this year?
3. How will progress toward those goals be measured?
4. What services or supports will be used to help?
5. What should we make sure we follow up on after today?

Bring them written down. A short list you can glance at is easier to use than a list you hoped to remember. The IEP meeting checklist covers what to do around those questions.

Federal IDEA rules provide a nationwide baseline. State law and local procedures may add requirements, timelines, or processes, and IEPful does not determine which state-specific rule applies to your situation.