Mothers' Perceptions of Satisfaction, Trust, and Power in the Individualized Education Program Process

Parent involvement in the development of an individualized education program (IEP) is a foundational tenet of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Unfortunately, mothers, the parent most likely to attend the IEP meeting, often report negative perceptions and even feelings of disillusion with the IEP process. Including mothers as equal members of the IEP team is crucial to student success, especially for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). To determine the extent of mothers' satisfaction, trust, and perception of the power of the IEP process, we surveyed 929 mothers of students with disabilities. Survey results indicate mothers are neither overly satisfied nor dissatisfied with the process, but almost always perceive an imbalance of power between IEP team members. A high percentage of mothers reported experiences with bullying, coercion, and shame. The findings suggest that more efforts are needed to empower mothers during the IEP process and improve parent-school partnerships.

Understanding the Characteristics and Predictors of Student Involvement in IEP Meetings

Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings are an important component of special education; however, few students actually attend and meaningfully participate in their meetings. Using a large-scale national survey, this study examined student attendance and participation at IEP meetings, and the predictors of these outcomes. Respondents included 1,183 parents of students with disabilities across all grade levels. Results indicated that only a third of students attended their most recent IEP meeting. Most students who did attend their meeting were not actively participating. Results from a factor analysis of participatory behaviors challenge previous conceptualizations of student participation. Predictors of student involvement included strength of the parent–teacher partnership, as well as certain student characteristics related to grade and disability type. Implications are discussed.

Special Education Meetings: The Role of the Facilitator in Districts Serving Rural Communities

Special education professionals serve as facilitators of Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meetings. This study explores how facilitators see their IEP meeting roles and probes further into how IEP facilitators envision an ideal IEP meeting in school districts with rural schools. Findings indicate that facilitators see their roles in three parts: procedural due process, informal problem solving, and parental support. Their view of the ideal IEP meeting involved a strong presence by members, parental involvement, and achieving true collaboration. Implications for teachers and school leaders include agenda distribution, external meeting communication, and role clarification.

I’ve Got My Crew: Inviting Community Partners to Your IEP Meeting

A community partner is a person from an organization outside of a student's high school that can help students plan for life after graduation. A community partner should be a person or organization that can help high school students receiving special education services with their post-high school goals. This tip sheet provides high school students with tips on how to identify community partners, how they can help students, and how to students can include them in the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.

You Got This: Taking a Leadership Role in Your IEP Meeting

This tip sheet provides tips for how students (ages 3 to 21) who receive special education services in public schools can take a leadership role in their individualized education programs (IEP) and transition planning.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Interventions Used to Increase Adolescent IEP Meeting Participation

This study examined the effectiveness of interventions used to increase the participation of adolescents with disabilities during individualized education program (IEP) meetings. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis were conducted to identify and synthesize the group-design experimental literature on this topic, as well as evaluate intervention effects. Six studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the analyses. Adolescents who participated in self-advocacy curriculum interventions made significantly more contributions during IEP meetings compared with students in control groups. Given this information, school districts should consider implementing such curricula and making student attendance and participation at IEP meetings a top priority. However, additional high-quality research is needed to expand the evidence base for this practice for students with more severe disabilities.