Are Parents Members of IEP Teams and Eligibility Teams? Yes!

Parents are full members of IEP teams and eligibility teams. Their roles as members are not limited to basic participation and/or providing input. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates full membership on the teams, not just a seat at the table.

Parents have key roles in evaluations preceding eligibility determinations, in the actual eligibility determinations, and in IEP development following determinations. For evaluations, as one example, members must draw upon information from various sources, including parent input. This doesn’t mean schools simply have to consider parent input and then decide if they’ll use it or not. They are required to draw from parent input.

Below you’ll find federal regulations (as well as Viriginia regs for those in the area), that define and guarantee parents’ rights.

Eligibility Team Membership

20 U.S.C. 1414(b)(4) states [emphasis added]: “(4) Determination of eligibility and educational need, Upon completion of the administration of assessments and other evaluation measures—(A) the determination of whether the child is a child with a disability as defined in section 1401(3) of this title and the educational needs of the child shall be made by a team of qualified professionals and the parent of the child in accordance with paragraph (5); and (B) a copy of the evaluation report and the documentation of determination of eligibility shall be given to the parent.

Sec. 300.305 states [emphasis added]: “Additional requirements for evaluations and reevaluations. (a) Review of existing evaluation data. As part of an initial evaluation (if appropriate) and as part of any reevaluation under this part, the IEP Team and other qualified professionals, as appropriate, must—”

Sec 300.306 states [emphasis added]: “300.306 Determination of eligibility. (a) General. Upon completion of the administration of assessments and other evaluation measures—(1) A group of qualified professionals and the parent of the child determines whether the child is a child with a disability, as defined in §300.8, in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section and the educational needs of the child”

Sec. 300.306(c) states [emphasis added]: “(c) Procedures for determining eligibility and educational need. (1) In interpreting evaluation data for the purpose of determining if a child is a child with a disability under §300.8, and the educational needs of the child, each public agency must—(i) Draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parent input, and teacher recommendations, as well as information about the child’s physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior; and (ii) Ensure that information obtained from all of these sources is documented and carefully considered.

If you live in Virginia, you’ll find the following addresses Parents’ involvement as eligibility team members:

8VAC20-81-80(B) states, “The determination that a child is eligible for special education and related services shall be made on an individual basis by a group as designated in subdivision C 2 of this section.)

8VAC20-81-80(C)(1) states, “Upon completion of the administration of assessments and other evaluation materials or after determining that additional data are not needed, a group of qualified professionals and the parent(s) of the child shall determine whether the child is, or continues to be, a child with a disability and the educational needs of the child. If a determination is made that a child has a disability and requires special education and related services, an IEP shall be developed in accordance with the requirements of 8VAC20-81-110. (34 CFR 300.306, 34 CFR 300.308) 1. The determination of whether a child is a child with a disability is made by the child’s parent(s) and a group that is collectively qualified to: a. Conduct, as appropriate, individual diagnostic assessments in the areas of speech and language, academic achievement, intellectual development and social-emotional development; b. Interpret assessment and intervention data, and apply critical analysis to those data; and c. Develop appropriate educational and transitional recommendations based on the assessment data.”

8VAC20-81-80(C)(2) states [emphasis added], “C. Upon completion of the administration of assessments and other evaluation materials or after determining that additional data are not needed, a group of qualified professionals and the parent(s) of the child shall determine whether the child is, or continues to be, a child with a disability and the educational needs of the child. If a determination is made that a child has a disability and requires special education and related services, an IEP shall be developed in accordance with the requirements of 8VAC20-81-110. (34 CFR 300.306, 34 CFR 300.308) 2. The eligibility group composition. a. The group may be an IEP team, as defined in 8VAC20-81-110, as long as the above requirements and notice requirements of 8VAC20-81-170 are met. b. The group shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Local educational agency personnel representing the disciplines providing assessments; (2) The special education administrator or designee; (3) The parent(s); (4) A special education teacher; (5) The child’s general education teacher or if the child does not have a general education teacher, a general education teacher qualified to teach a child of the child’s age; or for a child of less than school age, an individual qualified to teach a child of the child’s age; and (6) At least one person qualified to conduct individual diagnostic examinations of children, such as school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, or remedial reading teacher.

8VAC20-81-80(D)(1) states [emphasis added]: “Procedures for determining eligibility and educational need. (34 CFR 300.306 through 34 CFR 300.311) 1. In interpreting evaluation data for the purpose of determining if a child is a child with a disability and determining the educational needs of the child, the local educational agency shall: a. Draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parent input and teacher recommendations, as well as information about the child’s physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior; and b. Ensure that information from all these sources is documented and carefully considered.

IEP Team Membership

§1414(d)(1)(B) states [emphasis added]: (B) Individualized education program team, The term “individualized education program team” or “IEP Team” means a group of individuals composed of—(i) the parents of a child with a disability;

§1414(d)(3)(A)(ii) states [emphasis added]: Development of IEP, (A) In general, In developing each child’s IEP, the IEP Team, subject to subparagraph (C), shall consider—(ii) the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child;

§1414(e) states(e) [emphasis added]: Educational placements, Each local educational agency or State educational agency shall ensure that the parents of each child with a disability are members of any group that makes decisions on the educational placement of their child.

Sec 300.321(a)(1) states [emphasis added]: (a) General. The public agency must ensure that the IEP Team for each child with a disability includes—(1) The parents of the child;

Sec 300.322 states [emphasis added], Parent participation.(a) Public agency responsibility—general. Each public agency must take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP Team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including—(1) Notifying parents of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend; and (2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place. (b) Information provided to parents. (1) The notice required under paragraph (a)(1) of this section must— (i) Indicate the purpose, time, and location of the meeting and who will be in attendance; and (ii) Inform the parents of the provisions in §300.321(a)(6) and (c) (relating to the participation of other individuals on the IEP Team who have knowledge or special expertise about the child), and §300.321(f) (relating to the participation of the Part C service coordinator or other representatives of the Part C system at the initial IEP Team meeting for a child previously served under Part C of the Act). (2) For a child with a disability beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team, the notice also must— (i) Indicate—(A) That a purpose of the meeting will be the consideration of the postsecondary goals and transition services for the child, in accordance with §300.320(b); and (B) That the agency will invite the student; and (ii) Identify any other agency that will be invited to send a representative. (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). (d) Conducting an IEP Team meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parents that they should attend. In this case, the public agency must keep a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as—(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls; (2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received; and (3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s home or place of employment and the results of those visits. (e) Use of interpreters or other action, as appropriate. The public agency must take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the IEP Team meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English. (f) Parent copy of child’s IEP. The public agency must give the parent a copy of the child’s IEP at no cost to the parent.

In Virginia, you’ll find the following regarding IEP team members:

8VAC20-81-10. Definitions defines an IEP as: “Individualized education program team” means a group of individuals described in 8VAC20-81-110 that is responsible for developing, reviewing, or revising an IEP for a child with a disability. (34 CFR 300.23)

8VAC20-81-110(C) [emphasis added] states: IEP team. 1. General. The local educational agency shall ensure that the IEP team for each child with a disability includes: (34 CFR 300.321(a), (c) and (d)) a. The parent of the child;

8VAC20-81-110(E) [emphasis added] states: E. Parent participation. 1. Each local educational agency shall take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of the child with a disability are present at each IEP meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate including: (34 CFR 300.322(a)) a. Notifying the parent of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend; and b. Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place. 2. Notice. (34 CFR 300.322(b)) a. General notice. The notice given to the parent: (1) May be in writing, or given by telephone or in person with proper documentation; (2) Shall indicate the purpose, date, time, and location of the meeting, and who will be in attendance; and (3) Shall inform the parent of the provisions relating to the participation of other individuals on the IEP team who have knowledge or special expertise about the child under subdivision C 1 f of this section. b. Additional notice requirements are provided if transition services are under consideration. (1) For Part C transition, the notice shall inform the parents of the provisions relating to the participation of the Part C service coordinator or other representative of the Part C system under subdivision C 4 of this section. (2) For secondary transition, the notice shall also: (a) Indicate that a purpose of the meeting will be the consideration of the postsecondary goals and transition services for the child; (b) Indicate that the local educational agency will invite the student; and (c) Identify any other agency that will be invited to send a representative. 3. If neither parent can attend, the local educational agency shall use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls and audio conferences. If the local educational agency uses an alternative means of meeting participation that results in additional costs, the local educational agency is responsible for those costs. (34 CFR 300.322(c)) 4. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the local educational agency is unable to convince the parent that they should attend. In this case, the local educational agency shall have a record of the attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as: (34 CFR 300.322(d)) a. Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls; b. Copies of correspondence (written, electronic, or facsimile) sent to the parent and any responses received; or c. Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s home or place of employment and the results of those visits. 5. The local educational agency shall take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings at the IEP meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English. (34 CFR 300.322(e)) 6. At the IEP meeting, the IEP team shall provide the parent of a child with a disability with a written description of the factors in subdivisions F 1 and F 2 of this section that will be considered during the IEP meeting. The description shall be written in language understandable by the general public and provided in the native language of the parent or other mode of communication used by the parent(s), unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. 7. The local educational agency shall give the parent a copy of the child’s IEP at no cost to the parent at the IEP meeting, or within a reasonable period of time after the IEP meeting, not to exceed 10 calendar days. (34 CFR 300.322(f)) 8. If the local educational agency elects to use a draft version of an IEP in any IEP team meeting, such draft shall be developed and a copy shall be provided to the parent at least two business days in advance of the IEP meeting.

8VAC20-81-110(F)(1)(b) [emphasis added] states: F. Development, review, and revision of the IEP. (34 CFR 300.324(a)), 1. In developing each child’s IEP, the IEP team shall consider: b. The concerns of the parent for enhancing the education of their child;