Hannah Eudy

Spec_Ed 20
Attend an IEP meeting

After attending my first IEP meeting I gained hefty insight on what this window into Special
Education looks like. This specific meeting was about a student in 4th grade who is an ELL
(Russian) and suffers from Autism. This is not a child in the class I am in for Advanced
Practicum and it was reviewing the current IEP for the child. There were eight total people in
that room which featured the ELL teacher, the principal, the special education teacher and her
para, the speech teacher, the student’s current teacher, the mother of the student, and me.
Each person in the room had an interesting role as the ELL teacher talked about the student’s
ELL testing score which was from level 2-4 in the language domains. The principal mostly
observed and took notes, with a small amount of input, and the special education teacher and the
para talked about the student and what they know about the previous year. They also talked
about the behavior, the progress, and what the new goals should be. The speech teacher talked
about specific communication problems the student has, and how the student does not always
know the specific place for certain communication and social interaction cues. The current
teacher talked over the student’s behavior and what he has noticed about the child, with the child
wanting the teacher’s attention and to make a connection. The mother of the child was involved
and concerned and had a lot of input about her child and what she has seen and taught her child.
Lastly, I was there to observe.
There were cultural considerations as the student is Russian speaking and is currently an ELL
student. Cultural considerations seemed to be handled neatly because all the teachers were
honoring the mother’s wishes as well as respecting the child’s abilities. The decisions were made
as a team where the special education teacher would talk about how the child performed
emotionally and academically in the previous year, and what goals they all had. Then new goals
were somewhat predetermined. These would be relayed to the parent who would generally agree
to what the goals were. The parent had some of her own goals which were incorporated where
applicable. It was a pleasant process because the teachers and parent were all on board to make
sure the number one goal was the success of the student.
As for involvement of the parents, the mother was the only parent present and she is as
involved as a teacher could want. She had so much input and interesting sentiments about how
her child is at home, sometimes contradicting behavior of what the school teachers have
witnessed. She works with her child at home and teaches where she sees fit and needing
improvement. I was impressed with the amount everyone was working together, and how helpful
the mother was. She had so much to say that the meeting could have gone on much longer, and it
was a lot for me to take in but so valuable.

Signature of Special Education Teacher: ___________________ Date: ____________

Special Education Teacher’s printed name: _________________ Date: ____________