Emily Moog

IEP Meeting

I attended an IEP meeting for a student in first grade who was being evaluated for

retention. His IEP was reviewed and all of the interventions he received the previous year at

Woodland Elementary were taken into consideration. Decisions were made with consideration

from the parents wishes and the team as a whole. The childs full abilities including fine motor

skills, emotional capacity, and current knowledge at first grade level were especially important.

There were no cultural considerations to account for. The people in the room were the child,

playing in another area of the room, the parents of the child, the kindergarten teacher the child

had the previous year, the teacher the child currently has, the principal, assistant principal, a

district worker who took notes and talked about the wishes of the district in terms of retention,

the speech pathologist, the Title worker, and the social emotional Resource room teacher. The

room was quite full of bodies, all wanting to help the student succeed at whatever decision they

came to as a team.

Each person in the room had to say out loud what their position at the end of the

meeting was and why they believed it to be the best decision for the student. There were not

moments of personal feelings about the matter. Instead, evidence was shown for his abilities

and what would benefit him most according to what he needs from his IEP and what both

kindergarten and first grade could offer him.

The parents were very involved in the decision making process. They went over what

the student was learning over summer break before school started, what they had seen that he

lost during that time, what they have noticed he understands, and what they think he needs

emotionally and mentally. They had met with the principal prior to this meeting to talk about

what they wished for their student moving forward and when they could meet with the team as a

whole for a final decision. They were in favor of his retention from the beginning but wanted to

have his current information evaluated before making a final decision.