The initial IEP meeting is the first meeting you’ll have to discuss the needs of the child. You will only have one initial IEP meeting. In this meeting, the team creates the IEP. From then on, it becomes an annual meeting where you will revisit the IEP on a yearly basis.
In the annual IEP meeting, you’re looking to readjust goals. You’ll be looking at adjusting the accommodations and making any changes needed to better support the student after one year of information has been gathered. The annual re-evaluation and adjustment meeting is important because you can’t just make an initial IEP and roll with it. It must be evaluated after 1 year of data. A few questions you’ll ask:
The re-evaluation meeting might sound like the same thing as the annual meeting, however the re-evaluation meeting can occur at any time within a year timeframe.
Why would you need a re-evaluation meeting? There are few reasons.
A parent or teacher may request a re-evaluation at any time within the annual timeframe. Typically, the school will request this in writing. The re-evaluation meeting is a great way to find if something new has cropped up or there are concerns with the IEP. This would be the time for the team to get back together and discuss options.
As the name states, the tri-annual meeting occurs every 3 years. It is required to have this meeting. Why is this required? A lot can change in a 3 year period. Fluctuations in student performance and the student’s abilities may require new accommodations. As the student grows, they may be more or less impacted by a certain disability in the IEP. This meeting addresses those changes and how it impacts the student day-to-day.
In the tri-annual meeting, we’re launching from an entirely different set of data. Cognitive, behavioral, social-emotional, and academic data is covered again to get a better understanding of how the student has grown in the last three years. From there, an IEP is created based on that data.
At any time, new data could facilitate a change to the IEP. It may mean more supports are added into IEP or some supports are withdrawn or faded back based on testing that the student no longer needs the support.
