Advocacy Process · Annual Review

IEP Annual Review: What Parents Should Know and How to Prepare

The IEP annual review is the most important scheduled meeting in the special education calendar. It’s the one time each year when the entire IEP, goals, services, placement, and all, is formally reviewed and updated. Most parents don’t prepare for it the way it deserves. Here’s what to know and what to do.

What the Annual Review Is (and Isn’t)

IDEA requires that the IEP team meet at least once per year to review and update the IEP. This meeting must:

• Review the child’s progress toward the current IEP goals
• Revise the IEP as appropriate, updating goals, services, accommodations, and placement
• Consider any new information, including parent concerns and data from outside providers

What the annual review is NOT:

• A rubber stamp on last year’s IEP with updated dates
• A formality where the school presents a pre-written document and asks you to sign
• Your only chance to raise concerns, you can request an IEP meeting at any time

In practice, many annual review meetings trend toward the first two. The reason is preparation: schools come to the meeting with a pre-drafted IEP; parents often come with no preparation at all. The meeting then becomes a review of the school’s proposal rather than a genuine collaborative process.

How to Prepare for the Annual Review

Start at least two weeks before the meeting:

• ✓Request progress reports and service logs: How much progress did your child make on each goal this year? Did services happen as specified? Get the data, not just the narrative.
• ✓Review the current IEP critically: Which goals were met? Which weren’t? What does that tell you about whether services were appropriate?
• ✓Document your concerns in writing: A paragraph describing what you’ve observed this year, what you’re still worried about, and what you want to see change.
• ✓Talk to your child: What do they find hard at school? What do they wish were different? Their perspective is valid data and should be part of your preparation.
• ✓Contact outside providers: Private therapists, tutors, or evaluators may have observations from the past year that are relevant. Ask if they’re willing to provide a written summary or attend the meeting.

What to Push for at the Annual Review

The annual review is your best opportunity to change course. Use it to:

• Challenge goals that were met too easily. If your child met every goal by November, the goals were too low. Push for more ambitious goals that close the gap with grade-level peers.
• Address goals that weren’t met despite services. A goal that wasn’t reached doesn’t automatically get rolled over, it should prompt a conversation about whether the service level or delivery method needs to change.
• Request new goal areas that weren’t addressed last year. If there are needs documented in the evaluation that still aren’t in the IEP, make those requests explicitly at the annual review.
• Review service minutes relative to progress. If your child made minimal progress with 30 minutes/week of a related service, that’s an argument for more, not for continuing the same.

You Don’t Have to Wait Until the Annual Review

This bears repeating. The annual review is the scheduled meeting, but it is not the only meeting. If your child is struggling in November and the annual review is in March, request an IEP meeting in writing now. Schools are required to schedule one within a reasonable time of a written parent request. See: how to request an IEP meeting.