What is with only 1 HOUR IEP meetings these days??? Are these people kidding??!?! Guess it's a new 'district wide move'(Broward County Florida) Geezzzz!!!.....will have to work on this one! Even on the best days this is too short!! What can you honestly get done in an hour?? Yes it's true! Across the board many many parents are being told 1 and 2 HOUR TIME appointments for IEP meetings!!
In one hour we can say hello, go around the table and get each others names..read a little and WRAP IT UP & LEAVE we will see you next week...or next month!!...It's really getting crazy all this ESE Stuff !!! Unbelievable stuff!!
It's about creating a quality LEGAL IEP document for our Children! One hour...paleezzz! If anyone knows that's about enough time to get set up at the table with all our stuff, for those that have been sitting there for shhhhh...... the 'pre-meeting' to get some of them to 'scooch over or MOVE' a little so parents can be able to even sit up at the IEP TABLE and to have some table space ourselves, to say hello around the table, laugh a little with everyone after we first get there. The one hour can be taken up with 'greetings and setting the tone' of the meeting!
PARENTS have a right to have it take as long as it takes to finish a quality document. Absolutely teachers are being taken from their classrooms to attend IEP meetings, there are plenty of quality Substitute teachers out there that can teach for the day. Parents do not get paid for attending these meetings and they don't do them everyday like everyone else sitting at the table. Parents are intimidated most of the time and SCARED and not always sure with what the whole IEP process actually is.
To have just a 1 or 2 hour IEP meeting is NOT right..period! My average IEP meeting is 4 hours and at times longer to finish up the most important portion of the entire IEP...supports and services and let's not forget placement discussion and options! The part that almost ALL meetings love to RUSH us on!! I am done being silent about how it really is for parents! The IEP process is about CHILDREN receiving an education!
Parents let me hear from you! Is this happening for you and are you being RUSHED at the most important part of the IEP process for services, supports and placement?
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7 comments:
You are right, the parent does not get payed to attend meetings, BUT YOU DO!!!! Exactly how much do you make for attending a meeting? I bet you get paid per hour...no wonder you want such a long meeting...
I feel that an effective team can get these IEP meetings done in a timely manner. If we, the teachers, KNOW our students the way we should, we can get them done EFFECTIVELY within the hour. This has been my experience as a NATIONALLY CERTIFIED and ESE INCLUSION TEACHER. Professionals cut down on the silly rituals that are not conducive to productivity, and the get the job done! We don't get paid by the hour... we have a salary!
I think with a good team they can be done in an hour or two. I think a copy of the draft IEP ahead of time to the parents would really help, but when changes in placement, accomodations need to be made they may take longer than the scheduled 1 hour. If all the parties listen to each other and all parties are willing to try different things it would be best for all parties and could be done quickly.
Shows how much you know...if you believe that it's okay for a teacher to be out of the classroom for 4 hours then you truly shouldn't be any child's advocate...
High quality IEP meetings CAN be completed in 1-2 hours. Teachers and therapists who know the children they work with are not challenged by writing a quality draft IEP and then making changes as needed at the meeting. Not only are teachers removed from the classroom for long, drawn-out meetings but Physical and Occupational Therapists and Speech/Language Pathologists are also prevented from treating their children. It is very inconsiderate for a parent to expect 4 people to be away from the children for 4 hours each which equals 16 hours of instruction/therapy lost to the other children in the classroom. Multiply that by a class of 12 children!!! When the team is knowledgeable and PAID advocates do not waste time asking participants to change seats, ask questions about a child they hardly know(and thus should not be advocating for) and spend valuable time on ridiculous things that have little to do with the child's education, that is when more time is needed.
Simple IEP's for simple disabilities like a simple speech delay, yes absolutely can be done in less time....but for disabilities like Autism and Down syndrome with more global developmental delays SHOULD take longer if there is to be a well written individual educational plan!
Parent information, concerns and desires should be included in the entire document, not just 'the parent input section'...when the school side of the IEP team is only concerned with the school side of writing the IEP I would have to say it is not a team effort. Creating and writing an IEP should absolutely include lots of parent input in all areas of the IEP, especially in the 4 different domains of the IEP.
If school members are allowed to create ahead of time a DRAFT of what they want included in the IEP, parents as well should be able to include in a DRAFT what they too know is important for their Child! How about if the DRAFT COPY was emailed out to the parent ahead of time, and not 24 - 12 hours or less before the IEP meeting so parents would have time to provide their input into the same exact DRAFT that the IEP team will be looking at during the meeting. IF PARENTS were allowed to provide their input in the DRAFT FORM ahead of time before that actual IEP meeting...yes absolutley our time in the 'meeting room' would be cut in half!
When parents are not provided with all the proposed documents and data collection that is presented at their IEP meetings...there needs to be sufficient time to read and know what is going to be presented. (*Let's not forget about the 10 day notice!)
How about if those that attend IEP meetings provided parents with documentation and data that they propose to present ahead of time way before the scheduled IEP meeting and the reasons why their Child will or will not be receiving certain supports and services to be educated with their NON-DISABLED PEERS in General Education classrooms!
If parents were truly included in the IEP TEAM PROCESS ahead of time, yes...we COULD have the quicky 1 HOUR IEP MEETINGS that Broward County so wishes all parents would agree to...but in no way does having an IEP meeting that goes over ONE HOUR mean we wish teachers and therapist be away from students! This is why they have SUBS, but some schools don't allow teachers to CALL-IN Subs...some schools only allow IEP's to be held during SPECIALS (1 hour) and yes...OT's, ST's and PT's are expected to attend IEP meetings...it is part of their jobs and they are PAID to attend IEP meetings for their students. Everyone gets paid to attend IEP meetings....some Advocates get paid better than others, many times thru CSC GRANTS and some advocates attend IEP's for NO PAY!
If parents are provided with data and documentation and a copy of the DRAFT IEP with more than under 12 hours to read and provide their parent input, I would say yes...our actual IEP meetings could be done in less time...but parents are NOT provided much if any info on what to expect at their meetings...they are pretty much left outside in the dark! INCLUDE PARENTS AS EQUAL PARTNERS IN THE ENTIRE IEP PROCESS AND SEE HOW THINGS WORK OUT THEN!
Parents: Tell me your thoughts on this! Do you really believe your IEP can be done in one hour?
School IEP members: Do you provide your DRAFT input to parents with time to read it? *more than overnight to read your input?
Therapists: Did you go to different schools to provide 'educationally vs medical' type of therapies?
OMG thank you for this blog tonight... However we are not in ur state but we are struggling with our school district wanting to limit our time for our Autistic son's IEP to one hour... I have been in now 4 IEP meetings since July, these meetings last more than an hour and they are all Looking at their watch... I am so sick of feelings rushed, talked down too, and manipulated by these schools... They hate the parents who come in knowing their rights and demanding they provide their children with adequate services... Know your rights, know how to invoke them, and be knowledgeable about what is going on in the school!
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