Innovative IEP Meetings

Again, I had the privilege of attending an IEP meeting at James M Brown Elementary this past Friday. I would like to take an opportunity to highlight the technological innovation demonstrated by the special education department. The case manager of the student for which the meeting was being held drafted the Annual Review IEP in EXCENT then opened it up on her laptop and projected it on the conference room wall for the IEP team to view and modify throughout the meeting. Net savings: approximately 26 sheets of paper (2 drafts of the IEP which is shorter in length than most). Another 27 pages were saved when the case manager asked the parent if she would prefer a hard copy or electronic version of the Procedural Safeguards Notice. The parent requested an electronic copy. This was denoted in the staffing minutes along with her email address. The case manager also reviewed a Word version of the Pragmatics Checklist then offered to email a copy to the student's mom...another copy saved. Finally, another 12 sheets of paper was saved when the student's mother requested an electronic copy of the final IEP versus a hardcopy. This was explained in the minutes which the team signed along with a single signature page of the IEP. Total sheets of paper saved at this meeting....66. If the case manager opens the Microsoft Outlook Window, documents can be sent electronically to the parent's email address during the meeting and this can be logged in the minutes (with parent approval of course...we would always provide a hardcopy upon request). Other advantages of this format include access to SASI to discuss attendance or discipline issues or access to TestView to review academic and testing performance. If I were a parent attending a meeting in this format, I would feel confident that the faculty and administration of my child's school are leaders in technological innovative practices. Many thanks to JMB for modeling the way!