I have four kids in school now. One has special needs and has an Individual Education Plan (IEP). An IEP is a contract with the school district about what accommodations and goals that my son needs set in place for an appropriate education. It's really just all about money and my son's needs.
Some parents see IEP meetings as a battle between you and the school district...and it can be, but not always. It really depends on who is involved. My meetings are rarely a battle. I come heavily armed anyways. It's always best to be prepared. Budget cuts tend to be a major weapon, but I battle with the law (free appropriate public education...it's a federal law) and lots and lots of data.
My biggest tip in organizing school meetings is this: come prepared with paper data. It shows the school that you are paying attention. You know what your child needs because you are watching. The data is what will prove your point more than anything.
Generally I hate papers. They clutter up my life. I have too many of them. I was once told by a professional organizer (and I totally believe this statistic) that 80% of papers that come into your house you will never look at again. If I'm never going to look at them or need them, why have them? IEP meetings are the reason why I keep every paper that comes home from my son's school. I know, that's crazy to many people, but I have found that having that data made all the difference in the world. Writing samples to prove that my son was not improving with the current writing program no matter what their test data showed. When papers came home with test scores, I keep them and compare because there have been discrepancies and I needed an explanation. All these things make me keep everything. It's the reason why I have an IEP that makes a lot of parents jealous. My son has a 1 to 1 aid. It's not completely unheard of in the district, but most parents have had to hire lawyers to get them. I didn't spend a dime.
Okay, now what did I do to organize all that stuff? File boxes. It's not pretty, but I separate by month and year. I can't take them with me to the IEP meetings, but I can take samples from each month. Getting rid of everything but the samples is probably going to be my next step, but not for anything within 3 years of education. Anything past 3 years probably isn't going to be helpful...except for my samples. I want to show progress (or lack thereof) over time and the best way to do that is to have my own file for these things.
That's my mess, but it's effective.
My girls get files too, but no where near as extensive. They don't have as much of a need. My girls' tests are in the files as well as samples of other work. I like to be able to compare my data to what the teachers present in report cards or parent/teacher conferences. If I ever had a discrepancy, I know I can bring up the issue with papers in hand. Mostly teachers are good about this, though. At least my girls' teachers. They have to prove stuff too, so they are usually prepared. I'm pretty sure that I'm on a list of parents not to mess with, though. I know I am in the district office. People know my name there and it can be said with a bit of a groan. No one has to like me, though. They just have to provide my kids an appropriate education.
Today I have organized my Sophisticated File Tote with everything I need from my files for my son's yearly review of his IEP. I have made a list of my goals for my son. I have made a list of things that I know will help him achieve those goals. All I have to do now is explain my position and listen to the others on the team and work with them to create a plan for the rest of the year that will help my son reach his goals. It makes the meetings less of a fight when I have this attitude. I can only have this attitude if I'm already organized and prepared.
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