When the ARD Committee (IEP Team) Meets

Your child’s ARD committee (referred to as an IEP Team in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is made up of individuals who bring different perspectives and expertise to the table. Pooling their knowledge, ARD committee members set out to craft an individualized plan to address your child’s needs, and takes into account your child’s strengths and talents. There’s a lot of information shared at ARD meetings and a lot of discussion. The end product is your child’s individualized education program (IEP).

Parents or guardians are essential and equal members of their child’s ARD committee. Your thoughts and opinions on the eligibility, evaluation, services, goals, and placement of your child are important. There is no one as motivated to see your child succeed as you, and this alone places you in a crucial role as an active participant on the ARD committee.

Let’s start with an overview of key points about ARD meetings. Then, we’ll take a longer look at specific aspects of these meetings that will help you be an active partner in this critical activity.

Who Develops Your Child’s IEP?

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Texas rules, certain people must be part of your child’s ARD committee. It is important to note that there doesn’t have to be a different person for every role. Often, one person carries more than one responsibility on the committee.

ARD committee members are to include:

• You, as parent or guardian
• At least one regular education teacher, if your child is (or may be) participating in the regular education environment
• At least one of your child’s special education teachers or special education providers
• A representative of the public agency (school system) who (a) is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education, (b) knows about the general curriculum; and (c) knows about the resources the school system has available
• An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results, and needs, and talk about what instruction, and services may be necessary for your child
• Your child, when appropriate
• Others with knowledge or special expertise about your child

Together, these people will work as a team to develop your child’s IEP.

The IEP Team | ARD Committee

Find out who’s required by law to serve on the ARD committee and what they might contribute to developing the IEP.

Parents’ Role in the IEP Process

The IEP process can seem overwhelming and you may wonder what your role is and what you can offer.

Special Education Evaluation Timelines

A written request to have your child evaluated for special education will trigger specific timelines.

What’s in an IEP?

State and federal rules require that certain things must be considered and decisions made in developing an IEP. The ARD committee must consider, and discuss a large amount of data to develop an IEP. It may take more than one meeting to write the IEP.

The IEP must include:

• Your child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP), describing how he or she is currently doing in school and how your child’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum
• Appropriate challenging annual goals for your child, meaning what you and the school team think your child can reasonably accomplish in a year
• The special education and related services to be provided to your child, so he or she can be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities. This includes specially designed instruction, supplementary aids and services (such as a communication device), accommodations, modifications and changes to the program or supports for school personnel
• If your child will be educated separately from nondisabled children or not participate in extracurricular or other nonacademic activities such as lunch or clubs (called extent of nonparticipation), and how much this will occur during the school day
• How your child is to participate in state and district-wide assessments, including what allowable accommodations he or she needs to use
• Service delivery details, such as when services and modifications will begin, how often they will be provided, where they will be provided, and how long they will last
• How and when school personnel will measure and report your child’s progress toward the annual goals

Contents of the IEP

Your child’s IEP, by law, must contain specific information, including the special education and related services that he or she will receive. But there’s so much more in an IEP! Find out in detail.

What Happens at an ARD Meeting?

If this is the first ARD meeting after your child’s evaluation, the ARD committee will go over the evaluation results, and determine if your child meets the eligibility criteria for special education services. If your child is eligible or continues to be eligible, the ARD committee members (including you as the parent or guardian) will share their thoughts and concerns about your child.

After identifying your child’s strengths and needs, the ARD committee can discuss and decide on the statements associated with each of the IEP’s component listed above, especially:

• The “present levels” statement;
• The educational and other goals that are appropriate to address your child’s needs;
• The type of special education services your child needs;
• The extent of nonparticipation; and
• What related services are necessary to help your child benefit from his or her special education.

Special Factors to Consider

The ARD committee must also make decisions about whether or not any of the “special factors” identified in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) need to be considered. These include:

• If your child’s behavior interferes with his or her learning or the learning of others:
  • The ARD committee will talk about strategies and supports to address the child’s behavior.
  • The ARD committee will talk about your child’s language needs as these needs relate to his or her IEP. A member of your child’s language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) is to work with the ARD committee.
  • The ARD committee must provide for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille, unless it determines after an appropriate evaluation that this instruction is not appropriate.
  • The ARD committee must consider those needs.
  • The ARD committee will consider your child’s language and communication needs. This includes opportunities for direct communication with peers and school staff in their language and mode of communication (for example, sign language).
  • The need for this should have been determined during the evaluation process.

  In some cases the ARD committee may want additional evaluation to help determine need, and appropriate strategies in this, or other areas (e.g. behavior/functional behavior assessment, or social/emotional). This could involve recessing an ARD meeting or scheduling another ARD meeting. Specialists in a variety of areas (behavior, technology, health, autism, etc.) may need to attend the ARD meeting, or submit written reports and recommendations. To learn more about special factors of interest to you, see the discussion at Special Factors in IEP Development.

  Excusing ARD Committee Members from ARD Meetings

  Certain members of the ARD committee may be excused from an ARD meeting under specific conditions. When the ARD committee member’s area of expertise is not going to be discussed or modified, if the parent and the school system agree in writing that the member’s attendance is not necessary.

  If an ARD committee member’s area of expertise is going to be discussed or modified, they may be excused from attending, if:

  • You, the parent or guardian, consents in writing to the excusal;
  • The school consent to the excusal; and
  • The ARD committee member submits input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting. This input must be in writing and is submitted to the parent and the ARD members prior to the meeting.

  In this situation, consent is more formalized than agreement. (See IDEA Sec. 300.9 Consent)

  The U.S. Department of Education in 2006 stated that:

  The IEP Team is expected to act in the best interest of the child. As with any IEP Team meeting, if additional information is needed to finalize an appropriate IEP, there is nothing in the Act that prevents an IEP Team from reconvening after the needed information is obtained, as long as the IEP is developed in a timely manner…

  The parent can request an additional IEP Team meeting at any time and does not have to agree to excuse an IEP Team member. Likewise, if a parent learns at the IEP Team meeting that a required participant will not be at the meeting, the parent can agree to continue with the meeting and request an additional meeting if more information is needed, or request that the meeting be rescheduled. (71 Federal Register at 46676)

  Parents who want to confer with an excused team member may ask to do so before agreeing or consenting to excuse the member from attending the meeting. (71 Federal Register at 46674)

  School systems may not routinely or unilaterally excuse IEP team members from meetings as parent agreement or consent is required in each instance.

  Schools systems need to carefully consider whether it makes sense to offer to hold the IEP team meeting when a particular member isn’t attending or whether it would be better to reschedule the meeting so that person could attend and participate in the discussion. (Id.)

  An LEA that routinely excuses team members from attending IEP meetings would not be in compliance with the requirements of the Act, and, therefore, would be subject to the state’s monitoring and enforcement provisions. (Id.)

  It is up to each public agency to determine the individual in the LEA with the authority to make the agreement (or provide consent) with the parent to excuse a team member for the meeting. The designated individual must have the authority to bind the LEA to the agreement with the parent or provide consent on behalf of the LEA. (71 Fed. Reg. at 46676)”

  Does the School Have to Reschedule the ARD Meeting if I Can’t Attend?

  Yes. Schools must give enough advance notice for parents to have the opportunity to attend their child’s ARD meeting. They must also schedule the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and place.