What is the Purpose of an Annual Review? The annual is conducted to review your learning disabled child’s program at least once a year to:
- discuss the progress she is making toward her Individual Education Program goals;
- Decide on what specially designed instruction
- revise the IEP for the coming school year; and
- consider next years IEP goals.
What Happens in an Annual Review Meeting? Typically, IEP team members introduce themselves and explain their roles in your child's programs. Parents' rights are explained. IEP team members review your child's progress toward IEP goals and in the general curriculum. The IEP is revised with new goals and objectives as needed. Any new information about the child is provided by the parents and team members. The team discusses the coming school year and addresses any anticipated needs. If your child did not meet IEP goals or regressed in skills, the team decides how that will be addressed. A team member keeps minutes of the meeting and includes the minutes in the meeting summary. Copies of the team summary are provided to the parent.
What Happens if Parents Disagree with the Team's Decisions? Although the team is required to consider parents' opinions and input, sometimes disagreements occur. When that happens parents may:
- request more information about the point of disagreement;
- consider requesting assessment or testing for a specific area of concern such as academics or behavior;
- consider, if you have reason to disagree with the school's evaluation results, asking for an independent evaluation;
- request time to gather more information needed and a future meeting; or
- if it is clear no resolution can be reached, consider other ways of resolving the conflict.
