Introduction
When an IEP team meets, complete the IEP Team Meeting Cover Page form. Use in conjunction with forms ER-1, ER-2, ER-3 and ER-4; I-4, I-5, I-6, I-11, and I-12; and P-1, P-2 and P-3, as appropriate. The Cover Page documents the student’s demographic information, the purpose(s) of the IEP team meeting, and those in attendance.
Implementation Considerations
While the names of IEP team participants in attendance must be documented, their signatures are not required. A local education agency (LEA or agency) may request an IEP team participant to sign the cover sheet or write initials next to a printed name. The signature is not an indication of agreement with the IEP but is simply documentation of attendance.
Some agencies enter the names of IEP team member on form I-3 before the IEP meeting is conducted. Agencies that follow this practice should use check marks or participants’ initials next to the names of participations or some other means to indicate the individuals who actually participated in the meeting.
Form Content and Explanations
Content: Identified impairment area(s), if applicable. Explanation: Once a student is determined eligible, enter the impairment areas (e.g., autism, blind of visual impairment, deafblind, deaf or hard of hearing, intellectual disability, emotional behavioral disability, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, significant developmental delay, speech/language impairment, specific learning disability, or traumatic brain injury) the student was found eligible for. If it is an initial evaluation and the student is found not eligible for special education, we would expect to see this item blank, or state “none.” If the IEP team convenes for a review of existing data and it is the initial eligibility, we would also expect to see this item blank, or state “none.” If the IEP team convenes for a review of existing data and it is a reevaluation, we would expect this field to prepopulate with the impairment area(s) identified at the last evaluation. If a reevaluation changes the applicable impairment area(s), we expect the I-3 cover sheet for the evaluation meeting to be updated to include the applicable impairment areas.
This information may be auto-populated by the LEA’s IEP software vendor system or hand entered at the time of the IEP team meeting. This information is not required but may be helpful to LEAs and the student’s parent(s). This data field is not meant to drive the IEP process or limit the discussion of grade level standards, the student’s present levels, how the student’s disability affects academic achievement/functional performance, goals, services, supports, specially designed instruction or accommodations. It is important that IEP teams do not limit their discussions of these items based on a student’s identified impairment area.
Content: Transfer students. Explanation: When a student transfers between LEAs in Wisconsin, or transfers from a LEA in another state, the new LEA must provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to the student. The new LEA must either adopt the student’s evaluation and IEP from the previous LEA or conduct its own evaluation and develop its own IEP. 34 CFR § 300.323(2)(e).Until then, the LEA must provide the student services, in consultation with the student’s parents, comparable to those described in the student’s IEP from the previous LEA.
If the LEA adopts the evaluation and IEP, enter the name of the individual(s) who reviewed and adopted the evaluation and IEP and the dates. An IEP team meeting is not required to review and adopt the evaluation and IEP. An IEP team meeting is also not required to determine placement if the student will attend the school s/he would attend if not disabled and the IEP can be implemented as written. However, if the student’s IEP cannot be implemented as written in the school the student would attend if not disabled, an IEP team must meet to determine the student’s placement.
When a Wisconsin LEA adopts the evaluation and IEP of a student transferring from a LEA in another state, a new parental consent for initial provision of services is not required if the parent granted consent in the other state.
If a student transfers from one LEA to another within Wisconsin and the new LEA does not adopt the evaluation from the previous LEA and initiates its own evaluation, this evaluation is a reevaluation.
If a student transfers from a LEA in another state and the Wisconsin LEA does not adopt the evaluation from the previous LEA and initiates its own evaluation, this evaluation is considered an initial evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine if the student is a “child with a disability” under state eligibility criteria and to determine the educational needs of the student.
Content: Date of meeting. Explanation: Enter the month, day, and year of the meeting. When conducting IEP team meetings, LEA staff must observe the state and federal timelines for evaluation, IEP development, and placement. 34 CFR § 300.322(b)(i); Wis. Stat. § 115.78(3)(c). For example, the LEA must conduct a meeting to develop an IEP and determine a student’s placement within 30 days of a determination the student is a “child with a disability.”
Content: Purpose of the meeting. Explanation: The purposes of the meeting are grouped by events on form I-3: Evaluation and Reevaluation, IEP, Placement, and Other. Check each applicable purpose of the IEP team meeting. 34 CFR § 300.322(b)(i); Wis. Stat. § 115.782(2)(b).The purpose(s) checked should correspond to those on the invitation (form I-1). Review of existing information is included as a purpose of an IEP team meeting under Other. A meeting is not required for this purpose, but the review may be conducted during an IEP team meeting. When this occurs, form I-3 should be used to document an IEP team meeting was held for this purpose.
Content: Consideration of the initial or most recent evaluation, statewide assessments and district wide assessments. Explanation: If one purpose of the meeting is to develop an initial or annual IEP or to review and revise an IEP, the IEP team must consider the results of the student’s initial or most recent evaluation, as well as any results from statewide and district-wide assessments. 34 CFR § 300.324(a)(iii); Wis. Stat. § 115.787(3)(a).Check “Yes” to indicate the IEP team considered these results. Check “Not applicable” only when one of the purposes of the meeting is not to Develop an initial IEP, Annual IEP review, or Review/revise IEP.
Content: IEP team participants attending or participating by alternate means. Explanation: List the names of those who participate in the IEP team meeting in its entirety or in part, either by attending or participating through alternate means (for example, conference phone call or video conferencing). The LEA may use alternate means of meeting participation if the LEA and the parents agree. 34 CFR § 300.321: Wis. Stat. § 115.78(1m). An individual who submits written information prior to the meeting and does not participate in real time has not participated by alternate means. It is a good practice to record the alternate method of participation on form I-3.
If a parent and LEA agree to excuse a required IEP team participant from a meeting in its entirety, do not record the individual’s name on the IEP Team Meeting Cover Page. Attach the signed agreement excusing the participant (form I-2) to the IEP Team Meeting Cover Page. If a required IEP team participant is excused from part of a meeting, record the individual’s name on the Cover Page and attach the agreement (form I-2).
Content: Documentation of efforts to involve parent(s).
Explanation: The LEA must take steps to ensure one or both parents are present at each IEP team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate. 34 CFR § 300.322. If neither parent can attend the meeting in person, the LEA must use other means to ensure participation, including an individual or a conference phone call. It is a good practice to record the alternate method of participation on form I-3.
An IEP team meeting may be held without the parent(s) only if the LEA has made good faith efforts to involve the parent(s). In this case, the LEA must have a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed upon time and place for the meeting, such as telephone calls made and attempted and the results of those calls; copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received; and detailed records of visits to the home or the parent’s place of employment and of the results of those visits. Enter on form I-3 the date of each attempt, the method by which the LEA attempted to contact the parents, and the results.
Generally, a good faith effort to involve parent(s) in an IEP team meeting includes not less than three reasonable attempts. For example, a record of three phone calls with no answer would not be considered a good faith effort.
If the LEA documents the parents agreed to participate in a meeting, the LEA does not need to document additional attempts. If the parents are not present at the agreed upon meeting time, it is a good practice to attempt to reach them prior to beginning the meeting. In addition, if the parents did not participate in the IEP team meeting, it is a good practice for the LEA to contact them and offer to meet to review the information discussed at the meeting.