The IEP Process, Step by Step

How the IEP Process Works From Start to Finish

The IEP process is the set of steps a public school must follow under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to decide whether your child needs special education and, if so, to write and run an Individualized Education Program. It applies to children ages 3 through 21.

Here is the full sequence, in order:

1. Referral. You or the school asks for an evaluation.
2. Notice and consent. The school explains what it proposes in writing, and you sign consent for the evaluation.
3. Evaluation. The school tests your child within 60 days of your consent, or your state’s timeline.
4. Eligibility. You and a group of qualified professionals decide whether your child qualifies.
5. The IEP meeting. The team writes the IEP within 30 days of the eligibility decision.
6. Consent to services. You sign consent before services start for the first time.
7. Services begin. As soon as possible after the IEP is written.
8. Annual review. The team reviews the IEP at least once a year.
9. Reevaluation. At least every three years, or sooner if you or a teacher asks.

If you’re new to IEPs, start with what an IEP is. This page goes deeper into each step, the deadlines and what to do when you disagree.

IEP Deadlines You Can Hold the School to

Stage	Federal rule	Where it comes from
Request an evaluation	A parent or the school may ask at any time	34 CFR 300.301
Finish the initial evaluation	Within 60 days of your consent, or your state’s timeline	34 CFR 300.301
Hold the first IEP meeting	Within 30 days of the eligibility decision	34 CFR 300.323
Start services	As soon as possible after the IEP is written	34 CFR 300.323
Review the IEP	At least once a year	34 CFR 300.324
Reevaluate	At least every 3 years; no more than once a year unless you agree	34 CFR 300.303
Add transition planning	By the first IEP in effect when your child turns 16	34 CFR 300.320
File a state complaint	Within one year of the violation; state decides within 60 days	34 CFR 300.152 and 300.153
File for due process	Within two years, unless your state sets its own limit	34 CFR 300.507 and 300.511

Your state may set its own evaluation timeline and its own due process limit. Check your state’s rules through the state guides or your state education agency.

Referral and Consent: Getting the Evaluation Started

Ask in writing. Either you or the school can request an initial evaluation. A dated letter or email to the principal or special education director creates a clear record of when you asked. Say what you’ve noticed: grades, behavior, speech, reading, attention, or anything else that worries you.

You’ll get two documents. When you ask for an evaluation, the school must give you a copy of your procedural safeguards, the plain-language summary of your rights. It must also give you prior written notice of what it proposes: which tests it plans and why.

Consent starts the clock. The school can’t evaluate your child without your informed, written consent. The 60-day evaluation deadline runs from the day the school receives that consent. Consent to evaluate is not consent to services. You decide on services separately, later.

If the school says no. A school that refuses to evaluate must tell you in writing, explaining why and what information it relied on. You can challenge a refusal through mediation, a state complaint or due process.

Evaluation and Eligibility: Does Your Child Qualify?

The school must use a variety of assessment tools, including information from you, and no single test can decide eligibility. Tests must be given in your child’s native language or usual way of communicating, by trained staff. When it’s done, a group of qualified professionals and you, the parent, decide two things together:

• Does your child have one of IDEA’s disability categories?
• Because of it, does your child need special education and related services?

IDEA’s categories are intellectual disability, hearing impairment (including deafness), speech or language impairment, visual impairment (including blindness), emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment (which can include ADHD), specific learning disability, deaf-blindness and multiple disabilities. Children ages 3 through 9 may also qualify under developmental delay if the state uses it.

A child can’t be found eligible if the main reason for struggling is a lack of good reading or math instruction, or limited English.

You must get a copy of the evaluation report and the eligibility paperwork at no cost. Read it before the IEP meeting.

If your child doesn’t qualify for an IEP, ask whether a 504 plan fits. The IEP vs 504 comparison and the 504 plan guide explain the difference.

The IEP Meeting and Who Sits on the Team

The IEP team must include:

• you, the parents
• at least one of your child’s general education teachers, if your child is or may be in a regular class
• at least one special education teacher or provider
• a district representative who can commit school resources
• someone who can explain the evaluation results
• anyone else you or the school invites who knows your child, such as a therapist or advocate
• your child, when appropriate, and always when transition planning is discussed

A required member can skip all or part of the meeting only if you agree in writing.

Scheduling. The school must notify you early enough to attend and set a time and place you both agree on. The notice should say who will be there. If you can’t come in person, the school must offer another way to join, such as a phone call. It must arrange an interpreter if you’re deaf or your native language isn’t English.

What the team must consider. Your child’s strengths, your concerns, the latest evaluation and your child’s academic, developmental and functional needs. It must also consider behavior supports, language needs, Braille for a child who is blind or has low vision, communication needs and assistive technology where they apply.

If your child uses a service dog, raise it here too; service animal rights explains the ADA rules that apply at school.

You don’t have to agree on the spot. You can take the draft home. You’ll receive a copy of the final IEP at no cost.

What Goes Into the IEP

Federal rules list what every IEP must contain:

• Present levels: how your child is doing now, and how the disability affects progress in the general curriculum
• Measurable annual goals, academic and functional
• How progress will be measured, and when you’ll get progress reports, such as quarterly with report cards
• Services: special education, related services, supplementary aids and supports for staff
• Time away from general education: how much, if any, your child will spend outside the regular class
• Testing accommodations on state and district tests, or why an alternate test is needed
• Logistics: when services start, and how often, where and for how long

Transition planning starts no later than the first IEP in effect when your child turns 16. It adds measurable goals for training, education, work and, where needed, independent living. The vocational rehabilitation guide covers the state agency the school may invite, with your consent, to help plan the move to work.

Transfer of rights. At least a year before your child reaches the age of majority under state law, the IEP must note that your child has been told which rights will transfer to them.

Annual Reviews and Three-Year Reevaluations

Annual review. The team must review the IEP at least once a year to check whether goals are being met, and revise it to address lack of progress, new evaluation results, information you provide or new needs. You can ask for a meeting sooner at any time. Between annual meetings, you and the school can agree to amend the IEP in writing without a full meeting.

Reevaluation. Your child must be reevaluated at least every three years, unless you and the school both agree it isn’t needed. You or a teacher can ask for one sooner, but generally no more than once a year unless you and the school agree. The school needs your consent to reevaluate, though it can proceed if it made reasonable efforts and you didn’t respond.

Moving schools. If you move within your state during the school year, the new district must provide services comparable to the old IEP until it adopts it or writes a new one.

Your Rights When You Disagree With the School

IDEA’s procedural safeguards protect you throughout the process.

Prior written notice. Whenever the school proposes or refuses to change your child’s identification, evaluation, placement or services, it must tell you in writing first, explain why, list what it relied on and describe the options it rejected.

Independent educational evaluation (IEE). If you disagree with the school’s evaluation, you can ask for an independent one by an outside examiner at public expense. The school must either pay for it or file for a hearing to prove its own evaluation was appropriate, without unnecessary delay. It may ask why you disagree but can’t require an explanation. You’re entitled to one IEE at public expense each time you disagree with a school evaluation. A private evaluation you pay for must still be considered if it meets the district’s criteria.

Three formal ways to resolve a dispute:

• Mediation. Voluntary, with a trained, impartial mediator, at the state’s cost. Any agreement is written and enforceable in court, and what’s said stays confidential.
• State complaint. Anyone can file a signed, written complaint with the state education agency about a violation within the past year. The state must investigate and issue a written decision within 60 days, unless exceptional circumstances or an agreement to mediate extend it.
• Due process complaint. A formal hearing before an impartial hearing officer, filed within two years unless your state sets a different limit. The district must hold a resolution meeting within 15 days. If the dispute isn’t resolved within 30 days, the hearing can go ahead, and a decision is due within 45 days after that. While it’s pending, your child generally stays in the current placement.

When a due process complaint is filed, the district must tell you about free or low-cost legal services in your area.

Free help. Every state has a federally funded Parent Training and Information Center that trains and supports parents in the IEP process. Find yours through the Department of Education’s IDEA parent page. The ADA rights guide covers disability discrimination at school beyond IDEA.

If your child’s disability is severe, they may also qualify for monthly benefits. See SSI for children, SSI for autism and the Social Security listings for childhood conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Ask for an IEP Evaluation Even if the Teacher Says My Child Is Fine?

Yes. Federal rules say either a parent or the school may request an initial evaluation. Put your request in writing and date it. If the school refuses, it must give you prior written notice explaining why, and you can challenge that refusal through mediation, a state complaint or due process.

Do I Have to Sign the IEP at the Meeting?

No. You can take the draft home to read. The school needs your written consent before it starts special education services for the first time, but you can ask questions and request changes first. You must receive a copy of the IEP at no cost.

Can the IEP Meeting Happen Without Me?

Only if the school can't convince you to attend after real attempts, and it must keep records of its calls, letters and visits. If you can't come in person, the school must offer other ways to take part, such as a phone call.

Can I Bring Someone With Me to the IEP Meeting?

Yes. You may invite people who have knowledge or special expertise about your child, such as a therapist, a relative or an advocate. The school must also arrange an interpreter if you are deaf or your native language isn't English.

Can I Stop Special Education Services Later?

Yes. You can revoke consent in writing at any time. The school must give you prior written notice and then stop services. It cannot use mediation or due process to override your decision.

What Happens to the IEP if You Move?

If you move within the same state during the school year, the new district must provide services comparable to the old IEP until it adopts that IEP or writes a new one. If you move to another state, the new district must also provide comparable services and may evaluate your child before writing a new IEP.

More on Rights and Daily Life

• ADA RightsWhat the ADA covers and how to file a complaint
• Workplace AccommodationsReasonable accommodations at work: asking, the interactive process and examples
• What Is an IEPIndividualized education programs under IDEA: eligibility, evaluation, the team and your rights
• What Is a 504 PlanSection 504 plans: who qualifies, typical accommodations and how to request one
• IEP vs 504IEPs and 504 plans side by side: laws, eligibility, services and protections
• HousingFair housing protections, reasonable accommodations and federal housing help

This guide explains official rules in plain language. It isn't legal advice, and only the agency that runs a program can decide your case.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Education: IDEA parents and families
2. eCFR: 34 CFR 300.301, initial evaluations
3. eCFR: 34 CFR 300.300, parental consent
4. eCFR: 34 CFR 300.320 to 300.324, the IEP
5. eCFR: 34 CFR 300.303, reevaluations
6. eCFR: 34 CFR Part 300, Subpart E (procedural safeguards)
7. eCFR: 34 CFR 300.151 to 300.153, state complaints