Soon you should be getting a call or a note from your child’s teacher about conferences. If you are a parent that has a child with special needs you will be also getting a progress report sent home by the special education teacher.

Progress reports are very important documents that show how your child is doing. Here are three important tips that you should know about IEP’s and progress reports;

3 Important Tips To Know Regarding IEP’s And Progress Reports;

1. How Often Progress Should Be Reported For Special Education Students

A progress report should be given to a parent as many times as the general education teacher reports on the child’s progress. This means that if your school gives out a report card every 9 weeks then you should be getting a progress report from the special education teacher every 9 weeks as well.

If you would like a progress report more often, then frequency can be indicated on the IEP.

2. Why report progress to parents?

Reporting to parents provides a way to monitor students progress toward there goals and to show the effectiveness of the special education services given to the student. If the child is not progressing toward their goal, then revising and reviewing the IEP is something that must be done to make sure that the student is making adequate progress towards their goals.

3. What should parents know?

It is very important that parents understand their child’s progress report. If you see that goals are not in the progress report or your child is not making progress, then it is time to call a meeting with the IEP team. On the other hand if your child is going above and beyond the goals, this might mean that the goal was set to low and again an IEP meeting needs to be called.

The first progress report of the year is the most important progress report.

This is because goals are given the school year before. The first progress report will show whether this goal is still appropriate for your child or if the goal needs to be changed.

Unfortunately, many parents wait until their child’s annual IEP meeting in order to change the goals. When doing this you are wasting valuable time on giving your child appropriate education. When you receive the first progress report, read it carefully. If you see that your child is struggling then call a meeting in order to get appropriate goals for your child.

Understanding your child’s progress report will help you advocate for your child and call meetings together when needed. Progress reports are very important for your child’s success in special education.

~McKenzie