Caitlyn Hall

November 27, 2023

IEP Review- Hiram School District
EDU460

On November 27th at 8 am, I attended an IEP meeting with one of my students in my

senior seminar class which I've taught through student teaching at the Hiram school district. This

meeting included the parent, student, my mentor and I, the principal, another fellow teacher, and

the student's caseworker. This meeting was held as an update on student progress and a way for

staff to voice concerns and positive remarks on student educational progress.

The student's caseworker led the meeting, prompting staff and family to be actively

involved in the discussion with the student. The agenda of this meeting included stating the

purpose of the meeting, which was to renew the student's IEP and the student's progress in their

classes. The caseworker then reviewed the procedural safeguards and rights of the meeting, to

protect information shared through the meeting. The caseworker also stated that all information

presented should be in correlation to the student's educational progress, strengths, or concerns,

not their behavior. The student's current performance is discussed, by staff and case workers by

providing grades, explanations of work, and examples of conversations between the student and

staff members.

This meeting lasted for 30 minutes, during this time each participant was able to discuss

the student's progress, strengths, and concerns. My mentor and I shared information about

students' hard work in our class. Providing the student's grade, examples of them self-advocating

for more support, with their concerns on misunderstanding information or work assigned. I stated

that this student was very comfortable coming to me on several occasions, to share concerns

about their work, or due dates of assignments. The student has been very vocal, and honest about

concerns they have about struggling with some topics discussed in class.
 This student’s other teacher present in the meeting, discussed the student's work progress

in the elective, video history. The staff member brought up how the student does not have an ed

tech with them in the classroom, and this does cause the student to struggle in the note-taking

aspect of the class. The staff member also highlighted the student's recent obstacle, of sharing in

in front of the class. The student discussed with the staff member, that they were uncomfortable

with sharing out, and the staff member gave the student an extension, and feedback to present in

front of family or friends to become more comfortable with the content and the auction of

presenting. The staff member stated that, because of the practice, the student was far more

comfortable standing in front of the class, and walking around the class while presenting.

The caseworker concluded the sharing section by highlighting the student's progress

while at this school. The student was very anxious when receiving feedback from staff before.

This year, the student has shown great progress, self-advocating, stepping out of their comfort

zone, and being an active participant in the meeting.

These meetings included the student and the parent, who knew the staff very well, as they

have worked together for the last 4 years on this student's IEP. The caseworker did a great job

perfecting what the meeting was concerning and previously sent out an email to staff about ways

to present concerns. In a positive manner, without bamming students or student struggles. Staff

members need to highlight the student's strengths, as many IEP meetings typically concern

students ‘wrongs’, failures, or issues.

The meeting concluded with the parent stating any concerns that they had for their

student, as well as the caseworker stating any overall concerns. The one concern concluded, was

the students' struggle with spelling, and how this has affected the student's confidence in the

work they do. This prompted a discussion between staff, years after the meeting concluded on
steps to help the student. Such as the use of talk-to-text. The student does not feel comfortable

using this tool, so incorporating and protecting the student to use it may be beneficial. As well as

working with the student one-on-one with assignments that include a lot of writing.

This meeting allowed me to think of my role in a future student's IEP meeting, and what I

will do to prepare myself to participate in these meetings. Being knowledgeable about students'

grades, keeping note of any concerns the student may have with work assigned in class, and

speaking on ways they have improved, or how the student is actively working on their skills.