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An Introduction to Student-Led IEP Meetings

• Jennifer Hofferber - Special Education Teacher and Coach • Episode 193

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Welcome to the first episode of 2025! As we start the new year, it's the perfect time to explore new and empowering approaches to special education. This episode unpacks the essentials of Student-Led IEPs, their importance, and how they vary across different educational stages. Join us as we outline actionable strategies for implementing these meetings and discuss the tremendous impact they can have on students' educational experiences.

What We Cover in This Episode:

  • Overview of Student-Led IEPs: Understanding what they are and why they're crucial for fostering student independence and engagement.
  • Detailed Breakdown: Exploring what a student-led IEP meeting involves before, during, and after the actual meeting.
  • Levels of Student Participation: Insights into how participation can differ from elementary to high school, tailoring approaches to fit developmental stages.
  • Implementation Challenges: Practical advice on slowly integrating student-led IEPs into your educational practice, ensuring a seamless transition.

Visit this episode's webpage...spedprepacademy.com/193  

Resources and Links:

Today’s episode is just the beginning of our month-long exploration of Student-Led IEPs. As we continue, we will provide you with more detailed strategies, expert advice, and inspiring stories to support you in empowering your students. Remember, the goal is to not only change how IEP meetings are conducted but to transform the educational experience, making it more inclusive and student-centered. Stay tuned! I look forward to having you back for more insightful discussions here at Special Education for Beginners.

Hey special educator…Do you feel like you're just barely keeping your head above water? Like you're stuck in the same old routines, wondering how to make a bigger impact in your classroom? Well, I’ve got something special just for you. I’m excited to offer a unique opportunity to take your teaching to the next level.  I’m ready to step outside my district to offer individualized coaching calls designed to offer person

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Speaker 1:

Well, hello everyone. Welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. This is the first episode of 2025. As you probably noticed, I took some time off over the Christmas and New Year's holiday to spend time with my daughters and to refresh and rejuvenate, reset, and I hope you were able to do so as well. I saw a meme this past Sunday that said I just spent the last two weeks pretending I had retired and I think I screwed up. And I am telling you, when I was setting my alarm for 545 am on Monday I am not sure that there's ever been a meme that has hit me so hard I definitely felt called out. It was so difficult to get up Monday morning. We actually had a late start, as I'm sure many of you across the states have had either late starts or snow days. Some of you may not even be back at school yet, so I hope that you're enjoying your snow days. But I am back in the swing of things and I am so excited to be starting another year of the podcast to support you, and I cannot wait to see where the podcast and the SPED Prep Academy take me this year. So, speaking of 2025, I want to share with you what this year's podcast episodes will look like.

Speaker 1:

After having Paul as my co-host for two years, we made the decision to end those episodes and so, when I was trying to decide the direction I wanted the podcast to take, I decided that having a different topic each week was great and it had served me well, and I feel like we covered a whole lot of different topics and I hope that that was supportive to you. But I thought that if I chose a topic for the whole month, it would allow me to go deeper and provide more insight and more strategies and more resources for you on that particular topic or theme. Therefore, the 2025 format will be based on 12 different themes. The 2025 format will be based on 12 different themes. This month's theme is student-led IEPs, and I intentionally chose to focus on student-led IEPs to kick off the new year because, as we all know, the start of a new year is a symbolic time of new beginnings and fresh approaches. It is time to try something new, and what a better way to try something new than to learn how to empower our students by putting them at the forefront of their own educational planning.

Speaker 1:

But before we get to the episode, I want to offer a special opportunity for interested special education teachers. As an instructional coach, I want to expand my services outside of my district to begin providing coaching calls to help you grow as an educator. These calls are designed to offer personalized guidance, practical strategies and an opportunity to ask questions or address challenges you might be facing. If you are looking to deepen your understanding of special education or enhance your own practice, I have 12 free coaching slots open for listeners of the podcast. You just need to go to wwwspedprepacademycom slash coach me and use the coupon code podcast. Again, that's spedprepacademycom slash coachme. C-o-a-c-h-m-e all one word and the coupon code is podcast. So make sure and hurry up and sign up for one of the 12 free spots.

Speaker 1:

Hey, special educator, are you overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list? Do you wish you had the skills to build a rock solid team with your staff? Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the needs of each student on your caseload? Well, hey there. I'm Jennifer Hopperberg, an award-winning veteran special education teacher and current instructional coach, who has walked in your shoes through each of these challenges and yes, I have the metaphorical blisters to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain. And now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me. Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom to help you handle all the classroom curveballs that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos, to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape, because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever crazy, completely overwhelming laugh, so you don't cry. Profession of being a special education teacher.

Speaker 1:

So, student-led IEPs what are they? Well, today we are giving a breakdown of what a student-led IEP is, why they are important, and then next week we will be chatting with a guest who has implemented student-led IEPs on a regular basis important. And then next week we will be chatting with a guest who has implemented student-led IEPs on a regular basis. And then we'll continue with the theme for the last two episodes of the month of January, with a resource for you to start implementing student-led IEPs. And then we'll chat with a colleague of mine who has implemented them in my district and how it's going for her. So we have a lot to cover. Let's get started for her. So we have a lot to cover. Let's get started. Okay, picture this A young student sits at a table surrounded by adults.

Speaker 1:

The room is buzzing with discussion about grades, behavioral expectations, learning objectives, cognitive levels you know all of those things that we talk about at an IEP meeting. And as each professional takes their turn, the student's eyes remain focused on the table. They are a passive participant in a meeting that's supposed to center around them and their educational future. Goals are set without their input, strategies are discussed without their nod. It's a scenario far too common, yet entirely preventable with student-led IEPs.

Speaker 1:

So why should we put students in charge of their IEP meetings? And by putting them in charge, I'm not saying that they are entirely responsible for the whole thing. Instead, they will be an active participant. It's all about empowerment, and starting out slowly is okay. If you've never done these before, that's entirely okay. Again, I picked this to go with the new year because I'm the type of person who doesn't do New Year's resolutions because I know I'm not going to stick with something for an entire year, but I am the type of person who wants to always try new things, and this is the perfect time to approach student led IEPs with some excitement and some curiosity to see how these could play out in your school. And so the level of student participation in IEP meetings can vary greatly depending on a student's age, their maturity, their comfort with the process, their cognitive level, and you can expect participation to differ across various stages.

Speaker 1:

Student-led IEP meetings are not just for high school students this is where it is seen the most but I have also seen it be very successful at the middle school level, and even at the elementary level. Teachers are becoming more intentional about ensuring the student is actively participating in their meetings. So let's look at the elementary level. At this level, student participation is generally more guided. Younger students might contribute by sharing personal reflections about what they like their favorite subject in school. They might discuss their favorite activities. Teachers and parents play a significant role in facilitating these discussions and help students articulate their thoughts In the middle school.

Speaker 1:

Students at this stage can take on more responsibility. In their IEP meetings they might begin to discuss their learning challenges and their successes more in depth. They might participate in setting some of their educational goals or choosing some of their accommodations. Middle schoolers are also encouraged to start leading parts of those meetings, such as introducing themselves and explaining their interests. And then, in high school, is where students often take on a central role in their IEP meetings. They can prepare and deliver comprehensive presentations, they can set detailed educational and personal goals and they can lead most of the discussion. This level of participation is crucial as it prepares them for self-advocacy in post-secondary education and beyond. At each level of participation is tailored to the developmental stage of the student, ensuring that they are both comfortable and challenged in their role, and this gradual increase in responsibility helps build confidence and skills over time. So as we explore student-led IEPs throughout this month, we will discuss how to adapt strategies for different ages and levels of student readiness, ensuring that every student can benefit from this empowering approach.

Speaker 1:

When students lead their meetings, when they are more than just a warm body in the room whom everyone is talking about and no one is talking to, they get to develop and flex those self-advocacy muscles. They get to talk about what they need, what's working for them, what's not working for them and what they want to achieve in life. It's amazing to see the confidence and leadership skills they build along the way, but unfortunately, implementing student-led IEPs is not something that is going to happen overnight, and that's okay. Again, that's why I chose to share this with you at the beginning of the year. It's not the beginning of a new school year when you have so many other things on your plate. I'm sharing about it at a time when, hopefully, you have a little breathing room and you can dedicate the necessary time to dig in, to fully understand and integrate this approach into your practice, and because we are going to go into more depth into these meetings throughout the month.

Speaker 1:

Today I just want to give you a broad overview of what a student-led IEP involves before, during and after an actual meeting. So before the meeting, preparation is key. The student, with the help of educators and possibly parents, will learn about the IEP process and their own educational needs. They will receive coaching on how to express their goals, their preferences and their concerns. They will need help with the tools like role playing or creating some visual aids such as presentations that can help students prepare to lead the discussion. And then, just like with anything else, you're going to want to practice before that meeting. You don't want the student going in without having any type of practice or any type of understanding of what's going, what it's going to look like. You don't want to put them in there cold, so make sure that you're practicing before the meeting and preparing them for what the expectations are going to be. And then, during the meeting, the student will take the lead as their cognitive level, their maturity level, their grade level will allow, and it will be guided by a structured agenda that they can often help create. They will present their achievements, their challenges, their accommodations, they will help set their educational goals, and then educators and parents will actively listen, but they can also support and facilitate when necessary. Ensuring the student remains the focal point of the meeting. And then, after the meeting, it's really important to reflect and follow up. The student and their support team can review how the meeting went, what was achieved and what could be improved. They will also plan how the goals that were set during the meeting will be implemented and monitored. This step is crucial for ensuring the student-led IEP is a living document that truly guides the student's education.

Speaker 1:

Integrating student-led IEPs into your teaching approach doesn't just change how meetings are conducted. It truly transforms the entire educational experience for your students by placing them at the center of the IEP process. We are fostering a sense of responsibility and enthusiasm for their own learning journeys. So, as we start this new year, I hope that you feel inspired to embrace this innovative approach to focus on empowering your students to take part in shaping their educational path. So thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so thrilled about the direction the podcast is taking with the 12 different themes, and I challenge you to start this year off by implementing some type of student-led IEPs. Remember, every small step you take towards empowering your students is a step towards their greater independence and success. Isn't that why we do this job to begin with? To help our students see independence and success later in life. See you next week for more insights and tools to help you make this transition smooth and impactful.