Ensuring IEP compliance isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about empowering students with disabilities to reach their full potential while safeguarding schools against legal and educational setbacks.
For district administrators, navigating the complexities of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) requires more than just familiarity with the law; it demands strategic leadership, robust staff training, and a culture of collaboration.
In this guide, special education expert David Bateman shares actionable insights drawn from 10 years of experience as a due process hearing officer and educator. From addressing critical challenges like poor progress monitoring and vague goal-setting to leveraging free training resources like IRIS modules, you’ll find practical strategies to strengthen your district’s approach to IEP compliance.
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Whether you’re fine-tuning your existing systems or building a compliance strategy from the ground up, this guide serves as your roadmap to creating meaningful, legally sound, and student-focused IEPs.
Let’s dive in and explore how district administrators can lead the way in IEP compliance excellence—one training session, one meeting, and one well-crafted goal at a time.
Understanding IEP Compliance in Special Education
What is IEP Compliance and Why Is It Important?
At its core, IEP compliance ensures that students with disabilities receive the tailored support and services they are legally entitled to under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). An IEP is not just a document—it’s a binding legal agreement between schools and families, outlining specific goals, accommodations, and services designed to meet each student’s unique needs.
“The IEP is one of the main legal documents used to determine whether we’re fulfilling the “contract” we have with the parents of kids eligible for special education. These kids are a protected class.. So this doesn’t exist for other kids.”
– David Bateman
Compliance goes beyond merely following regulations; it ensures that students are set up for meaningful academic and social progress. When implemented correctly, IEPs empower educators to provide consistent, high-quality support while protecting districts from costly legal disputes and administrative challenges.
Consequences of an Out-of-Compliance IEP
When an IEP falls out of compliance, the consequences can ripple across multiple fronts:
- For Students: Delayed progress, unmet academic goals, and frustration in the learning process.
- For Educators: Increased stress, unclear responsibilities, and diminished classroom effectiveness.
- For Schools: Legal disputes, financial penalties, and damage to their reputation.
Non-compliance isn’t always intentional. It often stems from insufficient staff training, vague or unrealistic goals, or poor progress monitoring practices. However, regardless of the reason, schools are still held accountable for any failures to meet IEP requirements.
Common IEP Violations in Schools
Understanding the most frequent violations of IEP compliance is essential for administrators to address them effectively. These violations represent failures to meet the legal obligations outlined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA):
- Failure to Implement the IEP as Written: If services, accommodations, or supports listed in the IEP are not delivered, it constitutes a direct violation.
- Improper Team Composition: Legally required team members (e.g., general education teacher, special education teacher, district representative, and parents) must be present during IEP meetings. Substituting these roles without appropriate qualifications can result in non-compliance.
- Failure to Involve Parents in the Decision-Making Process: Parents have a legal right to actively participate in the IEP process. Excluding them or failing to consider their input violates IDEA.
- Missed Deadlines or Timelines: IEPs must be reviewed and updated annually, and services must begin within a specified timeframe. Missing these deadlines is a violation.
- Lack of Progress Monitoring and Reporting: Schools are required to track and report progress toward IEP goals regularly. Failure to do so constitutes non-compliance.
These violations often stem from underlying challenges like poor training, insufficient resources, or lack of accountability. Addressing these root causes is crucial for both preventing violations and improving the overall quality of IEP implementation.
Key Challenges in Maintaining IEP Compliance
Biggest Issues with IEP Compliance
IEP compliance is often derailed by a series of recurring challenges that impact both the quality of the plans and their implementation. According to David Bateman, the most pressing issues include:
- Vague or Ambiguous Goals: Goals that lack specificity make it difficult to measure progress or ensure accountability.
- Lack of Baseline Data: Without clear starting points, it’s impossible to determine whether a student is progressing.
- Inadequate Progress Monitoring: Teachers often fail to collect sufficient data to inform decision-making or adjust strategies.
- Improper Team Composition: Meetings sometimes include educators unfamiliar with the student instead of key staff who can provide valuable input.
- Limited Parental Involvement: Parents are sometimes overlooked, missing out on crucial insights about their child’s needs.
“In my decade as a due process hearing officer I worked with a lot of districts and I saw a lot of problems with how IEPs were being implemented.. We have to think about what we can do to be of assistance to help our teachers as a part of this process.”
– David Bateman
Understanding these challenges is the first step in creating a culture of accountability and continuous improvement in IEP implementation.
Addressing Staff Training Gaps
One of the most effective ways to tackle compliance issues is through comprehensive staff training. Educators need consistent professional development to understand their legal obligations and practical responsibilities in creating and executing IEPs.
David Bateman strongly advocates for leveraging free training resources like the IRIS modules, which are designed to equip both teachers and administrators with the knowledge they need to excel in IEP compliance. Training sessions should not only cover the basics of writing and implementing IEPs but also address district-specific procedures and protocols.
- IEPs: Developing High-Quality Individualized Education Programs
- IEPs: How Administrators Can Support the Development and Implementation of High-Quality IEPs
The Role of Team Composition in IEP Implementation
An effective IEP meeting starts with the right people at the table. Every team member should be well-acquainted with the student and actively participate in shaping the IEP. Pulling in an available staff member who doesn’t have direct knowledge of the student might technically meet legal requirements, but it fails to serve the spirit of IDEA.
“We often pull the teacher who is free that period, not the teacher who knows what the kid looks like. It meets the letter of the law, but I don’t think it meets the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law would be to have the teacher who’s free go cover the class of the teacher who knows what the kid looks like..”
– David Bateman
Administrators can enhance team composition by ensuring:
- Core team members (e.g., general education teacher, special education teacher, service providers) are always present.
- Staff members receive guidance on their specific roles during IEP meetings.
- Substitute teachers or floaters are used to cover classes, allowing key staff to attend meetings.
Involving Parents in the IEP Process
Parents are not just participants in the IEP process—they are essential team members. When parents feel valued and heard, the IEP is more likely to address the student’s needs effectively. David Bateman suggests starting every meeting with a simple but powerful question:
“Tell us about your child.”
This sets a collaborative tone and reminds everyone that the meeting is about a student—not just compliance paperwork.
Administrators can encourage parental involvement by:
- Providing clear and jargon-free communication.
- Offering flexible meeting times to accommodate working parents.
- Actively seeking and incorporating parental input into the IEP
Make sure to check our our full interview with IEP expert Ashley Barlow on district best practices for involving parents in the IEP process.
Legal Consequences of IEP Non-Compliance
What Happens if an IEP is Out of Compliance?
Failing to meet IEP compliance standards carries significant legal and educational risks for school districts. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), schools are legally obligated to deliver the services and accommodations outlined in a student’s IEP.
When schools fail to implement IEPs properly, the consequences can include:
- Due Process Hearings: Parents can file complaints, leading to formal hearings where schools must defend their actions.
- Financial Penalties: Districts may be required to fund compensatory education services or reimburse parents for private school placements.
- Increased Litigation Risks: Legal battles drain resources, time, and focus away from students’ needs.
- Reputational Damage: Non-compliance can harm a district’s credibility and trust with parents and the community.
While non-compliance often stems from systemic challenges rather than willful neglect, the law makes no distinction—failure to comply with an IEP is a legal violation.
“I’ve been involved in over 1,000 due process hearings. A lot of them were related to when the district knew or should have known that the child was having problems. If you knew the child was having problems, and you did not work to address that child’s needs, that child suffered. And we need to provide appropriate services, change something.”
– David Bateman
Legal Remedies for IEP Violations
Parents and guardians have several legal options when a school district fails to comply with an IEP:
- State Complaints: Parents can file a formal complaint with their state’s education agency.
- Mediation: Both parties may agree to work with a neutral mediator to resolve disputes.
- Due Process Hearings: A formal legal proceeding where an impartial hearing officer determines whether the school has met its obligations.
- Compensatory Education Services: Schools may be required to provide additional services to make up for missed opportunities.
- Reimbursement for Private School Placements: If a school fails to meet a student’s needs, districts may be responsible for tuition at a private school.
Understanding these legal remedies emphasizes the importance of preventing non-compliance before it escalates into costly disputes.
Filing an IEP Non-Compliance Letter
When parents notice potential non-compliance, they have the right to address their concerns formally. An IEP non-compliance letter serves as written documentation of specific violations, ensuring clear communication and a paper trail.
Administrators can help reduce such letters by:
- Prioritizing Clear Communication: Keeping parents informed about their child’s progress and any challenges in implementation.
- Responding Promptly to Concerns: Addressing parental concerns proactively before they escalate.
- Ensuring Transparency: Documenting and sharing progress monitoring data with parents regularly.
A proactive and collaborative approach can prevent many compliance issues from reaching the formal complaint stage.
Strategies for Ensuring IEP Compliance in Schools
The Importance of Staff Training for IEP Compliance
Staff training is one of the most effective tools for improving IEP compliance. Teachers, administrators, and service providers need ongoing professional development to stay informed about legal requirements and best practices.
Coming into a new position, there’s a steep learning curve of the written rules, but also the unwritten rules. That’s why I like to have the district special education director have all the teachers and SLP’s and other related services providers do the free [IRIS] module for teachers.
– David Bateman
David Bateman emphasizes leveraging free resources like the IRIS modules, which are specifically designed to address IEP compliance for both educators and administrators. Effective training programs should include:
- Initial Onboarding Training: New staff should complete foundational training modules.
- District-Specific Policies: Follow up with district-specific protocols to address local procedures.
- Regular Refresher Sessions: Provide periodic training updates to address recurring challenges.
- Open Q&A Sessions: Encourage staff to ask anonymous questions for clarity and confidence.
Training isn’t a one-time event—it’s an ongoing commitment to compliance and quality.
Progress Monitoring for Effective Compliance
Progress monitoring is not just a checkbox—it’s a legal requirement and an essential tool for measuring student outcomes. Teachers must regularly collect and analyze data to ensure students are meeting their IEP goals.
“In a typical nine-week marking period, we should have five to six data points that we can graph as part of [tracking a student’s progress]. And if we can’t graph it, it’s not good data. And so we need to graph this data and then use that information for something. Because if you find out that the kid is not making progress through what you’re doing, you need to change something.”
– David Bateman
Key strategies for effective progress monitoring include:
- Consistent Data Collection: Aim for at least 5–6 graphable data points per grading period.
- Use of Technology Tools: Implement digital tools to streamline data tracking and ensure accessibility.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Use collected data to inform adjustments to teaching strategies and IEP goals.
- Transparent Reporting: Regularly share progress data with parents and team members.
When done well, progress monitoring reduces litigation risks and improves student outcomes.
Implementing SMART Goals
IEP goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART). Vague or overly ambitious goals make it impossible to track progress effectively.
To write strong SMART goals:
- Start with clear baseline data to define the student’s current performance level.
- Set realistic and meaningful targets that align with the student’s needs.
- Use clear and measurable language to define success.
- Regularly review and adjust goals based on progress monitoring data.
Well-crafted SMART goals create clarity for educators, parents, and students, ensuring everyone is aligned on expectations.
The Role of District Administrators in IEP Compliance
Responsibilities of Special Education Administrators
District administrators play a pivotal role in ensuring IEP compliance across their schools. Their responsibilities extend beyond oversight—they must lead by example, set clear expectations, and provide ongoing support to educators and service providers.
Key responsibilities include:
- Ensuring Adequate Training: Provide initial and ongoing professional development opportunities, utilizing resources like IRIS modules.
- Monitoring Compliance: Regularly review IEPs for accuracy, alignment, and implementation fidelity.
- Resource Allocation: Ensure teachers and staff have the tools, time, and support needed to create and implement effective IEPs.
- Accountability Structures: Establish systems for reporting and addressing compliance concerns.
- Parent Communication: Build transparent communication channels to involve parents meaningfully in the IEP process.
“Special education directors should be able to handle questions and concerns about IEP compliance from teachers and staff.”
– David Bateman
Administrators must strike a balance between support and accountability, creating an environment where compliance is both achievable and sustainable.
Building a Culture of IEP Compliance
IEP compliance isn’t just a checklist—it’s a cultural commitment to meeting the unique needs of every student with a disability. Administrators must foster a culture where:
- Staff feel supported and empowered to ask questions and seek help.
- Collaboration between general and special education teams is prioritized.
- Successes in IEP implementation are celebrated and recognized.
- Compliance is viewed not just as a legal requirement but as a moral responsibility.
When compliance becomes part of the district’s culture, it shifts from being reactive to proactive and preventative.
Compliance Monitoring Frameworks
A structured compliance monitoring framework helps administrators track progress, identify challenges, and address issues before they escalate.
Key elements of an effective framework include:
- Regular Audits: Conduct periodic reviews of IEP documents and implementation practices.
- Checklists and Tools: Utilize standardized IEP compliance checklists to streamline oversight.
- Feedback Loops: Create processes for teachers and staff to share concerns or request guidance.
- Data-Driven Reviews: Use progress monitoring data to assess compliance at both individual and district levels.
When administrators adopt a strategic and data-informed approach, IEP compliance becomes a sustainable and measurable goal.
Legal and Ethical Considerations On IEP Compliance
Understanding Legal Obligations
IEP compliance isn’t just a professional expectation—it’s a legal mandate under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Schools and administrators are legally required to ensure that IEPs are not only well-written but also faithfully implemented.
Key legal obligations include:
- Providing Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE): Every student with a disability must receive services that allow them to make meaningful progress.
- Adhering to Timelines: Initial IEPs, annual reviews, and progress reports must meet strict deadlines.
- Ensuring Procedural Safeguards: Parents must be informed of their rights and actively involved in the IEP process.
Failure to meet these obligations can lead to due process hearings, state complaints, or litigation, consuming valuable time and resources.
IEP Litigation Trends
Legal challenges related to IEP compliance are on the rise, often focusing on:
- Inadequate Progress Monitoring: Schools failing to collect or act on data showing a lack of student progress.
- Failure to Implement Services: Services listed in the IEP not being delivered as promised.
- Parental Exclusion: Parents being left out of critical decision-making discussions.
Many of these disputes can be avoided through clear communication, proactive problem-solving, and consistent documentation practices.
Preventing IEP Non Compliance
The best way to address legal and ethical risks is to prevent non-compliance issues before they escalate. Districts can achieve this by:
- Conducting regular audits of IEPs and implementation practices.
- Providing ongoing training for staff and administrators.
- Creating feedback loops where concerns can be raised and addressed promptly.
- Encouraging collaboration and transparency with parents and team members.
Compliance isn’t just about avoiding lawsuits—it’s about ensuring that every student receives the support and resources they deserve.
“The law looks at when you knew or should have known that a child was having problems. And it’s better for us to look at when the child is having problems and articulate and change what’s going on about that instead of just having the kids continue to suffer.”
– David Bateman
IEP Compliance FAQ
1. What does IEP compliance mean?
IEP compliance refers to meeting the legal requirements set forth by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This includes creating, implementing, and monitoring an Individualized Education Program (IEP) tailored to meet a student’s unique needs, ensuring they receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
2. What happens when an IEP is out of compliance?
When an IEP is out of compliance, schools may face:
- Legal consequences such as due process hearings or financial penalties.
- Educational setbacks for students who miss critical services.
- Reputational damage impacting trust with parents and the community.
3. What is needed for an IEP to be a legally compliant document?
A legally compliant IEP must:
- Be developed collaboratively by a qualified IEP team, including parents.
- Include specific, measurable, and achievable goals.
- Provide clear documentation of services and supports tailored to the student’s needs.
- Ensure regular progress monitoring and reporting.
- Follow state and federal deadlines and guidelines.
4. What happens if a teacher ignores an IEP?
If a teacher fails to follow an IEP:
- The district could face legal action from parents.
- The student’s academic and social progress may suffer.
- The school might be required to provide compensatory services to make up for missed supports.
5. How can districts prevent IEP non-compliance?
Districts can reduce non-compliance by:
- Providing regular staff training using resources like IRIS modules.
- Ensuring consistent progress monitoring with graph-able data points.
- Maintaining transparent communication with parents.
- Establishing a culture of accountability and collaboration.
Special Education IEP Compliance Resources:
- IRIS modules
- David Bateman’s Website
- SLP Now Podcast: 2025 Issues and Best Practices in Special Education
- SLP Now Podcast: A District Admin’s Guide to Navigating IEP Meetings with Parents
Conclusion
Ensuring IEP compliance isn’t just about meeting legal requirements—it’s about delivering on a promise to provide every student with disabilities the opportunity to succeed. Through effective staff training, robust progress monitoring, clear SMART goals, and strong administrative leadership, districts can build a culture where compliance isn’t viewed as a burden, but as an essential component of quality education.
As David Bateman emphasized throughout this guide, compliance starts with understanding the legal and ethical responsibilities tied to IEPs and is sustained through ongoing mentorship, collaboration, and proactive problem-solving.
When administrators, educators, and parents work together with a shared commitment to student success, IEP compliance becomes less about avoiding litigation and more about fulfilling a moral and educational responsibility.
Let this guide serve as both a resource and a call to action—to prioritize training, foster collaboration, and consistently monitor progress, ensuring that every IEP is not just compliant, but impactful.
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Transcript
Marisha (00:01)
Hello there and welcome back to the special ed leaders podcast. I'm especially excited because we have our first returning guest today, David Bateman. he helped us kick off the podcast with our very first episode. and it was such a great conversation. we decided to have him come back and he agreed to help us chat more about IEPs and IEP compliance.
and so I, we already did your intro and everything in the previous episode. So I think we're good to dive right in. and my first question is, because you, you literally wrote the book on IEP compliance. it's called Developing Educationally Meaningful and Legally Sound IEPs and you are a coauthor. So you had, some collaborators with on that book. but I'm just curious what led you to.
David Bateman (00:47)
Thank
Marisha (00:52)
like specialize or write a whole book on this and kind of share a little bit of your story around the path towards that.
David Bateman (01:00)
Okay. several things, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about this. This is great fun. But, and I didn't, I'm not sure how much I highlighted this in the previous podcast is that I was a due process hearing officer for a decade. And I saw a lot of problems with IEPs because the IEP is one of the main documents that's used at a due process hearing to determine are we fulfilling the lack
for lack of a better term, the contract that we have with the parents regarding the child. And it poses a significant problem with this. So I did that. was a due process here in office for a decade and since worked with a number of school districts about this. I just, I saw a lot of problems with how IEPs were being implemented. I saw a lot of problems with how IEPs were being addressed.
So I wanted to make sure that when Mitch, Jim and I worked on this book is that we addressed, we took what we knew about this to address the practical needs of this because every child has an IEP, every child needs assistance and teachers are writing these. And I don't want to piss anyone off here, but the level of legal standard that we hold a brand new teacher who's emergency certified is the same legal standard as someone who's been teaching for 25 years.
And so what we have to think about what we can do to be of assistance to help these individuals as a part of this process. But the other thing is I just want, I'm just committed to trying to help the kids because I think I used this phrase with you last time is these kids have disabilities at no fault of their own and we just need to do what we can for them as a part of this. The great thing about that book is it's gone nicely viral.
and a whole bunch of colleges and universities use it for their IEP writing course. And so the big book out there that was used prior to this one was written by Barbara Bateman, who I'm not related to, but a wonderful woman, wonderful woman. She recently passed away. And so that book is not going to be being updated, but we're just trying to get good information into people's hands to help them as much as possible.
And so some of the things that we've stemmed off from this is that this was written, it was written before AI was really something that we addressed. And actually, I'm gonna caution some of the listeners on this about this, is that what I'm seeing is parents taking IEPs and loading them into chat GPT.
And which first, I applaud the parents for wanting to participate in their child's education, wanting to be part of this process. But that's not the way to do it. Because what you do is you're basically releasing a whole bunch of personally identifiable information about a child into the internet. And once it crosses over the threshold, you're never getting that stuff back. And so there are ways we need to make sure that we talk to parents about this, because I'm hearing from districts in multiple states.
parents were walking in saying, hi, I loaded this in the CHED GPT and this is what they told me, a good summary and here are some better goals and just talk to them about this. mean, they're looking for a way to do it. There's ways of doing, of loading a goal into that but doesn't release all the information but we have to talk about where we're going with this. So, the appendices of the book also give some really good information that are helping families understand what the rules and responsibilities are as a part of this.
So there's a variety of things we're trying to get out there. But IEPs, yeah, they're the big kahuna that we look at in special education and we need to take them very seriously. so I've also written a module, Michiel and Cartho, we wrote some training modules for this at the IRIS Center that are really, they're being used pretty heavily. So we're really pleased about those as well. And they're all free for people to use. So that's good stuff.
Marisha (04:46)
And we can link those in the show notes as well. That sounds like an incredible resource. And yeah, I just want to reiterate a couple of things that you shared because I think anyone in special education, whether they're like an educator or an administrator or...
a consultant. think ultimately everyone's goal is to better serve students. We don't go into this industry to become rich and famous. So I think that's one of the
David Bateman (05:11)
Bye. Right, and
if anyone is, please tell me how we can become rich and famous.
Marisha (05:19)
Yeah. And so I think we all have that shared goal. And I guess so, and we talked about this a little bit in the previous episode, but, you mentioned a couple of things, but where are we, like, what are the biggest issues that you're seeing with IEPs? Cause you mentioned that emergency certified teachers are held to the same.
legal standard as very tenured teachers. So I assume that experience is part of it and that we're having a lot of quick hires to fill roles and turnover in the field. But what other factors are you seeing that are contributing to these issues with IEPs?
David Bateman (05:54)
Yeah. Yeah.
I could break this down probably just some really basic things. The first one is lack of understanding of what FAPE is. That the IEPs are really not aligned with what the kids need and therefore they aren't really helping the child make progress.
And so as a part of FAPE, our obligation is for kids to make progress. And some of these kids are not making progress and we're not changing what's going on as a part of what we're doing with it. So we need a better job to ensure that the kid is making progress as a part of this. Second big thing I'm seeing is just vague or lack of ambitious goals where the goal is too vague and doesn't really articulate what's going on because
Many of these kids are very transient and they're going from location to location to location, again, at no fault of their own because their parents are moving them. But it's that they need better understanding of someone that needs to make sure we have really good goals that are tied directly to this child that someone can then implement. The next thing I'm seeing is, I'm going to keep going on. I'm just generating as we go, is lack of baseline data.
on the goals because we sometimes we write these goals but we don't know where the kid currently is functioning so that we don't know actually if we're making progress on said goal and then can't articulate yay or nay about what we're doing for the child is helping that child make progress. But the biggest thing and I've got others after this but by far the biggest one that I'm seeing is and I speak to you is you're an SLP. SLPs take data differently than teachers do.
And I applaud because when I've done witness preparation for SLPs, it's a joy. It truly is because you have data like crazy. And I applaud you for this. And I appreciate that. But a lot of teachers aren't taking enough progress monitoring data to help us understand what's going on with the child and help us really determine what we're doing with the child. I mean, one thing that would change services.
would absolutely change every services and reduce the amount of litigation that we have relating to special education. As if teachers would just take more data and use that for informed decision making as opposed to just taking data and ignoring it. Because the law looks at when you knew or should have known that a child was having problems. And it's better for us to look at when the child is having problems and articulate and change what's going on about that instead of just having the kids continue to suffer.
Other things I'm seeing, not getting the parents involved in the process or not paying attention to them. I start every single IEP meeting I go to and I only go to the contentious ones. I don't go to the happy ones that are done in like 20 minutes and we have pizza and some kumbaya. No, I don't go to those. I go to the contentious But I start every single IEP meeting I go to with parent. Tell us about your child.
Because what that does is it grounds us and reminds us we're there to talk about a child. not just there for a paperwork compliance document. Other things I'm seeing is, again, proper team composition, where I'm trying to give you a good example of this, where we often pull the teacher who is free that period, not the teacher who knows what the kid looks like. It meets the letter of law, but I don't think it meets the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law would be have the teacher who's free
go cover the class of the teacher who knows what the kid looks like until that teacher come down just for 20 minutes, half an hour, just talk about that child and what they're experiencing. I'm also seeing cookie cutter IEPs where all the IEPs are the same. And I'm also seeing a lack of consistency between the present levels and the goals that we have where there's like...
Like I'm seeing, a kid has reading, reading, reading behavior problems, right? I see really good reading goals, but I see nothing to address said behavior issues. And that's probably one of the things that's tripping up districts the most is the problems relating to discipline problems, because that's why teachers are leaving the profession. They're not leaving the profession because a kid has a reading problem. They're leaving the profession because they have behavior problems. So we needed a better job of coming up with solutions and suggestions on how to handle this one.
That's just a broad answer on a variety of things that I'm seeing of late and what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to think of cases that I've recently been involved in. So, everything we're talking about are hypercurrent and things that I've every example, everything I've you are that I have seen since the beginning of the school year. So, this is things that we're seeing that – so, it's very current stuff, okay? So, great question. Thank you. I appreciate that one. Yeah.
Marisha (10:44)
Yeah, and that
is not a short list. There's a lot of...
David Bateman (10:47)
No, no, I could go
on, basically is the, yeah, but staff training. I mean, we're not doing good staff training on what the Gen Ed teachers need to do relating to the implementation of the IEPs. And probably as your background as an SLP, you understand that because you are often only with the kids on a limited time and you need others to implement those services for the kid in the classroom and be consistent with what you're trying to provide instruction for and reinforce those skills.
So we need to do a better job of all those things.
Marisha (11:19)
Yeah, and then, okay, so we have a lot of different challenges when it comes to writing effective IEPs. And you mentioned staff training as a big strategy, that, like that's, the staff is writing the, they're writing the IEPs, so that makes sense. That's where we want to start. Have you seen districts make...
David Bateman (11:36)
Yeah.
Marisha (11:43)
Like have you had any success stories with districts where they have been able to implement staff training and see a really big improvement in the quality of their IEPs? Or like if you could develop kind of a rough guideline of a program, like what would that look like?
David Bateman (11:58)
Okay, yeah, let me, I appreciate the latitude here. This is good, I love this, okay. This start with the why of the IEP. And is to give an example of because kids with disabilities were previously not receiving services. And they're now a protected class because they were historically prevented from participating in school.
So it's a legal document because they're a protected class. It only exists for kids eligible for special education. It doesn't exist for other kids. So the first is it's a legal document to explain what's going on. then we, so I would talk about collaboration and make sure we have really good team input for this. Do we have really good team input? We have this, everyone involved in the process that we have.
Everyone who's gonna be working with a child and talk about this because let me give you an example. I don't think I gave you this example before. A few years ago, I would walk my dog with a teacher. She was a fifth grade teacher and she had just gotten her class list. And of the 25 kids in her class, 22 of them had preferred seating close to the teacher. And...
We were trying as we're walking our dogs, she's walking her dog, I'm walking my dog. We're trying to figure out how is she going to do that? And what we originally thought was stacking the kids on top of each other so that they all could sit close to the teacher. And what she ended up doing is she ended up setting her classroom in a U-shaped format so that she could go down the center and see all what's going on. Those three kids who did not have preferred seating, we sat them in the field, we didn't care about them. But it's interesting about this is that we need to talk about
the responsibilities of the teachers who are working with these kids. Get them in the meetings, get them involved in the process so they understand what their roles and responsibilities, and also that they're participating. Because when I go to these meetings, I mandate that everybody who's in the meeting takes notes. They're not grading, they're not on their phone, they're sitting there taking notes. So that forces them to pay attention because...
We as educators get to attend many, many of these IEP being ZEAR, but the parents, this is their one. We need to give it the time, we need to give it the respect. They have taken time from their family, their work. We need to honor that as a part of this. But other things I would focus on, and the book covers this real nicely, I would focus on smart goals for kids.
Make sure this my son's in the business world. He came home not too long ago and said, dad, we have this new thing called smart goals. I said, really tell me about this. And he sits there and he's started and it was really, it keeps going. just tell me more, tell me more. I finally said, wait, you've heard of this, haven't you? So I pulled out the book and he was a little pissed, but it's interesting about this. start, but then, but for all kids is make sure that we start with a really good present level statement.
because that drives everything. It truly drives everything. It drives the services, it drives the goals, it drives the intensity, it drives everything. So I make sure as a part of this that I get statements from everybody who observes and works with that child. I get statements from bus drivers. I get statements from playground monitors. I get statements from lunchroom monitors about this. But I also make sure that we have really good statements as a part of this. But there's new thing that I'm also doing with the districts that I work with.
is that I'm asking them to put at the beginning of the present level statement, a three sentence summary of the services the child's receiving. Just a three sentence summary so that when that child moves to a new district, if that's all they read, they're now in the ballpark to start thinking about the services this child sees, having to read the whole thing. And that just makes it easier for these kids to transition from place to place as a part of this. But then,
But then talk about then if I was going to do more training, I would then practice writing some goals in some of these kids, make sure that we have good examples for this. Those IRIS modules that we're going to link to have some really good things as a part of this. I'll make sure to get those links as it addresses that. And those are free modules. You can use them over and over again for your teachers. In fact, I recommend if your district gets a brand new teacher, send, I know where that teacher's been from.
Send that new teacher into and have that teacher as part of their onboarding do the IRS module on legal and client IEPs for teachers. You get a brand new administrator, building level principal, assistant principal, I'd have them do the one for administrators. It'll be worth it. And true, these are free. Do them over over again and things like this. Then I would talk with the teachers about how to use technology for progress monitoring to keep track of things.
because people are feeling really overwhelmed with the amount of progress monitoring and how to keep data on these things. But make sure that we have good technology, technological advice, advantageous tools for them to help with this and keep track of these things. And it's in an consistent place and a consistent format because we may have a teacher who has great data, but they've locked it in their own personal computer. And if they're in an auto accident, we can't access it. We can't pay attention to it.
So we need to make sure it's data that is consistently used among others and help with us. But just keep this mind. The last thing I would do, and in addition, there's many other things, is I would make sure that we have really good mentors for new teachers as a part of their writing of these things. Because new teachers are great. I'm so glad that they've come into the field and I appreciate them.
but we need to provide the mentorship about what is expected about a good quality IEP and where to turn the forms in, how to do this and how to participate as part of where we're going with this. And then continue with follow-up support. Follow-up support because what's that great phrase we have about kids with autism? If you've seen one kid with autism, you've seen one kid with autism. Well, the same thing about IEP meetings. If you've seen one IEP meeting, you've seen one IEP meeting because they are all so very different. So continue to follow
allow mentors to work on this and plan for these in the future because they are all, thankfully they're different because of the independent nature of what's going on. We make sure that we provide the support for people down the road because my first year of teaching, I remember this real specifically, I had a lot of parents who came in and they just asked, where do I sign? And they were in and out of the room in 30 seconds. Then I had others who...
One, spend five to six hours on it. so it depends on the needs of the parent and how we do this. So we have to address this and move forward. But make sure there's continued support for this. so keep that up. Another great question. I like that one.
Marisha (18:29)
Yeah.
Yeah, and
I'm reflecting on my experiences in the school districts and I personally would have loved, like when I was starting out, I would have loved, like a mentor who would review my IEPs and give feedback. Like I was craving that. was, cause I was trying to do my very, very best and like look at the training resources and all of that to make sure I was writing an effective IEP, but having that feedback and having someone point out, cause it makes sense. okay.
we want to have comprehensive present levels and we want to make sure that goals are tied to that and but in the beginning it is really helpful to get that feedback and yeah and in a district that I worked in later provided that and it was just incredible and the quality of my IEPs significantly improved too.
David Bateman (19:10)
Absolutely.
Yeah, well, I'm glad to hear that and I appreciate how you share that because the stress that you felt because coming into a new position is there's a steep learning curve of the written rules, but also the unwritten rules. And you have to learn these things and just have someone guide you about what to do and how to do things. You're exactly very good.
Marisha (19:40)
Yeah, and I think, cause I was like, I was asking like, give me some templates and things like that, but it has to be very individualized. It's not cookie cutter. So just giving someone a couple of templates isn't gonna do the trick. So, yeah.
David Bateman (19:54)
Right, exactly, because it's
so individualized to that child. You're exactly right.
Marisha (19:59)
Okay,
perfect. And then, and so the, cause the training side of things doesn't have to be, like they can use the free, like do you think using the free iris modules would do, would be sufficient for that initial training?
David Bateman (20:13)
Yes. And let me explain how to do that as free initial training. So no, because I'm giving this advice to others. I would have like the special ed director have all the teachers and speech paths and other related services providers do the free module for teachers. And then that's their ticket in the door to a meeting the following week with the special ed director and
Marisha (20:14)
And so, okay. Okay, cool.
David Bateman (20:37)
staff of the school district. All right. Now that you've seen the module, the module is written at a national level. This, let me talk to you about how we do this within our district. This is where the forms are kept. This is who you turn the form into. This is who monitors the days. This is how your notices need to be sent out. you pass out a prior written notice to a parent, this is where you get it. Those kinds of things, but make it individualized to your district.
The same thing for building level administrators. I would have the special ed director say, here's the module, free module, there's no cost to this stuff. The free module for building level administrators, have them take that module and a week later, give them time to process it, form some questions, nature of adult learning, and then sit down with them. This is how we do it in our district. What questions do you have? This is where you go. You have a pre-referral form. This is who you file this with. Who do we monitor this? Who's counting the days? Those kinds of things.
So do that and so take that information that but then parallel to what you're doing in your district to make sure it's precisely know what they need to do it. So that would be a great way of teaching your district about it it's free. You don't need to get someone from the outside and you just get someone and do this and I think it would be better for everyone to do something like this because those modules when we were writing them, they went through layers of lawyer vetting and they field tested them before they saw the light of day and there...
wildly popular. So we're pretty pleased. We're pretty pleased with the effect of it. And they're free. I don't get any residuals off this. It's not like I'm endorsing something where I'm going to get paid on from this. It's just a great resource as a part of this. And the other thing is just to let you know, is if people happen to reach out to me next spring, we're going to have a lot of training modules for principals and training modules for teachers about IEPs. They're just all going to be free stuff. then so we're going to have these things and
I'm just trying to push out as much free resources for people as possible because I'm well aware that most of the districts of representative people who are listening to this, they're probably really well off and they have more than enough money to spend. But I'm gonna try to give free stuff to the ones who don't. So just to help them, okay?
Marisha (22:53)
Yeah, that's great. And I'll keep an eye out too if I...
David Bateman (22:56)
Yeah, sure. I'll put
a ticker on my calendar to send you also the information when it comes out.
Marisha (23:00)
Okay, and then I'll
update the show notes. if anyone's listening after the spring of 2025.
the show notes should have the updated links and additional trainings. Yeah, and as a former district employee, would have loved that too, just having, and if the training, because if they had sent me a link of do this training, I think that would have been helpful, but having the special ed director lead it and then start off with saying how important it is, like connecting to the why, like you said previously,
David Bateman (23:11)
Sweet. I like that.
Marisha (23:32)
I think that would be really helpful. And then if you're doing it in person, you're much more likely to pay more attention and have some discussion and engagement around it. So I love that. And then the follow-up with the specifics for the district is even better because then they're equipped to know how to actually do it.
David Bateman (23:38)
Right, right, right.
So having helped some of these new directors of special education do the follow-up, what I do is this is going to seem a little strange, but I have the people, they've had to watch the module before they walk in the room. They walk in the room, I give every one of them a three by five card and they can write whatever question they have about IEPs and we sit there and we answer all their questions because
Marisha (24:04)
Okay.
David Bateman (24:19)
And I'll be candid with you. Some teachers and some administrators are embarrassed to ask questions in front of their peers. This is a way to do it anonymously and this is a way to allow them to get their questions addressed. it just helped them as much as possible to get these things so that everyone truly understands what's going on. But it also lets you know where the individuals seem to feel lacking and what they can do as a part of this and where do they need to get more trainings as a part of this.
So it's, but it just, we do our, this is where the forms are, this is who you contact, this is the special ed secretary, call this number for questions, but just take your questions about IEPs. Special Ed directors should be able to handle those questions. They should be able, if they can't, there's resources that can help them get answers to those questions, but it's a way to help them address this and help them move forward.
Marisha (25:09)
Yeah, that's great. And then in terms of mentorship and follow-up support, I'm sure there's some district administrators who are, because scheduling a training, think that, especially using the free modules, that feels doable. I think that should, I don't know, I don't foresee that causing too many hurdles. I know scheduling can be tricky, but.
We do beginning of the year training all the time, but then in terms of like, you're, if an administrator staff is spread really thin or they're like, I don't know who could even be a mentor, provide that support. or maybe they have a huge percentage of new SLPs and only one or two people who could be mentors. What are some strategies in navigating that? Is there.
like outside support that they can enroll or strategies to help the mentors be able to have the capacity? Like how do you, have you seen administrators navigate that?
David Bateman (26:08)
Well, it's fine. It's trying to find a first trying to find a person that they can be a mentor who they trust. And who and then making sure that that person has some time in their schedule to do this, because they're doing their job, but then they're also going to be shaping the character of another person's job. But
But just make sure that we talk about the, we go through just those tips I went through before. We address the areas of the need, but things like this. But also talk about collaboration with individuals and help with this move and help this. But the last thing, the one thing that I think I've seen the best is shadowing and co-writing IEPs.
I'd co-write the first few IEPs with the new teacher or SLP with the district and then provide feedback along the way saying, all right, sit side by side with them. Here's the data we have. And we're really good in special ed about doing this, but task analyze, this is the first thing I would do. This is the second thing I would do. This is the third thing I would do and kind of walk through this and where we can get the information.
Because increasingly, IEP writing software, and if you haven't had experience or if you've had experience in a different system, you now have an, we just make sure that we hold their hands so they understand how to do this so that it's not so overwhelming. But like sit side by side and do one or two and then show how you would do that and move things. But then gradually, just any good change, gradually,
or people that very different. They'll gradually step away on things and be there for the areas where they have additional assistance, kinds of things like this. And then here's one, is make sure we recognize and celebrate progress when someone's actually doing something. Like a milestone, like when the first SLP or teacher, first successful IEP meeting or their first really well-written goal.
Marisha (28:07)
Thank
David Bateman (28:09)
and just periodically offer encouragement or remind them of the positive impact of work that they have on students' lives, those kinds of things. it shouldn't just end the first time that they meet. I say this because my first mentor said, I'm here for you, just come talk to me. And I didn't know what I should even talk to that person about. And so I didn't know what I could do, what I couldn't do. And I was basically left to flounder.
And I probably learned some ways of doing things that were ineffective. Got the job done, but were ineffective. We need to make sure that we help these individuals as a part of this because we're not getting the supply of new teachers, new related service personnel showing up on our school districts anymore. We need to do a better job. We've got a new person who's willing to come to our district, provide them the support to help them with this process so that they want to stay and they want to be part of this. But kind of...
just with anyone, teach them and then gradually fade away as the world. But celebrate these things, celebrate when they've done something as opposed to, because I've also, I saw a mentor who basically only talked to her mentee when the mentee did something wrong.
And so celebrate the good stuff. Celebrate the good stuff, okay? Yeah.
Marisha (29:26)
And that'll be
a factor in retention and all of that. And we will, we're, and, cause we may want to compensate mentors to like extrinsically motivate them a little bit, but the ROI on having a really good onboarding program and like support great, I, good effective IEP training.
will pay dividends because I assume that the new teacher will be much more confident, less stressed, and more enjoyment, which will help with retention too. And then your students are getting better services, which is everyone's ultimate goal. And the IEPs will be higher quality, which reduces the possibility of due process and settlement and all of that messy stuff. And it makes the process just go that much smoother.
David Bateman (29:55)
Yes.
Marisha (30:16)
and we get to be more efficient with our time in the long run. So I feel like there's a really epic ROI in a lot of different directions in spending some time on this.
David Bateman (30:25)
I like how you articulated that because the ROI, the return on investment is huge if we onboard people and show them how to do things. Yes.
Marisha (30:38)
So I'm sure that it's easy to come up with reasons of why setting up mentorship is going to be challenging or tricky, but hopefully, like considering some of those factors makes it a little bit easier. Okay, wow. So many good tips and strategies. Is there anything else that you wanted to share?
David Bateman (30:51)
Yep. Yeah.
One thing, just one thing. Two things, three things by the time I'm done. But first, I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. And I appreciate the service that you're providing to the field. And we're lucky that you're doing so much. So just keep up the good work. Second thing, one thing, this is the one thing you asked me, but I wanted to make sure I appreciated you. Is the one thing if
Marisha (31:07)
You
David Bateman (31:28)
that would reduce the threat of litigation or the anxiety that teachers have relating to litigation and IEPs is if they dramatically opt their progress monitoring data. Earlier on, I was talking about how good SLPs are about this is because you guys, SLPs take progress monitoring data every single time you work with a child. I'm not saying quite do that, which I think is wonderful by the way, is at least for like in a typical nine week marketing period, we should have
five to six data points that we can graph as a part of this. And if we can't graph it, it's not good data. And so we need to graph this data and then use that information for something. Because if you find out that the kid is not making progress through what you're doing, you need to change something. Because I have been involved in over 1,000 due process hearings. A lot of them were related to when the district knew or should have known that the child was having problems. If you knew the child was having problems,
and you did not work to address that child's needs, that child suffered. And we need to the professionals in the room, provide appropriate services, change something. I wish there would be just one change that would cause these kids to do something better. Sometimes it takes two, three, four, five changes, but do that will solve a lot of problems. And I think will be beneficial for the child. And I think will really help them down in the long run.
Marisha (32:49)
Yeah, that progress monitoring is huge. If we can start with a solid IEP and have good measurable goals, it'll make that process a lot easier. And yeah, and we can use a similar kind of model of putting together training for teachers on how to do.
David Bateman (32:55)
Yes.
Yes.
Marisha (33:08)
like strategies for effective progress monitoring and come up with strategies and systems and mentorship support and all of that to help boost that as well. So yeah, awesome. Well, this was a fabulous conversation. I feel like there were some really great resources. I love that there's free training that districts can use. So this is super practical and doable.
David Bateman (33:19)
Thank you.
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Marisha (33:32)
And then especially with the additional tips and strategies that you shared. So thank you again for being so generous with your time and expertise. I really appreciate it and I'm sure the listeners do too. And yeah, thank you to anyone who listened and we, I think I can speak for David too, but we really admire that you are.
out there like learning like trying to learn and figure out strategies to improve things in your district and for your students. So keep at it. We know it's not always easy but doing good work.
David Bateman (34:05)
Well stated, thank you.
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