Don't file your child's IEP away without reading it. Learn why every page matters, what to review, and how catching mistakes early can protect your child's educational rights.

Baseline data is the foundation of every effective IEP and IEP goals must start with clear baseline data. Learn how present levels, measurable annual goals, and IDEA regulations help parents and educators track real growth instead of vague progress.

10 Questions to Ask Before the First Day of School if Your Child Has an IEP or 504 Plan

Hiring an educational advocate early can prevent crises and protect your child’s educational progress. Learn how proactive advocacy supports strong IEPs or 504 plans, ensures appropriate services from the start, strengthens collaboration with schools, and helps families understand their rights before misunderstandings, placement changes, or service gaps negatively impact a child’s academic, behavioral, and emotional well-being.

Transferring to a new school can be overwhelming, especially if your child has an IEP or 504 Plan. Learn what "comparable services" are, when they must begin, and what your rights are under IDEA and Section 504 to ensure your child's supports continue without unnecessary interruption.

Before school starts, request these important records from your child's school to ensure your IEP or 504 Plan is implemented correctly from day one.

Easter is a season of renewal, hope, and fresh starts. For many families, it represents faith, resilience, and the promise that growth follows even the hardest seasons. And if you are parenting a child with an IEP or 504 plan, you know how powerful that message can be.

Every spring, families begin hearing the same phrase: “Your child doesn’t qualify for ESY because they didn’t regress.”

But what actually counts as regression? And what does the data really need to show?

Extended School Year services are not about summer enrichment. They are about preventing significant loss of skills that a child cannot reasonably recoup within a short period of time. Understanding what regression truly means can change the entire conversation.

March is one of the most strategic times of the school year to request a Functional Behavioral Assessment or update a Behavior Intervention Plan. Many families wait until behaviors escalate or until the end of the year, but by then valuable instructional time has already been lost.

When a child is struggling in school, evaluations play a critical role in determining what supports are needed. Sometimes a school evaluation answers those questions clearly. Other times, families are left with incomplete information, unclear conclusions, or recommendations that do not match what they see day to day. This is when private evaluations or an Independent Educational Evaluation, often called an IEE, become important tools.

Parents often hear the terms private evaluation and IEE used as if they mean the same thing, but under special education law they are different. Understanding how they differ, and when each makes sense, can help families advocate more confidently and effectively for their child.

Across the country, testing season is about to begin. For many families, state assessments can bring on stress, questions, and uncertainty for both parents and their children, especially when your child has an IEP or 504 Plan. You may wonder: Will the school actually follow my child’s accommodations? Will the testing environment support them? What happens if something goes wrong?

When a child is struggling in school, evaluations play a critical role in determining what supports are needed. Sometimes a school evaluation answers those questions clearly. Other times, families are left with incomplete information, unclear conclusions, or recommendations that do not match what they see day to day. This is when private evaluations or an Independent Educational Evaluation, often called an IEE, become important tools.

By the time February rolls around, the school year is no longer “new” to you or to your child. Routines are clearly established, data has been collected and you’ve received progress reports, and IEP goals should be well underway. As both a former special education teacher and now a parent educational advocate, I see February as a great ‘checkpoint month’, as a time when as parents you can step back and reflect on the question: Is my child actually making meaningful progress, or are we just moving through the motions?

Valentine’s Day at school is meant to be about kindness, connection, and belonging. For many children, it is exactly that. For others, it can quietly highlight how different their school experience really is. Difficulty with social cues, sensory overload, rigid routines, or feeling left out can turn a day meant to celebrate love into one filled with stress.

The middle of the school year is often when executive function challenges become most visible. The novelty of a new routine has worn off, expectations remain high, and supports that were helping earlier in the year may no longer be enough. For students with disabilities, this mid year slump can show up as missing work, disorganization, emotional outbursts, or increased avoidance.

Spring conferences often focus on grades and academic progress, but for many students, behavior and regulation are the real barriers to learning. Waiting until behavior escalates or discipline increases makes it harder to address concerns effectively. Requesting an FBA or a BIP update before spring conferences gives the team time to review data, adjust supports, and make meaningful changes before the end of the school year.

February is often when behavior challenges peak for students, even those who seemed settled earlier in the school year. The structure of fall has worn off, winter fatigue sets in, and expectations remain high while motivation and regulation are often at their lowest. For students with disabilities, this combination can quickly lead to increased behaviors, discipline referrals, and emotional shutdown.

Many parents hear the phrase “they’re doing fine” from schools and feel immediate confusion. Grades are passing. Behavior is manageable. Test scores are not alarming. But at home, you see something very different. Exhaustion after school. Meltdowns over homework. Anxiety before class. Tears that seem to come out of nowhere. This disconnect is one of the hardest places to advocate from because the struggle is real but not always visible on paper.

February is a helpful checkpoint for speech and language development in younger learners. By this point in the school year, routines are established and expectations are clearer, which makes it easier to notice whether a child is developing skills as expected or continuing to struggle. Paying attention to specific speech and language skills can help parents identify concerns early and advocate for support if needed.