Three-Year Reevaluation Strategies
Team meetings are a major part of the special education experience, none more important than the three-year reevaluation. The evaluation reports and subsequent Team meeting to discuss them set the course of your child’s next three years in special education. During the meeting, the Team can modify your child’s services to make them more appropriate, or the Team may conclude that your child is no longer eligible for special education. With so much at stake, you need to be prepared for a meeting of this importance.
What Is the Purpose of the Three-Year Reevaluation?
The purpose of the three-year reevaluation is to determine if your child has made progress achieving his or her goals and what changes, if any, are needed to continue that progress. First, both you and the school personnel decide ahead of time which evaluations your child should have. They should be in all areas of suspected disability, such as academic, social-emotional, occupational therapy, or physical therapy. These evaluations should carefully assess what progress your child has actually made over the previous three years. The Team then meets to discuss whether your child continues to have a disability and what services, accommodations, or modifications are needed based on objective data provided by the evaluations.
What We Experienced in Reevaluation Meetings
We experienced several three-year reevaluations during our 15 years in special education and some of our experiences are worth mentioning. During each reevaluation meeting there were many separate reports that needed discussion. Fortunately, we had requested the written reports in advance so we could review them before the meeting. In addition, we usually brought outside professionals to the meetings to give reports of their evaluations. The meetings also included a discussion of IEP goals for the coming year.
We would attend these meetings without an advocate, confident we could manage the meeting and all the information presented in it. We were wrong about that. As each meeting progressed, we would begin to feel overwhelmed. It was difficult to listen, take accurate notes, and fully understand what was being said. Some reports were very detailed and confusing. Each report had recommendations that were briefly discussed but not fully explained. All of this would happen in approximately one hour, after which the teachers and specialists would have to attend to other duties. We would leave these meetings exhausted and wondering what, if anything, had been accomplished.
What You Can Do
Looking back on our experience now, we have the following suggestions to help keep your meetings more manageable:
1. Request, in writing, copies of all evaluation reports in advance of the Team meeting that will discuss them. Federal law requires schools to do this, though each state differs as to how many days in advance the school must let you review them.
2. Make sure that each report contains recommendations for services, accommodations, or modifications to be written into the IEP. The recommendations should be in plain English, not technical jargon, and based on objective data, not anecdotes. If not, ask the evaluator to clarify what he or she is recommending. If the recommendation is too brief, such as “more time on tests” or “provide counseling,” ask for more details. If counseling is recommended, for example, how many times a week? With whom? What kind of professional? Do not accept any report that says “Recommendations will be discussed at the Team meeting.” If necessary, postpone the meeting until clear and specific recommendations are added to any report that lacks them.
3. If many evaluators are scheduled to discuss their reports and time is limited, request a brief summary of each report, saving detailed discussion for the written recommendations. That way the evaluators will be on the record for saying what they think the school needs to do to help your child.
4. Never attend any Team meeting alone. Bring a spouse, partner, or friend. Ideally, bring a special education advocate who understands the dynamics in the room and who can help keep the meeting on track.
5. Bring someone to the meeting just to take notes. A person who is not as emotionally involved in your situation as you are can provide important factual information to you later. Don’t rely only on your memory.
6. Prepare a list of your concerns several days ahead of time and give them to your special education liaison. Work with your liaison to create an agenda with both school and parent items to discuss. Bring copies of the agenda to hand out to each person in the room. Follow the agenda during the meeting to help keep the discussion on track.
7. Have a Team discussion to determine if your child is achieving his or her IEP goals based on the results of the evaluations. The discussion should focus on specific goals based on the objective data in the reports.
Realize that the three-year reevaluation meeting is an important milestone for both you and your child. A productive meeting will give the Team the best possible chance to determine if your child has actually made progress over the previous three years and how to plan for the future. The data from the evaluations and the specific recommendations based on this data will be critical for your child’s success during the next three years.
Judith Canty Graves and Carson Graves