Capturing parent concerns in the IEP

Parent concerns are often the thinnest box on the IEP form. "Parent has no concerns at this time" appears on many plans where the parent had concerns and nobody asked in time to hear them. Other plans list concerns that never show up again in the document.

This guide walks through capturing concerns well, with one fictional family followed from the first phone call to the final IEP, a table of how long each step takes, and weak and better examples. The pillar guide on present levels of performance shows where parent input fits among the other parts.

Why parent concerns matter in the IEP

When the team develops an IEP, it must consider the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child, along with the child's strengths, the most recent evaluation and the child's needs.^[1] Parents are members of the IEP team, and the school must take steps to make sure they can take part in the meeting.^[2]

Considering a concern does not mean the team must agree to every request. When the school proposes or refuses to change something about the student's identification, evaluation, placement or services, it must give the parents prior written notice that explains the decision.^[3] States put this notice and the parent input box in different places on their forms, so check yours.

The steps and the time each takes

That is about an hour per family across three weeks. It saves time at the meeting, where an unheard concern can take far longer to work through.

Step-by-step

Step 1: Ask early

Ask two to three weeks before the meeting. Families need time to think, and you need time to collect data on anything new they raise. Send a short note or a one-page form, and offer a phone call.

Keep the form short. Four open questions get more than a two-page checklist. Offer it in the family's language and offer to go through it by phone for families who prefer to talk.

Step 2: Follow up with open questions

A call usually gets more than a form. Use questions that cannot be answered yes or no:

• What is going well for your child this year?
• What worries you most about school right now?
• What do you see at home that you wish we knew?
• What would you like your child to be able to do by next year?
• What has helped in the past, at school or at home?
• Is there anything you want to make sure we talk about at the meeting?

Listen more than you explain. If a parent raises something you think is already handled, write it down anyway. You can respond later.

Step 3: Write it in the parent's words

Record what the parent said, close to word for word, with the date and how you asked. Quotes keep the concern from getting softened in translation. "Mom is concerned about reading" loses what she meant. "She cries when I ask her to read, and she told me she's stupid" keeps it.

Step 4: Sort what you heard

A parent call mixes four kinds of information. Sort them before you write:

• Concerns: what worries the parent.
• Requests: a specific service, support or change they want.
• Information: facts the team may not have, such as a new diagnosis, medication change or home routine.
• Strengths: what the child does well at home.

Strengths go into the strengths section. The student strengths examples show how to write them as observable performance.

Step 5: Link each concern to the IEP

For each concern, decide where the IEP responds: present levels data, a goal, a service, an accommodation, a support for staff, or a plan to collect data. If the team will not act on a request, note that it will be discussed and that written notice will follow any refusal.

A concern with no link is the most common gap. Parents read the plan looking for their concerns, and they notice when one disappears.

Step 6: Share the draft before the meeting

Send the parent the draft present levels, including their concerns as you wrote them, a few days before the meeting if your district allows drafts. Ask them to tell you if you got anything wrong.

Step 7: Confirm at the meeting

Read the concerns aloud near the start of the meeting and ask if anything has changed. Record what the team decided for each one. The minutes or the IEP itself should show that each concern was heard and answered.

Worked example: Amira's family, start to finish

Amira is a fictional third grader with autism. Her case manager starts three weeks before the annual review.

Step 1. The case manager emails a four-question form on October 1 and offers a call. Amira's mother replies that she prefers to talk.

Step 2. On October 6, a 20-minute call. Her mother says: "Homework takes two hours and ends in tears." "She has nobody to play with at recess. She tells me she walks around the fence." "She used to love books and now she says reading is boring." "Last spring she walked out the front door at pickup and I couldn't find her for ten minutes." She adds that Amira started a new medication in September and is more tired in the afternoon. She says Amira builds detailed Lego models from instructions for an hour at a time.

Step 3. The case manager asks her mother to log homework time for two weeks. The log shows 10 nights, with a median of 95 minutes and a range of 60 to 140. The class expectation is 30 minutes.

Step 4. The case manager sorts the notes:

• Concerns: homework time and distress; no peer play at recess; loss of interest in reading; safety at dismissal.
• Request: none stated yet.
• Information: new medication, more tired in the afternoon.
• Strength: builds Lego models from multi-step instructions for an hour.

Step 5. The case manager collects school data and links each concern:

Step 6. On October 18, the case manager sends the draft with the concerns quoted. Her mother adds one line: "I also want her to learn to tell someone when she is overwhelmed."

Step 7. At the meeting on October 22, the team reads the concerns aloud. It adds a self-advocacy goal for the new concern and agrees to the dismissal plan. The reduced homework accommodation is agreed. Her mother's request for a one-to-one aide at recess is discussed; the team proposes a structured recess club with an adult instead, and the school sends written notice explaining that decision.

The parent concerns section of the final IEP reads:

Examples of parent concerns written well

These short examples show the format: the parent's words, the date and method, and enough detail to act on.

• "On 3/2 by phone, Mr. Chen said, 'He can read the words but he can't tell me what the story was about.'"
• "On 11/8 at the meeting, Ms. Rivera said she wants her daughter to be able to ride the city bus to work by graduation."
• "On 4/15 by email, the family shared that Theo's sleep has been poor since a move and that mornings are hard."
• "On 9/30 using the district input form, Ms. Okafor wrote that she wants more speech therapy because family members cannot understand him."
• "On 1/12 by phone, Mr. Patel said his son 'comes home and shuts down' and refuses to talk about school."
• "On 5/3 at the meeting, both parents said they are worried about high school class changes and getting lost."
• "On 2/20 by phone, Ms. Lee said she is happy with reading progress and her main concern is writing."
• "On 10/9 by text, Ms. Ruiz said she is worried her son is being teased on the bus."

Each one names a real concern that can be linked to the plan. The speech and language examples and the reading examples show present levels that respond to concerns like these.

Common mistakes

Weak: "Parent has no concerns at this time." Better: "Ms. Gomez was contacted by phone on 10/2 and by email on 10/9. She said she will share concerns at the meeting." Then ask again at the meeting.

Weak: "Mom is worried about everything." Better: List each concern in her words and link each one.

Weak: "Parents want more services." Better: "Mr. and Mrs. Park asked for 60 minutes of speech therapy per week because relatives cannot understand him." Then record the team's decision.

Weak: Concerns rewritten in school language: "Parent reports deficits in executive functioning." Better: "She forgets every assignment and I find them crumpled in her backpack."

Weak: A concern that never appears again in the IEP. Better: A line after each concern, or a table, showing where the plan responds.

Weak: The parent hears their concerns for the first time at the meeting, read back wrong. Better: A draft shared a few days early with a request to correct it.

Printable question list

Copy or print these questions for the call or the input form. No email or sign-up is needed.

1. What is going well for your child this year?
2. What worries you most about school right now?
3. What do you see at home that you wish the school knew?
4. What would you like your child to be able to do by next year?
5. What has helped, at school or at home?
6. Has anything changed at home or in your child's health this year?
7. What questions do you want answered at the meeting?

Parents who want help preparing can contact their state's Parent Training and Information Center, which the federal parent center network lists by state.^[4] The parent guide to questions to ask at the IEP meeting is a good page to send families before the meeting.

When the concerns lead to new goals, check the wording with the goal checker, and use the steps in how to write a PLAAFP to fold the parent's input into the full statement.

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• PLAAFP in the IEP glossary
• Prior written notice in the IEP glossary
• Questions to ask at the IEP meeting
• Self-advocacy goals
• IEP goal checker

Related guides

• Present levels of performance (PLAAFP): what to include, with examples
• How to write a PLAAFP, step by step
• Writing student strengths as observable performance
• PLAAFP examples for reading
• Parent input form for the IEP

Sources

1. 34 CFR §300.324: Development, review, and revision of IEP, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
2. 34 CFR §300.322: Parent participation, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
3. 34 CFR §300.503: Prior notice by the public agency; content of notice, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
4. Center for Parent Information and Resources, CPIR

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.