Presenting speech data at the IEP meeting

Speech data is easy to collect and hard to explain. An SLP can walk into a meeting with 9 months of trial-by-trial data, a standard score and a phonological process inventory, and still leave the family unsure whether their child improved. The fix is preparation: decide what the team needs to know, cut everything else, and say it in words a parent can repeat at dinner.

These steps assume you have good session data. If you don't, start with speech therapy data collection. The speech therapy IEP goals pillar covers goal writing, and the general IEP meeting guide covers the meeting as a whole.

What you need before you start

• Session data for every goal since the last IEP, plus a fresh probe taken within 2 weeks of the meeting.
• Any new test results, if this is a reevaluation year.
• Teacher input on how the student communicates in class (a 3-question email is enough).
• Family input. Ask what they notice at home before the meeting, not during it.
• The meeting date. The IEP due date calculator helps with timelines.

Step-by-step: preparing and presenting

Step 1: Graph every goal

Put each goal on a simple graph: baseline, data points and an aimline to the target. A family can read a line going up faster than a column of percentages. The IEP data graph and aimline guide shows the setup. One graph per goal, one page for all of them.

Step 2: Translate each score into a sentence

Write one plain sentence per goal. "Maya says /r/ correctly in about 6 of every 10 words she reads in sentences, up from 1 or 2 of 10 in October." Avoid "62% accuracy in structured tasks at the sentence level." Both carry the same number, but only one is easy to picture.

Step 3: Explain test scores in words

If you present standardized results, translate them. A standard score of 78 means little to most families. Say what it means: "Most students her age score between 85 and 115. Her score of 78 is below that range." Then say what the test measured, in one sentence. Skip subtests that do not change the plan. The team must include someone who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results,^[1] and often that person is you.

Step 4: Build a one-page speech summary

The summary has four parts: strengths, progress on each goal (start, now, target), what is still hard, and your proposal. Bring a copy for every person at the table and one for the family to keep. Parents are full members of the team, and a page they can read before they react helps them take part.^[2]

Step 5: Lead with what the student can do

Open with 2 or 3 real strengths: "He tells me about his weekend in full sentences," or "She now fixes her own /s/ errors when she hears them." Families listen better after they hear their child described accurately, and the team must consider the student's strengths when it develops the IEP.^[3]

Step 6: Present each goal as start, now, target

Give three numbers per goal, then one sentence on what it means and one on what's next. Keep it under 2 minutes per goal. If the goal is met, say so plainly and say what the new goal builds toward.

Step 7: Tie the proposal to the data

Every change you propose (new goals, different minutes, moving into the classroom, dismissal) needs a reason the family has just seen on the page. "Because she meets the sentence goal and errors now show up mostly in conversation, I'd like one of her two sessions to move into her class during writing." Propose; don't announce. The team decides.

Worked example: annual review for one student

Leo is a fictional fourth grader. His annual review is on November 18, 2026. He has two speech goals.

What the SLP says, in about 4 minutes:

"Leo's strengths: he is willing to try new sounds, and he now notices when he says /r/ wrong and fixes it himself about half the time.

On /r/: when he reads sentences aloud, he says /r/ correctly in about 6 of every 10 words, up from about 1 in 10 last year. Here is the graph. He has not reached the target of 8 in 10, and in conversation he's closer to 3 in 10. I'd like to keep this goal, raise the target setting to short conversations by spring, and keep the same minutes.

On retelling stories: he met this goal. He tells 5 of the 6 parts of a story using the map. Next year I'd like him to do it without the map, and in writing with his teacher, so I'm proposing a new goal for that.

My proposal: keep 60 minutes a week, one session in the speech room and one in his classroom during writing. Here is the summary page. What questions do you have?"

The family heard three numbers per goal, one graph and one proposal with a reason. The detailed data sits in the progress report, where it belongs. The present levels speech therapy examples page shows how the same numbers become present levels.

Common mistakes

Weak: "She's at 62% in structured tasks at the sentence level, with gliding at 40%." Better: "She says /r/ correctly in about 6 of 10 words when reading sentences. She still replaces /r/ with /w/ in conversation."

Weak: "He's doing great!" Better: "He started at 2 of 6 story parts. He is now at 5 of 6, which meets his goal."

Weak: Reading every subtest score aloud. Better: Give the overall result in words and only the subtests that change the plan.

Weak: Raising dismissal for the first time at the meeting. Better: Call the family a week before and explain the data. The speech therapy dismissal criteria page covers that conversation.

Weak: Proposing new minutes with no reason. Better: "Because he meets the sentence goal and errors now show up in conversation, I'd like one session in class."

Weak: Talking for 15 minutes straight. Better: Pause after each goal and ask, "Does that match what you see at home?"

Templates and tools

• Plain-language comments for each goal: speech therapy progress report comments.
• Reevaluation write-ups: speech evaluation report template.
• New goal wording: the speech language IEP goals library and the goals for the SLP role page. Check each draft in the goal checker.
• Who should be there: the IEP team and annual review glossary entries.

The IEP must also say how and when progress on each goal is reported.^[4] If your summary page matches that schedule's format, families see the same numbers at every report and every meeting.

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• Speech language IEP goals
• Goals for the SLP role
• IEP team in the IEP glossary
• Annual review in the IEP glossary
• IEP goal checker
• IEP due date calculator

Related guides

• Speech therapy IEP goals: examples by area
• Speech therapy data collection in session
• Speech-language evaluation report template
• IEP progress report comments for speech therapy
• Speech IEP goals for kindergarten

Sources

1. 34 CFR §300.321: IEP Team, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
2. 34 CFR §300.322: Parent participation, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
3. 34 CFR §300.324: Development, review, and revision of IEP, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
4. 34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

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.