For Administrators And Educators

Helping Your Student Become a Self-Advocate

With help from you and the family, the student can learn how to become part of their IEP process.

Learning how to be part of, and eventually lead, their own IEP process is one of the best ways to help the student learn to self-advocate. “Self- advocate” means the student is able to share about their life, what they need, what they like or don’t like, and is able to work with others to get the supports they need to succeed.

The student can practice using their advocacy skills in a safe and friendly environment. The student will join you, and the other members of their team, to plan special education services to help them learn and grow

On Your Own

With the Family

With the Student

With School Administration

Word Document of SLIEP Process for Schools & Educators

Here is a quick introduction to the Student-Led IEP process

Listen to a student talk about his experience with his Student-Led IEP

You are an important member on the IEP team

Your student, the student's family, school staff, and others may be on the team.

Click below to see a playlist of the many people who could be on a student's IEP team.

IEP Team Member Videos

Use the rubric below to decide where the student is with their involvement in the IEP meeting.

How would you describe their awareness of the IEP process?
How are they participating in the IEP? What are they doing to participate?
What do they know about the IEP? How can they show what you know?

I’m Determined Tools

Participation in the IEP Meeting Rubric*

Guide for using the rubric

The first step is to know what the student is doing at this time.
hen, look at the next level up to see where they should be going for a future goal.
Work with the IEP team to plan what steps and supports need to be put in place so that next year, the student has moved up a level in one or all of the IEP areas.

Area	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
IEP Awareness	I don’t know what IEP stands for.	I know what IEP stands for.	I know what IEP stands for and the purpose of the IEP meeting.	I know what IEP stands for, the purpose of an IEP meeting and I can tell others about these meetings.
IEP Participation	I don't participate or attend my IEP meeting.	I attend a pre-conference IEP meeting and/or my IEP meeting, but I don't participate in the meeting.I know what IEP stands for.	I attend and contribute information about myself for my IEP in a pre- conference or at the actual meeting.	I lead parts or my entire IEP meeting.
Knowledge of IEP Content	I don't know what is in my IEP.	I know that I have accommodations and goals but I don’t know what they are	I can name the accommodations and goals in my IEP, But I have a voice in developing them.	I can name the accommodations and goals in my IEP, and I have a voice in developing them.

* Tools archive. I’m Determined. (n.d.). https://www.imdetermined.org/all-tools/

An Assessment for you and your school to look at baseline data and create an Action Plan for future goals

This document is used to reflect upon SLIEP practices and determine an action plan to improve how SLIEPs are facilitated with your school and staff.

Create a widely representative team who will be responsible for completing this document – administrators, classroom teachers, special educators, related service personnel, counselors, school psychologists, families, and students.
Provide them with a copy of this document ahead of time to increase their understanding of the content that will be considered and that they can gather the evidence they will need to appropriately respond to and consider the guiding questions.
As a team, score each element as Not in Place (1), Partially in Place (2), or Always in Place (3). Calculate the total score of each component and include it in the Action Plan (see page 6).
The Action Plan will help you determine how you use this information to shape planning, goal-setting, and steps to improve SLIEP processes.

SLIEP Assessment of Practices