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Educating and empowering families as they navigate the Special Education and Section 504 landscape to create collaborative child-centered school partnerships.

Simplifying Special Education and 504 Advocacy 

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<h1 style="white-space:pre-line">Expert Education Consulting with IEP Partners</h1>
<h3 style="white-space:pre-line">IEP Partners offers tailored, transparent and accessible Special Education and 504 consulting services. We will help you navigate the complex and often overwhelming nature of these processes. We will help your family better understand the IEP and 504 processes so that you can confidently advocate for your son or daughter.  Our end goal is to give you the tools to work with your child's school to provide the best plan and/or services for your child.  And, we will tailor our services to what you need, and want to pay. In other words, no hidden costs. </h3>

<h2 style="white-space:pre-line;text-align:left">How can we help? </h2>
Identify your child's educational needs from the most recent evaluation and current data, and make sure these are being addressed in your child's plan. 
Review your child's IEP goals and benchmarks to determine whether they are measureable, and related to the edcuational needs identified.  
Help parents/guardians fully understand the evaluation process and annual review process so that you can go into your child's IEP or 504 meeting asking the right questions. 
Support you through the process of requesting an initial 504 or IEP and give you the tools to navigate this process.
Answer questions about current or recommended interventions, evaluation data or school based data.

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Contact Us for A Free Consultation and to Determine your Needs

We charge hourly and will never have hidden fees or costs.

Investment (Cost)

After we review the records, we will meet with you to help answer all of your questions and make practical recommendations.

Partner Meeting and Plan

Recent blog posts

Recent Blog Posts (Quick tips and ideas) 

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Once you determine that you are going to request an evaluation for Special Education services for your son or daughter,&nbsp; you should submit this request via email or letter. Ideally this is being sent to the school administrator who oversees Special Education.&nbsp; (You can call the school and ask a teacher, counselor or school psychologist who should receive this request.)&nbsp; It is important to put this in writing because Illinois law timelines are specific, and require the school to respond to your request in 14 school days.&nbsp; If you have this in writing, there is no questions about when the request was made, and you know the date by which a reply should come. Because teachers and school administrators manage incredible amounts of information daily, there are often protocols in place of who the request goes to.&nbsp; If you do not receive a response from the school within a few days, this does not mean they are ignoring you. These requests often go through problem solving teams or intervention teams, and while these teams meet regularly, they do not meet daily.&nbsp;The response will either inform you that the school will move forward with a domain meeting to evaluate for Special Education, or, that they will not be completing an evaluation and why.&nbsp; &nbsp;If you are denied an evaluation, it is important to understand why the school is denying the evaluation to determine your next steps.&nbsp;(Reference: Admin Code 23 § 226.110)

Why do I need to put my request for a school Special Education evaluation in writing?

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<h2>Why Intervention Matters</h2>Eligibility for Special Education can sometimes feel like a very long, drawn out process. The reality is for a student to be eligible for services, the team has to rule out a number of reasons that student is struggling. The team also needs to show that they tried various interventions prior to finding a student eligible.&nbsp;Intervention can take many forms. It might involve a reading, writing or math program, tutoring, counseling, or changes to teaching methods.&nbsp; The team implementing the intervention should be monitoring whether the student continues to struggle, or if they are making progress with the extra support.If a student is not making progress, or they are still struggling compared to peers after the intervention period,&nbsp; the team should be looking at other interventions and/or determine whether it is time for a referral to Special Edcuation.&nbsp; This intervention period is critical because some students are able to catch up with intervention, and finding them eligible (for Special Education) would be erroneous.&nbsp;Both educators and parents have a role to play in the intervention process. Teachers and school interventionists should have systems in place to identify and support sturggling students. And parents can and should reach out to the school if they have questions or are concerns about thier child's learning or performance.&nbsp; Whether intervention support is initiated from a school or home referral, this step is critical to ensure we are not identifying a student for Special Education who may truly not have a disability.&nbsp;

The Importance of Intervention before Eligibility

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Once your child has a 504 or IEP, your IEP or 504 Team will meet, at minimum, once a year to review the plan. This is called the Annual Review.&nbsp; This should take place no more than a year after the last Annual Review.&nbsp; So, if your meeting was October 29th last year, your meeting this year needs to be on or before October 29th, or it is out of compliance.&nbsp; This ensures regular meetings reviewing interventions, accommodations and progress without too much time going by.&nbsp;&nbsp;Your child will be re-evaluated for Special Education or a 504 at minimum every three years. This is called the Evaluation Meeting. If your child was found eligible in sixth grade, they will need to have a re-evaluation in their ninth grade year and again in grade twelve. There are reasons to move up evaluations, but it should never be longer than 3 years. If they were found eligible December 5, 2022, the meeting needs to take place on or by December 5, 2025.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Basics: IEP and 504 Timelines

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Partnering with Andrea as we navigated the IEP process for our son was an absolute gift. She is dedicated, diligent and incredibly knowledgeable. Her patience and guidance made us feel seen, heard and immensely supported.

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<h3>Contact Us Today</h3>
Reach out if you have questions or would like to schedule a free consultation.

Simplifying Special Education and 504 Advocacy

Expert Education Consulting with IEP Partners

How can we help?

Next Steps

Recent Blog Posts (Quick tips and ideas)

Why do I need to put my request for a school Special Educ...

The Importance of Intervention before Eligibility

The Basics: IEP and 504 Timelines

Partnering with Andrea as we navigated the IEP process for our son was an absolute gift. She is dedicated, diligent and incredibly knowledgeable. Her patience and guidance made us feel seen, heard and immensely supported.

Contact Us Today