IEP Teams and Mandate Changes

IEPs can only be changed if a team meeting is held. A team includes a special and/or general education classroom teacher, the parent and the related-service provider. A change is made if it best meets the needs of the individual student, moves along the continuum of services and looks at the student’s needs as a whole. We should all look at the history of speech services, how students are meeting their goals and whether they are making progress over time.

It is your professional judgment about a student that should help to determine whether services should be decreased or increased and whether group sizes should be changed. You should also be able to determine whether or not a student has reached a plateau and can benefit from classroom services without speech therapy. You, as the speech professional, in consultation with teachers, parents and students, should know your students’ abilities and whether they are benefiting from our services.

Therefore, principals and other supervisors should not be pressuring you to change mandates or de-certify individual students. Supervisors would not want their professional judgment to be ignored and neither should you. Many of you have denied your expertise and experience and allowed others to change your mandates and that is unacceptable. You should know your student’s needs and only make appropriate mandate changes when warranted, not because someone has decided this for you.

Our chapter will help if you feel intimidated by an administrator into making changes that are not warranted. That is part of the reason that the UFT is pushing for whistle-blower legislation so that you can come forward with impunity to let someone know that you are being forced to change services.

If you are told to change mandates or to justify the ones that a speech evaluator has given call the hotline number. In addition, you have a right to file a grievance. You can also speak to your executive board members or liaisons if something is being asked of you that is inappropriate or unprofessional.

If you don’t do it, no one will.

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