What Happens at an ARD Meeting?

ARD Meeting

So, you want to know what to expect at an ARD meeting. I asked the exact same thing when I moved to Texas from Virginia. You see, “ARD” is a Texas-only term. It stands for “Admission Review and Dismissal.” In the rest of the country, ARD meetings are referred to by the meeting’s purpose, most commonly an IEP meeting.

You should receive a formal meeting notice in advance which states the purpose(s) of the ARD meeting. Common examples include:

• Annual review of your child’s IEP

• Determine eligibility for special education

• Consider revision to your child’s IEP

• Review evaluation data

Legally, ARD meetings need to be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time, so if the proposed date and time do not work for you, you have the right to request a different date and/or time. That being said, the school is included in the term “mutual.” So, if you try to request an evening meeting post-work, the school has the right to say no, and probably will. As it is, school personnel often stay past contract hours or give up planning time to participate in these meetings. Be respectful of their time.

Once you are at the ARD meeting, it will follow a fairly universal agenda with some variability based on the purpose of the meeting. For example, if you are revising your child’s IEP to increase math inclusion time, the school isn’t going to review all of your child’s reading goals because they are not relevant to the meeting purpose.

Below is a common ARD agenda.

1. Introductions: Everyone, including you, will introduce themself and state their job title. (e.g. principal, school psychologist, parent)

2. Purpose of the Meeting: The school will state the reason for the meeting. (e.g. annual review of child’s IEP)

3. Parent Questions/Concerns: The school will ask for your input. Sometimes they will do this before the meeting, other times they will ask for your input throughout the meeting. Regardless, your input should be documented in the IEP and all of your concerns should be addressed. You do not have to wait to be asked for input either. You are an equal member of the committee and should ask questions, raise concerns, and provide suggestions when you see fit.

4. Review Evaluation Data: If any new evaluations have been completed the evaluator will review the results.

5. Determine Eligibility: This occurs at initial ARDs when after the full evaluation is completed, at the legally mandated triennial reevaluation, or when considering adding related services to the IEP (e.g. speech therapy, occupational therapy).

The committee will then discuss and collaborate on each component of the student’s IEP, listed below:

6. Transition Planning: (Beginning when the student is 14.) Completed with the student to help them start to plan for life after high school.

7. Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance: The school will review your child’s current strengths and needs in relevant academic, functional, social and emotional areas.

8. Goals: The school will review the proposed annual goals. They should be specific, measurable, and align with educational standards.

9. Accommodations: The committee will discuss and agree upon accommodations that your child requires. (e.g. extra time, preferential seating)

10. State and District Assessments: The committee will determine if the student will participate in the typical assessments with or without accommodations or if they qualify for modified assessments.

11. Extended School Year: The committee will determine if the child qualifies for/requires services extended into the summer. (Most commonly for students who show a pattern of severe regression over breaks and take a significant amount of time to recoup skills when they return to school.)

12. Related Services: Does the student require speech, occupational therapy, etc.

13. Transportation: The committee determines if the student requires special education transportation. (e.g. wheelchair accessible bus, bus monitor due to behavior)

14. Schedule of Services: The committee determines the amount of time-based support the student will receive for each area of need, and if it will be delivered in the general education classroom or special education classroom. (e.g. 5 hrs/week of math support in the gen ed classroom). 

15. Progress: The committee determines who is responsible for tracking the student’s progress toward IEP goals (special ed teacher, general ed teacher, both) and how often parents will be updated on progress towards goals (usually whenever the general ed report card goes home).

16. Placement: The committee determines if the child requires any specialized programs and/or if all services can be provided at the home school.

17. Least Restrictive Environment: The committee documents what supports were considered, tried, and provided to ensure the student is educated in the least restrictive environment where they can learn. The committee also discusses any potential harmful effects (e.g. stigma) and if any are anticipated, why the placement decision was still made (typically, ‘the benefits outweigh the potential harmful effects’)

18. Assurances: Admin usually read these aloud. It is basically legal jargon saying that the committee considered all of the necessary components and parents participated.

19. Prior Written Notice: Any proposed or rejected changes to services/eligibility and why they were proposed/rejected.

20. Deliberations: These are the meeting minutes, and also a catch-all place for discussions and decisions that do not fit elsewhere. Prior to signing the IEP, the deliberations should be reviewed by the committee.

21. Signatures: Committee members sign and either agree or disagree with the proposed IEP.

It’s a lot, I know. As I said earlier, not every ARD will feature all of these pieces. Annual ARDs will go over every aspect of the IEP, but revisions will not. At a revision ARD the committee will only focus on the proposed change or challenge at hand.

The most important thing to remember is that you, the parent, are a valuable member of the IEP team and have a right to understand the paperwork and be an active participant in IEP creation. Schools try to fit meetings into planning time, but don’t let them rush you. Ask the questions. Raise your concerns. If you run out of time, the committee can always reconvene at a later date.

If you are completely overwhelmed and want help understanding and navigating this all, that’s what I’m here for.