15% of Illinois students have Individualized Education Plans or IEPs. And thousands of students have what are called 504 Plans to help them better access their education. It can be daunting for families of students with disabilities to go into this process. There are hundreds of terms and acronyms they might not understand.
The purpose of this guide is to demystify the process: what it means, what happens, and what these terms mean. We can't cover everything, so we'll also include links to other resources so you can dive deeper. If there's something you think should be included on this page, feel free to send an email to teacherslounge@niu.edu. Thank you!
Submit a question about IEPs or 504 Plans
What is an IEP?
What is a 504 Plan?
Who can get an IEP or 504?
What are common IEP services?
What are common 504 accommodations?
How do I get started & who should I contact?
Timeline of the IEP and 504 evaluation process
What happens at an IEP or 504 meeting?
List of terms & acronyms to know
What if you're unhappy with your IEP or 504 Plan?
New to the process and need advice from experts?
Other services schools can help with
Other resources available
Click on the category to learn more
What is an IEP?
What is a 504 Plan?
Who can get an IEP or 504?
What are common IEP services?
What are common 504 accommodations?
How do I get started & who should I contact?
Timeline of the IEP and 504 evaluation process
What happens at an IEP or 504 meeting?
List of terms & acronyms to know
What if you're unhappy with your IEP or 504 Plan?
New to the process and need advice from experts?
Other services schools can help with
Other resources available
What is an IEP?
IEP (Individualized Education Plan): Education program for a student receiving special education services. An IEP includes goals and objectives to be attained during the year.
Common IEP services include social work, speech/language therapy, vision and hearing impairment services, sign language interpreters, occupational therapy and physical therapy
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What is a 504 Plan?
504 Plan: provides accommodations for students with mental or physical disabilities to help them access general education curriculum. They could be for health-related issues like asthma or diabetes. 504 plans don’t always include achievable goals either.
There is no limit or set number of 504 accommodations a school can provide. They should be tailored specifically to your student, but common examples include: flexible seating (the student may need to sit closer to the front due to vision or it could be seating by the door if they have anxiety or need breaks to move).
It could be flexible lunch seating like being able to eat lunch in the library if it’s too loud in the cafeteria, advance notice of things like fire drills, flexible deadlines for schoolwork, extended time on tests, alternative places to study for tests without distraction, designated time to take short walks or stand, the ability to leave class a few minutes early to get to their next location, they may need somebody to open doors for them. A student may need someone to help them pack up their materials before they go to class, receive copies of class notes, or access to a calculator.
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Who can get an IEP or 504?
Any student can receive services including those enrolled at public schools, private schools, even homeschool. Children as young as 3 years old can get IEPs and school districts can serve them until they’re 22.
They don’t need a medical diagnosis, and a diagnosis (of autism, for example) doesn’t guarantee IEP or 504 eligibility. The school district must deem the student eligible for services after conducting an evaluation. Families can also get an independent, outside evaluation, but the school still has the right to review that evaluation, may ask to speak to a professional providing diagnosis, and/or conduct its own evaluation before deciding on eligibility. If a family disagrees with the conclusions of the school’s evaluation, they can then also ask for an independent evaluation.
Many students with an IEP also have 504 accommodations, but not every student with a 504 plan needs an IEP.
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What are common IEP services?
Common IEP services include social work, speech/language therapy, vision & hearing impairment services, sign language interpreters, occupational therapy & physical therapy.
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What are common 504 accomodations?
There is no limit or set number of 504 accommodations a school can provide. They should be tailored specifically to your student, but common examples include: flexible seating (the student may need to sit closer to the front due to vision or it could be seating by the door if they have anxiety or need breaks to move).
Flexible lunch seating like being able to eat lunch in the library if it’s too loud in the cafeteria, advance notice of things like fire drills, flexible deadlines for schoolwork, extended time on tests, alternative areas to study for tests without distraction, designated time to take short walks or stand, to leave class a few minutes early to get to their next location, they may need somebody to open doors for them. A student may need someone to help them pack up their materials before they go to class, copies of class notes, or access to a calculator.
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How do I get started and who should I contact?
Who can you ask to get the IEP or 504 process started? You can always talk with your student’s classroom teacher, principal, school nurse, school psychologist, really anyone at the school you’re comfortable talking to should be able to help you get the process started.
There is no paperwork families need to provide to get this started.
If you're a family in the DeKalb School District 428, you can reach out to Lisa Becker, assistant director of student services at 815-754-1736 or lisa.becker@d428.org
If you're a family in the Rockford Public School District 205, you can reach out to the special education department at 815-490-5437 or talk with your student's classroom teacher or principal.
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Timeline of the IEP and 504 evaluation process
What happens first? The Domain meeting, also referred to as an Intake meeting or IONA. Parents/guardians will meet with special education team (including school psychologists, relevant therapists, teachers, special education administrators, etc) who outline the domains or categories that the school team will evaluate to determine what services or accomodations your student will be eligible for whether related to cognitive, social emotional, hearing, vision, or more.
Parents/guardians, teachers and others who spend time with student will talk about why they think a student may be struggling, or what services could be helpful.
Evaluation: Next is the evaluation. Some families get an independent, outside evaluation, but the school still has the right to review that evaluation, may ask to speak to a professional providing diagnosis, and/or conduct its own evaluation before deciding on eligibility. The school has 60 days to complete their evaluation, which may be frustrating for some families who see their student struggling.
What can an evaluation include? It doesn’t look the same for every student. It might just be a review of records, getting input from those who spend time with the student (ie parents & teachers), and classroom observation. Sometimes it involves a standardized assessment
Determining eligibility: After the evaluation the team including the parents/guardians (& perhaps student if they are old enough to participate) will meet for an Eligibility Determination Conference (EDC) also called an Eligibility Review. This is where the team talks about the evaluation results and if a student meets criteria for special education and an IEP or under Section 504 for a 504 plan.
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What happens at an IEP or 504 meeting?
When do meetings happen? Both IEP & 504 meetings must happen at least once per year & are re-evaluated every couple of years as the student moves through their education.
Can parents/guardians request an additional meeting? Yes, parents can request a meeting whenever! The school can also request meetings if they feel it’s warranted.
Who is involved in meetings? Similar to evaluation meetings, IEP and 504 meetings include the parent/guardian, maybe the student depending on their age, a case manager (who might be a special education teacher, school social worker, counselor, speech therapist -- whoever makes the most sense for the student’s needs), classroom teacher, school psychologists, special education teachers for IEPs, and relevent therapists depending on their needs like a teacher for visually-impaired students or a physical therapist.
What happens at an IEP or 504 meeting? It starts with PLOP. Yes, PLOP. That stands for Present Levels of Performance, also referred to as a student’s “present levels” or “Present Levels of academic & functional Performace.” This is simply where the student is at now.
Goals: This is where IEPs and 504 Plans diverge a bit. 504 meetings focus on talking about the accommodations a student is getting or needs and how they’re working. They don’t always include attainable goals in the way an IEP would.
IEP meetings focus a lot on goals. The team sets achievable, measureable goals including academic and functional goals. These are often both short and long-term goals, including goals for the year.
Often, each teacher or therapist brings specific goals and then at the next meeting they report the progress since the last meeting. For example, a speech therapist might say they were working on specific speech articulation sounds. And then at the next meeting, they report that the student achieved 90% accuracy.
They might decide to change or tweak goals.
The IEP team should be constantly assessing those goals throughout the year. Depending on the parent/guardian’s communication preference, they might be getting goal updates every week, few weeks or other times between formal meetings.
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List of terms and acronyms to know
Education is a land of a million acronyms, here’s some you might encounter during the IEP or 504 process.
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act): This is the federal law that makes available free, appropriate education to children with disabilities.
FAPE (Fair & Appropriate Public Education): What all students are entitled to.
UDL (Universal Design for Learning): How schools encourage both general education and special ed teachers to design their curriculum and their lessons, so that everybody can access the curriculum -- giving students individualized ways to access the curriculum.
PLOP (Present Levels of Performance): Also referred to as a student’s “present levels” or “Present Levels of academic & functional Performace.” This is simply where the student is at now.
MTSS (Multi-tiered system of supports): framework of targeted supports and interventions to help students who may be struggling.
PT & OT (Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy): Therapies that a student with physical disabilities and an IEP may need.
BIP (Behavioral Intervention Plan): Sometimes part of an IEP. If a child has a behavioral issue they may create a plan to how to deal with those behavioral issues.
MDR (Manifestation Determination Review): Meeting held if a school wants to suspend or expel a student for more than 10 days. The meeting is to decide if the child’s behavior is a manifestation of their disability. If it is, they cannot expel the student.
PUNS LIST: Database the state of Illinois uses to support adults who are transitioning out of high school who need Developmental Disability Waiver services such as getting into a certified Independent Living Center.
EIA (Expulsion-in-Abeyance): Form of school discipline where the district recommends an expulsion after an incident, but the student signs an agreement that sends them to an “adaptive learning site” for anywhere from a few months to two years. After that, the student may come back to their home school and get the expulsion removed from their record.
IONA: The first meeting at the start of the IEP or 504 process. Often also called an intake or domain meeting. IEP or 504 team outlines the domains or categories that the school team will evaluate to determine what services or accomodations your student will be eligible for whether related to cognitive, social emotional, hearing, vision, or more.
EDC (Eligibility Determination Conference): also called an Eligibility Review. This is where the team talks about the evaluation results and if a student meets criteria for special education and an IEP or under Section 504 for a 504 plan.
LRE (Least Restrictive Environment): The best environment for a student to receive their education. Only for IEPs, not 504s. It could be a general education classroom, it could be a special education class, a self-contained classroom, or a therapeutic day school (which is often referred to as the most-restrictive environment, the furthest away from the general education classroom), or residential placement. The LRE might move in and out of different LRE placements throughout the year.
TD (Therapeutic Day School): Alternative school placement for students who might not be able to learn their best in a traditional school environment.
AU: Autism
ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education): The state education agency in Illinois.
OHI (Other Health Impairment): Having limited strength, vitality, alertness that adversely impacts a student’s education.
FBA (Functional Behavioral Assessment): Process to identify behaviors that might be interfering with educational performance and developing interventions to help them.
SLD (Specialized Learning Disability): Neurodevelopmental disorders that interfere with educational performance.
IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation): Independent evaluation parent/guardian receives either prior to starting the school-based IEP/504 process or if the family disagrees with the conclusions of the school’s evaluation.
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What if you're unhappy with your IEP or 504 plan?
Parents can call for a meeting whenever they want. They can work with the rest of the IEP team to revise or update goals. If that doesn’t work for a long time and they don’t know why the student isn’t making progress or if the student isn’t receiving the services a parent thinks they need or are entitled to -- they can seek a special education lawyer.
That lawyer can represent families in due process hearings, mediation, resolution sessions, suspension/expulsion hearings, or litigation.
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New to the process and need advice from experts?
Micki Moran, special education lawyer at Child & Family Law Center : “You can't get everything done in one year when you have a child with a disability. You have to pace yourself. That may sound corny, but I say to people: ‘Set your priorities for this year. What is the most essential?’ And as a parent -- you're the person who can make that call.”
Moran: “Try to figure out a way to partner (with the school district) because it's a longer journey than just one IEP meeting or one evaluation.”
Courtney Gallaher, northern Illinois parent of student with IEP & 504 plan: “The more you can describe the way your child interacts with the learning environment and how the learning environment is impeding your child in specific ways -- the better.”
Gallaher: “If you are going to pursue it -- start early. That was the thing that I wish people impressed upon us.”
Mary Therriault, special education teacher at Hinckley Big-Rock School District : “Just be honest with the school district about what you’re seeing and what your concerns are, Sometimes as parents, we don't want to say things because ‘that would make me sound like an awful parent,’ or, ‘Oh my gosh, somebody's gonna be judging my parenting.’ It’s not about that at all. It's about getting your child what they need.”
Sarah Kuperus, school psychologist at Hinckley Big-Rock School District: “Some parents want a weekly update, some are okay with just the as-needed communication. I think during the (IEP or 504) meeting, it's important to discuss how parents want communication or feel is the appropriate communication.”
Ji Hwang, Senior Juvenile Justice Attorney at Prairie State Legal Services, Inc.: “I think the best advice is to document everything. Leave a document trace so everything can be traced back to what services they should get.”
Lisa Becker - Assistant Director of Student Services , DeKalb School District: If you don’t understand a term or acronym being used at a meeting “really be empowered to say, ‘Hey, hey, stop. I don't know what this alphabet soup means.’”
Becker: “Anytime you hear someone talk about the IEP team, the parent is a member of that team.”
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Other services schools can help with
Transitioning into the school district: Schools can help students as young as 3 who may be moving from Early Intervention Services to an IEP.
Transitioning out of an IEP: Schools can help when a student with an IEP is ready to move from High School to adult life, whether that is college or work.
They can help families with questions about Medicaid, guardianship, or setting up an ABLE financial account .
Community Resources: School districts can connect students with recreational resources like the Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association which provides programs like camps, activities and sports for people with disabilities.
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Other resources available
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has a comprehensive guide to understanding special education.
The state also has a document of Procedural Safeguards which outlines all of the rights of parents of students with disabilities.
Illinois Legal Aid : website built by lawyers where people can find answers to questions about their rights as parents, special education, and school discipline.
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