Compliance & Oversight · Getting What Your Child Needs

How to Find Out If the School Is Actually Following Your Child’s IEP

Most parents sign an IEP and trust that the services will happen as written. Many are right. Some are not. Here is how to verify — specifically and systematically — whether your child is receiving every service, accommodation, and support the IEP requires.

What “Implementation” Actually Means

An IEP is not implemented the moment it’s signed. Implementation is the ongoing delivery of every service, accommodation, and support listed in the document. It means:

• Speech therapy is happening at the minutes-per-week specified, not less, not occasionally
• Accommodations like extended time or preferential seating are being applied in every class that requires them, not just the ones where the teacher remembers
• IEP goals are being actively worked on, with data being collected to measure progress
• Modifications to curriculum are in place

A signed IEP sitting in a folder does not mean the services are happening. Many implementation failures are not deliberate — they result from staff turnover, scheduling conflicts, substitute teachers, and communication breakdowns. But a well-intentioned gap is still a legal violation.

Four Ways to Check Implementation

1. Request Service Logs

Every service provider — the speech-language pathologist, the OT, the special education teacher — should be keeping records of when and how long services were provided. These are educational records, and you have the right to request them under FERPA. Send a written request to the special education coordinator asking for service delivery logs for the current school year.

Compare the logs against the IEP. If the IEP says 60 minutes per week of speech therapy and the logs show sessions happening every two to three weeks, you have documented evidence of an implementation gap.

2. Review Progress Monitoring Data

IEPs must include measurable annual goals, and schools must report progress on those goals at regular intervals (at least as often as general education progress reports). When you receive a progress report, look for actual data: percentages, rates, frequency counts. “Making progress” or “working toward goal” without data is not sufficient. Request the underlying data if the progress report doesn’t include it.

If progress on a goal is flat or absent, that is often a signal that the service driving that goal isn’t being delivered consistently.

3. Ask Your Child’s Teachers Directly

Email the general education teacher and ask: “Do you have a copy of [child]’s IEP? Are you implementing the accommodations listed?” Specifically ask about the accommodations most relevant to your child: extended time, distraction-free testing, preferential seating, written instructions, modified assignments. Asking specific questions surfaces specific gaps.

If the teacher says they weren’t aware of an accommodation, that is itself an IEP implementation failure — general education teachers are required to have access to the portions of the IEP that apply to them.

4. Request a Classroom Observation

Parents have the right to observe their child in the school setting, though schools may establish reasonable procedures for doing so. A classroom observation lets you see firsthand whether accommodations like preferential seating are in place, whether the child is receiving pull-out services as scheduled, and how the general education teacher is interacting with the student’s support plan.

Red Flags That Services May Not Be Happening

• ✓Your child says they haven’t been pulled out for therapy in weeks, or doesn’t know their speech therapist’s name.
• ✓Progress reports are vague — no data, just subjective descriptions.
• ✓No progress over multiple reporting periods on a goal that should be progressing.
• ✓Teachers seem unfamiliar with the IEP when you ask about it.
• ✓Service providers frequently absent or positions unfilled for extended periods.
• ✓Your child comes home stressed or confused about accommodations not being applied on tests or assignments.

What to Do When You Find a Gap

Once you have documented evidence that services aren’t being delivered as written, the response is different from simply raising a concern. You now have the foundation for a formal complaint. See what to do when your child’s IEP isn’t being followed for the specific steps: written notice to the school, request for an IEP meeting, and if necessary, a state complaint or request for compensatory services.

The distinction between checking and acting matters. Parents who check first and document carefully are in a far stronger position than parents who raise concerns without evidence. Schools respond differently when a parent can say “I requested service logs and they show 14 sessions instead of 32 for this semester” than when a parent says “I feel like the services aren’t happening.”