Michigan IEP Meeting Checklist: Questions to Ask and What to Bring

Walking into a Michigan IEP meeting unprepared puts you at a structural disadvantage. You are one person. The school side of the table may include a special education teacher, a general education teacher, a school psychologist, a speech-language pathologist, and a district representative. They have read the documents. They wrote the goals. They know the terminology.

This checklist is designed to close that gap.

Before the Meeting: What to Request

Request all documents at least five business days before the meeting. This is your right under FERPA. Send the request in writing (email is fine). Ask for:

• The draft IEP, including the proposed PLAAFP and all proposed goals
• The most recent MET report or re-evaluation results
• Progress monitoring data on current IEP goals
• Any behavior data, incident reports, or functional behavior assessment materials
• The current 504 plan (if applicable)

If the school provides the draft IEP at the meeting table and asks you to review and sign it in the same session, you do not have to. You can adjourn the meeting and reconvene after you have had time to review the document. Predetermination — creating the IEP before the meeting and presenting it as a done deal — violates IDEA and MARSE.

What to Bring to the Michigan IEP Meeting

• Printed copies of previous IEPs: allows you to compare proposed goals to prior goals and track whether progress was made
• Progress monitoring reports from this year: the school should have these; if they have not been sent home, request them
• Your own observation log: specific dated notes about what you have observed at home — homework completion times, emotional dysregulation incidents, skill gains or losses
• Your Parent Concern Statement: a written, data-driven statement of your concerns prepared before the meeting. MARSE requires the team to consider it; having it in writing ensures it is formally recorded in the meeting notes.
• Medication and medical documentation (if relevant to your accommodation requests)
• A list of questions — this checklist

PLAAFP Review Questions

The Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance is the foundation. Everything else — goals, services, accommodations — must be tied back to documented needs in the PLAAFP. Review it before the meeting and ask:

• What data was used to write this PLAAFP? What assessment results, classroom data, and progress monitoring informed each statement?
• Does the PLAAFP address all areas affected by the disability — academic, functional, social/emotional, behavioral, communication, and adaptive?
• How does the current PLAAFP compare to last year's? What progress or regression does it show?
• Is there anything in the PLAAFP that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete? You can request amendments.

A critical MARSE rule: if a need is not documented in the PLAAFP, the team cannot write a goal or provide a service to address it. If the PLAAFP omits your child's executive function deficits, sensory needs, or social communication challenges, those areas cannot receive support under the IEP.

Annual Goals Review Questions

For each proposed goal:

• What is the measurable criterion? (What number or percentage constitutes "meeting" the goal?)
• What is the baseline? Where is my child starting from?
• How will progress be measured, and how often?
• Who is responsible for measuring and recording progress?
• How does this goal connect to the documented need in the PLAAFP?
• What happens if my child is not on track to meet this goal before the annual review?

If last year's goals were not met, ask: "What evidence tells us why the goal was not met, and what is different about the proposed approach this year?" A recycled unmet goal without a change in strategy is a signal that the IEP is not being individualized.

Services and Accommodations Review Questions

• How many minutes per week of each service are being proposed? In what setting (pull-out, push-in, co-taught)?
• Who will provide the service? What are their qualifications?
• What accommodations are being proposed, and in what settings do they apply?
• Are current accommodations being implemented consistently? (Ask each teacher separately — their answers reveal whether the plan is working.)
• Has the team considered ESY? What data was reviewed? Michigan IEP teams must document their ESY consideration under MARSE R 340.1721e.

Under the 2024 MARSE updates, programs for students with specific learning disabilities may have no more than 10 students in the classroom. If your child is in a resource room setting, ask how many students are currently enrolled in that program.

Discipline and Behavior Questions

If your child has had disciplinary incidents:

• Has a Functional Behavior Assessment been conducted? If so, when, and what did it find?
• Is there a Behavior Intervention Plan? Is it being implemented consistently across all settings?
• Have the suspension days this year been tracked? (10 cumulative school days in a pattern triggers the requirement for an MDR and potentially a BIP.)
• Is the team considering whether the behavior is a manifestation of the disability?

Transition Questions (Age 14–16 and Older)

Michigan requires transition planning to begin no later than the year the student turns 16, though the team may start earlier. At any meeting for a student approaching secondary school:

• Has age-appropriate transition assessment been conducted? What tools were used?
• Has the student been invited to participate in the meeting? Michigan law requires student participation in transition planning.
• Is the team discussing Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) or community mental health linkages?
• Has the team discussed the Personal Curriculum option? Students with IEPs can modify Michigan Merit Curriculum requirements — including Algebra II — through the PC process if it aligns with transition goals.

Your Rights at the Meeting

• You can bring a support person — a parent advocate, trusted family member, or attorney. Notify the school in advance.
• You can record the meeting. Michigan is a two-party consent state, so you must notify the district before recording. They can also record, and they must inform you.
• You can request that any verbal agreements be written into the IEP or in a follow-up email before you leave the meeting.
• You do not have to sign the IEP at the meeting. You can take it home, review it, and sign it later. Signing consent to services separately from agreeing with the IEP content is possible — ask the team about this distinction.
• If you disagree with any part of the IEP, you can note your disagreement in writing (in the meeting notes) without blocking services from starting.

If the meeting concludes without resolution on a disputed point, request a follow-up meeting date before you leave. Every important agreement, unresolved issue, and follow-up action should be captured in the written meeting notes.

The Michigan IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a complete meeting preparation packet: a Parent Concern Statement template, a goal review rubric, and a post-meeting documentation checklist to use immediately after you leave the room.

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