The Mississippi IEP Process: Step by Step from Referral to Annual Review

If you're navigating the IEP process in Mississippi for the first time, you're dealing with a system that has specific state rules layered on top of federal law — and a track record of systemic noncompliance that puts the burden on parents to know their rights. The process has defined steps and defined timelines. When those timelines aren't followed, that is a violation you can act on.

Here is what the Mississippi IEP process actually looks like, step by step.

Step 1: Child Find and Referral

Mississippi public school districts have an ongoing legal obligation called Child Find: they must actively identify, locate, and evaluate all children suspected of having disabilities, from birth through age 21. This obligation applies to students in public schools, private schools, charter schools, and homeless or migrant children.

For children from birth through age 34.5 months, the relevant agency is the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) First Steps Early Intervention Program. For older children, the obligation lies with the local school district.

A referral for a special education evaluation can come from:

• A parent (this is most common — and most important for you to know)
• A classroom teacher
• Teacher Support Team (TST) members

You can make a referral in writing at any time. The school cannot require you to complete an MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) intervention cycle before accepting your written referral. If the school tells you to "wait and see" or "try these supports first," that is not a legal prerequisite to a formal evaluation request. Submit your request in writing, note the date, and the clock starts.

Step 2: Review and Parental Consent for Evaluation

Once a referral is received, the district convenes a Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) to decide:

1. Whether to proceed with a comprehensive evaluation, and
2. What assessments are needed

If the MET recommends an evaluation, the district must obtain your informed written consent before conducting any assessments. Consent must be given in your native language. Signing consent for evaluation does not mean you're agreeing to receive special education services — those are two separate consent events.

If you refuse consent for the evaluation, the district may (but is not required to) pursue the evaluation through mediation or due process. That's uncommon. What's more common is parents who don't know their consent matters at every stage.

Step 3: Comprehensive Evaluation — 60-Calendar-Day Deadline

This is Mississippi's hardest deadline: the full evaluation must be completed within 60 calendar days of the date the district receives your signed consent. Not 60 business days. Calendar days.

The only permissible exceptions: if you repeatedly fail or refuse to bring the child for testing, or if your child transfers to a new district during the active evaluation window.

A proper evaluation under Mississippi's MET process must use multiple sources of data — not a single test. The battery typically includes cognitive assessment, academic achievement testing, behavioral rating scales, direct observation, and parent interview. The evaluators must assess in every suspected area of disability.

Step 4: Eligibility Determination

After the evaluation is complete, the MET meets to determine eligibility. Two things must be true:

1. The child has one of Mississippi's 13 recognized disability categories
2. The disability adversely affects educational performance such that the child requires specially designed instruction

If the team finds the child eligible, an IEP must be developed within 30 days of the eligibility determination. If ineligible, the district must provide Prior Written Notice explaining the decision and your options — including requesting an Independent Educational Evaluation if you disagree with the assessment.

Step 5: IEP Development

The IEP meeting brings together the full IEP team: you (a required member), a special education teacher, a general education teacher, a district representative with authority to commit resources, someone who can interpret evaluation results, and the student (when appropriate). Other specialists attend based on the child's needs.

Mississippi requires a Standards-Based IEP framework. The document must include:

• PLAAFP (Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance) — the baseline from which all goals are written
• Measurable annual goals with Short-Term Instructional Objectives and Benchmarks — this is a Mississippi-specific requirement beyond the federal minimum
• Progress monitoring method and reporting schedule — typically aligned with standard report card periods
• Specially designed instruction — the actual services, minutes per week, location of services
• Related services (speech, OT, PT, counseling) — if needed
• Least Restrictive Environment justification — why the child is placed where they are
• State assessment participation — standard MAAP with/without accommodations, or alternate MAAP-A
• Transition plan — required at age 14 in Mississippi

Step 6: Implementation

Once the IEP is finalized, implementation must begin immediately — not at the start of the next quarter, not after the district schedules things. As soon as an IEP is in effect, services begin.

Keep a log of service delivery. If your child's IEP says 45 minutes of speech therapy twice weekly and weeks are passing without sessions, that is a failure to implement a legally binding document. Document the gaps and raise them in writing with the special education coordinator.

Step 7: Progress Monitoring and Reporting

Mississippi uses a specific Progress on Annual Goal (PAG) coding system in the IEP:

• A — Sufficient progress toward goal
• B — Insufficient progress toward goal
• C — Goal met
• D — Skill not yet introduced

If your child receives a B (Insufficient Progress), the IEP team is required to reconvene, analyze why the instruction failed, and adjust the approach. You don't have to wait for the annual review. Request the meeting as soon as you receive the progress report.

Step 8: Annual Review

Mississippi IEPs must be reviewed at least annually by the full IEP team. The review examines whether goals were met, updates the PLAAFP with new baseline data, and develops goals for the coming year.

Watch the "Projected Date of Annual Review" on your child's IEP. Letting this date pass without a meeting is a procedural violation. If the district misses the annual review date, request in writing that the meeting be scheduled immediately and note that the deadline has passed.

Step 9: Triennial Re-evaluation

Every three years (the "triennial"), the district must conduct a re-evaluation to confirm your child still qualifies for special education and identify any changes in educational needs. A re-evaluation may use existing data if the IEP team and parent agree — in which case no new testing is required. But you can always request additional assessments if you believe the child's needs have changed.

The Mississippi IEP & 504 Blueprint provides the complete timeline tracking tool, the list of documents to request at each stage, and the specific language for forcing the district to meet its legal deadlines.

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