10/09/2026
4 ARD (IEP) Meeting Red Flags 🚩🚩🚩🚩 Parents Should Know
An ARD/IEP meeting should be centered on one question:
What does this individual student need to make meaningful educational progress?
Parents do not need to know every special education law or acronym to participate effectively. They do, however, need to recognize statements or practices that may signal the team is making decisions based on convenience, availability, or assumptions rather than the student’s documented needs.
🚩 1. “We don’t offer that here.”
This statement deserves follow-up questions.
An IEP is supposed to be individualized. The discussion should not begin and end with what a particular campus routinely provides. If data show that a student needs a particular service, support, accommodation, instructional approach, or placement consideration, the ARD committee should discuss that need.
A helpful parent response might be:
“Can we look at the data and discuss what my child needs before determining what services are appropriate?”
The program should respond to the child. The child should not simply be expected to fit into the programs already available.
🚩 2. There is little or no current PLAAFP data.
The Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, or PLAAFP, are one of the most important parts of an IEP.
The PLAAFP should help the team understand:
• What the student can currently do independently
• Where the student is struggling
• How the disability affects involvement and progress in school
• What skills need direct instruction or support
• What data will serve as the starting point for measuring progress
Why is this so important?
Because the PLAAFP should help drive the student's goals, accommodations, services, supports, and progress monitoring.
If a goal says a student will improve reading comprehension to 80% accuracy, for example, parents should be able to ask:
“What is the student's current level of performance?”
Without a clear baseline, it becomes much harder to determine whether the IEP is appropriately ambitious or whether the student is actually making progress.
🚩 3. “We don’t have staff for that.”
Staffing shortages can create legitimate challenges for schools, but staffing availability should not determine whether a student receives an educational service the ARD committee determines is necessary.
Parents can respectfully redirect the conversation:
“I understand there may be a staffing concern; however, we need to determine "what" my child requires educationally."
"How" the district will provide it is not an ARD Committee problem.
🚩 4. The IEP teaches a skill but never considers generalization.
A student may demonstrate a skill during a structured lesson and still struggle to use that same skill in everyday situations.
For many students, particularly those working on executive functioning, communication, behavior, social skills, self-advocacy, or independent living skills, the team should consider whether the skill can be used across appropriate people, environments, classes, and situations.
For example:
A student who can ask for help during a resource class may still need support learning to ask for clarification in Algebra.
A student who uses a coping strategy with a special education teacher may need practice using it in the cafeteria or during an unexpected schedule change.
A student who organizes materials successfully during a coached activity may still struggle to independently organize assignments across six different classes.
True functional mastery is not simply performing a skill once. It is being able to use that skill when it is actually needed.
Not every goal must be written across multiple settings, but when generalization is important to the student's independence and educational progress, it should be part of the team's discussion.
Parents: You Do Not Have to Sit Quietly When Something Does Not Make Sense
Ask questions.
Ask to see the data.
Ask what the student's baseline is.
Ask how progress will be measured.
Ask whether a recommendation is based on your child's individual needs or simply on what is currently available.
You are an important member of your child's ARD/IEP committee.
Know the red flags 🚩🚩and advocate with confidence. 👍⭐️
Level Up Plus assists parents with questions, processes and procedures regarding ARDs and 504 Plans.
Level Up services also specializes in Executive Function and ADHD training and coaching.
Virtual or in person options.
🚨 New Program Alert‼️
Level Up Parent Club
(monthly advocacy membership)
You got questions? 🤷♀️
We have answers. 👍
Let’s talk. ⭐️
Comment “Advocacy” for more information.
www.levelupplus.org
