Special education teacher supporting a student as he works on a writing assignment at a table. 22. Oct, 2026

IEP Support Check-In: Is Your Child’s IEP Actually Being Followed?

By October, the school year has settled into a rhythm. Your child has had time to adjust, teachers know their classes, and you’ve probably started to notice what is working.

And what isn’t.

That makes now a good time to check one thing closely: Is your child’s IEP actually being followed?

A missed accommodation or scheduling mix-up during the first week of school may be understandable. But six or eight weeks in, repeated problems are harder to dismiss as part of the back-to-school shuffle.

Your child’s IEP outlines the instruction, services, accommodations and supports they should be receiving. Comparing that plan with what is happening day to day can help you catch gaps early, before they start affecting your child’s progress.

Student with iep support needs reading a book at school.

Pull Out the IEP and Check the Details

Start with the IEP itself. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), your child’s IEP should spell out the special education and related services they will receive, including when those services begin and how often, where and for how long they will be provided. Federal regulations also require schools to have an IEP in effect for each eligible student at the beginning of the school year.

As you review the document, focus on the parts that affect your child’s day-to-day experience:

  • Special education instruction
  • Speech, occupational therapy or other related services
  • Classroom and testing accommodations
  • Supplementary aids and supports
  • Behavior supports, if applicable
  • Service frequency and duration
  • IEP goals and progress monitoring

Then compare the plan on paper with what your child is actually experiencing at school. That side-by-side check can make missing services, inconsistent accommodations or unexplained changes much easier to spot.

Check Whether IEP Services Have Started

By this point in the school year, you should have a clearer picture of whether scheduled IEP services are occurring.

If the IEP says your child receives speech therapy twice a week, for example, are those sessions taking place? If specialized academic instruction is supposed to happen for a certain amount of time each week, is your child receiving it?

IDEA requires special education and related services to be made available in accordance with a child’s IEP. The IEP itself should identify when services begin and how frequently they will occur. 

A missed session here or there may have an explanation, but repeated cancellations, services that never started or a schedule that looks very different from the IEP are all things to ask about. 

You can start with a simple question: Can you confirm what services my child has received so far this year and how often they are being provided?

Look at Accommodations Across Classes

Services are only one part of your child’s IEP support. Accommodations shape what that support looks like throughout the school day.

Depending on your child’s needs, those accommodations might include extended testing time, preferential seating, breaks, assistive technology, shortened assignments or access to notes. On paper, that can look straightforward. In practice, consistency is often where problems show up.

An accommodation may be used in one class but overlooked in another. A teacher may misunderstand when it applies, or your child may stop using it because they feel uncomfortable speaking up.

That’s why changes in grades, homework time, frustration or reluctance to attend a certain class can be useful clues. If something seems off, ask how accommodations are being implemented across different classes and settings.

Pay Attention to Schedule Changes

Scheduling changes can create IEP problems in ways that aren’t always obvious at first. Your child may still be receiving speech therapy or specialized instruction, for example, but at a new time that causes them to regularly miss science, art or another class. In other cases, a service may have been moved, shortened or rescheduled without you fully understanding how the new arrangement compares with what is written in the IEP.

Not every schedule change is a problem, but it’s worth looking closely at whether the services are still being delivered as planned. Pay particular attention if the amount of support seems to have changed. Federal guidance says an IEP should clearly describe the frequency, location and duration of special education, related services and supplementary aids, and schools cannot simply change the amount of service on their own. 

If the day-to-day schedule no longer seems to match the IEP, ask the school to walk you through what changed and how your child’s services are currently being provided.

Look at Progress, Too

Following the IEP on paper is only part of the picture. You also want to know whether the support your child is receiving is helping them make progress toward their annual goals.

By October, you may already have enough information to start seeing a pattern through work samples, assessments, teacher feedback and early progress data. Look at whether your child is moving forward, whether the same struggles keep showing up and whether what you’re seeing at home matches what the school is reporting.

A few questions can help you with that check:

  • Is my child moving toward their IEP goals?
  • Are the same struggles showing up week after week?
  • Has schoolwork become easier, harder or about the same?
  • Does what I’m seeing at home match what the school is reporting?
  • Can the team show me data demonstrating progress?

If services are being provided consistently but your child is still making little progress, the concern may go beyond implementation. The instruction, services or goals themselves may need to be revisited.

Ask Your Child What They’re Experiencing

Depending on their age and communication abilities, your child may be one of your best sources of information. You don’t need to conduct an interrogation; casual questions can tell you a lot.

You might ask:

  • Who helps you when work is difficult?
  • Do you still meet with your speech therapist?
  • What happens when you need extra time on a test?
  • Do you use your breaks?
  • Is there any class that feels harder this year?

You may discover that everything is working exactly as planned, but you may also hear something worth following up on.

Keep Track of Patterns

A single missed service or accommodation may be easy to explain, but a pattern, perhaps less so.

If you’re starting to notice repeated problems, keep a simple record of what’s happening. Save relevant emails and progress reports, note missed services or accommodations, and jot down dates when your child tells you something didn’t happen as expected.

You don’t need a complicated tracking system. Even a short timeline can make conversations with the school much more specific. Instead of saying, “I don’t think the IEP is being followed,” you can point to a concrete example: “Speech is scheduled twice a week, but my child has only had three sessions this month. Can you help me understand what happened?”

What Should You Do If Something Isn’t Happening?

Start by asking questions. Reach out to the teacher, case manager, service provider or special education coordinator and describe the specific concern. There may be a straightforward explanation or a problem the school can correct quickly.

If the issue continues, you may want to request an IEP meeting to review services, accommodations, implementation and your child’s progress.

If you’re having trouble determining whether the IEP is being implemented correctly, Advocate to Educate can help. Our special education advocates work with California families to review IEPs, identify concerns and prepare for productive conversations with school teams.

Contact Advocate to Educate to schedule a consultation and get IEP help tailored to your child’s situation.

FAQ

Does my child’s IEP have to be followed from the beginning of the school year?

Federal regulations require public agencies to have an IEP in effect for each eligible child at the beginning of the school year. For an initial IEP, special education and related services must be made available as soon as possible after the IEP is developed. 

How can I tell whether IEP services are being provided?

Compare the services listed in the IEP with your child’s actual schedule and experience. You can also ask the school for information about when services have been provided and who is delivering them.

What if my child misses an IEP service because a provider is absent?

An occasional missed service can happen. If cancellations become frequent or you’re concerned that your child is not receiving the amount of service listed in the IEP, ask the school how the missed time is being addressed.

Can a school change my child’s IEP services without telling me?

Schools cannot simply reduce or change services written into the IEP outside the required IEP process. If the school believes the program should change, that change should be addressed through the appropriate IEP procedures.

What if the IEP is being followed but my child still isn’t making progress?

That may be a sign that the current IEP needs to be reviewed. Ask what progress data the school has collected and whether changes to goals, instruction, services or supports should be considered.