IEP Tips: Get Your Child Challenged in Special Ed

Series: The Under-Challenged Child (Part 2 of 3)

In Part 1 of this series, we identified the six warning signs that your child is being under-challenged in their special education setting. You’ve seen the red flags: the reports of boredom, the perfect scores on easy work, and the feeling that your child is stagnating instead of growing.

Recognizing the problem is the first step. Now comes the most important part: taking action. Your child’s upcoming IEP meeting is the perfect opportunity to advocate for the appropriate level of challenge they are legally entitled to. But what, exactly, should you ask for?

Simply saying “make it harder” isn’t enough. You need to walk into that meeting with specific, reasonable, and legally-grounded requests. This post will give you the seven key things to ask for to ensure your child’s special education is, in fact, special enough.

The Legal Foundation for Your Requests

Before we dive into the requests, remember that your advocacy is backed by law. The key is the 2017 Supreme Court case, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. This landmark ruling clarified that a school must offer an IEP that is “reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.”

The court rejected the old standard that a “merely more than de minimis” (or minimal) benefit was enough. The key takeaway for you is the term “appropriately ambitious.” Your child’s goals and services must be challenging.

With this legal principle in your back pocket, you can confidently make the following requests.

7 Specific Requests for Your IEP Meeting

1. A Change in Service Delivery or Grouping

This is often the most effective solution. If your child is in a group with a wide range of abilities, they may not be getting the attention they need.

What to Ask: “My child is not being adequately challenged in their current group. What other options are available? Is there another resource room group that is working on higher-level skills? Can we look at a different service delivery model?”
Possible Solutions: Moving to a different small group, creating a new group if other students have similar needs, or changing the frequency/duration of services.

2. More Ambitious and Measurable IEP Goals

Review the current IEP goals. Are they designed to maintain skills or to teach new ones? If your child is 1-2 years below grade level, the goals should be designed to close that gap, not just keep it from widening.

What to Ask: “These goals seem to be focused on skills my child has already mastered. I would like to work with the team to draft more ambitious goals that are aligned with closing the gap to grade-level standards. For example, instead of ‘counting to 10,’ let’s work on a goal for ‘solving single-digit addition problems.’”

IEP Advocate.ai Tip: Use our Goal Bank to find examples of ambitious, standards-aligned goals for your child’s grade level and disability category. You can bring these suggestions directly to the IEP meeting.

3. Differentiation Within the Small Group

Even if the group can’t be changed, the instruction within the group can be. The teacher should be providing different assignments to different students based on their needs.

What to Ask: “How is instruction being differentiated for my child in the resource room? Can we see examples of the modified work they are receiving? I am concerned they are spending too much time on independent work that is not at their instructional level.”

4. Increased Inclusion in the General Education Classroom

If the special education setting is not providing enough rigor, perhaps your child needs to spend more time in the general education classroom with appropriate supports. This is a key component of providing the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).

What to Ask: “I am concerned that the resource room is becoming more restrictive than necessary. I would like to discuss increasing my child’s time in the general education classroom for [Subject]. What accommodations and supports, such as a co-teacher or aide, can be provided to make them successful there?”

5. A Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)

If your child’s boredom is leading to disruptive behavior, an FBA can be a powerful tool. It can formally identify that the root cause of the behavior is a lack of academic challenge, which puts pressure on the school to address it.

What to Ask: “My child’s behavior has changed since starting in this group. I believe it is a direct result of academic frustration and boredom. I am requesting a Functional Behavioral Assessment to determine the function of this behavior.”

6. Better Data and Progress Monitoring

How does the school know your child is making “adequate progress”? You have a right to see the data. Vague reports are not enough.

What to Ask: “I would like to see the raw data being collected for my child’s IEP goals. I want to see the trial-by-trial data sheets, not just the summary on the progress report. We need objective data to determine if this placement and these goals are appropriate.”

7. A Trial Period for a New Placement

If the school is hesitant to make a change, propose a trial period. This is a reasonable, low-risk way to see if a new approach will work.

What to Ask: “I understand your concerns about moving her to a different setting. Can we agree to a 30-day trial period in the general education classroom with a co-teacher for math? We can meet again after 30 days to review the data and make a final decision.”

What’s Next?

Now you have a list of what to ask for. But how you ask is just as important as what you ask. In the next part of our series, we’ll cover the exact scripts and language to use to advocate for your child with confidence and authority.

Coming Up in Part 3: How to Advocate for More Challenge: Scripts and Language for Your IEP Meeting

Related reading:

What to Ask For When Your Child Needs More Challenge