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IEPs and Support Plans

An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is a written plan for a student. It helps the student, their family and the school team understand what the student is working toward, what will help and how the team will look at progress.

What might be in an IEP?

  • Your child’s strengths, interests and priorities.
  • Goals the school team will help your child work toward.
  • Teaching strategies, tools or services that support those goals.
  • How the team will look for progress and share updates.

For example, a student might want a way to ask for a break during group work. Their plan could describe the signal they choose, how adults will respond and how the team will check whether it’s working for the student.

B.C. requires school boards to offer parents or guardians a chance to give input when a required IEP is prepared. Students are offered that opportunity where appropriate. The board must review the plan at least once per school year after the year it is developed. See B.C.’s Individual Education Plan Order (PDF).

Taking part in an IEP meeting

Before the meeting

Make a short list of what your child enjoys, what helps them learn and one or two priorities you want to discuss. Ask how your child can share what matters to them. They might join for part of the meeting, write down their ideas or ask someone to share those ideas for them.

If you need an interpreter, an accessible format or another way to take part, let the school know when you arrange the meeting.

During the meeting

Talk through what each goal would look like in a regular school day. Ask which strategies will help, who will coordinate them and how you’ll know they’re working.

A question to bring
“Can you show me an example of what progress toward this goal might look like in class?”

After the meeting

Ask how you’ll get a copy of the plan, when you’ll hear about progress and who to contact between meetings. If a strategy helps at home or your child’s needs change, share that with the school team.

Terms you may hear

Adaptation
A change in how a student accesses learning or shows what they know, with the same learning goals. For example, a student may listen to a science article when the goal is to understand the science content.
Modification
A change to the learning goals a student is working toward in a subject or course. If the team discusses a modification, ask what your child will work on and how their progress will be reported.

What if the school mentions a different support plan?

Ask what that plan is for, which strategies it will document, who will coordinate it and how the school will check whether it’s helping. If your child also has an IEP, ask how the plans work together.

More information for families

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