Module Description:
IEP meetings often center on adult voices, even though students are the ones most impacted by the decisions being made. This one-hour, self-paced experience encourages educators to reimagine the IEP as a space where deaf students build confidence, agency, and self-advocacy over time.
Through real-life examples, research-informed practices, and classroom-tested strategies, educators are guided to rethink student leadership in IEP meetings for middle and high school students. Centering deaf students’ lived experiences and language access needs, the approach emphasizes preparation, access, and intentional support, shifting the educator’s role from gatekeeper to coach, so participation is meaningful rather than performative, and students are supported in making small, sustainable steps toward speaking for themselves and shaping decisions about their learning.
Learning objectives – Participants will be able to:
- Explain how student-led IEPs function as a developmental continuum of participation and why this approach supports deaf students’ self-determination and long-term advocacy skills.
- Analyze how access, communication structures, and educator roles affect deaf students’ participation in IEP meetings.
- Recognize educator practices that support or limit meaningful student leadership in IEP processes.
- Reflect on potential next steps to increase deaf student leadership within their professional context.
Badge information: Module content category – Systems Knowledge
Earn Your Empowering Deaf Students: Making Student-Led IEPs Work in Middle & High School badge
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Continuing Education Credit: This module is pre-approved for 1 NDC Continuing Professional Education Clock Hour.
