Early Bird Gets the Worm: The Use of the Self-Directed IEP at the Middle School Level for Students with EBD

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) may benefit from specific instruction on ways to prepare for and participate in their own Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. In this article, we describe the application of a research-based self-directed IEP process that can be used by educators to effectively foster participation by students with EBD in their IEP meetings. Research support, a detailed overview, and guidelines on how educators can implement this research-based practice at the middle school level are included. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of implementing research- or evidence-based practices in the daily instructional programming of students with EBD in middle school.