IEP Meeting Preparation in Spain: How to Prepare for Spanish Special Education Meetings

You have a meeting scheduled with your child's orientador (school educational psychologist) or with the EOEP team. You have been handed a Spanish document you partially understand, or you are about to receive one. Here is how to prepare so you walk out of that room knowing what your child is actually entitled to — and what has been committed in writing.

What to Know Before the Meeting

Spanish special education meetings are not legally adversarial in the way US IEP meetings are structured. There is no "team" in the IDEA sense where the school must include parents as equal members of a legally constituted group. The meeting is a professional consultation, and the tone is usually cooperative rather than combative.

That said, the outcome of the meeting — what gets written into the Dictamen de Escolarización or the ACI (Adaptación Curricular Individualizada) — has real consequences for what support your child receives. Coming in prepared with specific, documented questions produces materially better outcomes than arriving with general concerns.

The key professionals you may be meeting with:

• Orientador: The school's internal educational psychologist. Controls the evaluation process and coordinates the ACI.
• EOEP team member: An external regional psychologist. Their evaluation triggers formal NEE designation and state-funded resources.
• School director (director del centro): May attend for formal review meetings, particularly if there are disputed resource allocations.
• Class tutor (tutor): The homeroom teacher who implements day-to-day adaptations.

Documents to Bring

Bring copies of everything you have — but understand which documents carry formal weight in the Spanish system and which are supporting background.

What carries formal weight:

• Any prior Spanish evaluation documents (informe psicopedagógico, dictamen de escolarización, ACI)
• Any existing informe médico (medical report) from a Spanish doctor or Spanish hospital

What is supporting background only:

• Foreign diagnoses (US IEP, UK EHCP, Australian ILP, Canadian IEP) — these have no direct legal transferability in Spain. To be used as evidence, they should ideally be apostilled by the Hague apostille authority in the country of origin and translated by a traductor jurado (sworn translator certified by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs). A regular translation will be rejected.
• Private psychological evaluations obtained in Spain — these inform the public orientador's decision but do not independently trigger state-funded resources.

Questions to Ask the Orientador

Prepare these questions in advance and, if possible, bring a written list. Even if your Spanish is limited, having the written questions allows a translator to convey them precisely.

On the evaluation:

• Has a formal evaluación psicopedagógica been opened for my child?
• If not, what specific interventions must be documented first before escalation to the EOEP?
• What is the expected timeline for the EOEP evaluation?
• Will I receive a written summary of today's meeting?

On the support plan:

• Does my child currently have an ACI (Adaptación Curricular Individualizada)? If so, is it significativa (modifying core curriculum) or no significativa (modifying methodology only)?
• How many hours per week is my child currently receiving with the PT (Pedagogía Terapéutica) teacher?
• Is my child on the schedule for the AL (Audición y Lenguaje) specialist?
• What specific accommodations are being made in the regular classroom by the tutor?

On your rights:

• If I disagree with the recommendations, how do I formally submit my objection?
• What is the deadline for filing a Recurso de Alzada if I wish to challenge the Dictamen?

Understanding the ACI: What the Document Actually Says

If you are reviewing an ACI at the meeting, the most important thing to establish immediately is which type it is:

ACI Significativa modifies the core learning objectives and evaluation criteria — the bar is lowered. Your child is working toward different goals than their classmates. In secondary school (ESO), a significant ACI means your child is not completing the standard state curriculum and may not be eligible for the standard Título de Graduado en ESO (high school graduation diploma). This has implications for future university access and must be understood clearly before you sign.

ACI No Significativa modifies the methodology and format of assessment without lowering the core academic bar. Extra time (typically 25%), oral exams instead of written, use of a computer, modified seating — these are non-significant adaptations. The child is still working toward the same academic objectives as peers.

Ask explicitly: "Is this an ACI significativa o no significativa?" If the answer is significativa, ask how this affects your child's path to the ESO graduation diploma and what alternative pathways exist under LOMLOE's diversification programs.

The Special Education Plan Template: What Gets Written Down

Spain does not use a standardized national IEP form the way the US does. Each region and school may use slightly different formats for the ACI, and some regions additionally use a PTI (Plan de Trabajo Individualizado) — a more granular term-by-term execution document that sits alongside the broader ACI.

What a complete support plan should contain:

• Current performance levels — where the child is academically across key subjects
• Specific objectives — what the child is expected to achieve over the period (usually one academic year)
• Methodological adaptations — how instruction will be modified
• Assessment adaptations — how the child will be evaluated (extended time, oral vs written, etc.)
• Specialist support — how many hours per week with PT and/or AL, in what format (pull-out or push-in)
• Review schedule — when the plan will be formally reviewed (typically once per term)
• Signatures — school director, orientador, and parents

Request a copy of any document you sign. If you sign in a meeting and a copy is not provided immediately, ask for one in writing and follow up.

After the Meeting: Follow Through in Writing

Send a brief follow-up email to the orientador summarizing what was agreed in the meeting. This does two things: it confirms your understanding is accurate, and it creates a written record if commitments are later forgotten or denied.

If a review date was set, note it in your calendar and send a reminder one month in advance. In the Spanish system, follow-up is almost always the parent's responsibility.

The Spain Special Education Blueprint includes complete bilingual meeting preparation checklists and ACI review templates designed for expat parents who are navigating Spain's system for the first time — with the exact vocabulary you need to ask the right questions and understand the answers.

See more Spain guides →