Iowa’s ACHIEVE Family Portal recently celebrated its first anniversary, marking a full-year of easy access to special education and Early ACCESS records for parents and guardians across the state.
Sponsored by the Iowa Department of Education, this innovative, first-in-the-nation online system offers families immediate, 24/7 access to their child’s information. Iowa parents or guardians of a child with an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individualized Education Program (IEP) can use the ACHIEVE Family Portal to support their awareness and engagement in their child’s education and development—and results are showing that it is making a difference.
“I love that I can log in at any time, day or night, to look at the progress monitoring,” said Wendy Andersen, parent of a student at Treynor Community School District. “I frequently will have a question about something on her IEP, so being able to have access to it on my own computer is amazing.”
Parents like Andersen have reported that accessing their child’s information electronically has helped support development and learning and has allowed them to participate with confidence in IFSP and IEP meetings. They can also review and sign consent forms immediately through the ACHIEVE Family Portal, which can help reduce delays in their child’s progress.
“I like being able to sign the consent forms through the portal, so they can talk to all of my children’s providers for updates,” said Joy Barlean, parent of two students at Des Moines Public Schools. “Through the ACHIEVE Family Portal, I can also access everything and can see real-time progress monitoring and data that is relevant to me. It allows me to see what’s happening, what’s changed and how it compares to previous language.”
The ACHIEVE Family Portal serves as a one-stop shop for parents and guardians, providing important meeting notices, an online calendar to track upcoming related events and a hub for all past and present materials.
“With the family portal, we don’t have to reach out to the teacher all of the time or wait until a conference or meeting to see how our daughter is doing and know what things we can work on with her at home,” said Joel Weeks, parent of a student at Iowa Falls Community School District. “My daughter’s situation has changed over time, so it’s been nice to have a one-stop place to see everything that has occurred without going through a pile of paperwork.”
Over 8,800 parents across Iowa currently use the ACHIEVE Family Portal to access records and information. Families and other stakeholders have been important collaborators for the overall portal system, providing feedback and identifying practical areas for improvement that help to further strengthen the portal’s user experience and effectiveness.
“Parents and guardians have been strong partners in the success of the ACHIEVE Family Portal,” said Betsy Lin, chief for the Department’s Bureau of Student Evaluation, Instruction, and Services. “From their experiences and feedback, we have made important adjustments to the portal to ensure families can easily access information they need to support their child’s educational goals.”
Using the ACHIEVE Family Portal is optional for families and does not replace person-to-person communication. IFSP and IEP teams are still required to provide families with copies of records and information. The portal serves as another useful tool for parents who are assisting their child’s progress.
“It empowers us as parents to be an active part of our child’s education and team,” Andersen said. “I’m glad it’s available and hope more parents take advantage of it.”
Additional information, including frequently asked questions on how to create and use an account, can be found on the Department’s ACHIEVE Family Portal webpage.