What Actually Happens at a MET Meeting in Arizona Schools?

A MET (multidisciplinary evaluation team) meeting can be held two separate times: one where the team gets together to review existing data to determine areas they will collect additional data in, and the second is where a team of school staff and a child's parent/guardian look at completed evaluation results and decide whether the child qualifies for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal special education law. The first MET meeting can be referred to as MET 1 meeting or RED (review existing data) meeting and where the parent/guardian provides written consent for evaluation. In Arizona, the second MET meeting (MET 2) has to happen within 60 calendar days of the day a parent signs consent for evaluation, according to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).

The MET meeting is not the IEP meeting. An IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting is where the team writes the actual plan: goals, services, minutes of speech therapy, classroom supports. That can only happen after the MET has said yes, this child is eligible. Arizona gives the school 30 calendar days after an eligibility finding to hold that first IEP meeting, per ADE's timelines guidance. Two different meetings answering two different questions: does the child qualify, and if so, what does the plan look like.

Who are the required MET members:

The parent/guardian/surrogate parent who is included in the decision-making process

A school psychologist, usually the case manager for a full evaluation

A special education teacher who is knowledgeable in providing special education services (the speech-language pathologist can fill this role for a speech only evaluation)

A general education teacher from the child's same grade level

Someone who can interpret evaluation results (often the psychologist covers this too, or the speech-language pathologist for a speech only evaluation)

A district (local education agency) representative who is qualified to provide or supervise special education, knowledgeable in the general curriculum and can designate district resources

Any related service provider who tested the child, such as a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, or physical therapist, if their area was assessed for a full evaluation

Districts often collapse two or three of these roles into one person. A school psychologist frequently serves as both the psychologist and the person who interprets results. That's allowed as long as every role gets covered by someone in the room.

Almost everything discussed at the MET meeting was decided before anyone sat down. The testing is already finished. Cognitive and achievement testing, behavior rating scales, a speech-language evaluation, an occupational or physical therapy evaluation if one was referred, classroom observations, and a review of records like grades, attendance, and prior intervention data all happen in the weeks before the MET 2 meeting. What the team does live is discuss the written draft report, compare the scores against category criteria, and answer the two questions IDEA requires: does the child meet the definition of a specific disability, and does that disability create a need for special education services. The MET 2 meeting is a review and a decision, not a testing session.

Eligibility runs through 34 CFR 300.8, the federal regulation under IDEA (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34) that lists 13 disability categories: autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment including blindness. A child has to fit one of these categories, and the disability has to create a need for specially designed instruction, meaning it affects the child's school performance enough that regular classroom support isn't sufficient on its own. Both parts have to be true. A diagnosis from an outside doctor or private psychologist doesn't automatically satisfy either part; the MET makes its own determination from the school's evaluation data. Per ADE's own guidance, no single person on the team decides eligibility alone.

In the room, a parent can ask questions about any score or conclusion in the report. A parent can disagree with the team's eligibility finding and say so on the record, and that disagreement should show up in the paperwork. A parent cannot force the team to a specific eligibility conclusion just by objecting to it, and cannot unilaterally stop the meeting from happening once the 60 day window is running. What a parent can do if more time is needed: ask to pause and reconvene before a final decision gets made, ask for a copy of the full evaluation report before the meeting instead of seeing it for the first time in the room, or bring another person along for support. If the school denies eligibility, or denies a parent's request during the meeting, the school has to issue a prior written notice (PWN), a required document that spells out what was decided and why.

Once the MET finds a child eligible, the clock starts immediately to develop an IEP. Arizona schools have 30 calendar days from the eligibility determination date to hold the IEP meeting and put a plan in place, per ADE's timelines page. Those are calendar days, not school days, so the clock keeps running through a school break. If the MET finds the child not eligible, the school still owes a prior written notice explaining the basis for that finding, and a parent who disagrees with the finding itself has a different set of options worth a separate conversation.

Most of what decides a MET meeting's outcome happens on paper and in scores a parent usually hasn't seen laid out plainly. Don't be discouraged; have faith the team will interpret the scores plainly so all team members will understand. And if you don't understand, ask for clarification and ask as many questions as you need to.

What Actually Happens at a MET Meeting in Arizona Schools?

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