A FIELD MANUAL · NO. I
WILLIAM J. PORTA, ESQ., M.ED.
I learned the IEP process as a father before I ever practiced it as a lawyer.
The school district sends a team to your child's meeting. They know the law, the deadlines, and the words that trigger obligations. The IEP Field Manual, written by a special-education attorney who is also a special-education parent, teaches you the same playbook: a 651-page national manual plus a 329-page 50-State Companion, 980 pages across two volumes. Now a living online membership, kept current as the law moves. $14 a month or $99 a year.
Educational information · Not legal advice · Membership opens soon
Not for suing your school. For walking in prepared.
What do you need to do next?
Choose one of five common parent tasks. Each path starts with a useful public step and points to selected Manual tools that carry the work forward.
Open the material before you decide.
These ten public previews show the Manual’s range without turning the homepage into a 97-item index.
- MeetingTool 48: the meeting-week countdown
- MeetingTool 52: the parent-concerns letter
- EvaluationTool 1: create a provable evaluation request
- EvaluationTool 8: find the applicable evaluation timeline
- Services and progressTool 24: make a service enforceable
- Services and progressTool 68: decode a progress report
- DisciplineTool 62: count removal days
- DisciplineTool 63: log an informal removal
- DisagreementTool 89: request prior written notice
- DisagreementTool 90: understand the state-complaint route
Browse all 97 toolsBrowse all 40 lettersRead the dated update log
One manual. Every meeting, every deadline, every letter. Kept current.
Referral, evaluation, eligibility, the document, the goals, the placement, the meeting, the behavior plan, the discipline rules, the data, the transitions, the disputes. Fourteen parts. Ninety-seven numbered tools. Each one with the rule, the citation you can point to, and the exact next move: the sentence to say, the letter to send, the deadline to calendar. Special-education law moves; the membership keeps the Manual moving with it.
A FIELD MANUAL · NO. I
The IEP
Field Manual
97 tools for getting your child
the education the law
already promises
651 pages · First Edition
William J. Porta, Esq., M.Ed.
The membership · read online · kept current
The complete playbook for the parent's side of the table.
The evaluation-request letter. The IEE the district pays for. The goal autopsy. The ten-day discipline tripwire. The meeting scripts, the records requests, the dispute ladder, with the regulation cited beside every move, in plain kitchen-table English.
- The full Manual, onlineall 97 tools and 40 fill-in-the-blank letters, readable on any phone, tablet, or computerIncluded
- The 50-State Companionyour state's deadlines, filing routes, and rules; every state page shows the date its law was last checkedIncluded
- Editable lettersdownload the fill-in-the-blank letters ready to edit and send · five downloads every weekIncluded
- The eight visual mapsone-page flowcharts for the hardest sequences; every step opens the tool that governs itIncluded
- Search that speaks parenttype “school keeps calling me to pick him up” and land on the right toolIncluded
Membership opens soon · get the free chapter and we'll email you at launch · Cancel anytime · 14-day money-back on your first charge
Where preparation may reduce paid help.
When a disagreement with a district escalates, families buy help (by the hour, by the case, or out of their own pocket) and it adds up fast. The right-hand column is the same family after reading the Manual. Fees and outcomes vary by location, complexity, professional, and case posture, and the Manual does not replace individualized professional advice.
What families pay for help
Priced by the hour, by the case, or out of pocket| Outside help | How it is priced |
|---|---|
| Special-education advocate | By the hour, or a full-case package |
| Special-education attorney | By the hour; contested cases run highest |
| Private neuropsychological evaluation | Out of pocket, if insurance won't cover it |
What this help costs varies widely by region, provider, and case, which is exactly why going in prepared matters.
The same family, prepared
After the Manual| Prepared step | Your cost |
|---|---|
| This manual: the process, the letters, the deadlines | $14/mo or $99/yr |
| Independent evaluation requested correctly at public expense under 34 C.F.R. § 300.502* | $0* |
| Disputes raised on the written record, before anyone is hired | Postage |
| A flat-fee attorney records review, when you actually need one | A one-time flat fee, priced by the provider |
*A district may instead ask a hearing officer to defend its own evaluation; the Manual covers exactly that fork.
Preparation does not guarantee you will never need a lawyer. It means you will not pay one by the hour to teach you what a records request is. And when you do hire one, your paper trail does half the work.
Judge it by what it replaces.
This book is newly published. Reader results will be printed here when readers send them: real names, real districts, with written permission. Until then, judge it by what it replaces: the help families otherwise buy by the hour.
An attorney explaining your evaluation rights across a conference table bills by the hour. Part II explains them in plain English you can reread at midnight, with the letters already written.
An advocate at the table is valuable, and much of what you pay for by the hour is preparation you can do yourself, once someone hands you the checklist. The checklists are in the Evidence Binder System.
The most expensive option. A missed evaluation timeline is a school year lost. A missed ten-day discipline tripwire is a placement lost. The Manual's deadline tables come with a $14-a-month membership.
And when the ordinary process becomes a hearing.
The IEP Field Manual is built to keep your dispute out of a hearing. But when a district forces the question and you have to file for an impartial due process hearing, that is a different room, with its own rules, its own deadlines, and its own paperwork. The Hearing Room is the companion for that room: Manual No. II, Volume II, the IDEA due process hearing, start to finish.
A FIELD MANUAL · NO. II
The Hearing
Room
the IDEA due process hearing,
start to finish
Volume II · The IDEA Hearing
William J. Porta, Esq., M.Ed.
The membership · read online · kept current
The hearing, tool by tool.
Which forum and which claim. The disclosure deadlines, the exhibit and witness lists, the scripts for the hearing day itself, and what to do with the decision once it comes. Each step with the rule and the exact next move, in the same plain language as the Manual.
- Thirty-six hearing toolsforum and claim, disclosures, exhibits and witnesses, the hearing day, the decision and beyondIncluded
- The packet librarythe letters and working forms an ordinary hearing actually takesIncluded
- The New York overlaythe state's own hearing procedure mapped onto every stepIncluded
The Hearing Room is its own membership, separate from the Field Manual membership · educational material, not legal advice
The same hearing, under Washington, D.C.'s own rules.
A due process hearing in the District of Columbia runs on its own machinery: the Office of Dispute Resolution, D.C.'s own burden-of-proof statute, and filing mechanics that differ from every state's. The D.C. Hearing Room is the District of Columbia edition of Manual No. II, Volume II: the IDEA due process hearing, start to finish, built on D.C. law.
A FIELD MANUAL · NO. II · D.C.
The D.C.
Hearing Room
the IDEA due process hearing
in the District of Columbia
Volume II · The IDEA Hearing · D.C. Edition
William J. Porta, Esq., M.Ed.
The membership · read online · kept current
The D.C. hearing, tool by tool.
Which forum and which claim. Filing with the Office of Dispute Resolution, the disclosure deadlines, the District's burden-of-proof statute and what it changes about how a case is built, the hearing day itself, and what to do with the hearing officer's determination once it comes. Each step with the rule and the exact next move, in the same plain language as the Manual.
- The D.C. hearing toolsforum and claim, filing and service, disclosures, exhibits and witnesses, the hearing day, the decision and beyondIncluded
- The packet librarythe letters and working forms a D.C. due process case actually takesIncluded
- The District of Columbia overlaythe District's own hearing procedure mapped onto every stepIncluded
The D.C. Hearing Room is its own membership, separate from the Field Manual and Hearing Room memberships · educational material, not legal advice
Join the membership.
The membership is the living Manual: read everything online, your state kept checked and dated, the letters editable and ready to send. Cancel anytime online (no phone call) and a fourteen-day money-back guarantee on your first charge. The Manual is not sold as a file or a printed book: that is how it stays current, and how it stays affordable.
A FIELD MANUAL · NO. I
The IEP
Field Manual
97 tools for getting your child
the education the law
already promises
651 pages · First Edition
William J. Porta, Esq., M.Ed.
The membership · read online · kept current
The Field Manual membership
Everything in the Manual, as a living reference: all ninety-seven tools and the forty letters online, the 50-State Companion with every state's law-checked date, the eight visual maps, and search built for the words parents actually use.
- Annual membership · best valuebilled once a year · that's $8.25 a month · full reading access on any device · five editable letter downloads a week$99/yr
- Monthly optionthe same membership, billed month to month$14/mo
- Cancel anytimeonline, in your account · access through the period you've paid forIncluded
- Fourteen-day guaranteefull refund of your first charge, no questions askedIncluded
🔒 At launch, payments are handled by Elavon on a secure hosted window · your card never touches this site
The membership is educational material. It is not legal advice, and joining does not create an attorney-client relationship with William J. Porta or any law firm. Membership billing, automatic renewal, and cancellation are governed by the Terms, Section 8.
Questions parents ask before they click.
Can I just buy it as a book or a PDF?
No. The Manual is available only as the membership, read online. That is a deliberate choice, not a limitation: special-education law and state rules change, and a file on your hard drive quietly goes stale the day you download it. The membership version is the one we keep current: every state page shows the date its law was last checked, and the update log lists every change. What you do download are the forty letters, as editable files ready to send (five a week), and those are yours to keep.
How do I cancel the membership?
Online, in your account: no phone call, no chat queue, no retention offers. Cancelling stops future charges and your access runs through the period you've already paid for. We also email you before each renewal, so an annual renewal never takes you by surprise.
Does this apply in my state?
Yes. The IEP process is governed by IDEA, a federal law, and its federal regulations; every chapter is built on the rules that apply in all fifty states. Where states add their own timelines or extra protections, the Manual flags it, and the 50-State Lookup Sheet shows you your state's rule on one page.
My child already has an IEP. Is it too late for this to help?
No. This is when it helps most. An existing IEP is renegotiated every year and re-evaluated every three. The chapters on progress monitoring, requesting changes, independent evaluations, and building the paper trail assume you are already in the system and want more out of it.
We have a 504 plan, not an IEP. Is this for us?
Partly, and deliberately. The Manual includes a full part on Section 504: what it covers, how it differs, and when a child with a 504 should be evaluated for an IEP. Many families are on a 504 because nobody requested the evaluation. Tool 1 is that request.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is legal education: the rules, the process, and the documents, explained by an attorney. Reading it does not make me your lawyer, and no book can apply the law to your child's specific facts. If your situation needs an attorney, the Manual tells you plainly when, and what to bring so the hours cost less.
What if the school still refuses after I do everything right?
Then you will be refused on the record (in writing, with notices and deadlines documented), which is exactly the position you want to be in. Part XIV walks the dispute ladder rung by rung: the state complaint (free, no lawyer required), mediation, due process, and how attorney's fees work when a parent prevails.
What format is it? Do I need anything special?
Nothing to install. The membership is read online on any phone, tablet, or computer; most parents use it on a phone, in the meeting. The forty letters download as editable files that open in Word, Google Docs, or Pages, fill-in-the-blank and ready to send.
What if it isn't for me?
Email within fourteen days of your first charge and we refund it in full: no questions, no form. If an ordinary renewal surprises you, email within fourteen days of that charge for a full refund and cancellation. We process approved refunds promptly; your bank controls posting time. The refund address is in your receipt.
The district prepares for your child's meeting. Stop being the only one at the table who doesn't.
$14 a month or $99 a year, cancel anytime. Ninety-seven tools, two volumes, 980 pages, kept current, fourteen-day money-back guarantee. Written by an attorney who sat on your side of the table first.
Join the Manual · $14/mo or $99/yr