To help special education planning teams reach agreements, the Minnesota Department of Education, Compliance and Assistance, Alternative Dispute Resolution Services provide the option of facilitated IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings. This option is available for IEP, IIIP (Individual Interagency Intervention Plan), and IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) meetings. Using facilitated IEP meetings is a growing trend and has proved especially useful when relationships are strained regarding a child's educational needs. This information sheet describes the following pertinent information regarding IEP meetings: the role of the facilitator; benefits of a facilitated IEP meeting; family preparation for a facilitated IEP meeting; how to request a facilitated IEP meeting; who attends a facilitated IEP meeting; procedural notice of the meeting; who acts as decision makers; cost of of a facilitated IEP meeting (no cost to parents or to the school); dispute resolution in the case of unresolved cases; and families' access to an IEP facilitator. A list of resources is included. [For the 2004 edition of this report, see ED493079.]