Empower LEP Podcast
Hosted by Jana Parker, a seasoned LEP with a wealth of experience in the field, this podcast is a vibrant community, a learning hub, and a source of encouragement for both aspiring and established educational psychologists.
Meet Your Host:
Jana Parker, MS, LEP, ABSNP, ADHD-CCSP: CEO of Mind by Design and Empower LEP, a Board Certified School Neuropsychologist and Certified ADHD Professional with a strong background in public education school psychology and administration as well as private practice.
Empower LEP Podcast
EP 69 | IEEs as a Bridge— Audio from the SELPA ADR Conference 2026
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IEEs are uncomfortable for everyone — parents, educators, and the evaluators themselves. But what if they didn’t have to be adversarial? In this episode, licensed educational psychologist Jana Parker shares a presentation she gave at the SELPA ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) 2026 conference, drawing on 12 years as a school psychologist and her experience running a private practice in the Bay Area. With IEE requests rising at an exponential rate — and California accounting for a striking share of national special education mediation filings — Jana makes the case that independent educational evaluations work best when they function as a bridge, not a weapon.
Whether you’re a school psychologist, LEP, administrator, advocate, attorney, or a parent navigating the IEP or IEE process for the first time, this episode offers a grounded, honest perspective from someone who has sat on multiple sides of the table. Jana’s goal isn’t to work against districts or families — it’s to help everyone involved use evaluation data the way it was always meant to be used: to actually understand kids.
Presentation slides here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/wdwyt8ek35pbrk1o9g2xu/IEEs_as_a_Bridge_V4.pdf?rlkey=hxlgkyw91mmesr9iizjbbuh48&st=7kijorq8&dl=0
