McGinn IEP Coaching Kevin McGinn

About

Experience that matters.

My career was spent inside special education and therapeutic programs working with students who have significant needs. I taught. I ran programs. I wrote the IEPs.

I believe parents are essential members of the team. My role is to help them show up informed, organized, and ready to participate as equal partners in the education of their child.

Kevin McGinn, IEP coach. Capital Region, New York.

The record

Background

A career in special education and therapeutic settings, now applied on the family's side of the process.

  • 22 yearsin special education
  • Dozensof school districts
  • Hundredsof IEPs written and reviewed
  • Northern Rivers 2004–2026 · 1:1 aide → teacher’s aide → teacher → administrator (transition coordinator)

    Twenty-two years in one place, working my way from the classroom floor to program administration. Because it was an alternative placement, I did not learn one district’s way of doing things — I worked with all the neighboring districts, which meant seeing how differently the same rules get applied from one town to the next.

    When we were between CSE Chairs, I ran point on those meetings myself, many times over the years. Not as the chair — that seat calls for a certified school psychologist and I am not one — but as the person keeping the meeting moving and making sure it got where it needed to go.

Along the way

  • Piloted the school’s backpack program 2017

    Helped launch it, partnered with the Regional Food Bank, and oversaw nine years of execution.

  • Agency-wide Customer Service award 2020

    For coordinating food delivery to families’ homes through the COVID shutdown.

  • Grew the work program budget by 50% 2025

    Secured the funding to expand what the program could offer students.

Who I work with

Capital Region families in person. Everywhere else by remote.

I primarily serve families in New York's greater Capital Region — Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga, and the districts around them. I am able to provide remote support to families anywhere in the United States.

Special education law is federal, but the process, the paperwork, and the vocabulary change from state to state. If you are outside New York, tell me where you are and I will be straight with you about what I can and cannot help with.

To be clear about what I am: I am an independent IEP coach and advocate. I am not an attorney. I do not practice law, I do not give legal advice, and I do not represent families in due process hearings or in court. What I bring is deep familiarity with how these meetings and documents actually work — and I will tell you honestly when a situation calls for an attorney instead.

See what the work looks like

Contact

Tell me what is going on with your child.

I will tell you honestly whether I am the right help. Parents and professionals are both welcome to call, text, or email.