How to Know if Your Child's Making Progress toward IEP Goals
eri...@gmail.com
By the time "Mrs. Bailey" contacted me to evaluate her son, "Kevin,"
she had been receiving quarterly progress reports from his public
school for five years, telling her that her son was making progress
toward achieving the academic goals listed in his Individualized
Education Program (IEP). However, her observations of Kevin's homework
and the graded school work that came home didn't match the school's
evaluation, and she wanted me to provide a "second opinion." My
evaluation of Kevin confirmed his mother's concerns - he had deficits
in math calculation and written expression skills. In fact, Kevin's
written expression skills were severely delayed and fell in the first
percentile - meaning that 99 percent of students his age performed
better on the test. Naturally, Mrs. Bailey felt astonished,
frustrated, and guilty about not realizing Kevin's lack of progress
sooner in his schooling.
Parents of children with learning disabilities (LD) who are receiving
special education services receive regular reports of progress on
their children's IEP goals, as mandated by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA). In my experience as a
school psychologist and educational consultant, most often these
progress reports don't really provide parents specific information,
based on assessment data, as to whether their child is making progress
or not.
There are several key factors that can have a positive impact on
determining whether or not a child makes real, measurable progress.
These include:
a comprehensive evaluation that identifies a child's strengths and
weaknesses; and appropriately identifies a child's educational needs
explicitly stated present levels of performance
appropriate and measurable goals/objectives
effective instructional methods, and
continuous progress monitoring
When I ask parents how their child's progress toward goals and
objectives is being monitored and reported to them, most often the
response is "I'm not sure" or "I don't know." As in Mrs. Bailey's
case, it can be years before parents realize that their child is not
making progress - or that the achievement gap between their child and
his peers has actually widened while receiving special education
services. So, how can you really know if your child is making
progress? What should you do if you don't think your child is "making
expected progress" toward IEP goals and objectives?
To help you play a proactive role in monitoring your child's IEP, this
article will provide detailed information about each of these key
factors as it relates to your child's special education services.
Comprehensive Evaluation
A comprehensive evaluation should include assessments tailored to the
problems for which the child was referred for evaluation. The "reason
for referral," part of the evaluation documents for the IEP, describes
the child's learning problems, as well as any factors contributing to
academic performance difficulties. To get a complete picture of a
child's abilities and skills in the home and school environments,
evaluation procedures should include all of the following:
individually administered standardized tests, such as IQ and
achievement tests
curriculum-based assessments (e.g., Curriculum-Based Measurement)
current classroom-based, local, or state assessments
work samples indicative of the child's learning difficulties
interviews (with teacher, parent, and child)
observational data
review of records
rating scales (if appropriate)
The evaluation should identify specific points where a child's
learning processes break down, and how that impacts his classroom
learning. In Kevin's case, his last reevaluation had just been
conducted 6 months prior to when I evaluated him - when he was in 7th
grade. At that time he was administered a brief IQ test, a
standardized achievement test, and a speech/language evaluation. The
examiner reported that Kevin no longer demonstrated the processing
deficits that were identified in his initial evaluation, and that he
was compensating for his difficulties. However, further investigation
- specifically of data in Kevin's cumulative file - revealed that he
did not meet state standards in reading, math, or writing!
Typically, a school district evaluation will identify an area of
unexpected academic weakness and determine whether the weakness is
severe enough that the child requires special education services in
order to benefit from the general education program. A comprehensive
psychoeducational evaluation - most often conducted by a private
professional, but sometimes by a school district - typically looks at
a fuller range of academic strengths and weaknesses, and at how a
child processes information in several areas. In my experience, the
better you understand your child's learning problems, the greater the
chances that you can persuade the school to conduct a more
comprehensive evaluation. And, of course, if you disagree with the
school evaluation, you always have the legal right to request that an
Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) be conducted at district
expense.
Explicitly Stated "Present Levels of Performance"
Results of a comprehensive evaluation should concretely identify your
child's strengths and weaknesses which can then be used to develop
your child's IEP. Present Levels of Performance (PLOP) should provide
you baseline data in very specific terms about what your child can and
cannot do in a particular academic or functional area. For example, a
statement of a child's present level of performance in reading might
be: "Julia can read words, both in isolation and in context,
containing short vowels and silent 'e.' However, she is only able to
read words containing vowel teams (i.e. /ai/, /ea/, /oa/, /ee/) and
dipthongs (i.e. /oi/, /oy/, /oo/, /au/) in isolation with 30%
accuracy."
Goals and objectives would then be written to increase Julia's
accuracy in reading words with vowel teams and dipthongs. Baseline
data provide a starting point for determining whether the child makes
the expected improvement in learning over a given period of time. In
addition, IDEA requires that, in order for a child to be eligible for
special education services under the Specific Learning Disability
category, school districts must have "data-based documentation of
repeated assessments of achievement, at reasonable intervals,
reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction,
which was provided to the child's parents." This documentation is very
helpful when identifying a child's present level of performance.
A word of caution: I routinely see results of achievement tests
reported where there is supposed to be a statement of the child's
present level of performance. For example, I've seen "WIAT-II Word
Reading SS 80" for present level of performance on IEP goal pages.
However, achievement tests are designed to measure the performance of
many children at a single point in time, rather than to document a
single child's progress over time, as PLOP requires. The PLOP sets the
starting point for your particular child's work toward goals.
Appropriate, Measurable Goals and Benchmarks
Annual goals and benchmarks in your child's IEP should be measurable
and linked to your child's present levels of performance, as well as
to your state's academic content standards. (Note: "Benchmarks" are
measurable steps toward a child's IEP goals. Although IDEA 2004
eliminated the legal requirement for benchmarks, regular progress
reports are still mandated by law, and many schools continue to use
the term "benchmarks.") Many times parents tell me that when goals are
reviewed during IEP meetings, they are unsure as to whether their
child's goals are either appropriate or measurable. Here are a few
questions you can ask to find out:
How will progress toward these goals be measured?
How will you monitor my child's progress?
How will you document my child's progress?
How will you communicate with me regarding my child's progress?
In my experience, IEP goals and benchmarks often lack specificity. For
example, it is very common for special educators to write goals in
terms of grade-level attainment, which is very confusing for parents
if they don't know what the curriculum standards are. To illustrate,
here is an annual goal created by the school for one of my clients:
"'Danny' will increase his written expression skills to the beginning
fourth-grade level." After a discussion in the IEP meeting about third-
grade and beginning fourth-grade writing expectations (based on grade-
level curriculum), the special education teacher changed Danny's
annual goal and added benchmarks that specifically identified a
sequence of writing skills for the child to master over the next
year.
Here is Danny's revised annual goal: "Danny will write two to three
paragraphs on a given topic, using correct mechanics (capitalization,
ending punctuation), spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and
organization." His benchmarks were:
"Danny will generate his ideas in correct sequence to formulate two to
three paragraphs, using and completing graphic organizers before
writing.
Danny will write complete sentences containing correct grammar with
80% accuracy.
Danny will write a four- to five-sentence paragraph that contains a
topic sentence, two to three supporting details, and a concluding
sentence.
Danny will be able to correct 80% of his errors using a proofreading
checklist with the specific number of errors for each proofreading
area (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentence
structure) with progressively fewer adult cues."
When goals are written this way, you can monitor your child's school
work to make sure he is progressing toward these goals, confident that
they are based on grade-level and state content standards.
Scientifically Based Instruction
To progress in their learning, kids with LD also need high quality
instruction that:
is scientifically based
is tailored to individual needs
employs a scientifically proven instructional methodology to address
deficits in an academic area
There are a number of websites that provide reviews of reading
programs, instructional interventions, and curricula. They include:
Florida Center for Reading Research
http://www.fcrr.org
What Works Clearinghouse
http://www.whatworks.ed.gov
The Access Center
http://www.k8accesscenter.org
Big Ideas in Reading
http://reading.uoregon.edu
Intervention Central
http://www.interventioncentral.org
National Institute for Literacy
http://www.nifl.gov
In addition to being scientifically based, instruction must also be
tailored to a child's specific learning needs. Parents often ask,
"Isn't a child's IEP supposed to recommend effective instruction based
on a child's unique learning needs?" Yes, but often it doesn't. Rather
than tailoring services to meet the individual child's needs, special
education programs or services recommended for children with LD are
often "cookie-cutter, "one-size-fits-all," or whatever instructional
materials the district has available.
School districts do not typically specify in the IEP what
instructional method(s) will be used to assist a child in achieving
his goals. One way for a parent to address this issue is to ask the
district to describe specific, scientifically proven instructional
components when a child's educational needs are being discussed. For
example, for a child with a reading disability I would indicate that
multisensory, explicit, structured reading instruction has been shown
to improve reading skills. Many school districts do not discuss what
instructional method(s) will be used, or whether that method has been
deemed appropriate for a child to make adequate progress on his IEP
goals. So, during IEP meetings, ask about the methodology that will be
used to help your child make progress in her particular areas of
academic deficit, especially about whether it is research based.
Continuous Progress Monitoring
Progress monitoring is a key element of a child's IEP, but most
schools don't monitor a child's progress using continuous, objective
data collection that is easily communicated to parents. Kids with LD
need systematic and frequent progress monitoring to determine academic
growth. Progress monitoring is a scientifically based practice that is
used both to assess a child's academic performance, and to evaluate
the effectiveness of instruction. Academic performance is measured
weekly or monthly. Progress toward meeting the child's goals is
measured by comparing expected rates to actual rates of learning.
Instructional techniques are adjusted to meet individual learning
needs based on these measurements. The benefits of progress monitoring
include accelerated learning for students - because they receive
instruction that is more appropriate to their individual needs -
better informed instructional decisions, and higher teacher
expectations for students.
The most common method used to monitor student progress is called
Curriculum-Based Measurement or CBM. CBM is research-validated and
uses short-duration assessments to monitor progress in reading, math,
spelling, and writing. CBM procedures are reliable, valid, and
standardized. Student performance is graphed over time to determine
progress and the effectiveness of instructional programming. The
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) (
http://dibels.uoregon.edu ) is an example of CBM that assesses early
literacy and pre-reading skills, as well as predicts later reading
proficiency.
But best practices in progress monitoring are not in place in all
schools. I still encounter the practice among special educators of
administering a standardized, norm-reference achievement test prior to
the child's annual review IEP meeting to determine a child's academic
progress. Again, as was noted earlier in regard to assessing present
levels of performance, individually administered norm-referenced
achievement tests, (such as the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational
Battery-III: Tests of Achievement; or the Wechsler Individual
Achievement Test-II) are designed to compare a child's performance to
that of his age peers at a single point in time, not to measure the
progress of an individual child over time.
If the school reports that your child is making progress toward his
IEP goals, and you don't agree, your first step is to ask what methods
special education personnel are using to routinely monitor and
evaluate your child's progress on IEP goals. Most goal sheets in a
child's IEP document have columns to identify these progress-
monitoring methods and specific dates when progress will be reviewed,
typically at the end of each quarter.
Unfortunately, I've found that progress monitoring evaluation
procedures typically include "teacher observations," "review of work,"
and/or "teacher-made tests," and progress is reviewed only once per
quarter. This approach isn't sufficient to determine adequate progress
toward goals, or to determine if the current instructional method is
effective. Again, when you have a question about your child's
progress, ask your child's special education teacher or any other
service provider to show you the data documenting your child's
progress.
Further information about progress monitoring can be found on the
Internet:
National Center on Student Progress Monitoring
http://www.studentprogress.org
Research Institute on Progress Monitoring
http://www.progressmonitoring.net
When In Doubt, Ask
As the parent of a child receiving special education services, you are
entitled to data-based information that clearly demonstrates what
progress, if any, your child is making. Because without data, it's
just someone's opinion. If you aren't sure whether your child is
making progress or how much progress he's making, schedule a meeting
with his special education teacher to discuss how your child's
progress is being monitored and measured, and how that information
will be regularly communicated to you. If questions and concerns
continue after talking with special education personnel, it may be
appropriate to request an IEP meeting to get further clarification
about your child's progress. When you understand the essential
components of an effective IEP, you can advocate confidently - and
successfully - for your child's progress toward IEP goals.
© 2007 Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation Created: 02/02/2007
About the Contributors
Gina Robuck, M.Ed., has 10 years' experience as a school psychologist,
and has worked with children from preschool through high school.
Currently, she provides consulting, advocacy, and evaluation services
to families of children with special needs, and assists school-based
teams to identify and address students' educational needs.