Standards-Based IEPs for Preschool and Speech-Language Impaired Students Part 1: Standards, Present Level, and Annual

1. Standards-Based IEPsfor Preschool and Speech-Language Impaired StudentsPart 1: Standards, Present Level, and Annual Goals

2. Standards-Based Reform • Major Elements • Higher Academic Standards • Aligned Assessments • Increased Accountability • Measurable Outcomes for Preschool Children

3. Background for Standards-Based Reform • IDEA 1997 • Access to and progress in the general education curriculum, including preschool • No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 • Aligned system of standards and assessments • Accountability for all students (disaggregated by subgroup) • State and local Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) • IDEA 2004 • Reinforces NCLB language and accountability

4. State Performance Plan • OSEP is requiring all states to measure outcomes for all students, including preschool children • Alabama has developed an instrument to meet these requirements for preschool children that will be implemented during the 2006-2007 school year

5. State Performance Plan • The instrument is based on the new Developmental Standards for Preschool Children with Disabilities • Preschool IEPs for the 2006-2007 school year will be based on the Developmental Standards for Preschool Children with Disabilities

6. Developmental Standardsfor Preschool Children with Disabilities • Stakeholder’s group • Department of Children’s Affairs/Office of School Readiness • Head Start • Department of Human Resources • DOE Federal Programs/Title I • DOE Special Education Services • With the exception of DOE Special Education Services, all stakeholders had a set of early learning standards already in place

7. Developmental Standardsfor Preschool Children with Disabilities • DOE Special Education Preschool Task Force developed preschool standards that incorporate skills contained in the current standards used by the stakeholder groups and provide a natural progression into the DOE Kindergarten standards that are part of the Course of Study.

8. Developmental Standardsfor Preschool Children with Disabilities • The Preschool Task Force also developed a common progress assessment instrument that encompassed the learning standards currently used by each agency. • Early Learning Progress Profile (ELPP) • Assesses : • Positive Social-Emotional Skills (including social relationships) • Early Language and Literacy • Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs

9. Early Learning Progress Profile (ELPP) • Based on developmental normative data that bridges all stakeholder standards • Composed of a series of normative skills relative to age expectations • Skills are scaffolded to reflect completion of prerequisite items prior to progressing to higher levels

10. Early Learning Progress Profile (ELPP) • Timeline: • Development completed by March, 2006 • Piloted in selected LEAs, March-May, 2006 • 2006-2007 School Year • Required to be administered to all preschool children who have been receiving Special Education Services for at least six months and to selected same-aged peers • Readministered prior to each annual IEP review date for use in thePresent Level and/or goals for the next year

11. Accessing the General Education Curriculum • What is meant by the general education curriculum? • The full range of courses, activities, lessons, and materials routinely used by the general population of a school or early childhood setting • What is meant by access? • Participation in the knowledge, skills, and activities that make up the general education curriculum

12. In Alabama… PS/SA • Higher Academic Standards • Alabama Courses of Study/Content Standards • Aligned Assessments • Alabama Reading and Math Test (ARMT) • Alabama High School Graduation Exam (ASHGE) • Alabama Alternate Assessment (AAA) • Increased Accountability • Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) • Measurement of Outcomes for Preschool Children • ELPP

13. High Academic Standards and Alabama Academic Content Standards • What are academic content standards? • What students should know and be able to do at the end of a course or grade level • Where do you find academic content standards? • Alabama Courses of Study • Alabama Extended Standards (for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities) • Developmental Standards for Preschool Children with Disabilities

14. What is a Course of Study? A course of study is a document that specifies what students should know and be able to do in a particular subject area by the end of each grade level or course. The course of study contains state academic content standards for each subject area and grade level.

15. What are Content Standards? • Content Standardsdefine what students should knowandbe able to doat the conclusion of a course or grade. • Content Standardsidentifyminimum required content. • Bullets and Examples are listed under the Content Standards in the Course of Study

16. What are Bullets and/or Examples? • Bulletsdenote content related to the standards and arerequired for instruction. • Examplesclarifycertain components of content standards.They provide essential content;however,additional details are often necessary to fully accomplish masteryof the standards/bullets.

17. Sample Content Standard Content Standard R.4.1 Demonstrate word recognition skills, including structural analysis. Examples: structural analysis-root words,prefixes, suffixes • Producing common word parts • Reading multi-syllable words • Reading compound words, contractions, possessives, and inflectional endings (Grade 4 – Content Standard 1) Example Bullets

18. Implementing Content Standards • All students must work toward grade-level content standards or for preschool, toward developmental standards • Curriculum Guides were developed to meet the needs of students who are working toward, but are not yet on, grade-level content standards. The Continuum Guide is for children who are working toward Preschool Developmental Standards.

19. What are Curriculum Guides? PS/SA • Curriculum guides are companion documents to the Alabama Courses of Study. They include all of the components in the Alabama Courses of Study and add Objectives under each standard. • For preschool, there is a Continuum Guide as a companion document to the Developmental Standards forPreschoolChildren ages 3-5 with disabilities.

20. What are Objectives? PS/SA • Objectives are skills that are prerequisite to the standard and/or break the standards down into smaller units of instruction. • Objectives provide a scaffold that students may climb to reach the grade-level standard.

21. Reading Standard 1.1 SA • Demonstrate phonemic awareness by isolating, deleting, and adding phonemes, by using onsets and rimes, and by identifying initial, medial, and final sounds in one-syllable words. • Objective 1.1.4: Identify initial sound of a word

22. PS/SASample Preschool Developmental Standard – Language and Literacy • Developmental Standards: • LL.P.5 Identify a variety of pictures/objects and actions. • Continuum Guide: • LL.P.5.2 Point to and name pictures/objects

23. Standards-Based PS/SA Educational Planning • Which documents will assist in educational planning as students work toward grade-level or preschool developmental standards? • Alabama Courses of Study • Curriculum Guides • Alabama Extended Standards (for students with significant cognitive disabilities) • Preschool Developmental Standards • Preschool Developmental Continuum Guide

24. SAWhat are Extended Standards? • Downward extensions of academic content standards designed to allow students with significant cognitive disabilities to progress toward grade-level standards • Measured by the Alabama Alternate Assessment (AAA)

25. Alabama Courses of Study Developmental Standards Curriculum Guides Extended Standards Continuum Guide

26. Course of Study and [SA] Curriculum Guides • Mathematics • Curriculum Guide (Grades 1-8) • Prerequisites to Algebra (Grades 9-12) • Reading • Curriculum Guide (Grades 1-12) • Social Studies • Curriculum Guide (Grades K-12) DRAFT • Science • Curriculum Guide (Grades K-12) DRAFT • Language Arts To be developed 2006-2007

27. Content Standards[SA]Legend for IEPs subject grade level content standard objective • Standard R 3. 3 • Use a wide range of strategies, including using context clues and predicting outcomes, to comprehend third-grade literary/recreational materials in a variety of genres. R 3. 3. 2Make and confirm predictions based on information from a story.

28. Content Standards [SA]Legends for IEPs Reading – R Grade Level – 3 Standard Number – 2 (Course of Study) R.3.2: Demonstrate reading vocabulary knowledge of compound words. Objective Number – 1 (Curriculum Guide) R.3.2.1: Identify the two separate words in compound words. Example: air+plane = airplane

29. Content Standards[SA]Legend for IEPs Math – M Grade Level – 3 Standard Number - 1 (Course of Study) M 3.1 Demonstrate number sense by comparing, ordering, and expanding whole numbers through 9999 Objective Number - 1(Curriculum Guide) M 3.1.1 Compare numbers less than 1,000

30. Developmental Standards for Preschool Children with DisabilitiesLegend for IEPs Language and Literacy – LL Grade Level – Preschool (P) Developmental Standard Number – 17 LL.P.17: Experiment with a variety of writing tools and materials LL.P.17.6: Make marks on paper

31. [PS/SA]Developing Standards-Based IEPs What steps do IEP Teams need to follow to develop effective standards-based IEPs?

32. [SA]Step 1: Collect and examine materials for making data-based IEP decisions. • Courses of study and/or curriculum guides • Current assessment data • State assessments • Classroom assessments (curriculum-based) • Eligibility data (if current and related to learning the standards) • Student work samples • Previous year’s IEP • Other information (e.g., grades, discipline referrals, attendance reports)

33. [PS]Step 1: Collect and examine materials for making data-based IEP decisions. • Developmental Standards for Preschool Children with Disabilities • Developmental Continuum Guide for Preschool Children with Disabilities • Eligibility Data • ELPP (if applicable) • IFSP or previous year’s IEP • Other relevant information

34. [PS/SA]Step 2: Analyze data to develop the student profile. The profile should include general statements regarding: • Strengths • Needs • How the disability affects involvement/progress in the general education curriculum • Assessment/Evaluation • Status of prior IEP goals • Teacher/Parent/Student input • Transition needs (at least by age 16)[SA]

35. Student Profile J. J. is a first grade student. He began speech-language services when he was three years old because of severe phonological deficits and moderate receptive and expressive language delays. He has made significant progress in correcting his articulation errors, but still needs speech services because his sound production is delayed when compared to that of his peers. His conversational speech is not easily understood and requires careful listening in most situations. His language delays continue to impact his progress in acquiring basic reading skills, including phonemic awareness and decoding printed material. He has difficulty in associating sounds that match to letters. He has difficulty verbally answering questions relating to comprehension of orally presented material. On the fall kindergarten DIBELS assessment, J.J. scored in the intensive range in all areas. By the end of the year his scores had improved to the strategic range. J.J. lives with his parents and two younger brothers. He participates in activities at the YMCA including swimming, t-ball, and football. He is very friendly and interacts appropriately with his peers. His parents are concerned about his delayed progress in acquiring reading skills. They also report that he seems to have trouble remembering sounds. Assessment Evaluation Strengths Needs Impacts performance

36. Student Profilecontinued …. His classroom teacher indicated that he is eager to learn to read but has difficulty recalling letter identification skills. He works hard to complete classwork.. Assessment Evaluation Teacher/ Parent/ Student Input

37. [PS/SA] Step 3: Use data to summarize the present level. The present level answers the question: “What is the student doing now?”

38. Sample Present Level Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance JJ is able to provide basic details of a story. He answers an average of 2/10 comprehension questions on curriculum based assessments (R.K.5). In the classroom, he is typically unable to answer “who”, “what” and “where” questions (R .1.4.2) which limits progress in first grade reading materials. Standards-Based Includes Assessments Includes Strengths and Weaknesses How Disability Impacts Learning

39. [PS/SA] Present Level • Purposes • To provide a summary of baseline information that indicates the student’s academic achievement and current developmental levels • To identify current functional performance • To provide an explanation of how the disability affects the student’s involvement/progress in participating in the general curriculum

40. Present Level PS/SA • Characteristics • Standards centered • addresses the general education curriculum (content standards) • Data driven • includes formal and informal data

41. Present Level PS/SA • Characteristicscontinued … • Understandable - uses clear, easily understood language that provides a snapshot of the student’s needs and strengths • Evidence based - written in terms that are observable, specific, and data driven.

42. PS/SAComponents of Present Level The present level must include the following three components: 1. Strengths 2. Needs 3. Impact statement - How the student’s disability affects performance in the general education curriculum (for preschool children, how the disability affects the child’s participation in age appropriate activities)

43. Present Level PS/SA • Strengths • Student’s response to: • Learning strategies • Accommodations • Interventions • Standards Instruction Ask… “What have we learned about this student’s strengths?”

44. Present Level [PS/SA] • Needs Prioritize in relation to how they affect involvement and progress in the general education curriculum Ask… “What prerequisite skills/knowledge does the student need to close the gap between his/her present level and the grade-level content standards?

45. Present Level [PS/SA] • Impact Statement - How disability affects performance • Consider how the student’s disability affects progress in learning the standards Example: Donnie’s limited vocabulary is affecting his progress in achieving language and literacy standards that include identifying a variety of pictures, objects, and actions (LL.P.5.2).

46. Present Level PS/SA DO NOT use the student’s exceptionality to explain how the disability affects involvement/progress in the general curriculum! • Example of what NOT to write: Sara’s articulation problem affects her progress in the general curriculum. • Example of what to write: Sara’s articulation errors cause difficulty in producing common sounds at the beginning of a series of words. (LL.P.12)

47. Present Level PS/SA Remember… The present level of academic achievement and functional performance sets the stage for developing IEP goals!

48. PS/SAStep 4: Write Annual Goals. • Purpose • To describe what a student can reasonably expect to accomplish in one school year • Annual Goals answer the question “What should the student be doing?”

49. Annual Goals PS/SA Annual goals are related to needs resulting from the student’s disability that directly affect involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. • For preschool children, as appropriate, to participate in age-appropriate activities

50. Developing Annual Goals PS/SA • If a large number of needs are identified in the present level, the IEP Team must consider how each need impacts the students’ progress in the general education curriculum or age appropriate activities for preschool children. • Select the need that has the greatest impact on progress, and develop a goal to address that need.