Making Sense of Standard Based IEPs

1. Making Senseof Standard Based IEPs Ellen Waters, MS Educational Diagnostician

2. Do You Feel This Way?

3. Agenda • Regulations • Data Collection • Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFPs) • Goals and Objectives • Examples

4. Federal Regulations • IDEA • Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) • NCLB • Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (No Child Left Behind Act - NCLB)

5. State Regulations - Standards-Based Individualized Education Program (IEP) Guidance • The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)) are designed to provide students with disabilities greater access to the general education curriculum. A standards-based Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a process and document that is framed by the state standards and that contains goals aligned with, and chosen to facilitate the student’s achievement of, state grade-level academic standards, according to the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE).

6. State Regulations - Standards-Based Individualized Education Program (IEP) Guidance • The required general education curriculum used in Texas public schools for grades Kindergarten -12 is the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Students enrolled in Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) or prekindergarten programs should have goals that are aligned with either the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines or district standards for prekindergarten for students ages 4 and 5.

7. State Regulations - Standards-Based Individualized Education Program (IEP) Guidance • The Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines have been developed for district use and offer detailed descriptions of expected behaviors across multiple skill levels to be observed in 4 to 5 year old children by the end of their prekindergarten experience.

8. Definitions Standard-based goals are annual, measurable goals aligned to enrolled grade level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). These goals should focus on closing the gap between the achievement and enrolled grade-level standards. Advocacy Brief NCLD www.LD.org “Standard-Based IEP” is used to describe a process and document that is framed by the state standards and that contains annual goals aligned with, and chosen to facilitate the student’s achievement of, state grade-level academic standards. NASDSE, May 2006

9. PLAAFPs 34CFR 300.320 (a)(1)(l) FEDERAL A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. STATE ARD Committee Decision-Making Process for the Texas Assessment Program Manual (p.11) The PLAAFP is the basis of the IEP because it defines where a student is, both academically and functionally. PLAAFPs can be created using : • Formal Evaluation Data • Classroom Data • Accommodations and Modifications • Parent Information • Additional Supports By reviewing the PLAAFP, the ARDC should have a clear understanding of the student’s performance in the grade-level TEKS, including the student’s strengths, current areas of need, and accommodations, modifications, or supports the student has used.

10. Goals Federal A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to— • (a) Meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and • (b) Meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability; State Standards-Based IEP Development: Question & Answer Document provide by TEA The four critical components of measurable goal: • Timeframe • Condition • Behavior • Criterion

11. Where do we begin? • Keys to creating Standard-Based IEPs • Use PLAAFPs • Be familiar with grade level standards • Use Sub-skills/ Pre-requisite skills • Develop an IDEA-compliant goal • Must include: Timeframe, Condition, Behavior, and Criterion • Write the short-term objectives/benchmarks • Monitor the goal • On-line training is offered through Region 20 • www.ilearning@esc20.net

12. The Process--Data Collection • Sources of Data • Evaluations, • Assessments • School records • Parents • Teachers • Observation • IEP Progress Reports • If you gather it, use it!

13. DATA provides: • Strengths and weaknesses of child • Information on limits which interfere with the child’s learning • Objective data from current evaluations • Evidence based, observable, and measurable information • Progress indicating a baseline

14. Good Data • Provides specific and factual information about the student—academic, behavioral, and functional • Is interpreted in a way that any two people reading or hearing the description would come to the same conclusion. • Shows that quality is more important than quantity • Needs to be comprehensive—address all areas that impact the disability • A variety of sources, formal and informal

15. PLAAFPs • Tell the committee about the student—describes strengths and disability related challenges • Linked to the grade level standards • Establish measurable baseline for data driven development of annual goals and short term objectives. • Describe how the child’s disability affects his/her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum (areas of need)

16. Goals • Developed from the statement of present levels • Academic goals must be TEKS based • Helps to form and guide instructional decisions • Determine appropriate special education and related services • Guide discussion about curriculum accommodations or modifications • If it is a deficit, there should be a goal

17. What does a Standard-based measurable goal look like? Four Critical Components. • Time-frame—identifies the amount of time in the goal period (In what length of time) • Condition—the manner in which progress toward the goal is reached (under what conditions) • Behavior—the performance that is being monitored (Will do what) • Criterion– identifies how much, how often, or to what standard the behavior must occur in order to demonstrate that the goal has been achieved (to what level or degree)

18. Critical Components - Time Frame • Timeframe—amount of time in the goal period and is usually specified in the number of weeks or a certain date for completion. • Within 36 instructional weeks • By the end of the first six weeks • In three instructional weeks • By October 1, 2011 • By the end of the final grading cycle

19. Critical Components - Condition • The manner in which progress toward the goal occurs. The specific resources that must be present for a child to reach the goal. • Graphic organizers • Guided practice • Decodable text • Using prompts, repetitive practice, accommodations, modifications, etc.

20. Critical Components - Behavior • Identifies the performance that is being monitored. An action that can be directly observed and measured. • Student will ________ (Knowledge)—count, draw, list, point, read (Comprehension)---compare, interpret, predict, (Application)---classify, solve, calculate (Analysis)---infer, order, summarize, explain (Synthesis)---integrate, prepare, organize (Evaluation)---compare, predict, estimate

21. Critical Components - Criterion • Criterion—identifies how much, how often, or to what standard the behavior must occur in order to demonstrate that the goal has been achieved (to what level or degree) • 70 word per minute with fewer than 10 errors • A three paragraph essay using transition words in sentences and between paragraphs with 5 or less errors • 85% of all assigned problems • _______of ________times • At _____% on________

22. Short-term Objectives • Incremental steps to achieving the annual goal, and are required to have the same four components as the goal: time, condition, behavior, and criteria • 2 Methods--Build on mastery criteria toward the annual goal. • Written in the same manner as the annual goal except the criteria would increase for each short-term objective as the student came closer to meeting the annual goal’s criteria • Write short-term objectives by building on skills to reach the annual goal. Short-term objectives are not required, but if needed, there must be at least two. Gigi Maez, Attorney at Law & Juanell Isaac, Director of Elementary Special Education/504—WalshAnderson.com/jisaac@coppellisd.com

23. Examples

24. PLAAFPs Examples Implication of Disability: Ellen a sixth grade student with Special Education eligibility of Other Health Impaired due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and a Learning Disability in Reading Comprehension, Basic Reading Skill and Math Calculation……….

25. PLAAFPs Examples Reading Levels: Ellen has demonstrated through grades, daily assignments, teacher-made assessments, benchmark assessments, and the Reading Plus program that she reads 107 word per minute. The student uses contextual clues with 60% accuracy, and comprehends 71% of the time, oral directions 65% of the time. This student uses critical thinking skills 67% of the time and utilizes various reading strategies 45% of the time. Ellen met passing standards on the Reading TAKS-Modified, achieving a scaled score of 2280. Ellen did well on Objective One understanding, correctly answering 9 of 11 questions;……………..

26. PLAAFPs Examples • Ellen has demonstrated through daily assignments, teacher observations, and grades that she understands living and non-living characteristics with 70% accuracy. The student understands the water cycle with 70% accuracy, various states of matter with 75% accuracy, identifies basic human body parts with 75% accuracy, and identifies objects from the environment with 90% accuracy. This student has lab skills that are 80% accurate. Ellen achieved a scaled score of 1928 on science TAKS-Modified test. The student did best on Objective Two, Life Sciences, correctly answering 5 of 7 questions.

27. Data Gathering Sheet Functional PLAAFPs

28. Data Gathering Sheet Social Studies PLAAFPs

29. Data Gathering Sheet Science PLAAFPs

30. Data Gathering Sheet Math PLAAFPs

31. Data Gathering Sheet Reading PLAAFPs

32. Data Gathering Sheet Writing PLAAFPs

33. Data Gathering Sheet Behavior PLAAFPs

34. Goals Examples • By the end of the 5th six weeks, (time) the student will be able to read 30- 45 wpm (behavior)with no more than 3 errors(criteria). WRONG • Whenpresented with a grade level reading passage of ____ number of words……” should be added.

35. Goals Examples By the end of the school year, Ellen will achieve70% mastery of 11th grade TEKS in US History, with inclusion support of 25 mpw, as demonstrated by mastery of 6 of 8 objectives. Short term goals: The student will be able to analyze the causes of the Great Depression, including the decline in world wide trade, the stock market crash, and bank failures with 70% accuracy.

36. Goals Examples • By the end of 36 weeks of instruction, given a small group setting and guided/individual practice, reduced assignments by 25%, limiting multiple choice tests to 3 choices, Ellen a 7th grade student with a Learning Disability in Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Basic Reading Skill, Written Expression, Math Calculation, and Math Problem Solving will independently compare and order integers and positive rational numbers, simplify numerical expressions involving order or operations and exponents, locate and name points on a coordinate plane using ordered pairs of integers, estimate measurements, select and use an appropriate representation for presenting and displaying relationships among collected data, answering them with 70% accuracy on 5 of 6 objectives to demonstrate mastery.

37. Goals Examples Ellen, a 7th grade student with a Learning Disability in Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Basic Reading Skill, Written Expression, Math Calculation, and Math Problem Solving, within 36 instructional weeks, will utilize assistance in Content Mastery to master 7th grade TEKS in English, Math, Science and Social Studies at 70% mastery and will master 4 of 4 objectives.

38. Resources • The Special Edge www.calstat.org • Advocacy Brief National Center of Learning Disabilities www.LD.org • inForum NASDSE—National Association of State Directors of Special Education http://www.projectforum.org • Texas State Guidance http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/guidance/sbIEP.html • Seven Step Process to Creating Standard Based IEP’s (inForum) http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/section_detail.asp?section=65&footer=sections

39. Sound Familiar?

40. Contact Information Ellen Waters, M. ED. Educational Diagnostician 588 Educational Cooperative 704 W Sul Ross Ave Alpine, Texas 79830 432-837-3315 ewaters@alpine.esc18.net

41. I Hope You Feel This Way!