We had our IEP meeting and the presented IEP goals did not include any
form of baseline or measure or service to be provided. However the IEP
report itself included a summation of assessments, areas that need
services and services that the district makes available.
Now my conntention is that the form of measure, baseline and service
provided to achieve a goal needs to be writtenn directly into the goal
itself. This might sound technical but other than that I do not see how
each goal can be serviced or measured . Which I believe is how the district
likes it.
I looked at the government page oof IDEA 2004 but I am just not clear on
that fine difference. Does that information need to be in the goal itself or
does the school get away with putting it seperatly without realting it to
the goal?
Anyone know?
The goals and objectives are all about what you are looking to accomplish. They do NOT tell how the school will GET your child there. Methodology is not required to be in the IEP. HOwever, there must be measurable goals. YOu can ask the school to report how close to those measurable goals your child is during the year. If he is NOT making progress, you can call another IEP Meeting and remedy this by asking that more intense or more frequent intervention be put into his IEP.
A simple social goal.
By June 2008 student will appropriately greet teacher and respond to her verbally upon entering class every morning 80% of the time.
By Oct. 2007 student will look at teacher and smile upon entering class. 80% of the time.
By Dec. 2007 student will look at teacher, smile and say "hi," 80% of the time.
By April 2008 student will look at teacher, smile, say "hi" and ask "how are you today?" 80% of the time.
By June 2008 student will look at teacher, smile, say "hi," ask "how are you today" and respond to her answer by saying "I'm fine, too" 80% of the time.
OR
By June 2008, student will say "hi" to teacher upon entering class.
By Oct 2007, student will look directly at teacher and smile 50% of the time.
By Dec. 2007, student will look directly at teacher and smile 80% of the time.
By April 2008, student will look directly at teacher AND say "hi" 50% of the time.
By June 2008, student will look directly at teacher AND say "hi" 80% of the time.
These are just simple examples of how to measure progression toward a goal, not the greatest social goals, but perhaps a decent example of progression and measurement.
IDEA 2004 now says that only the general goal needs to be in the IEP except for kids who are on alternate assessment. Then there need to be benchmarks, too. Here's an example of a general goal:
Student will count to 100 with no errors 90% of the time.
Here's the same goal for an alternate assessment child (the more severe child):
Student will count to 100 with no errors 90% of the time.
By Oct. 1, student will count to 25 with no errors 90% of the time.
By Dec. 1, student will count to 50 with no errors 90% of the time.
By April 1, student will count to 75 with no errors 90% of the time
On my IEP form, I get a baseline. Here is an example of one of our goals for the new IEP that was just written last month.
Academic Subject or Area of Need: Receptive and Expressive Language
Statement of Present Level of Performance: Per informal assessment of C's receptive and expressive language skills, based on participation in individual sessions, he is able to provide the label for a concrete category (animals, food, vehicles, musical instruments, letters, numbers) that is visually represented by at least 3 category members, when he is given a verbal prompt of "These are all kinds of _____" in 9/10 structured trials. C has not yet demonstrated the ability to independently express the name(s) of 1-2 additional category members corresponding with a particular category when he is provided with the category label and a question prompt ("What is another kind of ____?"). He is able to choose and label an associated category member corresponding with a particular category when he is given a field of 3 visually represented objects in 7/10 trials.
Goal: Given two pictured objects from a semantic category, C will demonstrate the ability to identify and express 1-2 characteristics of the objects that are the same or different by pointing to relevant features of the objects and formulating 3-4 word explanations, given two verbal cues and a visual scaffold in 4/5 structured trials.
Title(s) of Goal Implementers: LBS1 Learning, Social Work, Speech and Language, Classroom Teacher
The above is the information we have for each of our 11 goals. There is a separate sheet that summarizes actual services, which for us are Speech/Language 90 mpw, Social Work 30 mpw, OT 60 mpw and daily transportation.
Thanks, I do understand. I also appreciate your imput Speechie asI have to disagree. I think it's important to keep emotions out of what we are doing with the District, but I think it's only wise to assume the worst. Not in the way we treat the District people but in thinking about possible problems that MIGHT arise, especially in a situation like this. If we ASSUME the worst, the worst is less likely to happen. That means, if a school is "closing," make SURE you get ever last bit of paperwork on your child. That means that TODAY, you need to put in writing a request to view your child's entire school file and get copies of EVERYTHING. That way, if the school loses anything, you can supply it. I'd also write a complimentary letter to the supervisor of any teacher who has worked with your son and whom you believe would write an accurate letter about your son to his new teachers. Type up the complimentary letter and send a CC to the teacher with a handwritten note attached asking that s/he write a short letter to your child's new teacher giving that teacher some idea about your son. Nothing helps round out a child better than some teacher-to-teacher communciation. I completely agree that the IEP must be written in a way that a Martian can come down from Space and implement it. I often say to the IEP Team, "If each of you wins the Lottery during the summer and are basking in your new Caribbean condos in Sept., this document should be able to be implemented by the new team without bothering you in your paradise."
I think the wisest course is to assume the best but prepare for the worst. School teams are human. No better and no worse than other human groups. Some school personnel have excellent intentions. Some don't. But what the intentions are will NEVER MATTER to an Impartial Hearing Officer. What matters is what's in writing. And good intentions don't matter to the throngs of 21yo's who are "graduating" this month without being able to read or without a friend in the world. An IEP is like a contract. It spells everything out. I always pays to do a "spell check" on your child's IEP.
"Really the whole district is a mess"" Have more faith in the excellent intentions of those professionals working in your school. Having an autistic child has conditioned you to expect everything to be a problem. It's not..problems get solved, eachers do share, files on kids do get shipped to new schools, etc."and without some specific phrasing in the IEP I do think he will be lost in the shuffle" a child does not get lost, we constantly check and re-check enrollment lists, last years records against this years, etc...plus, there is always you to help. You have a copy of each IEP, goal, report, outside consultation, progress note. Everything is filed and kept according to federal guidelines. It will all go well. Little bumps in the road occur but they are only that..little bumps. Not new freeways that lead to oblivion.
"He has some writing goals and I am content to have the new team try out
different approaches without them being in the IEP" approaches are not in the IEP, there are just too many.. "But most of his goals are social and they are phrased without baseline information or breakdown in steps" For this population, social skills are happening all day long..some obvious, some more subtle.