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Special Education and Due Process Procedures
Manual |
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Developing IEP Goals
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An annual goal is a statement(s) of what a student with a disability can reasonably be expected to accomplish in a year's time or the duration of the IEP.
1. Review the student's past achievement.
2. Consider the student's present level of educational performance when estimating what can be expected in a year's time or the duration of the IEP.
3. Identify the category of instruction for each deficit area. These may include the following:
A. Social Skills
B. Communication
C. Leisure/Recreations Skills
D. Vocational Skills
E. Personal Management
F. Academics
G. Perceptual Skills
H. Behavioral Skills
I. Physical Skills
4. Assess the practicality of the chosen goals in terms of final outcomes, age appropriateness, relevancy, etc.
5. List the goals in order of their priority.
QUESTIONS
1. Is the goal clear and understandable?
A. not vague?
B. avoids educational jargon?
C. not too specific?
2. Is the goal positively stated?
3. Is there at least one goal for each area of need stated in the Present Level of Educational Performance (PLEP)?
4. Can the goal be justified on the basis of the information in the PLEP?
5. Is the goal practical and relevant to the student's academic, social, and vocational needs?
6. Is the goal practical and relevant when the student's age and remaining years in school are considered?
7. Does the goal reflect appropriate growth within the instructional area?
8. Can the goal be accomplished within one year?
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Special Education and Due Process Procedures
Manual |
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The Stranger Test & The Dead Man's
Test
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The Stranger Test refers to goals and
objectives for students that are described in a fashion that a person
unfamiliar with the student could read the description and understand it. Because various persons involved in the
implementation of a student's educational plan may interpret a construct such
as "hostility" differently, it is necessary to describe student
behavior in terms that would pass the Stranger Test. For example, if a student's goal was to decrease
"hostility," a stranger might interpret it as hits, kicks, bites
others while the student's team may have meant verbal threats or profanity
directed toward peers. On the other
hand, the stranger might interpret "hostility" as any instance of
hitting, whether or not it was provoked, while the teacher might have meant
only unprovoked hits. If the teacher
had defined "hostility" for the stranger as "each instance of an
unprovoked hit," where "unprovoked" means that it was not in
retaliation for a physical or verbal attack from a peer, both the stranger and
the teacher would be likely to obtain the same results, since they would both
be looking for the same thing.
The
question posed by the dead man's test is this: Can a dead man do it? If the answer is yes, it doesn't pass the
dead man's test and it isn't a fair pair; if the answer is no, you have a fair
pair. For example, suppose that you
wanted a fair pair target behavior for "swears at peers." Let's say that you came up with the target
behavior "does not swear at peers."
Does this pass the dead man's test?
No. A dead man could refrain
from swearing at peers. What would be
better? How about "speaks to peers
without swearing"? This passes the
dead man's test because a dead man does not have the power to speak.
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Special Education and Due Process Procedures
Manual |
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Annual Goals Help Sheet
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Annual goals are expectations based on assessed special education needs. Annual goals are reasonably achievable within one calendar year.
Goals have five components. The five are:
1. direction of change;
2. deficit or excess;
3. present level of performance;
4. the expected annual ending level of performance; and
5. resources needed to accomplish the expected level of performance.
1. Direction of change can be stated as:
· increase (reading comprehension, math computation, written expression, speech fluency, etc.)
· decrease (math errors, temper tantrums, verbal aggression, etc.)
· maintain (motor control, a skill learned, etc.)
2. Deficit or excess could be stated as:
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Areas of deficit behavior: |
Areas of excess behavior: |
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reading comprehension |
physical aggressiveness |
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math computation |
head banging |
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gross motor control |
touching, pushing or hitting other children |
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expressive language |
blurting out |
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independent self care |
getting up, falling out of the chair |
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activity level |
3. Present level of performance (from _______) is a description of what the child now does in the area of deficit or excess and can be stated as:
·
reading at the
primer level
·
naming numbers to
20
·
walking with aid
of crutches
·
speaking in one
word responses
· inability to grip small objects
4. Expected annual ending level of performance (to _________) and can be stated as:
· reading a first grade passage
· naming numbers to 100
· walking without aid of crutches
· speaking in complete simple sentences
· being able to grip 5 small objects
5. The resources needed to accomplish the expected level of performance can be stated as:
§ speech therapy
§ one-to-one instruction
§ computer assisted instruction
§ small group instruction
§ consultation to regular education teacher
§ parent training
§
assistive device
The five components are reflected in the
following examples of annual goals:
direction deficit/excess
Susan will
increase/ reading readiness/
from present level to ending level
from
pre-primer to primer level
Resource
using individual and small group instruction
direction deficit/excess
Susan will
increase/ math computation skills/
from present level to ending level
from recognition
of numbers one through 9/ to write/say correct answer to
single digit
subtraction problems
Resource
using cooperative group instruction
direction deficit/excess
Susan will
increase/ toileting independence/
From present level to ending level
from no
toileting skills/ to
ability to toilet independently
Resource
using the Arzin and Fox toileting training program
direction deficit/excess
Susan will
decrease/ self stimulation behavior/
From present level to ending level
50% of school time spent in self-stimulation 25% of time spent in
self-stimulation
Resource
of using positive reinforcement of interfering behaviors
direction behavior
Susan will
increase/ rope jumping skills/
from present level to
ending level
from inability to jump rope/ to completing a sequence of 10 rope
jumps
Resource
using modeling and group play
direction behavior
Joe will
decrease/ shouting out/
from present level to
ending level
from 5 or more
times a class period/ to
0 times a class period
Resource
using a point sheet with rewards and response
cost
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Special Education and Due Process Procedures
Manual |
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Short-Term Instructional Objectives
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Short-term instructional objectives, including attainment criteria for each objective, provide a basis for determining the student's progress. The outcome must be student-based, which means the learning is measured by observable behavioral changes of educational skills over a period of time.
Objectives are degrees of educational skills that must be learned in order to attain the goal. There are usually four components to an objective:
1. performance of a specific behavior;
2. conditions or circumstances under which the behavior is performed;
3. criteria for attainment or level of performance;
4. evaluation procedures.
The first
component is the specific behavior (what the child is to do):
§ unties and ties shoes
§ says numbers to 20
§ identifies vowel sounds
§ orders letters of the alphabet
§ washes dishes
§ walks 20 feet
§ charts own progress
§ completes a job application
§ accepts not doing perfectly
The second
component is the condition or the circumstance surrounding the performance:
§ given 50 addition facts
§ without the aid of cane or crutches
§ using a standard typewriter
§ given 10 color cards
§ given standard household cleaning tools
The third
component is criteria for attainment or the standard for performance:
§ at 90% accuracy
§ 0 times a day
§ 2 times a class period
§ 8/10 responses
§ with no pauses or redundancies
§ for at least 5 minutes
The fourth
component is the evaluation procedure:
§ as measured on end of unit tests/quizzes
§ as charted by teacher
§ as recorded by teacher
§ as charted by pupil support assistant
§ as measured by permanent products
§
as measured by checklists
Four elements or components must be included in short-term instructional objectives. The following examples reflect these four components:
conditions
Given a list of ten words and a list of meanings selected from science units/
specific behavior
James will match the word to its meaning/
criteria
with 90% accuracy/
evaluation procedure
as measured on end of unit tests.
conditions
Given 5 word problems during each daily math class/
specific behavior
Susan will select one correct answer of four options/
criteria
with 80% accuracy/
evaluation procedure
as charted by the teacher.
conditions
Given a written language passage at the 4.0 grade level/
specific behavior
James will write the correct answer to 10 literal questions/
criteria
with 80% accuracy/
evaluation procedure
as recorded by the
teacher.