April 2015 FAQs

April 6th, 2015  

FAQs

Q: Should my IEP goals and objectives end in May or extend through the summer to the end of the first quarter of the next school year?

A: There are several reasons why IEP goals and objectives should be written to extend through the summer: (1) Federal guidelines require continuous services for the length of an IEP year with a gap listed; (2) student may move to a new district that is on a different calendar than ours; (3) student my become eligible for ESY services and not having a gap in service dates means not having to amend the IEP for the purpose of adding ESY goals / objectives.

Q: When considering Extended School Year (ESY) eligibility, isn’t it about whether the students would “benefit” from the service?

A: No!! Almost all students would “benefit” from services over a long break like summer.  Students who are eligible for ESY services “need” the service in order to fully access their free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and make progress toward their IEP goals and objectives.

P.S. – Please stop referring to ESY as Summer School (it drives Denise Kelly CRAZY!! And that’s important because I still do the newsletter :)  The concepts and purposes of ESY are very different from those of a summer school program.

Goal of the Month – February 2015

February 4th, 2015  

Writing Goal: Given a problem solving/daily living situation, the student will independently utilize a strategy to repair a communication breakdown (e.g. requesting clarification of information, requesting repetition of information, requesting help with a task, using verbal and nonverbal language appropriate to the given context) without becoming frustrated and using a harsh tone of voice in 4/5 trials across 3 sessions.

Baseline: The student benefits from support with problem solving and pragmatic language (situation specific language).

Objective: Given a problem solving/daily living situation, the student will identify a strategy to repair a communication breakdown as a) the speaker and b) the listener without becoming frustrated and using a harsh tone of voice in 4/5 trials across three sessions.

Objective: Given a problem solving/daily living situation, the student will demonstrate the ability to use a strategy to repair a communication breakdown as a) the speaker and/or b) the listener without becoming frustrated and using a harsh tone of voice in 4/5 trials across three sessions.

Objective: Given a problem solving/daily living situation, the student will demonstrate the ability to use a strategy to repair a communication breakdown as a) the speaker and/or b) the listener with support as needed in 4/5 trials across three sessions.

 

Goals of the Month – January 2015

January 12th, 2015  

Math Goal: The student will know and apply end of Kindergarten math skills progressing from an average of 73% to 95% accuracy.

Objective 1: Counting: The student will rote count to 50 without a mistake, over 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 2: Numbers: The student will identify numbers 0-20 with 100% accuracy over 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 3: Math Fluency-Addition: Given addition facts with sums 0 to 20, in two minutes the student will verbally solve 50 problems correctly, averaged over 3 consecutive trials.

 

Reading Goal: The student will know and apply end of Kindergarten reading skills progressing from 69% to 95% accuracy.

Objective 1: Letter Names: The student will identify the names of the 52 letters of the alphabet (upper and lowercase) with 100% accuracy over 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 2: Letter Sounds: The student will identify the sound of the 26 letters of the alphabet (most common consonant sounds and short vowel sound) with 95% accuracy averaged over 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 3: Reading Words: When presented with CVC words with all five vowels, the student will read the words with 70% accuracy over 3 consecutive trials.

Alternate Assessment – Changes in Database

December 10th, 2014  

Some of you may have noticed a few new options listed in the “Area” drop down menu of the Goals and Objectives screen in the database (see below).

These two new Areas (“AKAA ELA” and “AKAA Math”) are only intended for use with students who are on the Alternate Assessment.  All of the case managers who have students on the Alternate Assessment have received training on using these standards in IEPs.  Please do not use these standards for any students who are not on the Alternate Assessment.

AKAA Standards

 

Goals of the Month – November 2014

November 7th, 2014  

Goal: The student will respond during interactions with peers by making comments or asking questions that are appropriate within the context of the conversation with 100% accuracy in 5 consecutive opportunities.

Objective 1: When engaged in interactions with peers, the student will respond with at least one question or comment that is appropriate within the context of hte conversation with 100% accuracy in 5 consecutive opportunities.

Objective 2: When engaged in interactions with peers, the student will respond with at least two questions or comments that areappropriate within the context of hte conversation with 100% accuracy in 5 consecutive opportunities.

Objective 3: When engaged in interactions with peers, the student will respond with both questions and comments that are appropriate within the context of hte conversation with 100% accuracy in 5 consecutive opportunities.

 

Goal: When prompted by the teacher (e.g. “Eyes on Me.”), the student will demonstrate paying attention by responding to the teacher’s alerting cues, looking at the teacher, and actively participating in an activity for a least 10 minutes in 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 1: When prompted by the teacher (e.g. “Eyes on Me.”), the student will demonstrate paying attention by responding to the teacher’s alerting cues, looking at the teacher, and actively participating in an activity for at least 5 minutes in 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 2: When prompted by the teacher (e.g. “Eyes on Me.”), the student will demonstrate paying attention by responding to the teacher’s alerting cues, looking at the teacher, and actively participating in an activity for at least 7 minutes in 3 consecutive trials.

Objective 3: When prompted by the teacher (e.g. “Eyes on Me.”), the student will demonstrate paying attention by responding to the teacher’s alerting cues, looking at the teacher, and actively participating in an activity for at least 10 minutes in 3 consecutive trials.