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10 Tips for Present Levels of Performance that Strengthen IEPs

Every IEP must include statements that describe the student’s present levels of both academic achievement and functional performance. We’ve reviewed the IEP requirement for describing how the disability affects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum in my last post, including an analysis of both student disability-related characteristics and their impact in participating in the demands of the student’s curriculum.

Now it’s time to drill down, identify the student’s most urgent needs related to their disability and describe specific skills he or she demonstrates within that area of need. In doing so, IDEA requires a description of skills including academic achievement and functional performance.

Relationship Between Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

Some IEP formats require a statement specifically on academic achievement and a separate statement on functional performance; others combine both areas in one text box in the IEP. Either way, both are required— be sure to refer to guidance from your state on their specific expectations. While guidance may differ from state to state, let’s take a look at the guidance from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

Academic Achievement — generally refers to a child’s performance in academic areas (e.g., reading or language arts, math, science, and history)”.   (71 Fed. Reg. at 46662).

Functional Performance — “is generally understood as referring to ‘skills or activities that are not considered academic or related to a child’s academic achievement.’” This term “is often used in the context of routine activities of everyday living.” (71 Fed. Reg. at 46661).

  • This may include a wide range of skills including, but not limited to:
    • daily living skills such as dressing, eating, hygiene;
    • mobility skills,
    • social skills,
    • communication skills,
    • behavior skills,
    • executive functioning.

While academic achievement will focus on present levels of performance in academic settings, functional performance should address the student’s performance across all school settings.

Some of these skills are discrete and easily separated, such as the academic skill of reading or a student’s ability to brush their teeth independently. However, other skills may impact both academic and functional skills such as a student’s oral communication. For example, oral communication may impact academic performance such as in providing oral presentations or participating in class discussion, and functionally impact the student’s social skills, self-advocacy, etc. In this case, references may be found in both the statements of academic achievement and statements of functional performance sections of the IEP.

It falls to the IEP creator to make explicit connections between the statements so the reader is able to understand the extent to which the disability impacts the student’s performance.

Structuring a Strong Present Levels of Performance Statement

  1. Describe the student’s skills — Within each relevant domain (i.e. reading. math, mobility), describe those skills the student is able to demonstrate. Remember — acquisition of skills is a process. Sometimes you will describe skills the student has mastered and other times you will describe the conditions under which a student performs, even though he or she may still need supports.

    Be specific and verbally paint a picture in the IEP – @FrontlineEdu http://bit.ly/2xGudtb

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    Be specific and verbally paint a picture — by helping the reader visualize what the student can do, you are making this section of the IEP actionable. Think about it — if a teacher knows what a student can do, they can plan an instructionally relevant lesson. The reverse (focusing on what a student can’t do) may not be true.

  1. Identify the student’s urgent needs — Once you have a complete picture of how the student performs in a particular domain, take a look at what the demands and expectations for the student are in the general education curriculum. In other words, what skills, if acquired this upcoming year, would have the greatest impact on the student’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum?
  2. How to determine what is urgent
    • Compare present levels within context of curriculum, in order to
      • Determine degree of urgency, that will
      • Determine targeted need(s), which will drive
      • Specially designed instruction and goals
  1. After you’ve determined what is urgent — answer these 2 questions
    • What would it take for this student to be involved and progress in the general education curriculum? This section should describe what works for this student — strategies, materials, methods — in the designated areas of need.
    • What has worked in the past, what are student’s preferences, interests, etc.?
  1. Capture high-quality baseline data — The final component of the Present Levels of Performance Statement is the baseline data which will serve as the foundation for the annual goal(s). I don’t want to short change this important topic, so stay tuned for the next blog!

Writing a Strong Present Levels of Performance Statement

  1. Connect the dots — Each section of the IEP should inform the next section. “How disability affects” statements and “statements of present levels of academic achievement and functional performance” are, in a sense, two sides of the same coin. When read together, they should present an actionable picture of the student’s performance levels and needs.
  2. Paint a picture — Provide objective data and descriptive language about the student’s skills or behaviors and the conditions under which they are demonstrated — this will help a teacher plan instruction.
  3. Skills, not just scores — Other sections of the IEP include information from the most recent evaluation, so there’s no need to restate all that information unless it has direct bearing on baseline data. And any scores provided in this section should also include a description of the skills that make it relevant.
  4. Two heads are better than one — Collaborate with other teachers and related service providers to write comprehensive Present Levels of Performance Statements. It’s ok to blur the lines between instruction and related services, as they often are deeply intertwined — the Present Levels of Performance Statement is a vehicle to connect these dots! Provide explicit connections between things such as self-regulation (functional) and writing (academic); attentional skills (functional) and summarizing (academic), etc.
  5. Cast a Wide Net — Take a thoughtful approach as to how the student’s disability impacts functional performance. Focusing strictly on academics is only half of the requirement.

Key Takeaway: Maximize Benefit of Present Levels of Performance Statement

Remember, a well-constructed Present Levels of Performance Statement sets the stage for determining goals, specially designed instruction and services. And a well-constructed Present Levels of Performance Statement provides next year’s teacher with the great instructionally relevant information they need to hit the ground running and maximize benefit to the student.

Want to dive deeper? Discover the 6 best practices to elevate IEPs.

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Your RTI and MTSS Academic Screening Process: Performing a Check-Up

Your RTI and MTSS Academic Screening Process

Modern air travel is a marvel of complexity, with thousands of commercial flights traversing the world each day. At the center of this transportation web, air traffic controllers bring order to potential chaos by tracking every aircraft safely from liftoff to landing.

The RTI/MTSS model, too, is complex. It requires that schools track the academic performance of all students, identify those with academic delays, and proactively place these learners in supplemental (Tier 2) or intensive (Tier 3) intervention support. And once at-risk students close the skills-gap with typically performing peers, schools must be ready to exit them from Tier 2/3 services.

School-wide academic screeners provide the equivalent of air traffic control for RTI/MTSS. These screeners serve as a kind of radar screen for RTI/MTSS providers — an efficient method to help your team identify which students are at heightened risk for academic failure and need ‘catch-up’ intervention services, and which have made adequate progress at Tier 2/3, and can be discharged.

Because so much of the impact of RTI/MTSS depends upon the quality and use of screening data, veteran RTI/MTSS districts should start the school year by reviewing their school-wide screening procedures. In particular, districts should investigate whether they have the right tools for screening; are consistent in their application of screening data for Tier 2/3 entry and exit; and are avoiding premature screening in the fall that can overidentify students for Tier 2/3 services. Let’s look at each question separately.

Evaluating the Quality and Use of Screening Data

Do our academic screeners identify the ‘right’ students?

An important question about your school’s current set of screeners is whether they actually detect those students who most need intervention.

There are essentially two types of school-wide academic screeners: (1) basic-skills measures, and (2) general (curriculum) skills measures. Screeners that assess basic skills are brief, timed measures that assess both accuracy and fluency in foundation academic skills such as reading fluency or math computation. In contrast, screeners that assess general skills provide more global information about students’ mastery of skills tied to national or state academic standards.

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A list of RTI/MTSS academic screening tools can be found at the National Center on Intensive Intervention 

Both basic-skills and general-skills screeners can accurately highlight which students stand out from peers as needing intervention support. So how do schools determine which type of screener is best for them? That decision will hinge on the average academic standing of your students. If your school has substantial pockets of learners who struggle with entry-level academic deficits that interfere with access to the grade-level curriculum, you will definitely want to include basic-skills screeners in your RTI/MTSS assessment plan.

Evaluating the Quality and Use of Screening DataAlternatively, your school may have a relatively high-performing student population for whom basic-skill mastery is not a major obstacle. In this scenario, you might forego basic-skills screeners, since they would probably offer little additional useful information to make Tier 2/3 decisions. High-performing schools might instead adopt general-skills screeners that provide rich information about each learner’s mastery of curriculum-embedded skills.

Of course, schools can also elect to use a mix of basic- and general-skills screeners to benefit from the strengths of both types of assessment.

Schools should avoid the temptation to use informal classroom academic assessments as RTI/MTSS screeners. While such measures can certainly help teachers to monitor day-to-day student progress in core instruction, they are not normed and lack objective benchmarks that allow instructors to quantify learners’ risk for academic failure.

Similarly, beware of relying on teacher nomination as a data source for Tier 2/3 eligibility. While the nominations of educators can indeed flag at least some students needing intervention, they often simply corroborate the results of school-wide academic screeners. (This overlap is unsurprising, since teacher ratings and formal screeners both assess academic performance.) Also, teacher judgment is subjective, leading to the possibility that non-academic considerations can sometimes influence which students they nominate. For example, a classroom teacher might nominate a student for a Tier 2 reading group whose reading skills are intact but who displays challenging behaviors.

Are we consistent in enforcing entrance and exit criteria?

The power of school-wide screenings lies in their ability to predict academic failure. Educators place confidence in this proactive RTI/MTSS risk assessment because each screener allows schools to set specific score ranges and cut-points to define eligibility for services at Tiers 2 and 3. The expectation, then, is that student passage into and out of Tier 2/3 services is grounded on data and governed by transparent decision rules. Sometimes, however, subjective factors creep into the process.

For example, schools may find themselves recruiting students for Tier 2/3 services who would not qualify based on screener scores alone — because of extraneous factors such as parent requests, anecdotal accounts of classroom academic delays, or even a desire to ‘keep numbers up’ to justify intervention-staff positions.

Certainly, schools should have the latitude to select an occasional student for Tier 2/3 intervention who performs adequately on screeners but who presents with extenuating circumstances that suggest the need for such support. When truly in doubt, it is best to err on the side of providing intervention. But if your school finds itself drifting into the pattern of allowing frequent ‘exceptions’ as it applies its decision rules for entering and exiting students at Tiers 2 and 3, consider tightening up the process.

Tighten Up the Process

First, scrutinize your screeners and cut-points to verify that they can be trusted to find students who are truly at academic risk. Then, promote the understanding among teachers, parents and other stakeholders that subjective concerns about student performance should be backed up by objective screening data in order for a child to quality for Tier 2/3 services.

Is our school’s fall screening data accurate?

A well-documented phenomenon over the summer break is that students’ basic math and reading skills can regress. Sometimes called the ‘summer slide’, this slippage in skills does not affect all students equally. The good news is that it is also usually temporary, with most students catching up to their previous year’s level after several weeks of resumed schooling. However, schools can get an erroneous and overly pessimistic picture of school-wide student performance if they conduct academic screenings too quickly at the start of the school year. If possible, schools should delay fall academic screenings until the fourth or fifth week of school. If the screening is conducted earlier, there is the danger that the school will document students’ partial recovery from summer regression and overidentify those needing Tier 2/3 support — when in fact many of these learners will rapidly bounce back to higher levels of achievement.

The press for an early fall screening date can be driven by the school’s need for data to put together Tier 2/3 intervention groups. As a workaround, some schools have discovered that they can instead use data from the spring screening of the previous year to identify students eligible for Fall Tier 2/3 services. Using Spring data to set up intervention groups allows students to receive Tier 2/3 support immediately in the fall. Tier 2/3 assignments can then be updated as soon as fall screening results are available.

In Summary: Lead with Objective Student Data

School-wide academic screenings lend considerable power to the RTI/MTSS model. They have the potential to identify struggling learners quickly and accurately, allow schools to organize intervention resources efficiently to apply exactly the dose of intervention a student requires, and permit conversations about students to be grounded in objective data rather than subjective ‘gut’ feeling.

With all that is at stake, schools should ensure that their RTI/MTSS academic screening regimen is optimized to yield the right data, that the data is used consistently to recruit those who require intervention, and that fall screenings are timed to reveal an accurate snapshot of students in need.

Does your organization have an efficient method to help identify which students need intervention services? When performing your organization’s RTI/MTSS Academic Screening Process Check-Up this year, consider how implementing Frontline’s RTI & MTSS Program Management software can help manage and scale even the most complex RTI processes.

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7 Quick Statistics on Employee Absences & Substitute Teacher Activity

Quick Statistics Employee Absences

Standing on the cusp of a new school year, it might be hard to focus on anything but the buzz of back-to-school activities. But to set yourself up for success, you need context — a solid understanding of how everything went last year, and what you want to happen this year.

Good thing you have access to the newly-released annual absence report from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute! The new report is stuffed full of fascinating findings, giving you insight into national trends in school district employee attendance and substitute activity.

Don’t have time to look through the full report right away? We’ve pulled seven bite-sized stats you can read through now, with questions to reflect on for the coming year.

During the 2016-17 school year….

one Employees requiring a substitute averaged 11.16 absences.

This is down from an average of 11.73 absences during the 2015-16 school year. However, this downward trend is limited to employees requiring a substitute. Those employees who do not require a substitute took more time off this past year, with an average of 26.88 absences — up from 24.95 the year before.

average number of absences per employee
Have you noticed similar changes in your district?

two 17% of absences were professionally related.

Of the absences taken in 2016-17, 17% were for reasons such as professional development, school business or field trips. This is down just slightly from 2015-16, which saw professionally related absences account for a full 18% of all absences.

percentage of absences by reason

How can you mitigate the impact of school- and district-sponsored absences on instructional time?

three 22% of employees had perfect attendance.

The percentage of employees with perfect attendance fell by 9%, from 31% to 22%. Meanwhile, the percentage of those with more than ten absences during the course of the school year rose by 7%.

percentage of employees requiring a sub by number of days absentHave you noticed similar trends in your schools? How can school leaders encourage better attendance this year?

four 46% of enrolled substitutes did not work.

Of the substitutes enrolled in 2016-17, nearly half did not work at all during the school year. In comparison, non-working substitutes accounted for 39% of the substitute pool in 2015-16.

percentage of non-working substitutes
What can you do over the coming school year to encourage substitutes to work in your schools?

five Over 30% of professionally related absences were reported within 4 days.

Short lead times make finding substitute coverage difficult — yet professionally related absences (which tend to be planned weeks in advance) continued to be reported on short notice.
fill rate for professional related absences by absence reporting lead time What processes can you put in place to facilitate longer lead times and ensure that a qualified, prepared substitute is ready to fill in?

six The lowest fill rates happened around the weekend.

Mondays & Fridays had lowest fill rates in 2016-17, even though Mondays had the same percentage of absences Thursdays — indicating that substitutes prefer to work during the middle of the week.
percentage of absences and corresponding fill rates by day of week
What can be done to counteract this trend?

seven Employees were absent more toward the end of the week.

As seen in the graphic above, Fridays continue to be a high-absence day, with 23% of employee absences falling on the last day of the week. With a corresponding drop in fill rates (with Fridays averaging a fill rate of only 81%), this could have a significant impact on instructional time.

How would these numbers change if professional development was never scheduled on Fridays when school is in session?

About the data: These statistics are based on data from over 5,000 K-12 organizations using Frontline’s absence and substitute management tool. This represents data from 3,345,182 employees and 46,285,736 absences. This data is so comprehensive that the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University has declared it to be representative of national trends.

Want to see absence benchmarks from the Institute side-by-side with your own data? Learn more about the Institute Report in Frontline’s Absence Management system.

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8 Features Tech Directors Want in Student Data Storage & Analytics

No one is more invested in student data management than district technology administrators. Am I right, tech directors, tech coordinators? After all, you are the folks who maintain this data and often spend countless hours gathering and disseminating valuable data points to teachers, principals, curriculum directors, counselors, and superintendents.

The good-news/bad-news is that the trend toward data-driven learning models has helped fuel a growing market for data mining and learning analytics solutions. It’s good because you have more technology options, and it’s bad because too many choices can complicate the procurement process. To help with decision making, here is a list of 8 elements that are critical to a quality student data management and analytics system.

1. One Place to Store Data

It’s extremely difficult to harness the power of student data when it’s fragmented and out of reach to the people who need it. Replacing data silos and spreadsheet reporting, an effective K-12 student data analytics solution should integrate and aggregate all data sources into one system for utilization and reporting. In other words, it should integrate seamlessly with your student information, gradebook, LMS, special education, and other student solutions as well as serve as “data central” for all assessments—state, 3rd-party, and local.

A lot of vendors promise full integration between a school’s technology solutions through open interoperability frameworks, their own APIs, or custom processes. Reaching the dream of real-time data sharing can be elusive, however. Only a unified suite platform can eliminate potential incompatibility issues like manual data entry, duplication of data, and nightly data migrations. With one unified platform, you can ensure that everyone has access to the most current, accurate, and relevant data.

 2. Ease of Use for You and Teachers

Giving teachers the ability to use data to enhance teaching is probably one of the biggest game-changers in modern education. But student data is effective only if users know how to interpret it. A system that’s simple to access, use, and navigate is the first and most important step to user adoption and success.

How do you define usability? If you’re in IT, it probably includes things like simple installation processes, easy update procedures, and painless troubleshooting. For busy educators, ease of use can be answered through questions like these: Do I have to log in separately and remember another username and password? Does it have a familiar look and feel? Will it help me save time/become more efficient? Can it be easily integrated into my daily activities? Are there multiple ways to access information? Can I get anytime/anywhere access?

3. Multiuser Access with Role-Based Security

Here’s one feature that can help replace hundreds of user-specific reports and save countless hours or weeks spent gathering and distributing data. Data systems using role-based security and permission restrictions not only help districts maintain the confidentiality and integrity of student data, but they also give staff members easy access to the information they need to perform their jobs. In typical scenarios, teachers are able to view assessment data of all students enrolled in their classrooms, intervention specialists can see student data based on their caseload, principals have access to all students in their building, and so on. This process can also be applied to parents/guardians and students when accessing student-specific assessment and performance data.

4. Training for Teachers

It’s no surprise to district IT personnel that integrating technology in the classroom is more complicated than just giving teachers access to software. Because teachers possess varying levels of tech skills, have different and preferred learning styles, and generally lack the time to learn how to use various programs, it’s wise to consider solutions (and technology support providers) that offer a range of training and support options. A multifaceted approach could include face-to-face training, online web-based training, self-directed in-product help, online community forums, and even professional development certification programs.

5. Access to Historical, Timely, Relevant Data

If raising student achievement and improving instruction are among your district’s goals for student data analysis, then you’ll want to pay close attention to the types of data that are available from prospective systems. Number one, does it allow teachers to see historical, longitudinal data that can help to create a rich picture of student progress over time? Imagine a teacher pulling up their students’ past test scores, including the most recent end-of-year exams, before the start of the school year. This is the kind of information that allows teachers to develop a sense of their students’ strengths and challenges, and integrate this data into their planning process.

Number two, does it provide timely information—from state tests, local assessments, and other data points—that can help teachers inform and modify their instruction on the fly? Data that comes to educators late, after they’ve spent weeks or months working with students and getting to know their achievement levels, is essentially worthless.

Number three, are teachers getting data that’s relevant and easy to understand? Having access to students’ overall assessment scores is important, but when teachers can see data points that tie to learning standards, that’s when the magic happens. And don’t forget about other types of data—like demographics, attendance, discipline, interventions, IEPs, and special needs—that are useful in understanding the student as a whole.

6. Robust, Interactive Reporting

How do you bring your data to life and give it meaning? Whether a superintendent is comparing the latest building-by-building OGT test results, or a teacher is viewing student performance across multiple assessments and multiple years, everyone wants the ability to move in and out of data and find the key information they need. In addition to user dashboards and standard and custom reports, a good data management solution includes drill-down, filter, and sort capabilities that enable users to make sense of their data and see what’s happening at the micro level.

Imagine a scenario where a teacher can look at a visual graph of her students’ OCBA English scores, filter by students falling below “proficient” ranking, drill down to see how these students performed on individual standards, and then sort them into small groups for personalized instruction or intervention referral. Of course, for even greater flexibility and data sharing, systems should allow users to export their data to spreadsheets, such as Excel or Google Sheets.

7. Easy Importing of Assessment Data

A robust assessment data management solution should be fully capable of aggregating data from diverse sources. That’s a given. But as with any quality technology product, the devil is in the details.

Be sure to ask questions about methods used to import data, including both archived and ongoing assessments. For example, how easy is it to import multiple years’ worth of historical assessment data?  And which party—the district or the technology provider—will handle and schedule that task? What’s the process for importing data from various testing providers? Specifically, is there a centralized page, file formatting templates, or other tools to help automate data imports directly from the provider’s website?

Finally, given the ever-changing nature of education legislation and testing requirements, districts will want to know how the vendor manages the wide range of K-12 assessment providers. For example, how quick are they to make new assessments available for importing, and how well do they respond to test provider changes or updates that could impact data access?

8. Integrate with District Learning Programs

A data mining and analytics tool is usually not enough, on its own, to impact student learning unless its embedded into school-wide education practices, processes, and procedures. Giving educators easy access to student performance data right from their student information, gradebook, or learning management system is a good start. Even better is a system that allows districts to support their own curriculum and learning programs—including interventions and student learning objectives—in an environment that provides a framework for collaboration and continuous data analysis.

Report: Data-Driven and Classroom-Focused Professional Development

A look at the data with Elizabeth Combs of the Frontline Research & Learning Institute

When the Every Student Succeeds Act was signed in December 2015, educators working in professional learning (as well as in every other area of education) took note. In particular, the criteria defining effective professional development grabbed K-12 administrators’ attention.

The “new” definition of professional development wasn’t surprising —making sure learning is sustained, intensive, collaborative, and so on may not be easy — but the theory behind it isn’t new. But is it being practiced?

That question is at the heart of Bridging the Gap, a series of reports from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute. The Institute just released part 4 of the series, tackling the final 2 criteria in ESSA: “data-driven” and “classroom-focused.” Bridging the Gap looks at anonymized data from the professional development experiences of educators across the country and asks, “How close are we to this ideal?”

We spoke with Elizabeth Combs, Managing Director of the Frontline Research & Learning Institute to ask her what they found.

[Note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.]

Tell me about the methodology you used in this fourth installment of Bridging the Gap. How has the Frontline Research & Learning Institute been looking at these criteria to evaluate the state of professional learning today?

report criteria Data-Driven and Classroom-Focused Professional DevelopmentELIZABETH COMBS: We started with data from over 200 school districts, which represents more than 100,000 teaching professionals who have participated in over 3.2 million professional learning activities over the last five years.

We developed a set of definitions for each of the six criteria that are included in the ESSA definition, then identified what metrics we can use to help districts determine the extent to which the PD they’re offering actually meets those criteria. Throughout the reports we identify [certain] districts where data pointed to high alignment for one or more of the criteria, and included them throughout the series to understand how districts can shift their professional learning programs to be more in alignment with best practice.

Let’s start with the idea of professional learning that is “data-driven.” What do we mean by that?

EC: While these criteria are included in the [ESSA] definition, they’re never defined. We took a stab at defining each of them in a way that can be measured. For “data-driven,” we defined it as professional learning that is based upon, and responsive to, real-time information about the needs of participants and their students.

What’s important about this concept? We have data all over the place — in virtually every facet of our lives — why does this matter so much within professional learning?

EC: That’s a great question, because it’s a common area of confusion. What the criteria is not about is simply learning about or using data as part of a professional learning experience. It’s about analyzing teacher and student data to identify specific areas of need or focus, and then participating in professional learning opportunities that directly support those needs. It’s about using data to identify, “Where are the areas that my students need the most help, and what can I learn as a professional to support them in that area?”

What are sources of data that districts could use to drive professional learning?

EC: There’s a lot of data available. The question is really, “What are the best sources [of data] that a district can use in the most effective way?” There are obvious ways of pulling data: assessments to identify areas where students consistently struggle. Teacher evaluation data to focus individual professional learning opportunities based on individual needs. And surveys, self-assessments, peer feedback, professional learning communities and conversations that can help in identifying teacher practice and areas of focus.

data drivenWhat did you find in your research? Have districts succeeded in providing data-driven professional learning?

EC: Unfortunately, the story isn’t so great. We found that only eight percent of the professional learning that’s being offered is data-driven. This is particularly concerning because it indicates that, while many of the professional learning opportunities that teachers engage in may be important, they’re not necessarily being determined by their individual needs or the specific needs of their students.

What does professional learning that’s not data-driven look like?

EC: Generally, professional learning that has been offered as a one-size-fits-all workshop would not be considered data-driven. Forward-thinking organizations are thinking through how to individualize or personalize professional learning so it’s not one-size-fits-all, so individuals can engage in professional learning that meets their very specific needs.

Let’s say I work in professional learning at a school district, and I’m trying to move our program in a more data-driven direction. What are some of the steps I should take? What are the questions I should be asking?

EC: I think the key is to start small — there are so many small steps a professional learning director can take, rather than trying to turn the Titanic by revamping their entire program. For instance, they can start by asking, “To what extent are professional learning activities that teachers are participating in selected based on rationale that includes data on their own, or their students’, needs?”

Another question is, “To what extent is the data being used to select professional learning related to daily teaching activities or student outcomes?” Just asking those questions of participants at the point when they’re enrolling in opportunities will help set expectations and start them thinking about how professional learning impacts their daily practice.

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18,000 Reasons to Rethink Professional Development 

You looked in depth at Greece Central School District in New York. They’re a district that takes the ESSA criteria quite seriously, and as they’ve worked to realize a more data-driven model, you note that it has led to some changes that have shown promising results.

EC: They’re doing some amazing things with their professional learning program at Greece Central. And they’ve seen many exciting results. One has to do with teacher retention, something that we might not generally think about in the context of an outcome from an effective professional learning program. Greece Central’s teacher turnover fell from 22% in 2014 to 18% during the ’15-’16 year. That’s such an important metric to think about, given the current teacher shortage and the challenges that districts are facing.

Let’s look the last criteria for professional learning in ESSA: “classroom-focused.” How do you define “classroom-focused” in Bridging the Gap?

EC: We refer to classroom-focused professional learning as learning that is related to the practices taking place during the teaching process and relevant instructional processes. In other words, “As a teacher, are you learning skills, concepts or strategies that are directly related to what and who you are teaching every day?” That might seem like an obvious concept, but if we go back to a one-size-fits-all environment of professional development, it’s almost impossible to provide PD that’s directly related to what everyone is teaching at the same time.

classroom focusedThere’s some encouraging news here, right? What did you find as you looked at the data?

EC: We found very encouraging news here. We found that 85% of the activities that were offered were aligned to the InTASC standards directly related to teaching practice. We define that to mean that 85% of activities offered were, in fact, classroom-focused.

Classroom-focused learning has obvious benefits —stronger teaching, better learning, more improved student outcomes, etc. — but you write that it can also help to clarify professional learning itself. How so?

EC: The explicit connection between a professional learning activity and the standard of practice to which it’s aligned helps clarify the nature of that activity. This process results in clear expectations regarding the nature of the professional learning being offered.

What are the action steps for any district seeking to make professional learning more classroom-focused?

EC: There are many small steps that those leading professional programs can begin to implement. Simply providing teachers with the opportunity to observe master teachers, participate in mentoring and, of course, continue to ensure learning activities are aligned to teaching standards, will all help move this type of professional learning forward.

Tweet: Making PD more classroom-focused: “Start small, take baby steps and measure progress.” – @ecombs123 http://bit.ly/2vGqJJh

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Do you have any words of encouragement for educators who might look at their professional learning programs and say, “Based on the criteria that the Every Student Succeeds Act gives us, we have a long way to go”?

EC: Start small, take baby steps and measure progress. The goal of the entire Bridging the Gap series is to provide leaders with ideas about how they can better align their programs with a best practice definition of professional learning, and to give them tools and metrics to measure their progress. We believe that’s the greatest value we’re offering through the reports: being able to document the extent to which all of the resources and efforts put into providing effective professional learning are making an impact, based upon a set of measurable criteria.

You can download Bridging the Gap, parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 at the Frontline Research & Learning Institute, as well as listen to the full interview with Elizabeth Combs at the top of this page.

Is your educator professional learning data-driven and classroom-focused? Want to make the connection from educator needs to personalized professional learning? Check out Frontline’s connected solution for teacher evaluation and professional development now.

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4 Tips for Maintaining a Compliant Candidate Selection Process

The hiring process can be grueling: cultivating a pipeline of prospective educators, recruiting plenty of applicants (especially for those niche positions), poring over what can feel like thousands of resumes, playing phone tag with candidates — needless to say, it’s a lot of work. But it’s all worth it in the end, when you find the best candidate for each opening in your district and they accept the job offer.
 
Between all of that exhaustion and excitement, though, is the tangle of employment laws that every Human Resources professional must keep in mind as they seek out extraordinary educators. Every decision made in choosing candidates must be based on a fair and legally defensible hiring process.
 
With that in mind, here are four important practices to keep in mind for maintaining and defending a fair teacher selection process.

#1. Establish objective hiring criteria.

When it comes to hiring, the law is clear: there’s no room for discriminating against a candidate based on certain characteristics or protected categories. And there’s no leniency granted for unintentional discrimination, either — if your selection process unwittingly and disproportionately impacts members of a protected class, your organization can still be held liable for discrimination.
 
So, to stay compliant in the candidate selection process, it’s crucial to make decisions based only on objective criteria like academic credentials and years of experience — rather than measures that could be misconstrued as discriminatory. But when faced with an avalanche of employment applications and resumes, sometimes it can be difficult to eradicate any hint of subjectivity. An applicant tracking system can help by letting you filter through large volumes of applications based on objective criteria, so you can easily identify the most qualified candidates to bring in for interviews.

#2. Double-check applicant screening assessments.

When used correctly, applicant screening assessments can be a valuable tool for gaining insights into each candidate’s potential. But not all screening assessments or pre-employment tests are created equal, and some may have a disproportionately adverse effect on members of protected classes. The most common way that this adverse impact is defined is by the “80% rule” (or four-fifths rule), which states that adverse impact exists if the passing rate for protected class members is less than 80% of the passing rate for non-members of that class.
 
So before buying an applicant screening tool, be sure to ask your vendor if they periodically conduct adverse impact reviews, and if their assessments pass the EEOC’s four-fifths rule.

 

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Get our free Guide to choosing the best applicant screening tools

 

#3. Standardize the hiring and interview process.

Do your principals and others involved in the interview process use the same questions? Are they trained in which questions they can ask, and more importantly, which ones they can’t?
 
Compliant interviewing practices aren’t second-nature to most people, so it’s important to provide everyone on the hiring team with interview training, as well as a list of approved, consistent interview questions. Standardizing the selection and interviewing processes in this way helps eliminate bias and prevents claims of discrimination.

#4. Document everything — securely.

It’s not enough to know that your district follows compliant hiring practices. You need to be able to prove it, too. Keep a record of everything that took place throughout the hiring process, and consider documenting any interactions over the phone or in person. Having an electronic applicant tracking system will make this information much easier to document, and much easier to access if an applicant does file a complaint against your district.
 
However, make sure that sensitive information contained in your hiring and interview records are kept secure. You don’t want to risk sensitive information getting in front of the wrong people, or even leaking to others outside of the district. Don’t entrust applicant privacy to a locked filing cabinet — find a secure online employee records management system that encrypts data and lets you control individual permissions.
 
 “It’s a good practice to have an actual system that’s defensible. You are going to have people that might challenge why they weren’t hired, and why another candidate was hired. We have to be able to defend the district in terms of litigation or civil rights complaints, and we need to be able to show that we had a fair and equitable system that was applied by everybody who does hiring in our district.” – Anne Sullivan, Chief of Human Resources, Des Moines Public Schools
 
Note: This blog does not serve as legal advice. If you still have questions on disparate impact or compliant hiring practices, contact your district’s legal counsel for advice.
 

Interactive Map: ELL Population Growth by State

The most recent national data indicates that 10.3% of public students in the U.S. are participating in English language learner (ELL) programs. That percentage is up from 9.2% in 2010. The data keeps telling us that the ELL population is on the rise but what does that mean specifically for your state and unique education community?

You can see the latest information about your state here.

 

ELL Population Growth by Numbers

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that the average number of public school students participating in ELL programs at school has been steadily increasing since 2010, after a brief decrease in the 2009-2010 school year. Western states have the largest share of ELL students in the nation.[1] Texas has the most ELL students (20.1%), followed by California (17.7%) and then New Mexico (16%). According to NPR, about 1 out of every 10 public school students in the US is an ELL student.[2]

In the 2014 – 2015 school year, a higher percentage of public school students in lower grades than in upper grades were ELL students.[3] That’s not unexpected as students who embark on ELL programs in earlier years can become fluent and no longer need the same support in later years.

How Can You Address the Rising Number of ELL Students?

As the number of ELL students increases and the number of ELL teachers decreases, all areas of the curriculum are impacted, and effective coteaching and collaboration in support of ELL students becomes even more important. Research has shown that teamwork in this area can be disruptive to teachers’ routines, making it difficult to work together productively in and outside of the classroom.[4]

Having tools that streamline and enhance collaboration can help delineate the roles of individual teachers working with the same ELL students — this can help teachers and other specialists work together more effectively, establish a practical routine, identify instructional focus and create more detailed learning objectives.

 

[1] Ruiz Soto, A. G., Hooker, S., and Batalova, J. (2015). States and Districts with the Highest Number and Share of English Language Learners. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/states-and-districts-highest-number-and-share-english-language-learners

[2] Sanchez, C. (2017). English Language Learners: How Your State Is Doing. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/23/512451228/5-million-english-language-learners-a-vast-pool-of-talent-at-risk

[3] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2017). The Condition of Education 2017 (2017-144), English Language Learners in Public Schools.

[4]Peercy, M. M., Ditter, M., and Destefano, M. (2017).“We Need More Consistency”: Negotiating the Division of Labor in ESOL-Mainstream Teacher Collaboration. TESOL Journal. http://www.jariosvega.com/uploads/7/2/0/0/72008483/weneedmoreconsistency.pdf

5 Strategies to Make Professional Learning for Teachers More Effective

5 Strategies to Make Professional Learning for Teachers More Effective

Each morning, over 11,000 students step out of cars or bounce off buses into their classrooms at Greece Central School District. This suburban district — a 15-minute drive from Rochester, New York — consists of 17 schools and has been named one of the Best Communities for Music Education in the U.S. for several years running.

Marguerite Dimgba is deeply invested in the education that takes place at Greece Central. Her own kids attend here, after all. And as the Director of Professional Learning, she has the unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on the instruction these kids receive.

To support inspired teaching and learning in every classroom, and continual growth for every educator, Marguerite and her team place a high value on best practices in Greece Central’s professional learning program.

Top Strategies for Professional Learning for Teachers

So what are some of those best practices that Greece Central employs to ensure professional learning is effective?

1) Provide Learning Based on Classroom Observation Results

Like many forward-thinking districts, Greece Central views teacher observations as opportunities to collaboratively work toward greater teaching practice.

“My role is to really look at the various scores on the rubric, and to see, ‘Okay, if there are some teachers developing in this area, what supports and professional learning can I organize and provide so the teacher…gets the resources and support that they need?’”

2) Give Teachers ‘Voice and Choice’ in Their Learning

Professional learning at Greece Central isn’t one-size-fits-all. Marguerite notes the importance of providing learning opportunities that address each teacher’s individual needs.

“Professional learning over the course of a teacher’s career should evolve as the teacher evolves. I think about when I first started teaching it was very much an after-school workshop, and I still think there’s a place for the after-school workshop, but that really is only a fraction….

“Choice is so important. It’s important to our students, so therefore it’s important to our staff. Trying to offer more creative choices — a more online, blended-type approach — is a challenge. It’s something we’re always constantly thinking about and growing in ourselves. To meet the teachers where they are at that particular moment, and to evolve and change as a professional learning team.”

“Professional learning over a teacher’s career should evolve as the teacher evolves.” –M. Dimgba @GreeceCentral http://bit.ly/2uJBbNA

   CLICK TO TWEET THIS 

3) Offer Professional Development for All Staff (Not Just Teachers)

Teachers aren’t the only educators in the district, of course. Bus drivers, monitors, security officers, cafeteria workers — they all play an important role in education. At Greece Central, certified and non-certified staff alike pursue excellence through professional learning.

“Teachers are obviously our big chunk of our time, our major focus, and they really have that direct link with students. But if you think about when a student wakes up in the morning, and they get on the school bus, that’s the first person who interacts with them….Everyone is supported in the process no matter what their position is.”

4) Apply Learning to Practice

The work doesn’t stop once a teacher completes a learning activity. Greece Central actively works with teachers to ensure that professional development for teachers makes a difference in the classroom.

“I’m not evaluating you and your knowledge after having taken this course. I want to know, ‘Did this course have a change on your practice? Did it have any impact on student learning? What’s the evidence you have on the student learning piece?’ … That sort of changed our thinking in terms of evaluating professional learning, so that’s really been a positive.”

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White Paper — “The Power of Failure: Encouraging Teachers to Take Risks in a Risk-Free Environment” 

5) Align Professional Development to Strategic Goals

“Data-driven” is commonly used to describe effective professional learning. At Greece Central, when proposing professional development activities, teachers must identify how those activities align to the district’s strategic action plan in order to receive credit for them. Then, following each activity, they’re required to submit feedback.

“Our rule is to look at the data in terms of professional learning, and how we might use that to inform our work. This committee also develops our PDP, our professional development plan, that’s required for the state. Without having data, we wouldn’t be able to take a look at what we’re doing. It’s all tied back into our strategic plan. Whenever a proposal is submitted, [employees] have to tag it to specific elements of our strategic plan.

“Anyone can count, ‘I had five people take this class for ten hours.’ That’s not very meaningful data. I wanted the whole picture. I wanted to look at the evaluation of the courses. I wanted to look at how that ties into teacher growth and professional learning.”

“Professional learning must be very purposeful and tie back to our strategic plan.” –M. Dimgba @GreeceCentral http://bit.ly/2uJBbNA

   CLICK TO TWEET THIS 

How They Do It

Orchestrating professional learning for thousands of teachers and staff — and all the details that come with it — might seem to require superhero powers and 28 hours a day. But Marguerite and her team don’t need a small army to impact teaching in the district. They were able to trim costs and save time, enabling them to be more thoughtful about the professional learning process and spend more time working with teachers.

Check out our case study to learn how.

Teacher Collaboration Between General and Special Education: Hopes and Fears for the Future

Teacher Collaboration Between General and Special Education: Hopes and Fears for the Future

Collaboration is often defined as a sharing of responsibilities and resources in working to achieve mutual goals. This shared sense of accountability is an important part of many workplaces, and can be used as a tool to drive decision-making in K-12 education.

Though teacher collaboration is a necessity in providing an appropriate education to students with special needs, a recent study by Intervention in School and Clinic reminds us that collaboration between general education teachers and special education teachers can be challenging — and is a topic on the minds of future educators.

This survey of general and special education pre-service teacher candidates identified three recurring themes around their hopes and fears on the topic of collaboration across their respective specialties: time management, communication and content knowledge.
 
time management clock

Time Management

Lack of time is a known challenge in K-12 education, with almost 40% of special educators spending 20% or more of their time on paperwork. “Having time for productive conversations” was considered important among study participants in both general and special education. Participants in both areas also noted concerns about lack of time for collaboration.

Research shows that teacher candidates are right to be thoughtful about ways to prioritize collaboration time with their peers. A study of 1,210 teacher leaders showed that 68% of teachers turned to other teachers for support, over educational leadership or their larger networks.[1] 

graph of who one turns to for help about teaching
Source of data: Berry, B., Daughtrey, A., & Wieder, A. (2009). Collaboration: Closing the effective teaching gap. Retrieved from Centre for Teaching Quality website: teachingquality.org/content/collaboration-closing-effective-teaching-gap

quote

  Communication

The theme mentioned most by candidates was communication. This theme included issues related to relationship and conflict management. Pre-service candidates noted wanting to keep the lines of communication open. Candidates also spoke to the importance of understanding each other, being open to different perspectives, and having peers with varied experience.

In addition to the barrier of time when it comes to effective communication, research shows that there may be a language barrier between general and special education teachers, especially around the terms inclusion, remediation and differentiated instruction.[2] Finding ways to clarify communication and workflow around a common system may be beneficial.

content knowledge

Content Knowledge

The third recurring theme was a concern about gaps in knowledge negatively affecting collaboration between teachers. Since general education and special education are two different and distinct areas of specialty, it’s understandable that gaps in content knowledge may occur; for example, a general education teacher most likely won’t have the same level of knowledge about individualized education plans (IEPs) as a special education teacher, and a special educator will likely not have the same level of understanding of subject matter pedagogy as a general education teacher.

Research suggests that special educators sometimes take on the role of helper instead of co-teacher, partly due to a lack of content knowledge.[3]

apple

  Food for Thought

Efficient collaboration between general and special education is a pillar of providing meaningful support to children with disabilities — because this goal requires teachers from both areas to work as a decisive and informed team. Are there steps you can take to support teacher collaboration in your district or school?

Read the full Intervention in School and Clinic study here.

 

[1] Berry, B., Daughtrey, A., & Wieder, A. (2009). Collaboration: Closing the effective teaching gap. Retrieved from Centre for Teaching Quality website: teachingquality.org/content/collaboration-closing-effective-teaching-gap
[2] Robinson, L., & Buly, M. R. (2007). Breaking the language barrier: Promoting collaboration between general and special educators. Teacher Education Quarterly, 34(3), 83–94.
[3] Friend, M., Cook, L., Hurley-Chamberlain, D., & Shamberger, C. (2010) Co-Teaching: An illustration of the complexity of collaboration in special education. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 20:1, 9-27, DOI: 10.1080/10474410903535380

3 Summer Tips to Ease Substitute Teacher Management

teacher reading textbook to classroom

Congratulations — you’ve made it to the end of the school year! Don’t head out to the beach (or pool, or picnic) just yet, though. Before you hitch a ride to Rockaway Beach, make sure that you and your substitute management program are set for summer with these three tips. Then, you’re ready to relax, recharge and enjoy the warm weather and sunny skies.

Review the Past School Year

You’re looking forward to summer, but first take a moment to look back and use insights from the past year to reflect, plan and make next year even more successful. Explore your employee absence data and ask yourself the following questions:

  • How often were teachers out of the classroom, and for what reasons?
  • How does your school district’s data compare to national norms?
  • What can you do to promote fewer of these absences next year?
  • Which employees had perfect attendance? How can you acknowledge and thank these staff members for their commitment?

Don’t forget to look at the other side of the employee absence coin, too — your substitute pool. Which substitutes never accept jobs, despite being called? Should any substitutes be removed from your list? Have this data in mind for step two: preparing your substitute program for the upcoming year.

  Prepare Your Substitute Teacher Pool

With insights from your absence management software in hand, prepare your substitutes for next year. Planning this out and starting the process early on will save you time over the next few months, so you can enjoy your summer to its fullest.

First, communicate with your substitutes. Start by sending letters of reasonable assurance and other necessary documents to discuss the upcoming year, if these haven’t already been distributed.

Then, look for ways to cultivate a healthy substitute pool. With substitute shortages plaguing schools from California to Connecticut, it’s more important than ever to have engaged, active substitutes ready to work in your district. So, if your list of substitutes is sparser than you’d like, plan to recruit and hire more before the school year starts.

In addition, remember the substitutes already working in your schools — here’s your opportunity to wrap up the school year on a positive note and retain these substitutes for next year. Get in touch with the wonderful substitutes who have worked a lot over the past year and received glowing feedback from your full-time staff, and recognize them for their hard work.

And don’t forget to reach out to substitutes who haven’t been taking jobs — maybe you can find ways to encourage them to work more next year. For example, offering training on how they can be more effective in the classroom can help prevent substitutes from feeling overwhelmed or underconfident. These trainings don’t have to get in the way of your summer plans, either — high-quality online training courses are available so substitutes can learn on their own time.

 Get Your Systems Ready for Summer

Technology should make your work easier Set up your district’s systems now, so you don’t have to worry about making changes throughout the summer. For example, in Frontline Absence & Time (formerly Aesop and VeriTime), you may want to do the following:

  • Adjust your system to reflect 4-day workweeks and allow your employees to create absences for modified work schedules.
  • Add a summer school location and set it up with the necessary staff
  • Roll over your employees’ absence reason balances
  • Inactivate substitutes (or those not involved in summer school)
  • Set an end date (and “Return to Previous Assignment” date, if needed) for users who don’t work a full year

The more you can automate your work with solutions like ours, the more time you can reclaim for yourself — meaning you can head out for those long weekends knowing that everything that needs to be done is moving along smoothly.

The Hidden (Practical) Value in End-of-Year Special Education Data

using a magnifying glass over computer screen icon

Supporting K-12 students with special needs makes for a very busy spring for administrators and special education teachers. There are so many things that need to be done to close out the year that it can often feel like a very reactive — even chaotic — time, which means you have pretty much no time at all to proactively plan for next year. But, according to your peers in special education, planning for next year at the end of this year will likely save you a lot of stress down the line.

What if you could use your end-of-year special programs data to proactively solve next year’s problems, before next year — without working 80 hours a week? To gain a better understanding of where there is hidden value in end-of-year data, and how it’s being effectively leveraged with such limited time, we asked districts how they currently go about it, and where they’re seeing a return on their investment of time.

What challenges do you face?

Pine Tree Independent School District: “Finding the time can be challenging. The accountability piece has been somewhat challenging. Keeping track of what student information has and hasn’t been archived — in the past, this has been difficult to determine.”

Pekin Public School District 108: “Not enough time. Having to manipulate some of the data manually.”

Katy Independent School District: “Not enough time. We want to make sure we benchmark and archive all of our data each month so we keep a running record of historical data. Losing live data is a major concern. Lack of interconnectedness in some of the data systems our district uses can be a challenge.”

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Special Education Paperwork: How Much Time Does It Really Take? 

When does end-of-year review start?

common months for planning and reviewing

How does data help you plan for next year?

South Sector — United Independent School District: “Helps us identify programs and systems that proved successful this year and make changes to programs and procedures that were not effective. We also use it to anticipate staff development needs.”

Pekin Public School District 108: “It’s helpful for resource planning at the campus level. For example, we had a building that started the year with one teacher and 12 special education students. But 8 or 9 of those students ended up needing more attention from special education teachers and paraprofessionals because of the disability types. Reviewing data at the end of the year allows us to make better projections, so we can more accurately plan effective caseloads and decide if we need to hire more staff.”

Katy Independent School District: “We use it to make projections for how many special education students will be in our district, and moving around to various schools within our district, in the coming school year. We also use it to see enrollment trends at each campus as we determine how we’re going to staff educational diagnosticians and speech pathologists for each campus.”

Which data and reports are most helpful for planning?

Katy Independent School District: “Student disability code, how many transfer students are in our district, how many students are evaluated each month, how many meetings are held each month, how many students we started with in our special education programs — and how many we end the year with, pending referrals, reports to make sure the status for each student is filled in to our data management system.

Pekin Public School District 108: “Student grade, program, educational environment code, disability code, address path, projected campus for coming school year.”

Pine Tree Independent School District: “Student name, date of birth, grade, campus, instructional arrangement code, speech code, related services data. We use the annual state-specific special education and FIE reports. The 504 report helps to identify students with dyslexia, so we can compare teacher caseloads.”

Who reviews the data and what’s involved?

who reviews data infographic

Things to consider to get the most out of data

Each of the districts we spoke with used insights gathered during end-of-year data review to inform plans for the next school year and improve internal processes in a measurable way. While end-of-year data review in special education and interventions is not a one-size-fits-all approach, common challenges centered around time management and data loss. Better compliance management, resource management and ability track progress were common goals.

Do these themes resonate with what you’ve experienced in the trenches? Are there other ways your team can use data to reclaim staff time to better support children with special needs next year?

Tell the Right Story: How Does the Student’s Disability Affect Involvement and Progress in the General Education Curriculum?

Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) must include a statement on “how the disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.” I think of this section as providing the rationale for all subsequent decisions on what special education, related services and supplemental aids and services the student requires. Pretty important!

A well written “how disability affects…” statement describes the nature of the disability and how it will impact the student across school environments. This shared understanding, along with other components of the PLAAFP, helps the team determine the student’s needs, and ultimately, the resources necessary for the student to be involved and progress in the general education curriculum. It helps parents gain a clearer understanding of the challenges their child will encounter in the school setting. Classroom teachers can also better understand their role in providing necessary accommodations and modifications.

To really understand the importance of this section, let’s unpack this statement.

Unpacking the PLAAFP Statement:
What It Means

 “How the disability affects…”

To merely identify the student’s disability category does not do justice to the student or this part of the IEP. To describe the student in these terms is too broad to give the reader meaningful and actionable information. Rather, the IEP should describe the actual characteristics the child demonstrates as a result of the disability. Think about it:
Indicating a student has a “health impairment” is not particularly useful unless you describe that Justin’s epilepsy causes him to be disoriented at times; or Rachel’s heart condition causes fatigue; or William’s attention deficit disorder interferes with sustained attention during a lecture.

“Involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.”

First, we know the “general education curriculum” refers to that provided to students without disabilities. Simply put, ALL students’ educations should be designed around an agreed upon set of standards enacted by each state.

Next, “involvement and progress” — think of “involvement” as another word for participation. The criterion is not about proximity to the curriculum; rather, it’s about meaningful participation with curriculum. Meaningful participation requires active interaction, but certain approaches that are pathways to interaction for some students can be barriers for others. The team must identify the requirements or demands for participation in the curriculum in order to assess how an individual student’s disability will affect involvement.

For example, the demands for participation in a science lab might be to follow directions and demonstrate self-regulation for safety — how will a student with poor impulse control fare in this environment? The demand for participation in a high school English class discussion requires the ability to access text — how would a student with a significant reading disability fare in this situation?

A PLAAFP Statement In Practice:
Putting It All Together

  • Seth is eligible for special education as a result of cerebral palsy. Seth uses a wheelchair to move through the school environment. His right side is stronger than the left; he has limited muscle control and fatigues easily during fine and gross motor activities. Sixth grade requires frequent writing activities across all classes (demonstrating text types and purposes; note-taking to prepare for assessments or keeping track of homework). These demands will present barriers to Seth’s participation without substantial accommodations for all writing activities.
  • Jon’s specific learning disability impacts his reading comprehension and math computation. Jon’s working memory is weak, which means he has difficulty holding on to multiple pieces of information in order to perform an academic task. Working memory is required to engage in most 10th grade academic tasks such as reading comprehension, written expression, and application of math facts and formulas. Jon will have difficulty summarizing text after reading a passage. Taking notes during a quickly paced lecture results in Jon creating incomplete notes. It’s necessary for Jon to acquire multiple strategies to assist in managing his learning, including use of assistive technology, annotation, effective use of graphic organizers, extended practice and chunking new information.
Here’s some hand-picked content you may enjoy:

“Writing High-Quality IEPs” — a video series from Carol Kosnitsky 

Here are sentence frames to help the team think more strategically about constructing these statements.

The student’s ___ (disability) __ _ manifests itself in the following ways:       (specific characteristics manifested by disability) __. The ___grade level___ curriculum requires students to participate/engage/complete __ (generic skill/activity/demand)__. Given the student’s learning characteristics, he/she will be challenged with tasks/activities that require __(examples of specific skill/activity/demand)__. However, this challenge is minimized and participation is increased when the student is provided the following: __(appropriate supports and services)__.

So where do you get this information?

Each student’s IEP should be based on multiple sources of information. Be sure to consider the following:

  1. Formal assessment — contributes to describing the disability and the characteristics demonstrated by the student.
  2. Observations — provides “real-time” information on the student’s response to the demands of the curriculum, as well as their response when the environment is adapted to meet their needs.
  3. Curriculum — provides team members the opportunity to connect the dots between characteristics and demands.

quote about involvement

Remember, involvement is not the end game. Rather, involvement is the pathway to progress. Once the student’s unique characteristics and needs are identified, the team can determine what specially designed instruction, related services and/or supplemental aids and services are necessary to ensure the student makes appropriate progress in light of their circumstances.