How do I select the right Progress Monitoring for Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)?

How do I select the right Progress Monitoring for Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)?

Introduction and Process

The IEP has been written, and specially designed instruction (SDI) and services have been established. The only thing left to do is select the right progress monitoring probe to measure student growth. 
  1. The probe should align with their present level of performance and SDI
  2. The contents of the probe should vertically align to the grade level standard
Classworks makes this easy. Each probe is aligned both to the standards for the student’s enrolled grade and to their present level. Click on the present level tool to choose the right progress monitoring probe for your students. 




Steps:

  1. Select your state standards
  2. Select the student’s enrolled grade 
  3. Select the student’s present level. The Classworks Universal Screener report gives you this data if you are not sure.
  4. Looking at the standard the IEP goal is based on, the present level CBM (the last column)  tells you which probe to assign to the student. 

Vertically Aligned Probes 

In order to ensure the present level probe aligns to the student’s enrolled grade standards’ based IEP, a vertical alignment is conducted. The alignment considers all aspects of the content area and how the concepts build upon each other.  

Students who are supported by an academic IEP goal are working below grade level in that content area.  In order to measure progress toward attaining this goal, deficit-based specially designed instruction (SDI) is provided to meet them at their instructional level with explicit instruction on prerequisite skills.  Monitoring the effectiveness of this SDI is achieved through weekly progress monitoring probes that are delivered at the learner’s instructional level.  

Example

The below illustrates how a grade-level standards-based IEP goal is connected to objectives from earlier grades:

In this example, Abraham Mason, an eighth grader, is working toward this standard as his annual IEP goal.
8th Grade Level Standard CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.B.4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models and in terms of its graph or a table of values.
On the universal screener, Abraham’s performance indicated he was ready to learn algebra concepts at the 3rd-grade level.  
Algebra
The performance in Algebra earned Abraham a score of 340 which is equivalent to 3rd-grade level performance.
Abraham’s IEP team selects a session of weekly progress monitoring probes constructed of objectives related to his IEP goal.
Abraham’s IEP team used the tool above to review the vertical articulation/alignment or coherence map between objectives at this current performance level (3rd grade) and his enrolled grade level in 8th grade.  

The Algebra progress monitoring probes contain the objectives he needs to develop proficiency with.  


Notes
Proficiency with the 8th-grade level standard relies on proficiency with number relationships including “input, output” tables, and proportional relationships.  The objectives measured weekly on 3rd-grade algebra probes measure Abraham’s skill growth with the added benefit of informing his SDI to ensure it meets his current needs.

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