I guess, for me, those two moments were inspiring because I have always been such an admirer of Senator Kennedy, especially (as a student of rhetoric) in terms of his skill as an orator. I remember hearing that he was endorsing Obama and feeling so proud that I was involved in something he too believed in. I remember listening to the speech and comparing it to all of those I had read and heard from the earlier days in his career, and thinking about how admirable it is to see a person who is so consistent with his passion, devotion and message throughout his life.

I studied Speech Communications in my undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia. We studied various forms of rhetoric, reading speeches given in the context of social movements, from the Woman’s Suffrage Movement to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, orations given during political campaigns, and in moments of national crisis or disaster. Ted Kennedy was one of the great orators of our time. Now we can debate as to what was the greatest speech of his life, which speech was most moving, inspiring, or most important. There are many to choose from; the most notable perhaps being “The Dream Never Dies” speech from the 1980 DNC, in which Kennedy talked about all of the issues he had championed throughout his career, and ended with the rousing words “the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” Then of course, there is the emotional and inspirational speech given at Bobby Kennedy’s funeral, when he spoke of the hopes of his brother for a better world, saying the moving words “Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.”

If you study the speeches and interviews of Ted Kennedy, it is statements like these that sum him up so well. These statements speak to the hope that he envisioned for America, the dreams and causes he believed in and fought for, and the endurance of those hopes.

For me, one of the speeches I love is not from a great moment like a funeral or a convention. It was an interview in the early 1970’s in which Kennedy talked about why he believed Health Care Reform was necessary. He spoke frankly about his families struggles with medical issues, and talked about the fact that they were fortunate to have access to quality health care when they needed it. He talked about Health Care as being a right, not a privilege, and about his vision for an America in which any family would have access to the medical care they needed.

This is why I admired Ted Kennedy as a Senator, a leader. He saw issues that affect us at our most fundamental levels and looked for ways to make the world a better place. He championed the causes of the disadvantaged, and inspired others to do so likewise.

As a disability advocate, I owe much to this inspiration, and his work. Senator Kennedy introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in the workplace, and requiring reasonable accommodations and accessibility which literally opened the doors to people with disabilities in places like theaters, shops, museums, hotels and restaurants. He was instrumental in the Family Opportunity Act, opening up access to Medicaid for families of disabled children, even if they were not in the “low income” status; the Help America Vote Act, requiring polling places to provide a machine that ensured access and privacy for voters with disabilities; and the Mental Health Parity Bill, which required mental health and substance abuse coverage to be on par with other coverage. Other important disability legislation included the Fair Housing Act Amendments, the Air Carriers Access Act, the Civil Rights Commission Amendments, the Comprehensive Services and Developmental Disabilities Amendments, the Crime Victims and Disabilities Awareness Act, the Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act and countless others.

And of course, as an advocate in the special education field, I must be eternally grateful for Senator Kennedy’s work on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind. He passionately believed, in his own words, that “all children deserve a quality education.” He was an original co-sponsor of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, which later became the IDEA, recognizing the fundamental importance of ensuring that students with disabilities were given the right to a free appropriate public education. He was also an original co-sponsor of the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act, allowing for prevailing parents to recover attorneys fees, which was an important early step in ensuring a level playing field. Senator Kennedy remained committed to the cause of special education, sponsoring and negotiating the re-authorizations of the IDEA throughout the years, and he continued even through the last year to push for legislation that would promote a fair and level playing field and hearing process to protect the rights of children with disabilities.

A lifetime of work on these important issues does not come to a halt now. Now the burden is on us, the advocates and attorneys, the parents and loved ones of persons affected by disabilities, the teachers and educators, the law makers, and the community as a whole. Perhaps none of us can live up to what he has accomplished on behalf of persons with disabilities. But we must now strive to ensure that the cause goes on, and that the dream doesn’t die.

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(A) a natural, adoptive or foster parent of the child (unless a foster parent is prohibited by State law from serving as a parent);
(B) a guardian (but not the State if the child is a ward of the State);
(C) an individual acting in the place of a natural or adoptive parent (including a grandparent, stepparent, or other relative) with whom the child lives, or an individual who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare; or
(D) [] an individual assigned under either [section 1415(b)(2) or section 1439(a)(5)] to be a surrogate parent.

20 U.S.C. section 1401(23)

What happens when the parents are divorced?

If the parents of the child are divorced, both parents are considered a “parent” under the IDEA and have all of the parental rights established by the IDEA’s procedural safeguards, unless a court order or state law specifies otherwise. The IDEA specifically allows for a judicial decree or court order to identify the person who is to act as the parent of the child and to make educational decisions on the part of the child. 34 C.F.R. section 300.30(b). If divorced parents both maintain shared legal and physical custody, each may be able to make educational decisions. If, however, a divorced parent does not have legal or physical custody, they may not be entitled to participate in the educational process. The siutation can be unclear in circumstances where parents share legal custody but not physical custody, or the other way around.

The best scenario would be for parents to ensure that the educational rights pertaining to the child are specified in a divorce agreement or addressed by the Court in its order.

What happens when the parents are unknown?

Section 1415(b)(2) includes a requirement that the local education agency establish procedures to protect the rights of the special education student “whenever the parents of the child are not known, the agency cannot after reasonable efforts locate the parents, or the child is a ward of the State.” In these circumstances, the agency must assign a surrogate to act as the parent. School districts must establish a method for determining whether the child requires a surrogate and for assigning a surrogate parent. See 34 C.F.R. section 300.519. The surrogate cannot be an employee of the school district or any other agency involved in the education of the child, and must have “knowledge and skills that ensure adequate representation of the child.”

Two circumstances are specifically addressed further: First, if the child is a ward of the State, the statute specifies that the surrogate may be appointed by the Judge overseeing the child’s care. Second, if the child is an unaccompanied homeless youth, the school district is specifically responsible for appointing the surrogate. See 20 U.S.C. section 1415(b)(2).

Parents, including surrogate parents under the IDEA, or a divorced parent with legal and physical custody, have rights and responsibilities as determined by the procedural safeguards of the IDEA, and must be included and involved in all matters related to the identification, evaluation, placement and provision of FAPE to the child.

IDEA and state laws include specific requirements for what must be included in an IEP document, as well as requirments for what must be considered when developing the IEP. In these blog posts, we will break down those requirements and talk about each item individually in terms of its importance to the overall IEP for the child. Please leave comments if you’d like to see any specific topic further explored as a follow up!

The IDEA includes a specific list for what the IEP team is required to take into consideration. See 20 U.S.C. section 1414(d)(3).

(i) the strengths of the child

Although the child’s unique needs, i.e. deficits, are the core of what must be addressed in an IEP, it is important that the team take into consideration the child’s strengths as well. An individual child’s specific strengths can be very relevant in the discussion of what type of specialized instruction would work for the child, how the child can be included in general education, etc. It may not be appropriate, for example, for a child who has a strength in math skills to be in a specialized setting the entire day, rather than being included for a math class.

Remember that the “strengths of the child” should be based on that particular child, not solely on what may be considered a “strength” for that age or grade level. This is called a “relative strength.”

(ii) the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child

Consideration of the concerns of the parents in the development of the IEP is, in my opinion, one of the most important provisions of the IDEA. Other portions of the IDEA echo this requirement, instructing school districts to include parents in the IEP team and to include parents in any team that makes a placement decision about their child. Procedural safeguards and other requirements are all based on this central idea: that parent participation is key to the development of an appropriate IEP.

Meaningful parent participation is not just about whether the school district invites the parents to the meeting and whether the parents show up. The requirement that the “concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child” indicates the importance of meaningful parent participation – their concerns must actually be taken into consideration by the IEP team when the IEP is being developed.

IEP teams and school district representatives can only take into consideration parent concerns if they have an open mind about those concerns, and about any requests that the parents may make to the team and district. The IEP team should listen to the parents, and should have a meaningful discussion about any concerns raised, including how those concerns will be addressed in the IEP.

Parents should be proactive in preparing for participation in IEP meetings. Make a list of your concerns related to your child’s education. Consider what concerns you have regarding your child’s social skills, peer interactions, academic achievement, attention and behavior, and other areas relevant to the IEP development. Consider how those concerns relate to other data and information you have; like, for instance, if your concerns regarding your child’s academic achievement are supported by findings from a recent assessment or by progress reports from the child’s classroom. Finally, think about what you would like to see included in the IEP to address these areas, and whether you have any concerns about the provision of any specific instructional programs or services. These are the types of concerns that should be shared with the team in order for meaningful parent participation to occur.

(iii) the results of the initial evaluation or most recent evaluation of the child

Evaluations are critical to the development of an appropriate IEP that truly addresses the child’s unique educational needs. The IDEA specifies that to be appropriate, an evaluation or assessment must be sufficiently comprehensive to identify each of the student’s unique special education and related services needs. The school district must utilize evaluation tools and strategies that are effective in

gather[ing] relevant functional, developmental and academic information… that may assist in determining… the content of the child’s individualized education program, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general educatin curriculum, or for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities.

20 U.S.C. section 1414(b)(2)(A)

Evaluation data should be useful in determining what the child’s unique needs are, what their present levels of performance (PLOP) are, what changes should be made to any specialized instruction or related services being provided, what areas need to be addressed in goals, and what supports a child may need to be involved in general education.

The IEP team is required to consider information from the evaluation of the child, including the initial evaluation or most recent reevaluation conducted by the school district. Because of this requirement, it may not be adviseable in many circumstances for parents to agree to waive triennial re-evaluations by the school district when the time arises for those evaluations. The IEP team needs current evaluation data regarding a child’s unique needs, and that evaluation data is not solely for the purpose of establishing eligibility, but also for guiding the team about what the program must address in order to be approrpiate.

It is also important to note that elsewhere in the IDEA, there is a requirement that the results of any independent educational evaluation, whether funded by the school district or by parents, also be taken into consideration. 34 C.F.R. section 300.502(c) specifies that the results of an independent educational evaluation or private evaluation “must be considered… in any decision made with respect to the provsion of FAPE to the child.” Since the IEP team is making decisions with regards to the provision of FAPE, the IEP team is charged with considering the independent assessment.

(iv) the academic, developmental and functional needs of the child

Ultimately, the core of what the IEP team needs to consider is the unique needs of the child, including academic, developmental and functional needs. In each of these areas, the child’s unique needs must be considered in relation to how those needs affect the child’s ability to access an educational benefit, with the understanding that “educational” means more than merely academic progress.

Academic needs include how your child performs in core academic subjects, and may also include how other areas affect your child’s ability to learn academic skills (like attention, behavior, etc). Evaluation data and teacher input are critical for identifying and determining a child’s unique needs in the area of academics. It is important to look both at relative deficits, that is areas that are deficit based on this particular child’s other strengths and overall abilities, as well as more broad areas of deficit, including those areas that are deficit when compared to what the child should be expected to do at this grade or age level. In order to truly understand a child’s academic needs, all of this information should be considered.

One place to look for guidance in determining your child’s academic needs is your state’s academic content standards or grade level curriculum standards, especially if your child’s IEP states that he/she is expected to meet grade level standards. Are there areas identified as expectations for your child’s grade level that he/she struggles with? What about the curriculum standards for the grade level below; are there standards that your child has not yet met or made progress towards? Although the District would not ulitmately be required to ensure that your child meet all grade level content standards, this information can still be useful as a point of discussion when identifying a child’s academic needs.

Developmental needs can include areas related to child development appropriate to your child’s age, such as motor skills, language and communication, cognition, and social skills. Think about the things that you tracked when your child was a toddler, the “developmental milestones.” These are generally within broader areas that are under the umbrella of “developmental skills.” If your child has a delay in the development of age-appropriate skills in these areas, then that may be an indication of unique need that should be considered by the IEP team.

Functional needs can include those related to deficits in skills or activities that are nonacademic, but are related to the child’s ability to function in day to day life activities and routines. Functional skills are those skills, beyond academics, that a child is going to need to acquire to “make it” once he/she leaves school. Remember that one of the purposes of the IDEA is to ensure that children with disabilities are educated appropriately and thereby prepared for “further education, employment and independent living.” 20 U.S.C. section 1400(d)(1). Functional skills must be developed in order to prepare students for such endeavors, and therefore need to be addressed in the IEP.

The first on the IDEA’s list of required content is “present levels of performance;” often referred to by its acronym, “PLOP.”

PLOP means:

“A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including (aa) how the child’s disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum; (bb) for preschool children, as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities; and (cc) for children with disabilities who take alternative assessments aligned to alternative achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or shortterm objectives.”

Present levels of academic achievement

Academic achievement refers to a child’s performance in academic areas, including reading and language arts, math, science, and history or social studies. This refers to what your child knows and can do at the present time as related to the core academic subjects. PLOP in academic achievement should provide the team with information about what the child’s skills are. How are the child’s reading and math skills as compared to the general education curriculum standards? Did your child meet his / her previous goals related to academics? What level were those goals set at, and if your child did not meet the goals, what level did he/she reach? What does your child’s report card say about their performance?

Present levels of functional performance

Functional performance refers to a child’s skills and achivement in areas that are “not considered academic or related to a child’s academic achievement.” See Commentary, Federal Register, at page 46661. Functional skills include areas such as daily living activities, motor skills and communication. Because PLOP must address both academic and functional performance, the IEP team needs to consider all areas of need arising from the child’s disability when developing PLOP, regardless of if these areas directly impact academic achievement. Consider factors such as your child’s ability to communicate in the classroom and with peers, your child’s motor skills needs, any difficulties with organization or work habits, how your child socializes, etc. Ask the teachers for input about how your child “functions” on a day to day basis as compared to other kids his/her age.

How the child’s disability impacts involvement and progress in general education

The requirement that PLOP specifically address how the disability impacts involvement and progress in general education curriculum should be considered when developing both PLOP for academic performance and PLOP for functional performance. When considering a child’s academic achievement, for example, it is important to compare this to what the child is expected to do / learn in order to make progress in general education curriculum. If your child’s disability affects his / her reading skills to the extent that this impacts her progress towards general education curriculum standards, for example, this needs to be noted in the PLOP. In the areas of functional skills, any functional performance deficit that affects how the child can participate in the curriculum should be noted as such. Additionally, the IEP document should consider, as a whole, how the disability impacts involvement in general education. Does the child’s disability require a specialized setting or specialized instruction that cannot be provided in general education? Does the child’s disability require modifications to the general education curriculum? These are issues the team should be considering when developing PLOP.

Preschool children

There is nothing in the law that states that IEPs for preschool children do not have the same requirements for content as for other students. There is, however, a consideration in the requirement for PLOP regarding preschool children in terms of access to age appropriate activities. For preschool children, it may be the case that they are not yet being taught “general education curriculum,” and there may not be specific curriculum standards that apply. Instead, there may be “readiness skills” and developmentally appropriate activities, designed to get the child ready for a Kindergarten program. The IDEA recognizes this, and requires that when appropriate, the IEP document include a statement of PLOP related to how the child’s disability impacts his/her ability to be involved in age appropriate activities.

Alternative achievement standards

Prior to IDEA 2004, the IEP was required to include a statement of goals that includes objectives or benchmarks towards meeting those goals for all students with disabilities. IDEA 2004 removed this language under “goals” and instead included additional language under the provision for PLOP. Students who are assessed using “alternative measures” that are aligned to alternative achievement standards, rather than general education standards, require shortterm benchmarks in order to measure their progress towards goals. Although this is now included under PLOP, it will be fully discussed in the next blog post in this series, which addresses goals.

Importance of PLOP to the IEP process

A clear and accurate statement of a child’s present levels of performance, both in academic and functional areas, is the foundation for establishing a good IEP. PLOP provides the team with a baseline from which to develop goals, consider necessary services, discuss appropriate specialized instruction, and ultimately develop a program that will meet the child’s unique needs and provide educational benefit. If the PLOP is vague, inaccurate or incomplete, then the IEP will likely not address each of the child’s unique needs arising from his/her disability.

A sufficient statement of the child’s PLOP is also critical for meaningful parent participation. Without accurate and complete information about how a child is performing and functioning, it would be impossible for a parent to be fully informed and to meaningfully participate in discussions regarding the child’s unique special education needs.

For example, in an Oregon case, the ALJ concluded that the school district denied FAPE to the student, based in part on the finding that the district repeatedly failed to report the student’s current performance or issue reports that documented progress towards IEP goals. The ALJ noted that mere identification that the child had “ongoing educational difficulties” was not enough for a statement of PLOP, noting that the parent did not have enough information regarding how the PLOP was related to the child’s IEP goals. The ALJ found fault with the district’s “recycling” of PLOP from year to year without updating the information.
Ashland School District, 47 IDELR 82 (SEA OR 2007).

In a New Mexico case, an appeal officer found that the District had denied FAPE to a student because the parents were denied meaningful participation in the IEP process. The IEP documents failed to include a statement of the student’s present levels of performance, particularly in the area of reading, and did not include adequate information to allow the parent to fully participate in the development of a program. Because the IEP lacked information about the student’s PLOP, parent had an erroneous belief that he continued to require a restrictive placement in a separate facility to recieve adequate specialized instruction. Although the district “recommended” a less restrictive setting, it continued to place the child in the specialized program due to the parent’s request. The judge noted that this placement was inappropriate, and that the parent only requested it because of the lack of information she was provided regarding her child’s current academic performance.
Rio Rancho Pub. Schs., 40 IDELR 140 (SEA NM 2003).

How specific should PLOP be?

The statement of PLOP should be specific enough to clearly establish with sufficient detail what the child’s particular needs are in each area. Vague statements are not sufficient to lay an adequate foundation for a good IEP. The child’s levels of performance need to be clearly defined so that anyone reading the IEP and working with the child has sufficient information to be able to address those needs and measure progress.

For example, in a New York case, the state review officer determined that the school district’s IEP was inappropriate because the document did not contain sufficient details regarding the child’s present levels of performance and specific special education needs. The IEP in question stated that the child had “difficulties” in motor skills and functional communication, but did not identify any specific difficulties that arose for this child. The vagueness of the statement of PLOP meant that the goals were not designed to match the student’s actual needs, and therefore there was not a sufficient “foundation” for development of an appropriate program.
In re Child with a Disability, 50 IDELR 236 (SEA NY 2008)

Where information is derived from

Information contained within a statement of PLOP may come from a variety of sources, such as progress reports from previous IEP goals, report cards demonstrating a student’s academic achievement in the classroom, informal observations, data collection, formal evaluations, teacher input, etc. Remember those things that the District must “consider” when developing the IEP, as discussed in the previous post. The District should take into consideration a variety of sources of input to develop PLOP that accurately, completely and specifically identifies the child’s strengths and weaknesses in each area.

Parent participation in development of PLOP

Parent participation is critical to the development of a procedurally and substantively appropriate IEP, and there is nothing to support an argument that parents should not participate in the development of PLOP. As discussed in the previous post, the “concerns of the parent” are a part of what must be considered when developing the IEP. If the parent concerns are relevant to what the child’s current levels of performance and achievement are, it would be appropriate for these concerns to be considered when developing PLOP. On a logical basis, it would be irrational for the District not to include relevant and accurate information provided by the parent in relation to what the child currently knows and can do.

Parents should prepare for the IEP meeting by carefully considering for themselves what the child’s PLOP are in areas related to academics and functional skills. Look over information you have been provided throughout the year from your child’s teachers and service providers. Make sure you have copies of any statewide or standardized testing results, report cards, progress reports, and evaluations. Make a list of what you see as important performance and achievement information from this information, and use that as a “checklist” when discussing PLOP with the IEP team.

Finally, the discussion of a child’s PLOP can be a good indicator of how the remainder of the IEP team meeting is going to go. If the District is not allowing parents to actively participate and provide input, or is not giving the parents sufficient information, during this part, that may be an indication that the District is not going to have a meaningful meeting that involves everyone and develops an appropriate program. Disagreements are certainly possible regarding what a child’s actual levels of performance and achievement are, a meaningful discussion of those disagreements should take place. If the parent believes that the IEP document is not accurately describing a child’s needs and PLOP, it is likely that the parent also won’t believe the IEP is designed to meet the child’s needs. Ultimately, everyone needs to be proactive, information needs to be fully shared, and sufficient details need to be provided so that the PLOP really does lay the foundation for an appropriate program.

Specifcially, the IDEA requires:

“a statement of measurable annual goal, including academic and functional goals, designed to (aa) meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and (bb) meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability.”
20 U.S.C. section 1414(d)(1)(A)(i)(II).

What are Annual Goals?

OSEP and the Appendix to the IDEA 1999 regulations both have defined annual goals as “statements that describe what a child with a disability can reasonably be expected to accomplish within a 12-month period, in the child’s special education program.” Letter to Butler, 213 IDELR 118 (1988); Notice of Interpretation, Question 4, Appendix A to 34 C.F.R. part 300 (1999 regulations).

What needs should be addressed?

Proper and complete identification of a child’s unique needs is key to writing good goals for the IEP. Evaluation data, input from persons working with the child, and information about what the child should be able to do at this grade level, all may be relevant when developing proposed annual goals. If the team has considered all relevant information and drafted clearly stated and sufficiently comprehensive PLOP, then identifying areas that need to be addressed in annual goals will be much easier. By definition, goals should address a child’s unique needs related to the following:

(1) IEP must include both academic and functional goals

As discussed in the previous posts, IEP teams are now explicitly required to address both academic and functional areas when developing a program for the child. “Educational benefit” has long been defined as including both academic and non-academic areas. Since ultimately the IEP must be reasonably calculated to provide educational benefit to the student, it logically follows that all components of educational benefit should be considered when determining what goals are necessary, even if those areas are not strictly related to academic progress.

Academic goals relate to what the child will be expected to learn and accomplish in the coming year in the areas of reading and language arts, math, social studies and history, and science.

Functional goals related to what progress the child will be expected to make in the coming year in areas, skills and activities that are non-academic and related to the child’s day to day functional skills, like behavior, communication, independent living skills, social skills, etc.

(2) “Enable the child to make progress in the general education curriculum”

The IDEA specifically states that goals must be included for each child with a disability to meet the child’s needs arising from the disability in order to enable that child to make progress in general education curriculum. There is nothing in the statute that indicates that this provision only requires to students who are in a general education classroom, or to students with a certain level of general intelligence and ability, or that it does not apply if the student has a “severe” disabilty.

The decision of what progress towards general education curriculum would be appropriate is of course an individualized decision based upon factors related to that individual child. Certainly, not every child will be able to meet grade level standards. However, every child can be given the opportunity to make progress in general education curriculum appropriate to their individual strengths and needs. Because this debate is a frequent issue in IEP meetings, it has been addressed more thoroughly in a previous blog post.

(3) “Meet other educational needs that arise from the disability”

The term “educational” is broader than merely academics. Educational benefit can include both academic and non-academic areas. It is important to remember this framework when considering the need for goals to “meet each of the child’s other educational needs.”

Other educational needs may include speech, language or communication deficits, social skills difficulties, behavioral needs, recreation and leisure, independent living, motor skills, etc. Focus on the “big picture” of what an educational program should be accomplishing, and utilize assessment data, PLOP, and input from team members to determine what areas need to be addressed.

Remember that the IDEA says “each of the child’s other educational needs,” not “the most important needs.” The IEP team needs to make sure that the goals are attainable and appropriate, and it therefore may not be appropriate to have a huge amount of goals. However, when the District says “we only write goals to address the most important areas,” or “we have to prioritize and pick only some areas of need to address,” this isn’t exactly conducive with the IDEA’s language. Instead, the IEP needs to include a goal for each area of educational need a child has that arises from that child’s disability.

What does it mean for goals to be “measurable?”

To be measurable, a goal must be written clearly with sufficient information to allow an objective person to understand what skill is being addressed and exactly what should be accomplished in order for the child to reach the goal. IEP teams should be wary of goals that are vague or that contain broad generalized statements about “improving” in an area or “increasing” a skill, without specifying what that means. A goal that says that the child will “improve” in his/her skills in a specific area provides little more information than what area of need is being addressed. Ask yourself how the child will improve, how it will be demonstrated, and what specific skill is being addressed.

If the IEP team has developed clear statements of the child’s PLOP, writing measurable goals will be much easier. The PLOP can be used to establish clear baselines as a “starting place” for the proposed goals. If the baseline is clear, it is easier to determine how to write an annual goal that will ensure progress and will be measurable. For example, if the PLOP indicates that the child’s current fluency rate is at 50 words per minute, the IEP team has enough information to draft a goal that would be at a higher rate, and has specific enough data to make that goal measurable (i.e. the child will read at a rate of 100 words per minute).

Avoid goals that are subjective, because these will not be clearly measurable by whomever is implementing the IEP. A good point of reference is to think “if I had to take this IEP to a new school district who had not been involved in this meeting, would they know how to implement this goal and measure it?”

Examples:
Measurable Goal: Child will engage in a conversation with a peer for 5 minutes, demonstrating at least two conversational turns and remaining on topic.
Vague / Not Measurable: Child will improve conversational skills with peers.

Measurable Goal: Child will demonstrate ability to read 50 new grade level sight words with 90% accuracy in 3 out of 4 trials.
Vague / Not Measurable: Child will increase reading of sight words.

What is the relationship between goals and services, instruction & the provision of FAPE?

IEP goals should drive specialized instruction and related services. The goals establish what the child is expected to learn and accomplish within the special education program. Once the goals have set forth a roadmap for the child, the IEP team must consider what specialized instruction and related services will be required to get there.

An IEP that is found to have insufficient or inappropriate goals will in many cases be found to deny a student FAPE. This is because when the IEP goals are not based on the child’s needs, the program itself likely will not be able to meet the child’s needs and provide educational benefit. Goals, therefore, have vital importance to the development of an overall appropriate program for an individual child!

Specifically, the IDEA requires:

“a description of how the child’s progress towards meeting the annual goals… will be measured and when periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided.”
20 U.S.C. section 1414(d)(1)(A)(III).

How will progress be measured?

This is closely related to the discussion of how goals should be written so that they are measurable. The starting place for determining how progress will be measured is within the goal itself – make sure it is clear what accuracy level the child will be expected to achieve to meet the goal; include a reliability indicator, such as 3 out of 4 trials, if appropriate, and make sure that the specific skills themselves are clear.

Determining “how” progress will be measured also involves deciding how information regarding progress will be gathered. Will there be specific data collection that indicates specifically how a child performed on the skill for each trial? Will classroom work samples be sufficient to track progress on a skill? Should the teacher utilize an assessment measure to indicate the child’s achievement level to determine progress? The IEP team needs to consider how information will be collected, and make sure this is clear in the IEP. Although observational information may be useful for future IEP meetings, a subjective measurement of progress should be avoided as a sole indicator whenever possible.

Examples:

Child’s annual goal = read 50 new sight words from a 2nd grade high frequency word list with automaticity as measured by teacher collected samples

Progress measured by: teacher samples
Teacher indicates directly on list of high frequency words the words that student reads, and adds these up. The list itself is a record of student’s progress.

Child’s annual goal = remain on task for at least 10 minutes during a teacher-directed desktop assignment or activity, with no less than 2 verbal prompts in 3 out of 4 trials as measured by data collection charts.

Progress is measured by:
Data collection chart
Date: 06/12
Lesson: Math
Time on task: 6 minutes
prompts: 3

When will progress be reported?

The IEP document needs to specifically identify when “periodic reports on the progress” towards the child’s annual goals will be produced and provided to parents. These periodic reports can be concurrent with the issuance of report cards, but should include specific information related to the child’s specific goals. Because the IDEA now only requires short term objectives for students who are provided with alternative assessment measures, it may be difficult to quantify a child’s progress towards the ultimate goal for the periodic report. If objectives are included in the IEP, the periodic report can tell parents whether or not the child has met the objective for that time period. If not, then information about how the child has progressed should still be made availalble.

Providing sufficient information within a periodic report of progress goes back to the goals itself being measurable. If the goal has a clearly measurable, objective standard that can be quantified or recorded in some way, then the child’s current level on that same objective standard can be reported for a periodic report.

Example:

Child’s annual goal = read 50 new sight words from a 2nd grade high frequency word list with automaticity as measured by teacher collected samples

Periodic Report for First Reporting Period

periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided

Relationship to Other Procedural Safeguards

School districts are obligated to revise a child’s IEP as appropriate “to address any lack of expected progress toward the annual goals and in the general education curriculum, where appropriate.” 20 U.S.C. section 1414(d)(4)(A)(ii)(1). This means that if during the time period covered by an annual IEP, the student is not making expected progress, the District should convene the team to discuss whether adjustments to the goals or the program are required. It is important that the goals themselves are clearly measurable, and that there are reporting periods clearly identified for when progress will be reported, so that if the child is not making progress, the team, including parents, are aware of this. If the IEP does not clearly establish how and when progress will be measured, the team may not be aware until the next annual IEP that the child is not making adequate progress. This may cause a loss of educational benefit, in that the District thereby did not revise the IEP as appropriate to meet the child’s needs and enable him/her to meet the annual goals.

Ultimately, an important purpose of making sure that the goals are measurable and that progress is reported periodically is to ensure meaningful parent participation in the process. Parents cannot fully participate in ongoing discussions regarding their child’s program or annual IEP meetings if they do not know whether or not the child is making expected progress. If parents are fully informed regarding their child’s progress, or lack thereof, under the special education program being provided, they are more able to understand the appropriateness of the program being offered, and to ask for additional services or supports when needed.