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Directions:
STEP 1- Review the following statements from a real-life PLAAFP
• Determine if the statements are “good” (green) or “bad” (red)
• Are there instances where the statement is both “good and bad”? How would you fix those that you rated as “bad”?STEP 2- Reply directly to this post.
STEP 3- Respond to at least one colleague’s posting.
- Green or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
- Green or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
- Green or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
- Green or Red? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
- Green or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
- Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
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Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. Green
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. Red. These are test results and doesn’t really tell me how the child communicates. We need to know how the differences in the two affect the child’s ability to communicate.
Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. Green
Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Red/Green, how is it affecting his education? or is it a classroom behavior issue?
Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. Green/Red- What does “doesn’t work as well mean”? Does it mean he has to work hard and then gets it or he doesn’t learn it.
Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. Green/Red: What are the expectations? What colors has he been taught? What is the expectation for counting and stacking blocks?
I think that statements can be green and red. I feel that some of the statements that I labeled in this grey area started off solid then read a phrase left me wondering how? so? and?
This was hard for me because I don’t feel that I had enough information and needed to read the rest of the PLAAFPs to really decide if they were green/red. However, I think I’m probably over thinking the task and the real question is… did the author know the student and how the task affects his involvement.
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Thoughtful responses to each of the PLAAFP statement examples. I agree that it is incredibly difficult to get an accurate read as to whether any given statement is “green” or “red” without having the full PLAAFP in front of us. That said, sometimes the way we say things on a document like IEP should raise red flags, even in an otherwise thorough description of a child’s present level of performance.
Looking back at each of the short statements, can you find any that might be perceived negatively by a family? If there is a statement that fits, why might it be perceived that way? On the other hand, if you do not see any statements that are more likely to be perceived negatively, comment on why you feel these statements in general are family-friendly and relevant.
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Hi Dawn,
I agree that these were tough to determine whether they were good statements or not, based on the little information we had for each one. Reading the snippets of information led me to think about all the completely different and individualized circumstances every child has. We can make no assumptions, but we must devise the right language so that it is both understandable and showing compassionate for the parents. Negative connotations have no place in an IEP.
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Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. I don’t think that this statement is positive, but I also feel that this behavior also happens in the home and therefore wouldn’t be a surprise to the parent. It would be nice to have an example of a positive interaction.
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. I don’t necessarily feel that this statement would be perceived negatively by the parents, but I don’t feel that it would have much meaning to them either.
Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. I think this statement is fine. It lists the ways that the child can communicate along with her limitations.
Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. I don’t care for how this is phrased. I think it could be phrased kinder and with more meaning.
Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. The “doesn’t work well” phrase isn’t my favorite. But I do like how they started with what works for the boy then brought up what wasn’t successful.
Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. I think parents would find this a bit negative. I have heard many of times that so and so can do this at home. I think a better verbage would be he hasn’t mastered his colors, or he is able to match, or something that he can do with colors, then tell us that he isn’t able to name them. He can count to three but forgets two means that he is working on counting to three. He consistently recalls one and three but often forgets 2.
When I feel that one of my PLAAFPs focus on what a child can’t do or on negative behaviors. I always tell the parents that I am sorry, but there are wonderful things that your child is doing too or that they have made a lot of growth in particular areas. I try to stress that this is the document that others read to see where we are at and where we want to be going.
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Well said.
I agree, most of these statements are neutral with respect to family-friendliness. As a parent of two children on IEPs, the one that I find troubling is “Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.” In particular, I find that we (as teachers/educators) focus too heavily on compliance vs. functioning at times. I have had this experience with my youngest son’s PLAAFP before, where things focused exclusively on non-compliance as opposed to his difficulty with participating in large group routines, his distractibility, his need for emotional regulation tools and learning, etc. Thus, for this particular example, I would recommend it be adjusted to change the focus: “Damien struggles with maintaining his attention, which often results in challenges with following multiple step directions and difficulty with conversational turn-taking as well as participating fully during group activities.” These changes take the focus off compliance and on addressing the student’s need to improve his attention span, follow directions in general, communicate effectively, and participate with peers. It says the same thing, but the focus is on skills relevant to the student vs. relevant to school staff to make teaching him easier.
My suggestion is that even in a PLAAFP, we should do our best to balance showcasing a student’s strengths with documenting their specific needs. As you probably know, we can often use a child’s strengths to support areas of need, so painting a holistic picture- that remains clear on the IEP specific need(s)- can help achieve that end.
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Hi Dawn–
Step 3 of our directions is to “respond to at least one colleague’s posting.” Yours is the only comment in my view. And, I don’t see other responses to know for sure what is expected in my comments, so I’ll just share a couple of my overall thoughts about your post.
I, too, am a person who can view the “red” and the “green” in these statements. A larger portion of the PLAAPF may have given us a more complete impression of the quality of the baseline information being presented. I definitely agree that the positive wording of our comments in a PLAAPF has a big role in not only how a parent views our impression of their child but also on the impressions we are planting for the Team as a whole. After an initial draft of my PLAAPF, I like to edit out negative statements while still attempting to be accurate and specific.
Glad to have at least one other person taking the class, now. I will anticipate seeing your posts in upcoming Module sections. –Dan
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As I read the PLAAFP statements, I seem to be a “both red and green” sort of person. If I were to see the entire section for each student, I may have different responses. The concept of using the PLAAFP to document baseline information to be used as a road map for the rest of the IEP, really makes sense to me! Here are my thoughts:
Dayton: Doctor K.D-F. indicates that the PLAAPF should identify areas that the student has difficulty with. The statement on Dayton does this in a clear, concise manner, therefore could be coded as a green statement. I would want to make sure that it stays in that status by including positive statements related to his ability to play independently and perhaps by providing specific baseline information on the frequency and duration of his upsets.
Carmen: The green part of this statement is that it contains current, specific and measurable information. However, I would recommend a red status fix of clarifying what the abbreviated assessments are and what they are designed to measure. The IEP document should be easily interpreted by all members of the IEP Team.
Damien: I feel this is a fully green statement. When I read it, I get a clear impression of this aspect of this student. To complete the statement section, it might be expanded to include the last portion of Dr. K. P-F’s “Formula for Success” by describing how this “affects access, participation and/or progress.”
Zung: This statement about Zung could be considered to be green as it seems to be a part of an Authentic Assessment completed by a member of the IEP Team. To maintain its green status, I would anticipate that additional, more specific baseline information be collected and documented. This information could clarify what his actual reading skills are as compared to those of his typical peers.
Mark: Partially achieving a green status this statement does relate to skills that may correspond to those that the Team would want to see the child doing. However, to move it away from red status, I would modify the negative wording. It could also be greatly expanded to include information on what related areas of learning are being worked on with Mark and the impact of his current foundation skills
–Dan Kaasa-
Hello Daniel,
I agree with the “red and green” feeling for many of the statements, and reading the entire section could shed a little more light on information the IEP writer was trying to share. Based on the snapshots that we were given, I believe your observational, fact based modifications to what was originally written as statements that sounded negative would be easier for a parent to read. The ability to foster a feeling of non-judgement and team work during what can typically be a stressful meeting for a parent is ideal and tends to work out better for the child.
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Hi Dan,
I completely agree that, to determine whether each statement is actually red or green, it would help to see more of the PLAAFP. When read out of context, they all need a bit more detail to really give an accurate picture of the student’s present levels. And I might change my mind as to the red/green status of a comment depending on the sentence before or after it. This made me realize just how important it is to choose my words carefully. Ambiguity and poor word choice leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation of a situation. I appreciated the way that you defined “red” and/or “green” and then specified what was needed to keep or attain the green status. This is how I was thinking about it in my head, but you did a better job verbalizing it clearly.
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Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. Green
The statements indicate that the child prefers to play by himself and it can be used as a baseline for working on responding to peer interaction appropriately (i.e., eye contact, smile, saying “Hi”, etc)As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. Red
The statement provides limited information about child’s functional communication skills and his ability to utilize non-verbal communication system (gestures and signs).Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. Green
This is a good example about child’s strengths and weaknesses, and her to communicate her needs and wants.Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Green/Red.
The statement indicates that the student’s inattention affect his performance in the classroom. I would like more information and examples about “responding inappropriately” and what looks like in the classroom setting.Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. Green
Zung is an auditory learner and performs better when information presented orally/ verbally.Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. Red
I would like to know more about Mark’s strengths. I also find some inconsistency of reporting his ability to count to 3.Olena Kyselova
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Hi Daniel,
I agree with you that information about Damien’s attention problems is a fully green statement. It gives a reader a clear impression of this aspect of this student. I also agree with you that it should be expanded to complete the statement section, it might be expanded to include the last portion of Dr. K. P-F’s “Formula for Success” by describing how this “affects access, participation and/or progress.” In the classroom setting students are involved in a lot of activities and transitions. I would like to have more information in what activities Daniel is more successful. Is he more successful during independent work or small groups? Does he have favorites subject and tasks? Does he respond to incentives/ positive reinforcement system? Is his behavior different during structured vs non-structured settings? The additional information is needed to prioritize the student’s needs and address them on IEP. -
1)Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
Green/Red. This is good information on his preference about setting events for play, it does not give any information about what he enjoys playing with or whether he is able to tolerate peers when supported by an adult as a mediator/participant in the play process. If his experience with peers have been challenging this may be impacting his tolerance. Also – the statement “limited” leads me to think that there may be times when he is able to be near others. I would like to have that information first.
2)As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Red. This may be helpful information to determine eligibility but it does not give any type of present level description of Carmen’s functional communication skills during play, social interactions, or any “settings”.
3) Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Green/Red. I would like to see this start with what she can do rather that the “non-verbal” label. Some good information – yet the function of her communication strategies is not present (e.g., who is she communicating with, and in what settings/circumstances is she most able to communicate.
4)Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
Red. A negative statement and a big leap of assumption. There are so many other factors that could be considered here. The what/where/when/who questions have been bypassed. I hear this kind of statement from preschool teachers and it is always a challenge but a good process as we wade through the “W” waters.
5)Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Green/Red. It is a meaningful observation. It is a starting point in identifying his learning style but the statement “doesn’t work as well” makes me wonder if he is understanding and remembering some of the time.
6)Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Red. The information here has very little meaning. I would ask – what is he doing with colored objects (sorting, matching, pointing). What is he counting – is he counting by rote? counting blocks? how often is he skipping 2? And what was he doing when he was playing with the blocks? I had a little guy recently who did not see the point of building a tower because he wanted to make trains :).
With all of this said – I see that I have been rather critical – but I am also pointing the finger at myself and have been guilty of at least most of these at one time or another! I realize that I am looking at these through my lens of working in classrooms and talking with families and teachers. I am fortunate to have a great deal of information when I am writing a present level.
The challenge here is the limited information out of context. I want to ask all my W questions!-
Hello Melinda!
I wholeheartedly agreed with your idea of needing to ask more WH questions for many of the statements written.
This made a lot of sense to me:
Red. A negative statement and a big leap of assumption. There are so many other factors that could be considered here. The what/where/when/who questions have been bypassed. I hear this kind of statement from preschool teachers and it is always a challenge but a good process as we wade through the “W” waters.
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Hello Olena,
I am fortunate to know you personally so I especially appreciate your responses. You are able to restate and question in a very positive way that would be respectful of parents or other team members who are participating in this process. You were able to pull out the observation or data and go from there to validate and then proceed to seek the additional information that would be helpful in drawing a more complete picture. Knowing your role, I can see where you have had to develop these strengths in order to blend the “art and science” of working in ECSE. We paint pictures of children based on data – always trying to determine what matters and how to measure it in a way that is meaningful. I will reply to other participants but this was just such a nice chance to affirm that we both want to learn and further develop our skills in our work with these little ones and their families! See you online this summer! -
Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
Green and Red: Although I believe this statement is fair and without negative connotations, I think it lacks measurability and specificity. In what settings does Dayton’s behavior occur (e.g. at recess; in the gym; during free-play; across settings)? How often does this behavior occur (e.g. only during unstructured play time? More specifics and more precise measurable data would make this a stronger statement.As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Green: This statement is specific and measurable, however the parent is probably going to need an explanation of what EOWPVT-R and ROWPVT-R mean.Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Green and Red: This statement highlights Elise’s strengths well. It describes her current communication skill levels objectively, but I think it lacks measurability.Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
Red: There are negative connotations throughout statement. Words like “problems”, “failure”, “responding inappropriately”, could be very hurtful to the parent(s). A bester statement might be: “Damien’s lack of attention tends to causes him to miss the teacher’s directions.” I don’t know what “responding inappropriately” might mean, so I think I would leave that out, unless it could be written with more specific detail. Responding inappropriately could simply mean that he didn’t provide the correct answer, and if that is the case, we don’t want to dissuade a student from contributing at all.Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Green and Red: I like the first sentence. The second sentence is vague. Is it telling the reader that Zung is a struggling reader? Perhaps he is a ELL and in a new (maybe foreign) environment? I want to know why reading and looking at pictures doesn’t work for Zung.Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Red: This statement has negative connotations and is not measurable. Here is what I might state about Mark: When presented with six primary and secondary colors (red, yellow, blue, green, white, black), Mark was unable to identify any color with accuracy. He can count to 3, six out of 10 times with accuracy. -
Beth Craig, Participant
1. Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
Green and Red. This is good start for information on his preferences about play. It doesn’t give me any information about what he prefers to play with or with support (help from an adult, or peer) what his play may look like. I want to know more about what “limited” means for him- as it suggests he is having some interactions- we just don’t know what that looks like.
2. As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Red. This may be helpful information to determine eligibility (and belong on the ESER) but should not be on the IEP or present level page. There is no functional information given with this statement. You’d have to be an SLP that is familiar with the test to even know what it may be eluding towards.
3. Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Green and Red. It would be nice to start with her strengths and I prefer “pre-verbal” rather than non-verbal. There is some good information, but not much functional information that tells us what she can do and what it looks like when she is communicating with others and what her next steps should be.
4. Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
Red. This is a very negative statement and not one bit objective! I would delete the entire statement and start over.
5. Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Green. This to me is a good observation. I would like more information, of course, but it is a good statement to tell me he has an auditory learning strength.
6. Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Red
The statement is lacking functional information. There is a lot of different ways to “know your colors”. Can he point to any when they are named? Can he match them? Sort them?
Also, is he counting by rote? Or counting items? Counting blocks? Is he stacking on his own? After a model? Can he stack 5?-
Hi Beth,
I agree with all of your statements. The one that really stood out to me was Carmen’s. I also thought that Carmen’s PLAAFP was a statement that belonged in an ESER but did not belong in here. There was nothing measurable there that could be worked on at home or in the classroom. I like how you said that there needs to be some functional information and this PLAAFP is just lacking in it! I often feel that even in ESER meetings this kind of language goes over the parent’s head. I like it when they give specific examples from the test on how the child responded, both good and in the areas they need to grow!
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Green or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
-I would consider this PLAAFP to be an overall red. It only focuses on the negative aspect of this child’s interactions and does not say how much he DOES interact, in what settings, and the amount of time per play period/number of days that he interacts. Essentially, it is missing a measurability criterion, without measurable criteria it is impossible to know if the child is making growth.
REWRITE: Dayton can engage in quite activities individually without supports, he enjoys puzzles and playing with cars. Dayton has difficulty with interactions with peers during playtime. He struggles with sensory overload and cries or hits when another child comes to close on 3 out of 5, 10-minute whole group play times. This behavior limits his peer interactions during playtime. At this age, group play and problem solving are expected during playtime.Green or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
-I would also consider this PLAAFP to be an overall red. No information in this is meaningful or useful. This seems like a brief statement that would be included in an evaluation summary & eligibility report and would not belong in a PLAAFP. There needs to be specific skills listed that she got correctly and specific ones that she missed. Also, there needs to be an explanation of what these two assessments are, the jargon will confuse any parent at the meeting and make them feel like they are not part of the conversation.
REWRITE: Carmen can engage in play with peers and adults by using facial expressions to communicate her approval or disapproval. Recent evaluation results for expressive language show that Carmen is able to say single words to indicate a picture or want on 4/6 opportunities. She will sometimes pair two words to express herself “want milk.” A similar evaluation for receptive language showed that Carmen is able to follow simple directions “put the ball in the basket” on 5/6 occasions. Carmen’s expressive and receptive language can be an area of frustration when she is trying to communicate her wants and needs and follow through with multi-step directions. Typical peers are able to speak in complete sentences and follow three-step directions independently.Green or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
-This PLAAFP is better, but I’d still consider it a red with the amount of information that it is missing. I like how specific it is in what Elise uses to communicate, but it does not have any measurability criteria to be able to tell if she is making progress or not. I also do not like how it calls her “essentially non-verbal” it seems like saying “Elise uses limited verbal communication” would be a more parent-friendly way of saying it. I would also like to know how she uses all these modes of communication to access the general education environment.
REWRITE: Elise can use many ways to communicate including” gestures, facial expressions, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods/shakes for yes/no, an use of a augmentative communication device with she can access with a head switch. Elise has difficulty with verbal communication, which can make participation in conversations challenging for her. She does use her selected mode of communication to answer yes or no questions on 4/5 opportunities in a quiet classroom and picture support for choosing an answer. Which allows staff to understand her wants and needs.Green or Red? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
-This PLAAFP is an overall red. If I were the parent at this meeting, I would think that the school cared much more about the teacher and other kids than Damien and that he was a nuisance to the classroom. Behaviors need to be specific and measureable, but also need to show what he can do and how he participates in the classroom.
REWRITE: Damien can complete grade level assignments with minimal supports. He has difficulty following along in group settings, he often talks out of turn and responds inappropriately (ie. yelling out answers). During a 10-minute observation period, Damien needed 5 individualized re-directions from the teacher to remain on task or follow directions. His behaviors affect his access to the general curriculum because he often misses the directions and needs prompting to begin the task.Green or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
-I would consider this a red. This really does not give us much information at all. There is no data to show the number of responses to verbal information versus written or pictorial information. It also doesn’t tell us what subjects/area this is addressing.
REWRITE: When asked comprehension questions, Zung correctly answered 5/5 questions when the story was given verbally. In a similar difficulty of story, Zung correctly answered 2/5 answers when he was asked to read a story that had picture support. In his grade level, students are expected to read and answer questions independently during class.Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
-This PLAAFP is closer to a green than some of the other ones because it actually has numerical data. The only things I would add to this are the number of occasions he can do the skill.
REWRITE: When asked to count, Mark can count to 3 on 3/5 occasions, he doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks on 4/5 occasions. Mark cannot yet identify the names of colors when asked. -
1) Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
Good & bad: This statement contains an assumption, that Dayton prefers to play in isolation. Removing “prefers to play” and exchanging with the word “plays” moves it from an opinion or judgement to an observable and measurable fact.2) As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Good & bad: I would define the acronyms and decipher the information in easy to understand definitions and examples.3) Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Good: I would give anecdotal examples on what vocalizations and word approximations look/sound like for further understanding.4) Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
Good & bad: This sounds like an emotional, unprofessional, opinionated judgement with negative connotations. The good is that it mentions behaviors that are measurable. Replacing it with “Damien’s joint attention during group activities can be difficult to access due to disruptive behaviors such as not following directions, interrupting, and inappropriate responses.” would be an accurate statement that gives the information without sounding judgemental.5) Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Good and bad: This statement contains a few assumptions. Changing it to a more factual statement of “When information is presented to Zung by him reading, looking at pictures, or verbally, verbal instructions appears to be the most effective.6) Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Good and bad: I would add anecdotal evidence of what he does how his color knowledge was measured, what his counting sounds/looks like (rote and or 1:1) and why block stacking is important.-
My reply is to Rebecca’s post. I liked many of your suggestions on how to make the statements less opinion and more observation-based. I myself like information that is data driven, such as frequency or percentage of accuracy. I also like more information about the environment and circumstances of the events. I especially liked your comment about Elise’s vocalizations: I would give anecdotal examples on what vocalizations and word approximations look/sound like for further understanding. Being a speech therapist myself, I appreciate that level of information.
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Green or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. I do not see this one as a full-on red, but it is not green either. As least the statement has examples of what “upset” means, but I agree with Rebecca that “prefers” is not an observation, but an opinion. It would also be helpful to have some specifics on how close is too close, and how often during a day or a week does this happen.
Green or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.Totally RED…This is information for the ESER. I also have a pet peeve about just using abbreviations for test names.
Green or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. I vote this one basically GREEN. It is an inclusive list of her forms of communication. What would also be good to know is which forms she uses most often, or rank order them from most used to least used, with some actual data of frequency of each per day. Some of these forms may also be situational, such as only used with specific people, or for specific activities.
Green or Red? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Mostly RED…Saying attention problems right at the start is a very negative opinion, and bound to make any parent feel defensive. Even though a couple examples of his “problem” are mentioned, there is no indication of how often this happens to what degree and what responding inappropriately means. Could be anything from farting to giving an incorrect answer.
Green or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. I rate this one a bit more red than green. It is just too vague. We need to know how much more effective auditiory input is than visual for Zung, such as, After listening to a short story, Zung is able to verbally state 4 details and answer 2 “wh” questions with 100% accuracy. When reading a similar level story, Zung is able to restate one detail and answer 2 “wh” questions with 50% accuracy.
Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.Red and green…the colors info is very vague, by “know” does that mean he cannot identify or match ANY colors, or is this a naming colors issue? At least with the counting information, there are a couple specifics. -
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STEP 1- Review the following statements from a real-life PLAAFP
• Determine if the statements are “good” (green) or “bad” (red)
• Are there instances where the statement is both “good and bad”? How would you fix those that you rated as “bad”?STEP 2- Reply directly to this post.
STEP 3- Respond to at least one colleague’s posting.
•Green or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.•Green or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
G/R: How close do others have to get, does he ever approach others, what type of play does he engage in, are you sure he prefers to play alone?•Green or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
R: what is EOWPVT-R, ROWPVT-R; do scores matter here (parents may ask what age level they are on, good to know if they ask, what kind of things are said, What is responded to, what are interests, is Hearing ok?•Green or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
G: but, any medical/social-emotional/physical indications for condition. What does essentially? What words does she say, under what conditions•Green or Red? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
R: what are attention problems? Hearing ok? What is inappropriate?•Green or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Mostly R: what is reading level? Can he talk about pictures? How does he demonstrate understanding?•Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Mostly R: what is reading level? Can he talk about pictures? How does he demonstrate understanding?Comments on colleague:
Dawn Fagenstrom – Participant
Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. Green
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. Red. These are test results and doesn’t really tell me how the child communicates. We need to know how the differences in the two affect the child’s ability to communicate.
Strongly agree with this comment. Generally, test scores probably not needed here. They are usually listed below in ESER scores. Parents sometimes ask about age/grade level so it is good to be able to answer when it comes up but not really helpful in statement about what student can or cannot do.Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. Green
Mostly I agree but there are still some questions, particularly about underlying causes which may make a difference in what approach is taken to assist student.Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Red/Green, how is it affecting his education? or is it a classroom behavior issue
I think she missed the bigger point here. What is “attention problem”. What does it look like. She did get the big questions – how does it affect education and is it a “local” , classroom issue?Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. Green/Red- What does “doesn’t work as well mean”? Does it mean he has to work hard and then gets it or he doesn’t learn it.
I gave this a mostly Red. No information about how he demonstrates understanding and what might make visual (both written word and pictures) challenging for student?Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. Green/Red: What are the expectations? What colors has he been taught? What is the expectation for counting and stacking blocks?
I think that statements can be green and red. I feel that some of the statements that I labeled in this grey area started off solid then read a phrase left me wondering how? so? and?
I agree with assessment. Definitely need more information about what is being asked and what can student do with these concepts.This was hard for me because I don’t feel that I had enough information and needed to read the rest of the PLAAFPs to really decide if they were green/red. However, I think I’m probably over thinking the task and the real question is… did the author know the student and how the task affects his involvement.
Definitely agree with statement here. Hard to make judgments without more info. about students.Daniel Kaasa, Participant
As I read the PLAAFP statements, I seem to be a “both red and green” sort of person. If I were to see the entire section for each student, I may have different responses. The concept of using the PLAAFP to document baseline information to be used as a road map for the rest of the IEP, really makes sense to me! Here are my thoughts:
Totally agree.Dayton: Doctor K.D-F. indicates that the PLAAPF should identify areas that the student has difficulty with. The statement on Dayton does this in a clear, concise manner, therefore could be coded as a green statement. I would want to make sure that it stays in that status by including positive statements related to his ability to play independently and perhaps by providing specific baseline information on the frequency and duration of his upsets.
Not so clear to me but agree that some positive statements need to be included and good baseline info.Carmen: The green part of this statement is that it contains current, specific and measurable information. However, I would recommend a red status fix of clarifying what the abbreviated assessments are and what they are designed to measure. The IEP document should be easily interpreted by all members of the IEP Team.
Disagree that info. is measureable in classroom terms. Don’t really need test scores here. Definitely agree that info. should be understandable for all Team members.Damien: I feel this is a fully green statement. When I read it, I get a clear impression of this aspect of this student. To complete the statement section, it might be expanded to include the last portion of Dr. K. P-F’s “Formula for Success” by describing how this “affects access, participation and/or progress.”
I also get a picture in my head about this student but I’m not sure at all that it would agree with Daniel’s idea (or anybody else’s. I gave this one a Red.Zung: This statement about Zung could be considered to be green as it seems to be a part of an Authentic Assessment completed by a member of the IEP Team. To maintain its green status, I would anticipate that additional, more specific baseline information be collected and documented. This information could clarify what his actual reading skills are as compared to those of his typical peers.
I gave this one a red. Some info. but not enough to be very useful. Agree that student’s reading level in this case could be important.Mark: Partially achieving a green status this statement does relate to skills that may correspond to those that the Team would want to see the child doing. However, to move it away from red status, I would modify the negative wording. It could also be greatly expanded to include information on what related areas of learning are being worked on with Mark and the impact of his current foundation skills
We are closer on this one. I rated it Red but I like his ideas to improve info. on Mark.–Dan Kaasa
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Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
I feel that the one is red. I think that we could be more clear and give more data.As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
I feel that this one is green. We are giving them data from test results that tells the members of the team where the child stands.Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
I think that this is green. It gave a good description of how Elsie communicates.Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
I feel that this one is red. We need more data about how often these behaviors happen and what activities does it happen the most.Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
I feel that this one is red because all they say is what doesn’t work well and they are never talking about what he can do.Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
This one is red. They start out talking about how Mark doesn’t know his colors and then goes into how he can counts and stack blocks. -
Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. Red/Green: I think the statement itself is okay, but I hope that the rest of the paragraph will include any typical triggers/antecedents for the behavior, what sort of proximity to peers triggers the behavior, the extent to which it limits his participation in classroom activities/learning opportunities, and the environment/situations in which the student can interact appropriately (as a starting off point from which to build.)
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. Red/Green: This is useful quantitative information. But again, taken out of context, it means very little. These are only numbers. I would hope that the rest of the paragraph would state what those acronyms are as well as how that delay impacts the student. What does a delay like this look like in the daily life of the student? How does she express her self and get her needs met? What sorts of information does she understand and what is a struggle? Does this impact her behavior? Does it impact her ability to participate? And, if so, in what settings/circumstances?
Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Mostly green: This gives a pretty good picture of what the student can do to communicate. Next I would include the plan for what skills will be targeted and how it impacts the student’s involvement in social and academic settings..Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Mostly Red: If this is actually an accurate picture of the student and the situation, then it is useful information and the comment is fine. But it leaves me wondering: are these behaviors merely awkward and impacting his social skills or are they truly disruptive and inappropriate? To what degree are these behaviors disruptive to his learning and the learning of others? I’ve gone around and around with this comment and have had a hard time pinpointing what it is that bothers me about it. I think it’s because the statement is too general (leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation) and focuses more on the negative behavioral results than the skill deficit. As it is currently written, when I envision this combination of disruptive behaviors, I think of issues with defiance- not just compliance. And if this is an issue of defiance, then attention issues are probably not the only underlying cause of the behavior. If this is the case, they should call it what it is and address the issue. But, if it is truly an attention issue, then I would think the most significant impact would be that the student is probably missing out on a lot of information and learning opportunities, and therefore, not mastering skills to participate in activities in a socially acceptable way. That could also limit the student’s ability to conform to the expectations in the classroom setting, as implied in the original comment, but a disability of this nature would impact many other things throughout the student’s day as well. A more detailed statement would give clarity to the situation and the student’s current needs.
Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. Mostly Red: This one made me cringe a little. I understand what they are getting at, but I just don’t like the phrasing. It is both too vague (nobody remembers and understands EVERYTHIGN that they hear) and it leaves room for misinterpretation. Though I doubt it was the intent of the statement, as a parent, I might be upset if I was told that my child’s learning “doesn’t work as well.” I would definitely rephrase this one and then give info as to how it impacts the student’s involvement in the curriculum and what sorts of accommodations might be appropriate to allow access to the information.
Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. Green/Red: Good information to include, but again, it is completely out of context and leaves me wondering. Is the concern with the colors a cognitive issue or a vocabulary issue? Or both? (Can the student distinguish between the colors but not name them?) Are the blocks a motor concern? Processing concern? A Strength? What is the expectation for these skills and how do the student’s present skills it impact their participation and learning? In this case, just knowing the student’s age would be very helpful.
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1.1 Discussion response
STEP 1- Review the following statements from a real-life PLAAFP
• Determine if the statements are “good” (green) or “bad” (red)
• Are there instances where the statement is both “good and bad”? How would you fix those that you rated as “bad”?
STEP 2- Reply directly to this post.
STEP 3- Respond to at least one colleague’s posting.
• Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
I think the following PLAAFP statement for Dalton is both red and green. I think the statement is lacking the information of baseline information on frequency and duration of the behavior, setting and time of the behavior and I would like to know more about his positive interactions with peers.
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
I think the following PLAAFP statement for Carmen is red. The statement gives me testing data (but what does it mean) and doesn’t provide any other information about how the student communicates and how this affects their performance
Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
I think the following PLAAFP statement for Elise is both red and green. The statement provides information on how the student communicates and paints me a better picture then the previous students. However, I think the statement lacks measurability.Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
I think the following PLAAFP statement for Damien is red. I need more specific information. How does this affect his performance in the classroom. I want to know what the behavior looks like and frequency. What can Damien do?Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
I think the following PLAAFP statement for Zung mostly green. I would like to know Zung’s baseline information like what his reading level is. More specific information for statement of “doesn’t work as well”.Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
I think the following PLAAFP statement for Mark is red. The wording of this statement may offend the parents. I would like to see more information regarding frequency. -
Response to Peer:
Connie, in your responses you provided some details that I had overlooked when working on my discussion post. On several students, you had brought up negative connotations and how families may be hurt and upset by how the information was provided. Another good point you brought up was about Zung, is he an ELL student? That would be great information to know. Great responses! -
Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. This is a green statement. It describes what is currently happening to Dayton. It is observable and it also describes the effect of his behavior on his ability to participate in appropriate activities.
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. This is a red statement. Carmen’s present levels are qualitative, as measured by an SLP. It does not mean much to the rest of the team. This can be fixed by adding details on what Carmen is able to do. How many objects is Carmen able to label? How is Carmen able to put together words? Describe how Carmen is able to follow directions and understand what others are saying. Describe the need that needs to be addressed using measurable criteria and how her disability affects her involvement in the general education curriculum or participation in appropriate activities.
Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. This is a green statement. It lists observable ways Elise can communicate describing what is currently happening to her and what she is able to do.
Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. This is a red/green statement. It mentions the consequences of his behavior but needs to include what causes the behavior to happen and how often. It should also include the type of supports and reinforcements that Damien is getting and their effects. Damien’s strengths should also be in the present levels. All of these will give the team a clear picture of how they can develop Damien’s IEP to help him access and progress in the general education curriculum.
Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. This is a green/red statement. This is a good start to a present levels statement. It tells us what Zung is able to do and what he has difficulties doing. It needs observable/measurable information or data, the types of supports he is getting, or the conditions when he has difficulties. Reading fluency and comprehension data will help guide the team in writing goals and objectives. Vision information is also important to include in his present levels.
Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. This is a red statement. There is more emphasis on the negative on this present levels statement. This can be fixed by first mentioning Mark’s strengths and what he is currently able to do, using measurable and observable criteria. Add a statement describing what he needs to work on using measurable criteria. Describe how his disability affects his involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.
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Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.- Mostly Green, Easily read and understood, states current information and how it impacts his appropriate activity. I would like to see a postiive added to it.
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Red- not easily read by all members of team, abbreviations of the assessment need to be explained as well as what expressive/receptive vocabulary means. While we have age equivalents it does not give a clear baseline, I would not be able to say what a goal should be from this statement. It also does not identify how this impacts her daily activities.Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. Mostly green, Easily read and understood, great description of current skills. Not really a negative or positive tone to this one, just straight forward. We need to know how it is impacting her daily activities/education.
Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Red- How often is it casuing these issues, daily/weekly? The way it is worded makes me feel like Damien is being blamed for his “attention problem”, I would like to see it written in a way that describes more specifically why Damien has a hard time in group activities, is it a regulation issue, is the activity to fast/slow for him, does he struggle with verbal input etc. Is it disrupting his learning or disrupting the class? From this information I would not be able to write a goal or suggest what supports he may need in the classroom.
Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. Mostly red- Easy to understand and describes what Zung needs and how he is able to best learn. There isn’t a lot of information included so I’m not sure how the team is using this information, is it part of an observation or specific to a subject/area. How was this information about Zung gathered and in what environment. How is visual information presented, has he been screen for vision concerns? It’s a pretty big statement so I would hope the team included examples or some sort of testing that showed this challenge.
Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. Red- Again, not a lot of information here. We don’t know how old Mark is or how long he has had instruction on these things. Also I would say if he isn’t remembering 2 he is not counting to 3, you could say that is an emerging skill but not solid yet. I”m not getting a strong idea of where Mark’s skills are or what goal I could write based on this information. How is this impacting his ability to engage in appropriate activities.
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Response to Jesse’s post.
I agree with your responses to the present levels statements. When I first read Carmen’s present levels, my first instinct was to figure out what all those abbreviations mean. I agree that when talking about the receptive and expressive, definitions are important. I think actual receptive and expressive languages will make this present levels more clear.
You made a good point about Damien seeming to be blamed for his “attention problem”. I feel the same way. It would be helpful to know what is causing Damien to have these problems. -
Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. Greenish, though I think more should be said. How old is he and what are the expectations of other children his age. Does this happen in a center-based program? At home? How does he interact during center activities or group activities?
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. Red. Anecdotal information from parents and teaching staff should be included here. Does she speak in one or two words? Can you follow simple directions using location words? Is she able to point to or name body parts? Clothing? School items? How does she communicate her needs and wants at home? In a school setting?
Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. Red. This is a blame statement. I would begin with something positive. Even if it is simply a statement that Damien is able to XXXXX when XXXX. I would the sentence rephrase and, if there is data, quantify the statements such as: “ During a 15 minute observation (math instruction) Damien talked out of turn XXX times.
Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. Red. I don’t really know what Zung understands or remembers. This entire statement is much too general.
Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks. Greenish. I would start with a positive statement. Mark can count to 3 in 3 out of 5 trials. He can stack 3 blocks. Can he point to colors when named?? I’d be more specific as to his skills. Also, how old is he? What is a realistic expectation for a child his age?
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DAYTON: I believe this statement is both red and green. It gives both his strength and weaknesses but it’s missing information. It would be nice to have his baseline information of how often he becomes upset or what his interactions during playtime are.
CARMEN: This statement is red for me. It gives me testing information but it doesn’t give me Carmen’s actually ability. How does this affect her performance in classroom activities? What kind of vocabulary does she have? Can she name body parts, animals, food, and so forth? It’s obvious she understands more than she can say but can she follow basic 1-step directions? If not, is she receiving verbal directions paired with a picture?
ELISE: This statement is green. It gives a clear picture of how she does communicate with various examples. It also says she is able to use a device in which she can activate with a head switch. It leaves a clear picture in my head and not needing additional questions answered.
DAMIEN: This is a red statement for me. It highlights all the things that Damien can’t do but doesn’t focus on what he is able to do. As a parent, it reads harsh too. I feel like it puts the blame on Damien that he can’t do something instead of this is what we are working on currently and how we are helping him get there. It would read better if it said something like “Damien is working on following the teacher’s direction by following a one-step verbal direction paired with a visual prompt/cue. During circle time, when Daniel has something to say, he is working on waiting his turn to communicate by raising his hand. He is given a “wait” card to remind him that he is waiting and the teacher will call on his shortly.”
ZUNG: In my opinion Zung’s statement is green. However, I feel like more information could have been given such as a better description of current academic and functional performance about learning by reading or looking at pictures. The statement would have meant more and easily understood by others with actually baseline formation.
MARK: Mark’s statement is both red and green. It starts off with a negative statement instead. Simply, the person could have said “Mark is able to match the basic colors. He is currently working on identifying (pointing) and naming the basic colors when offered a choice of 3 colors.” Overall, the statement gives information about colors, counting, and stacking blocks but it needs a description of how this child’s performance is affecting his performance with the general curriculum or appropriate activity. I’m left with questions such as “How many colors should he know?” or “How many objects does he need to count?” “Is stacking 3 blocks good?”
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Diane,I had some of the same thoughts you had! After reading each statement, I was left with some of the same questions and wanting to know more! I like when present levels give more of the data such as “Mark can count to 3 for 2 out of 5 trials”. I think it also helps to know how old he is and what are the actual expectations for his age group.
On Zang’s I didn’t even think about vision being a factor… nice thought! I guess this is where we need more information to know why obtaining information off a piece of paper/picture is difficult!
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Hello Jesse,
I like your statement about Mark’s PLEP saying “How is this impacting his ability to engage in appropriate activities.” It got me thinking about teaming and sharing information so that it relates to the bigger picture of what a child can do within the classroom as well as how these specific activities help a child engage in learning.
Christine -
Reply to Naomi Buck…
Naomi said:
As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. Red/Green: This is useful quantitative information. But again, taken out of context, it means very little. These are only numbers. I would hope that the rest of the paragraph would state what those acronyms are as well as how that delay impacts the student. What does a delay like this look like in the daily life of the student? How does she express her self and get her needs met? What sorts of information does she understand and what is a struggle? Does this impact her behavior? Does it impact her ability to participate? And, if so, in what settings/circumstances?Naomi, as you implied, I think we need more information specifically from Carmen’s parents. Can they share what her communication is like at home? Is she an ELL student? Both at school and home, I too want to know how it impacts her behavior. Helpful information would also include her age (in months) and her disability. We are assuming it is speech but could be developmental delay or other disabilities as well.
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Ok, I am having trouble with this discussion forum. This will be the third time I have posted this initial response. Please forgive me if it shows up 3 times but it is not showing up in the DQ forum.
I have to list a few issues before I address these PLAAFP statements. I am assuming that these are only short pieces of a fuller PLAAFP, as if they are the whole thing, they are all RED! For some statements, I would phrase it a little differently, but it is generally ok (with more information in the rest of the PLAAFP).
-Green or RED? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
As others have stated, I would need more information on this one. Does he have times when he can play with others without becoming upset? If so, what does the data show? Is it 70% of the time? What is the difference between success and failure for him? With this data, it can guide his goals and service minutes.
-GREEN or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
IEPS need to be written so the students’ parents can read and understand the information, including assessment results. I would rephrase this to make it more understandable. I work in a tiny native village and some parents might not understand the difference between expressive and receptive vocabulary. I might would also say that 48 months is a 4 year old child.
-GREEN or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
What does the writer mean by essentially? I think I would say she is non-verbal and be specific in the ways she non-verballie communicates. I would then go into more detail as to the vocalizations and word approximations she makes. So all this is just rephrasing and I am sure some of what I am focusing on would have been clarified with the rest of the PLAAFP.
-Green & RED? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
This one is too vague. Attention problems can be caused by many things. It could be internal or external. It could have to do with the environment or interactions of peers. We need more information.
-GREEN or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Again, we need more information. What is his current reading level? What is his disability? Does he have a learning disability or is it perhaps extreme ADHD? Knowing that would be helpful as if he is just a few grade levels behind, he might be helped with appropriate ability level reading but if he can’t read than reading alternatives will have to be found.
-Green or RED? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
I question these comments. He does not even know one color? I think the colors he knows should be specified. Stating which colors he knows is positive but that statement is more negative. If he can count to 3 but not always (forgets 2). With this we are including he can stack 3 blocks, which might be fine motor but the others are more academic. I would also want to know what his disability is.
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#1). Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
Red
This Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance does not include:
Statements which are specific, measurable
Baseline information for each need so that so that goals, accommodations, modifications, supports, and services can be easily developed
Information from a variety of sources
Information that helps guide anyone in providing specially designed instruction
Child’s age/grade
Information about their strengths, interests, preferences
Family priorities and concerns#2). As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Red
This Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance does not include:
Statements which are understandable
Descriptions of how the child’s/student’s disability affects their performance in the general curriculum/appropriate activities
Information from a variety of sources
Information that helps guide anyone in providing specially designed instruction
Information about their strengths, interests, preferences
Family priorities and concerns#3). Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Red
This Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance does not include:
Descriptions of how the child’s/student’s disability affects their performance in the general curriculum/appropriate activities
Baseline information for each need so that so that goals, accommodations, modifications, supports, and services can be easily developed
Information from a variety of sources
Information that helps guide anyone in providing specially designed instruction
Child’s age/grade
Information about their strengths, interests, preferences
Family priorities and concerns#4). Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
Red
This Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance does not include:
Statements which are specific, measurable, and objective
Descriptions of how the child’s/student’s disability affects their performance in the general curriculum/appropriate activities
Baseline information for each need so that so that goals, accommodations, modifications, supports, and services can be easily developed
Information from a variety of sources
Information that helps guide anyone in providing specially designed instruction
Child’s age/grade
Information about their strengths, interests, preferences
Family priorities and concerns#5). Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Red
This Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance does not include:
Statements which are specific, measurable, and objective
Baseline information for each need so that so that goals, accommodations, modifications, supports, and services can be easily developed
Information from a variety of sources
Information that helps guide anyone in providing specially designed instruction
Child’s age/grade
Information about their strengths, interests, preferences
Family priorities and concerns#6). Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Red
This Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance does not include:
Statements which are understandable, specific, measurable, and objective
Descriptions of current academic and functional performance
Descriptions of how the child’s/student’s disability affects their performance in the general curriculum/appropriate activities
Baseline information for each need so that so that goals, accommodations, modifications, supports, and services can be easily developed
Information from a variety of sources
Information that helps guide anyone in providing specially designed instruction
Child’s age/grade
Information about their strengths, interests, preferences
Family priorities and concerns-
I really liked how you set up your answers with numbers and the reasoning behind each color determination. I waited to read others posts till I posted mine, and I really like how you took the list of things in the handout and from the video to help determine what is missing and what should have been included. I really makes me realize that 1-3 sentences in each area of presence levels is probably and usually not adequate.
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Both Green and Red- Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited. This is Green because it gives us a picture of his needs but red because we don’t know when this happens or if it is related to certain toys or times of day or other circumstances that could be helpful in understanding his behavior.
Red- As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months. This lets us know that Carmen’s expressive and receptive vocabulary are both delayed but not enough information is giving to know if he can get what he needs in his day, or how functional his communication skills are. This solely tells us about his vocabulary, We need more information on his communication as a whole.
Green – Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch. T
Red- Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities. More information- when does he fail to follow directions and how often, is he able to wait his turn and gets distracted or is he unable or hasn’t gained the skills to wait for his turn yet? What does inappropriate responses looks like during group activities?
Red- Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well. How does he show his understanding and memory of a subject? How best does he learn? How does he respond to reading and looking at pictures? More information is needed.
Green and Red- Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks-
Does Mark know any colors at all? Does he count outloud from memory or is he counting objects? Does he tell you that he stacked 3 blocks? More information would be important. -
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Green or Red? Dayton prefers to play in isolation and becomes upset (e.g., cries and hits others) when another child comes too close. As a result, his peer interactions at playtime are limited.
I think this statement is red because it is too vague. The setting is not clear. Which places or times during school does Daytion play in isolation and get upset? How close is too close? lPeer interactions are not described. The reader cannot visualize the interactions. What supports have been tried before his peer interactions have been limited.
It could look something like this: During unstructured play times ( recess, choice time, before and after the school bells), Dayton prefers to play in isolation. If another child gets within arms length of him, he reacts negatively by crying or hitting the child 50% of the time his play is observed. As a result, Dayton requires direct supervision from a staff member during these unstructured times.
Green or Red? As measured on the EOWPVT-R, Carmen’s (48 months) expressive vocabulary is at 19 months and as measured by the ROWPVT-R her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months.
Red. This is not parent/lay person friendly. What is the EOWPVT-R? If the reader had that information, it would be clearer. A few more clarifying sentences might be helpful.
Typical children’s receptive vocabulary are higher than their expressive vocabulary. Carmen is 48 months old. Her receptive skills are higher than her expressive skills. As measured on the Expressive Oral Written Phonics Verbal Test-Revised ( EOWPVT-R ), Carmen’s expressive vocabulary is at 19 months old and as measured by the Receptive Oral Written Phonics Verbal Test-Revised (ROWPVT-R), her receptive vocabulary is at 26 months old.
Green or Red? Elise is essentially non-verbal and uses many ways to communicate including: gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, vocalizations, word approximations, head nods for yes, head shakes for no, and use of a Dynavox 3100 augmentative communication device which she accesses with a head switch.
Green. The reader can visualize how Elise communicates. It gives thorough info on which device she uses and how she accesses it.
Green or Red? Damien’s attention problems result in failure to follow the teacher’s directions, talking out of turn and responding inappropriately during group activities.
Red. What are Damien’s attention problems? Could a different word beside “problems” be used? We need more information on what happens when the teacher gives a direction. What does “responding inappropriately” look like?
Damien finds it difficult to attend to verbal directions. He often gets distracted or “antsy” during instruction. He therefore tends to disrupt whole group instruction (e.g. blurting, interrupting, having side conversations) when the teacher is talking.
Green or Red? Zung understands and remembers what he hears about a subject. Learning by reading or looking at pictures is difficult for him and doesn’t work as well.
Red. This is very vague. Certainly Zung can’t understand and remember everything about every subject. We need more information on how visual learning doesn’t work for him.
Zung excels at auditory comprehension. After listening to a nonfiction text, he is able to answer comprehension questions with 95% accuracy. Visual learning is more difficult for him. After independently reading or looking at a nonfiction text, Zung is only able to answer 40% of the questions accurately.
Green or Red? Mark doesn’t know his colors. He can count to 3 but doesn’t always remember the number 2. He can stack 3 blocks.
Red: We need more info about both colors and counting. The colors statement seems just thrown in.
When shown different primary or secondary colors, Mark is not able to name them. He is able to match like colors.
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