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There are several needs that I see for Spencer. Although he can test in the above average/average scores for reading, writing, and math, something in the school setting related to these topics is giving him extreme anxiety. I think Spencer needs some buy-in or reinforcement for coming to school. For example, if he gets to school on time, he can have 10 minutes of mine-craft in the morning and after completing his academic tasks, he can have 10 more minutes. To relieve some of his anxiety that causes panic attacks, I would think Spencer could use a detailed schedule and explanation of activities within his day. He could also have sever breaks worked in to create a more positive association with school.
A want that I see in Spencer is that he wants to stay home and be home-schooled. This may have started as just a want, but with perseveration and acting out, it has become and ingrained behavior. Because Spencer’s aggression and anxiety have become a need, he now requires intervention due to his disability.
As I said before, I would use Spencer’s interests to capitalize on what is expected of him. Use his “wants” as a reinforcement for completing tasks. Other information I would like to know is what supports are currently set in place for Spencer? What does the academic work look like/what setting does it take place? Is the work broken up into small, manageable chunks? Is it visually overwhelming? What sensory needs does Spencer have and how are those being met/not met at school?
Dawn,
I agree that your goal is IEP worthy. It is clear, measurable, and functional. Anyone could walk in and know exactly what is expected out of your goal. It is also functional in that counting and writing down numbers is something that we use so often in daily life and in the school setting.
-Andrea
When given a visual schedule, Clarence will follow his schedule and perform routines within his schedule with 3 or fewer prompts from adults per activity on 4/5 days as measured by the special education teacher by January 6, 2020.
1. Does the target behavior have a beginning and an end and can it be seen and/or heard (i.e., is it observable – is it an action)?
Yes, this target behavior happens whenever there is a transition, routine to be done, or a task.2. Can you measure the child’s performance over time either qualitatively or quantitatively (i.e., determine mastery level)?
Yes, data can be taken on the number of prompts given by adults to follow his schedule.3. Does the child need the target behavior to participate in all/most daily activities?
Yes, he needs to be able to follow a schedule and perform routines to participate in all daily activities.4. Does the child need the target behavior to complete all/most daily activities?
Yes, he needs to be in the right place and doing the right thing to complete daily activities.5. Does the target behavior represent a general concept or class of responses?
This goal represents a class of responses. It is about following a schedule and routines.6. Can the target behavior be generalized across a variety of settings, materials, and/or people?
Yes, this can be worked on in all areas and with all people in this child’s life.7. Can the target behavior be taught across daily activities?
Yes, a visual schedule can be used for any and all daily activities for this child.8. Can the target behavior be taught/addressed by various team members (e.g., teachers, therapist, caregivers)?
Yes, within each location and with each person, the student needs to follow his schedule and perform routines.From what I understand, my goal covers all 8 of the R-GORI questions.
Rebecca,
I agree that the explanation behind the goal is what makes it functional. It is the “why” behind the discrete skill that makes it functional. We want every goal to increase participation and independence and I think that with the functionality lense, it holds us accountable to remember the what, why, and how behind each goal.
-Andrea
From what I learned from this lesson, functionality and accountability go hand in hand. We must analyze our goals and think about the functional application of each goal. We must think about the what, why, and how of each goal. We want our students to be working on goals that increase their participation and independence in most daily activities. To write a measurable goal, the wording can be discrete, but if we know the what, why, and how behind it, we can get at the function of the goal. Each goal will increase participation and independence with the function lense of writing and IEP.
When I think of a purely functional goal, I think of a goal written for adaptive skills, behavior, or social skills. I think that when considering academics, many if not all of these include a functional component. An example of this could be a student recognizing the sounds of each letter in the alphabet, this not only helps the student within the school, but helps them in all areas of their daily life. A potential non-example could be learning long division. This doesn’t have an obvious functional goal (helping the student participate in all/most daily activities), but it is teaching the student to use their brain to solve problems and know the step by step procedures that are a base for other mathematical functions.
Hi Gwen,
I definitely agree with you on many of the things you said. For filter 1, I think it is so crucial to have the PLAAF to know if this need is an outcome of the child’s disability. I also like what you said in filter 4, in a typical year of development, this goal could easily be met by a 2-3 year old. It is hard to know what a year of development looks like for this child since we don’t have the rest of the IEP to reference.
-Andrea
“Filter 1” Need stems from the child’s disability, not from a common outcome or common expectations
-This filter is hard to know based on the goal alone. Without the PLAAFP and the evaluation needs and recommendations, it is difficult to know if this need stems from the child’s disability.“Filter 2” Need is having an adverse impact on the child’s access, participation, and progress.
-This child needs to work on identifying basic actions, people, and events. This skill is an essential part of not only education, but daily living in our world and conversation with others. The child’s present level (I’m assuming) is having an adverse impact on the child’s access, participation, and progress on daily tasks and school related activities.“Filter 3” Need requires specially designed instruction, not just exposure, practice, or maturation
-This is also difficult to determine without knowledge of the specific child this goal is written for. If this child is a 3-year-old who has been neglected, he or she could require exposure and practice. Assuming this is not the case, the skill of identifying basic actions, people, and events, needs specially designed instruction.“Filter 4” Need can be addressed and accomplished within a year of “typical” development
-Again, so much is based on the present levels and the development of the child, but this seems like a reasonable goal to accomplish within a year. The child is asked to name five items each day for two weeks. The only thing I do wonder about this goal is if the child is to be prompted or not to meet the goal.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!
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.
