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Naomi BuckParticipant
Given this information, I think that there is a need to address Spencer’s anxiety around reading, writing, and math. High anxiety is not something that is usually consciously controlled (especially not at the age of 6!) And it may be his anxiety that is hindering him rather than his academic skills, as evidenced by his high assessment scores but poor grades. It sounds like he may be “on the red train” during his reading, writing, and math time- certainly at home, and likely at school as well. Without identifying the cause of the anxiety, it is impossible to know what his specific needs are. He may need direct instruction to learn alternative behavioral strategies, coping skills, or pragmatic language skills. He may need a behavior plan with positive reinforcement and logical consequences, some alternative curriculum that capitalizes on his interests, or it could be something as simple as enacting some classroom accommodations.
I would probably want to start with a parent interview/discussion to try to gain insight into his behaviors, to help identify sources of anxiety, and identify subtle indicators that he may display when feeling anxiety that might be overlooked at school. It would be helpful to have a discussion with his mother about the setting, lead up, and consequences of his meltdowns. (We already know the results of the worst of his outbursts- but we don’t know what he does with the rest of his day when he stays home from school.) This could help to determine why he is melting down more at home than at school. It could be because it is the end of the day (he might be tired and hungry), because it is a safe setting in which to vent and let go (maybe keeping it together during the school day is a huge strain for him- after all, he’s 6), maybe in his home setting he has a difficult time regaining control once he has lost it and some of the strategies from school could be shared with the parent, or maybe he just gets what he wants when he melts down at home. I would argue that the last scenario is the only one that would reflect a want. Because his grades in these subjects have gone down so markedly within school, I would argue that this last possibility probably isn’t the only factor. After gaining some information from the parent, I would want to take a thorough look at his environment and the potential stressors present during those difficult subjects (who delivers instruction and how, types of tasks demanded, physical location, time of day, social setting and audience, potential sensory factors, etc.) I would want to do a student interview as well. He may not consciously recognize his stressors, but he may be able to provide some helpful tips for guiding the investigation. I would want to observe him in each setting and compare his settings during the stress-inducing subjects to that of his other subjects, determine how they differ, and then begin making changes, a little at a time, to see what helps.
He has a want for homeschooling and for playing Minecraft, but I would agree with his mother that the homeschool setting would probably not be beneficial or productive for him. Since she feels that he struggles with follow through and could not be held accountable in that setting, it would be running from the problem rather than addressing it. It would not teach him the coping skills that he needs to get through other undesirable tasks as they arise in his future. He will certainly be faced with anxiety-inducing challenges in the future, and without these coping skills, other skill sets could be negatively impacted by his anxiety and behavior. In addition, it is usually more difficult to teach social skills and gain the social experiences that are crucial for navigating adult life in a homeschool setting and those are precisely some of the skills that people with his diagnosis frequently struggle with.
A “want” is just that- something that the student wants but does not necessarily need or even benefit from. The student can get by and be fully in control and functioning without it. To me, capitalizing on a child’s interests is a way to make a task more interesting to them, in turn increasing their motivation and buy-in for completing the task or learning the skill. Capitalizing on interests is an excellent strategy to use when teaching any skill- providing the motivation and fulfilling feeling of receiving a want, but addressing a need at the same time. Capitalizing on a student’s interests can be a great link between a need and a want.
Naomi BuckParticipantHi Dawn,
Nice goal. I have been struggling a bit with making sense of how to make an academic goal functional so I really appreciated reading your rationale for each of the criteria. It makes more sense to me now.Naomi BuckParticipantI admit that I picked a goal that I thought would best meet the criteria. Because not all students need this level of support, I’m not sure all of the goals that I write would meet as many of the criteria.
GOAL:
M will display an increase in his expressive language skills by participating in conversations as demonstrated by making eye contact and asking and/or answering questions or making requests with level 4 support in 4 of 5 attempts.
Levels of Support: 4) no verbal cues-Independent. 3) one verbal cue. 2) two to four verbal cues and/or modeling desired behavior. 1) five or more verbal cues and/or physical assist. 0) unable to comply and/or refusal.GORI Rating for Goal- total: 7.5/8
Measurability: 1-yes. 2-yes. The goal is observable and measurable using the Levels of Support rubric.
Functionality: 3: yes. This level communication is necessary for participation in activities throughout everyday life. 4: I think so. The student’s needs will have to be interpreted by someone else if the student cannot perform the task, but it is not something that anyone else can do for the student.
Generality: 5- yes. 6-yes. The ability to communicate verbally and using body language represents a general skill that can be applied across contexts.
Instructional Context: 7: yes. 8: yes. The skills in this goal can be taught by any team member and across all instructional and non-instructional settings and I feel that it is free of jargon.Objective 1:
M will respond when asked a simple question (i.e. Did you eat breakfast?) by using one of his modalities (i.e. vocalization or communication device) to provide a verbal answer with, level 4 support, in 4 of 5 attempts per weekly observation. (Baseline: M participates at level 3 support in 4 of 5 attempts.)GORI Rating for Objective 1- total: 8/8
Measurability: 1-yes. 2-yes. The goal is observable and measurable using the Levels of Support rubric.
Functionality: 3: yes. 4: yes. This level communication is necessary for participation in activities throughout everyday life. It is also a necessary component of effective communication.
Generality: 5- yes. 6-yes. This objective measures a component of effective expressive communication.
Instructional Context: 7: yes. 8: yes. The skill in this objective can be taught by any team member and across all instructional and non-instructional settings.Objective 2:
M will express a want or need to an adult (i.e. I need help with my zipper.) by coming to an adult and using one of his modalities (i.e. vocalization, communication device) to express himself, at level 4 support, over 4 of 5 trials. (Baseline: M participates at level 2 support in 4 of 5 attempts.)GORI Rating for Objective 2- total: 8/8
Measurability: 1-yes. 2-yes. The goal is observable and measurable using the Levels of Support rubric.
Functionality: 3: yes. 4: yes. This level communication is necessary for participation in activities throughout everyday life. It is also a necessary component of effective communication.
Generality: 5- yes. 6-yes. This objective measures a component of effective expressive communication.
Instructional Context: 7: yes. 8: yes. The skill in this objective can be taught by any team member and across all instructional and non-instructional settings.Objective 3:
M will make eye contact with the person with whom he is attempting to communicate, at level 4 support, over 4 of 5 trials. (Baseline: M participates at level 3 support in 2 of 5 trials.)GORI Rating for Objective 3- total: 6/8
Measurability: 1-yes. 2-yes. The goal is observable and measurable using the Levels of Support rubric.
Functionality: 3-no. Eye contact is not completely necessary for communication, but it is desirable. 4- no. Again, the ability to make eye contact is very helpful, but not essential to participation in many activities.
Generality: 5- yes. 6-yes. This objective measures a component of effective expressive communication.
Instructional Context: 7: yes. 8: yes. The skill in this objective can be taught by any team member and across all instructional and non-instructional settings.Naomi BuckParticipantI can think of plenty of goals that are functional, but not academic. Many of them are communicational, social, emotional, or behavioral in nature: improving social communication, transitioning calmly between activities, responding calmly to unexpected changes in schedule, responding to peers assertively (rather than timidly or aggressively), increasing attention. These skills would all impact a student’s level of participation in activities throughout their day and increase their independence.
If, to meet the definition of “functional, ” the skill must be required to participate in all (or most) of activities throughout the day, then many goals suddenly become much more academic in nature. By this definition, being academic does not mean that is not valuable. Even skills, such as telling time, that we may use multiple times each day and is often thought of as a “functional life skill” is not necessarily a skill that is needed to actually participate in most of the day’s activities and, therefore, an academic skill.
Some goals could be both functional and academic. I think probably the best example would be the skills involved with learning to read. This is because we read every day and over so many different contexts: we read to learn, for pleasure, road signs, manuals/directions, labels, to communicate through mail, email and texts, to cook… Math pervades our lives as well and is certainly needed to function on a day-to-day basis. But since individual math skills are more diverse and do not all lead to a common goal, it is harder for me to think of any single skill that would be necessary for all of the activities in a day.
So, no- there is not always a distinction between an academic and a functional goal, but there often is. I think a good IEP goal should always be functional, academic, or both. If a goal were none of those things, I don’t think it would meet the needs of the student.
That said, I think that the degree to which a particular skill is functional, as opposed to non-functional, depends entirely on the individual student and their specific needs, life goals, and experiences. A non-functional goal for one person can be a functional goal for another. The goal for walking on the balance beam was a perfect example. For a student who has not yet mastered moving through the environment independently, walking on a balance beam might be pretty non-functional and not meet their needs. However, for a student who has already mastered moving through the environment independently, but who is struggling to participate in physical activities with their peers because of difficulties with strength, coordination, spatial awareness, etc, this very same goal can address those needs and suddenly becomes quite functional. Another good example is the example of producing individual /b/, /t/, and /p/ sounds as opposed to using words and phrases to inform. Of course the ability to use words and phrases to inform is a functional skill and, for a student who has not mastered this skill, the ability to pronounce a /t/sound is, comparatively, pretty non-functional. But once again, for a student who can already use words and phrases to inform, but who hangs back in social situations and rarely participates in discussions, reads aloud, or sings because they are embarrassed that they cannot pronounce the /b/, /t/, and /p/ sounds- this goal is very functional.
Naomi BuckParticipantHi Mark,
This is written in response to your thoughts, but also to the other responses that I read. I must admit that after reading several responses, I questioned whether I had misinterpreted this entire lesson.At first, when I watched to the video, my immediate understanding of the lesson was: “functional”=good/valuable, “non-functional”=bad/not valuable. We should pick skills that can be applied to real life and we should phrase the goal so that it can be measured in multiple contexts. But for the assignment, Ashley threw in the new term “academic.” This made me re-examine the definition and my understanding of these terms and categories because, many academic skills don’t fall into the functional category (because they are not necessarily required to participate in all daily life activities), but they are still valuable skills that can increase a student’s participation and independence and enhance their lives.
I am a confused about the idea of rewriting a goal to make it more “functional” (at least as that term is defined in this lesson.) The video does talk about writing a goal to be functional, but when I wrote my original response, I was thinking of the skill or the outcome of the goal as being a functional. And if that is the case, then the way the goal is worded, the way a skill is taught, and the way a skill is measured shouldn’t impact whether the outcome of the goal is functional, academic, or both. One could write a goal in a way that makes the context more meaningful, but not more functional. For example, a goal could be written in a way that incorporates learning to tell time in all sorts of varied activities, over different contexts, and taught to different modalities of learning. But in the end, the skill learned is how to tell time and you don’t need to know how to tell time to get dressed, play with blocks, read a book… The outcome of the goal can’t be applied to all activities in a day, so, by the definition given, it is not functional.
Maybe the term “functional” can be applied differently to a skill vs. to the wording of a goal, and this may be the source of my confusion. But I don’t think I am the only one, because I see that people using the term “functional” differently in their responses. I think your thoughts are similar to mine in this matter and I like the way that you have defined “functional” and how it can relate to both living skills and academics. I also really liked your statement, “I would say that a Goal doesn’t have to be exclusively Functional or Academic. I would say the important thing is to keep in mind how the skill can be used, both specifically in a limited way and more generally.” I completely agree with this and with your response.
Naomi BuckParticipantHi Melinda,
I appreciated your take on this goal. I have not had to write a goal to address this sort of need so I really struggled to make sense of the intent of the goal. I found your response to be very interesting and logical. Given the limited information that we were given with this goal, we have both made several implications to justify our decisions. I find very interesting that, though our implications and areas of focus were different in nature, we pretty much came to the same results. Thinking about your response and mine, I also realized that the result of writing a goal in such general terms is that we may all interpret it differently, based on our own experiences.Naomi BuckParticipantFilter 1:
Based only on the goal written, I don’t think there any way to determine if it meets the first filter. It may – but without some background information and/or access to the present levels there is no way to know.Filter 2:
Based on the “find a reading buddy” example, I am assuming that this student is in at least Kindergarten because that does not seem like an activity that would be expected for any child younger. And based on that assumption of age/grade, many of the skills encompassed by those in the examples are pretty crucial to functioning in a typical school setting. Any significant deficit in those skills would very likely adversely impact the student’s participation in activities. I am making a lot of assumptions, but I think it does meet filter number 2.Filter 3:
Again, I am assuming that this student is at least 5 or 6 years old and that the need is not based on a lack of exposure. If those are true, and the student is still struggling with all of the skills listed in the examples, then he/she will probably require some direct instruction to learn these skills. So yes, I think it meets filter number 3.
(However, if I am wrong and this child is barely 3 years old or if the need is due to a lack of exposure, then it’s entirely possible that maturation and exposure to a high quality school setting might be enough for the student to acquire these skills- in which case, the goal would not meet this filter.)Filter 4:
This one is tricky for me. My first gut instinct was: Though the goal seems reasonable and within the realm of what can be expected in 1 year of “typical development,” it does not meet the criteria for filter 4 because there is not enough information. There is no baseline given and I have no idea as to the cognitive abilities of the student so I do not know what sort of growth rate can be expected.That being said, after really thinking about it, I am going to say that (in real life) it will meet filter number 4 because of the way that it is worded. I may be misreading the intent of this goal, but to me, it is so vague that it could be met if the student improves in practically any skill area. (For example, giving each child a napkin could address a struggle with 1-to-1 correspondence, or a variety of social/emotional skills. Hanging up a backpack up could address a fine or gross motor skill, recognition of the student’s name, the ability focus and follow single-step directions, or a behavioral compliance issue. Naming each animal in a story could address attention and focus, listening comprehension, or a language/vocabulary need.) Because this goal doesn’t measure a specific skill, given a year of direct instruction, a teacher will be able to find (or expect) enough growth in at least one skill that demonstrates that the student has met this goal. I know this is a loophole and not at all what filter 4 was designed to measure, but it’s what would likely happen.
Naomi BuckParticipantDayton 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.
Naomi BuckParticipantHi 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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