In this lesson, you will learn about writing progress reports.

A | What the IDEA Says

We learned in Module 1 that the IDEA is the federal special education law and also that states have a lot of control over some things as well. And we know that an IEP must include measurable IEP goals and “statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services” to help the child “advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals”. It’s no surprise then that when it comes to progress reporting on IEPs, the IDEA lays it out for us.

In Section 300.320, it states that IEPs must also include the following:

(3) A description of – (i) How the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals described in paragraph (2) of this section will be measured; and (ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided;

This means that when it comes to IEP progress reports, we need to pay attention. Why? Because the IEP must include a statement of special education and related services that will be provided to “enable the child to advance appropriately toward attaining the goals”.

In other words: If a progress report states a student is not progressing appropriately, the progress report should also include data for the special education and related services that are and are not working. Because if the supports and services are appropriate, the student should or would be progressing.

This is why taking data is so important, and where your data comes into play.

And this goes back to the IEP goals that you are writing. You need to make sure that your IEP goals are measurable, so if writing IEP goals is something you feel anxious about doing – go back to Module 3, lessons 4 and 5 to learn about writing IEP goals and objectives/benchmarks.

B | Writing Progress Reports

When it comes to writing progress reports, it is so important that we are not just checking a box or writing “student made sufficient or insufficient progress”. That tells us nothing, which ultimately means it tells the family and the rest of the IEP team nothing when it comes to how the student is progressing (and if the IEP is or is not working). 

You have the data, so use it. Write 2-3 sentences about how the student performed during that progress reporting period for each IEP goal and objective/benchmark. Check with admin to see if they want progress reports written a certain way too. For example, some schools may want you to put in all of the data points you’ve collected for that progress reporting period. Other schools may only want the box checked for progress or no progress (but please, for the love of your students – do not just check the box).

In the downloads for this bonus lesson, you’ll find an editable word document that includes multiple sentence starters, powerful words to use, and copy/paste comments.

If a student is making progress or has mastered an IEP goal, write what the child’s next steps are. Where will instruction go from here and what will the child be working on next? Same goes for if a child is not making progress. Will you be trying a different approach or strategy?

If you’re struggling with taking the data, I urge you to take a look at the bonus course included in your program: Intentional Data Collection. It teaches a simple data collection method that can be used in any setting, at any time, and is a quick-teach to others on the IEP team. You’ll learn how to take all the data you need to write stellar progress reports.

And last but not least, don’t be afraid to share the raw data with the family outside of progress reports.

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