goals in IEP, I do not understand them

You might get better answers than mine but I would suggest that the language of “goals” is a relative one and even deliberately obscure. In short, there’s a lot of gobbelty-gook in educational jargon.

You’re getting caught between two different languages. What your son’s tutor is suggesting is the more clear suggestion. There is a fairly agreed upon standard for what a 3.9 reading level. You don’t say what your son’s issues are but by suggesting a 3.9 reading and writing level, your tutor is basically saying your son should be at the “normal” level. Children leaving third grade, entering fourth, should be… 3.9.

So your tutor is saying that your son, despite his learning differences, should be at exactly the same level as every other child in reading and writing. That is a wonderful goal because it essentially wishes away the impact of your son’s learning differences.

Your school is saying something similar but in a different way. They also say at the end of the 3rd grade your son should be able to read a 3rd grade level reading passage and to read at 80 words a minute. To me that’s an acceptable goal but you might post this specific question on the Teaching Reading BB and see what the good people there say.

The writing goal gets a little harder to interpret but they’re saying he should be able to write a story with 34 words in it if they give him 9 chances at doing it.

None of this really correlates to a letter grade of A,B,C, etc. It has nothing to do with that. Reading levels vary widely in any given classroom. In my 5th grade classroom, I have some children reading at a second grade level and others reading at an 8th grade level.

If you could, it might be helpful to get in touch with other parents of IEPed children and see what their goals read. That might give you a sense of what the school establishes as reasonable goals for different children.

JW
Hi! It seems that you have many things going on at the same time…..Many things have been mixed together and I feel that all the special acronyms and language have truly been thrown @ you with out much explanation. Let me try to clear this up. I am not cognizant of your specific State Rules and Regulations but overall most I.E.P’s (Individualized Educational Plans) speak the same language—one that most people ,not in our field ,need an interpreter to understand!!! As your tutor indicated, 3.9 grade level is the “normal” grade level expected of a third grader completing third grade.. 3rd grade- 9th month of school. 97% accuracy simply means that this child should be able to decode or read/say/know the majority of the words at this level—(Which is a little redundant….) Comprehension is an area of difficulty for most children ;therefore, the level of mastery (89%) is lower. (Stands to reason)

I would interpret the school’s reading goal as follows: In 30 weeks ( which technically is 150 school days-almost the entire year…. Most goals are set for one year as are your I.E.P Annual Review dates- by the way…) your child read orally a passage making 6 or fewer errors with 80 words correct per minute. The writing goal indicates that your child will be given a topic and asked to write a story with a min. of 34 words with 26 writing sequences and has nine chances to do so… One right after the other….

The A,B,C,D grading system really has nothing to do with this or his Reading/Writing level (seemingly). My speculation would be that your are talking about numerical/alphabetical grading system or that one of your child’s teachers/school/sytem has grouped readers by levels of ability calling the groups by one these letters….

These goals seem wordy, and very difficult to assess at best… The one about reading the story aloud only assesses oral reading and basic word recognition and is timed (talk about pressure). It seems that there are other ways to assess word rec. (Like basic word lists etc…) It doesn’t address comprehension at all. The writing goal gives many opportunities for mastery and for frustration….Obviously the test they use to asses this has the numerical requirements of 34 words, 26 sequences and 9 trials– what strange numbers$#%??? These both seem very vague and different. No wonder you are confused. ..Most importantly their is no goal to address reading comprehension (unless you did not mention it).

Otherwise, these are acceptable and applicable goals for a third grader (if he is functioning close to this now…) They are just really specific by the assessment they intend to use at the end of the year to assess his progress.

Word to the wise— The squeaky wheel goets oiled..You have rights as a parent… If you don’t understand jargon at a meeting—ask and keep asking until someone gets it on a level you can understand. Isn’t that what you would want your child to do?? Some valuable resources to seek out in Special Education matters would be your child’s teacher or other Special Ed. teachers in his building or county, the Principal, the Special Education Director for your county, CEC (Council for Exceptional Children), the State Department of Education or any of the agencies listed at the beginning of this LD site. Check with your local College or University through the Special Education Department for great links. Also check out your local parent support groups–others in similar situations can be your best resources… I will keep checking and send you more specifics as I get the info… It is great to see a concerned parent..

Tootles….

Colkoh

JW

On the home page of this site—ldonline.org— is a great list of ways to check out and get info. about LD and resources—(My Professor showed it to me). “Finding Help” list all types of agencies, adresses,support groups etc. Take a look. They may link you to other great sites….

Bye

I realized in proofing my response to you that I had a few mistakes. Plan is the same as Program and one can be subsituted for the other. I also had a few capital letters where I should have used lowercase. Sorry. I am going to send you some more resources and try to better explain this I.E.P process to you in greater depth later today….

Later!

spelled–SUBSTITUTED….trying to improve my typing skills!

SMILE,
LATER

Some other sites-
http://come.to/iarld/.
http://www.ldanatl.org.
I really did not take the time to properly introduce myself. I have been a Special Education teacher for fourteen years in the state of Georgia. I am certified in MR (Mental Retardation) but have taught LD and EBD (Behavior Disorders) for all these years. I am currently taking 2 LD courses in a Graduate Program. I hope that you will feel free to utilize me as a resource.

The Special Education process is this in a nutshell:

Teacher notices difficulties in the regular ed. program
Teacher modifies work
If not successful, the teacher refers student to the SST (Student Support Team)
for evaluations
Hearing and Vision Screening done to rule out these problems
Parent signs consent to evaluate child
Psychologists administer a variety of tests
Meeting called with parent, teachers, administrator, psychologists and any other persons needing to be involved or who could provide services
Eligibility for Special services is established
Parent signs Consent for Placement if child qualifies
I.E.P is developed so services can begin
I.E.P consists of Demographic Info., Present levels of ability (what the child can do-strengths,weaknesses etc.), Modifications to be used in Reg. Ed. and Special Ed., Technology that may be utilized for the child, Goals for the child for the school year (these should address the deficit areas agreed upon at the eligibility conference), ways to measure these goals, a behavior plan if the child has beh. difficulties, a recommendations page (to consider placement options and how many periods or segments the child should receive in both Regular and Special Ed., testing modifications that will be made and minutes of the meeting. (If I forgot anything, I will write it later….) This I.E.P will be reviewed one year from the date that you met and the currrent goals will be discussed and reviewed to see if the child has mastered them. I hope this helps–Will write more later….

Off to class,

ME

Goals for an IEP are supposed to written so that the goals are reachable during the year the IEP is in affect. Your son’s goals are to be regular education if I understand correctly. I say that because he will be performing as well as 90% of all regular education students. If it were me I would go to your School system headquarters and demand to speak to whoever is in charge of the entire Special Ed. program. Take your copy of the IEP with you and have that person explain the goals to your satisfaction or get those answers for you. You are entitled by parental rights to have the IEP
explained fully to you.

Jerry

Hey there again. I am in the process of creating a Resource Guide for LD. It is for a Graduate course I am taking. I have compiled many great web sites, periodicals, books, agencies etc. How can I send a copy to you??

ME

Hello, I have a teenage daughter(16 yo in 2 wks). She is ADDw/LD. Mild form of CP as well. I homeschool her and it`s tuff. I believe I am ADD,too which makes teaching all the more complex sometimes(maybe you`re not the one to say all this to). She is on a 5th grade level of reading(hates to read!),4th-5th in math(doesn`t like it either). Has an inability to do fractions or is afraid to try. I also am confused about iep`s. Would like one of your books on LD as well. Thank you.