Collecting progress monitoring data on children’s IEP goals can be easy and result in high-quality data that is useful for instruction. It does not have to feel like an onerous compliance task.

So throw out those scatter plots and learn to collect progress monitoring data the helpful way!

Why Collect Progress Monitoring Data

Sure, it is a legal mandate. But why does it matter for our day-to-day in the classroom to have good data? 

  1. See progress sooner. It can be really hard to notice the small improvements and responses to our interventions. We see children every day, all day. Without a little planning and careful attention it is easy to miss those first tiny signs that a strategy or intervention is working.
  2. Avoid the “I have tried everything!” trap. Having data to demonstrate how different strategies did or did not move a child towards mastering their goal allows us to know what kinds of strategies work better for a child. As teachers, we have to be sure that our instructional approach is not the reason a child is not progressing.  
  3. Lighten your load. Cramming in data and reports right before IEP meetings is stressful. A useful system that is implemented over time makes IEP meeting prep easier and more connected to the realities of the classroom.
  4. Walk into every IEP meeting with effective evidence. Going into IEP meetings with good data helps us advocate for ourselves and our students.

What you are Monitoring Matters

Progress monitoring is different than Authentic Assessment. Authentic assessment gives us a general picture of development. Progress monitoring is focused on the progress of individualized goals. IEP goals should be designed to foster skills that allow a child to fully engage in the general education curriculum. Therefore, special attention is given to these goals because the idea is they allow a child to access more learning, play, and other opportunities their typically developing peers get. 

Choose a target skill from the IEP goals. It is best to choose just 1-2 specific goals per child to monitor at a time. 

How to Monitor Progress

Mastery of a skill looks different depending on what kind of goal we have set for the child. There are 3 kinds of goals. Goals want to know how often (frequency), how long (duration), or how well (intensity) something is happening. Start by asking yourself- what would I see and hear from this child if they had mastered this goal?

What Makes a Good Data Collection Tool?

Helpful data collection must be brief, repeatable, and easy to use. We want data tools that do not distract us from teaching and can be easily shared with colleagues to ease our data workload. This system of progress monitoring has one more exceptional advantage: it results in a visual of how a child is progressing or stagnating in the target skill over time. 

Get Data that Means Something to You

Meaningful data results in useful information. Using a data collection tool like the one builds into a visual of how a child’s mastery is changing (or not) over time. It is easy to analyze and pull out meaningful information to take action on.

Analyzing Data to Make Instructional Decisions

Use the data to inform instructional choices. Is the intervention working? If yes- stay consistent! If no- time to reflect and make a change.

Seeing progress lets us pinpoint changes in progress. It helps us ask questions about whether something besides instruction is impacting a child’s skills. 

  • Does the chart show a sudden change? Ask the family if something happened or changed at home that day.
  • Are there certain days that consistently show higher or lower skill level? Watch to learn what is different about those days.

There are many more questions that can arise from the data, often we need more information from other sources like the family, related service providers, authentic assessment, or even medical records.

If it is instruction, we go back to what we know about this child from their IEP and observation. We try a new intervention for the target skill and watch for at least 2 weeks. Be consistent using the intervention! The data is only as reliable as we are.

Data Amplifies Your Voice at IEP Meetings

Having good, easy-to-understand data substantiates your opinion at IEP meetings. For example, saying “the child needs a 1:1” all too often is not taken seriously. But when I walk into an IEP meeting with evidence, there is a different response. I can show with quantitative data 5 interventions that had no impact on a child’s progress, and 3 with 1:1 support that did. There is no refuting the evidence. It is an empowering tool to get what you and your student needs.

Want to learn more? Contact me through the website or via email at bluebirdlearningpartners@gmail.com.