[blindkid] IEP Goals

Tue Aug 14 22:45:38 UTC 2012

Hi, I'm concerned how many of the goals are academic. His academic progress
that is equivalent to the other children should be addressed and measured in
the same way as any other child. The goals should be the use of Braille, his
Ability and format to express answers etc.

If they do need to be separate goals for his academic progress than they
should be separate. A braille reading goal, a comprehension goal etc. This
is because a child may be able to read 400 words a minute and not know a
thing he read, which tells the teacher that comprehension needs to be a goal
not the fluency. Do we know if Isaac can do grade level math, but can't
express his answers in an appropriate way? Math for the year should be much
much more than is stated in this one goal.

As for the 5 paragraph essay this is because the standard 7th grade essay,
and sadly through about 9th grade is typically a 5 paragraph essay. Intro, 3
statement paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph.

Just my thoughts.

"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is
a spark." 
- Victor Hugo 

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Carlton Anne Cook Walker
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 2:33 PM
To: lyndaz918 at gmail.com
Cc: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindkid] IEP Goals

Lynda,

In addition to Chantel's suggestions, here are some comments I have (in
bold):

Reading:

Given a 200 word passage of non-fiction text  *[In what medium --
uncontracted literary braille, contracted literary braille, Nemeth braille
(for scientific texts), ** enlarged print, auditory output**?]* at 7th grade
level *[How often?]*, Isaac will read it initially with a speed of
175 wpm *[Oral or silent? -- the numbers are quite different depending upon
the method used.]* with comprehension at 80% *[How will this be measured?
 Will there be a written or oral test of comprehension?  How many questions?
Will the comprehension test assess facts or ideas -- in other words, how
much synthesis of the material is necessary to pass the comprehension test,
and is that level is proficiency reasonable, given the cold, one-time
read?]* in 2 consecutive trials within an 8 week period as documented by the
classroom teacher and recorded in the grade book.

Writing:

Given a list of topics *[What kinds of topics?  Age appropriate/seventh
grade topics?  Topics that are  How often?  In what format -- **uncontracted
literary braille, contracted literary braille, Nemeth braille (for
scientific texts), ** enlarged print, auditory output**?]*, Isaac will pick
one to research and write a five *[Exactly five?  What about a minimum of
five.]* paragraph *[How many sentences per paragraph?]* paper with three
resources *[Is there a type of reference that is approved?  Has Issac
received instruction in good versus poor resources?]* cited using
conventional guidelines *[What convention?  APA, MLA, etc.?  This needs to
be defined.]* for each of 2 consecutive 9 week time periods as documented by
the classroom teacher  *[Does the classroom teacher understand braille well
enough to do this?  Maybe we are looking only at the ink-print output and
don't care whether proper braille is used (for example, there are braille
rules that, if not followed, will not appear in an ink print document BUT
that indicate a deficit in braille understanding that needs to be addressed
by the TVI).]* and recorded in the grade book. *[This goal makes no
reference to HOW Issac will write the paper (brailler, slate and stylus,
enlarged print, PDA/notetaker, QWERTY computer, etc.) OR to the QUALITY of
the paper produced (Are any writing conventions expected? Which ones --
spelling, grammar, paragraphing, capitalization, underlining, punctuation,
**braille contractions used correctly, etc.?)  All of these items need to be
explicitly mentioned.  If necessary, conventions and level of proficiency
could be addressed by a rubric (which should be attached to the IEP) and a
minimum score on said rubric.]*

Math:

Given 3 word problems *[In what format -- uncontracted Nemeth Code,
contracted Nemeth Code,** enlarged print,** auditory output?]* in each of 5
trials *[How often are these trials to take place?]*, Isaac will use Nemeth
notation and variables to independently write an equation *[To what degree
of precision?  Are we looking at zero errors in notation?  in spacing? This
needs to be expressed explicitly.]*, create a table or graph *[If
appropriate]* to correctly solve *[This causes some concern because it is
also testing his mathematics computatio**nal skills, not just his Nemeth
skills.  If this is what is being tested, that's fine.  But understand that
multiple things are being included in this goal -- reading the word problem,
using Nemeth notation, spacing the Nemeth equation appropriately, using
correct variables, creating tables and/or graphs (and is this goal grading
him on the "correct" creation of a table or graph, and is there such a thing
when used solely for problem solving?), and, as noted above, mathematical
computation.]* all three problems in 4 out of the 5 trials as documented by
the classroom teacher *[Does the classroom teacher understand Nemeth Code
well enough to do this?]* and recorded in the grade book.

I know I seem nit-picky, but goals should be written in such a way that
ANYONE could pick up the goal and administer it.  If Issac were to transfer
to my district, I would have no idea how to implement this IEP.  I would
guess from the third goal that Issac can write in Nemeth Code, but nothing
in these goals indicates that he reads it.  The writing goal doesn't tell me
in what form I should expect the paper from Issac - and whether I need to
keep tabs on his use of braille writing rules.

Hope this helps,

Carlton

--
Carlton Anne Cook Walker
Attorney at Law
213 North First Street
McConnellsburg, PA    17233
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Twitter: braillemom

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