[blindkid] IEP Goals

[Lynda Zwinger]

Carlton--Thank you sooo much for taking the time to help with this!
Yes--it's all supposed to be contracted Braille, input and output.  The
teacher is sighted, but is famous at the school for her ability to read
Braille tactually (side-note: where does that word come from?).  I am not
(yet) in a position to evaluate her skills however.

This helps me (and  will also help the teacher!) enormously.  Our goals
always look sort of like these--I need to learn how to fix them!

I have got to start taking some courses on this.  I can't believe how much
I *still *don't know!

thank you thank you!



On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Carlton Anne Cook Walker <
carltonwalker at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> Voice: 717-658-9894
> Twitter: braillemom
>
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