Answer the following question: How do the present level of performance, goals, and services relate to each other in the IEP? If a student has a present level that mentions a specific deficit, must you also have a goal and services that address this? Why or why not?

Please answer the question and respond to student discussion board. Minium for student discussion is 250 words

1. (kris) he present levels of performance, goals and services the reasons behind the IEP and provide the structure and support the student receives within their individualized education plan. Data collection should occur first before beginning to draft the IEP. During the process, the teacher is gathering the students’ present level of performance across all areas. After referring to the Evaluation Report and the current data, goals are developed using both sources of data. Usually related services are included, if the student needs additional speech, occupational, or physical therapy. Those related services goals correlate with weaknesses within the classroom and sometimes work on same type of skills within the IEP.

In our district, if the student has a learning disability in multiple areas within the Evaluation Report we must have those needs addressed within the IEP, or this will become a compliance issue. We are allowed to drop or revise needs, but we need to reflect this within the IEP and minutes with data to prove it. In my self-contained setting, most of the students are 3-5 years behind academically. We cannot write goals for each skill, because then we would be writing goals for each standard. We take the skill the student has the most struggles with or begin with the skills that are the most basic and once those are mastered, we will revise the goal to a more complex skill. For instance, most of my students struggle with identifying main idea and details. We start with this goal before working on citing text evidence.

The incoming 6^th grades usually need to have their goals revised shortly after the school begins, due to skills above their current level. Most of their IEP’s have 0% present levels for ELA and Math. This means the skills are too advanced for them, and could select other goals that are less complex. I personally do not like 0% PLEP’s due to the fact it seems the student doesn’t know anything. This seems disheartening for the parents.

2. (Shan) The present level of performance section of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) is the place to write a narrative about the student for each domain you provide services in. For example, as the special education teacher, I write a brief narrative about the child’s performance (including area of mastery and need) for language arts, math, writing, social emotional, science, social studies and life skills. The other service providers (OT, PT, speech) write the present level of performance for their specialty. If I mention an area of deficit, I write that in the needs section of the IEP. Each area mentioned as a need has a corresponding goal in the gaols and objectives section of the IEP. There should not be deficit gaps that are noted and not addressed with a goal in the IEP. The purpose of the IEP is create an individualized plan that addresses the deficits and guides the teachers and service providers.

3. (Tera) Present levels of performance identify the current level of achievement. This baseline data provides information in every area the student qualifies. The present levels are skills the student can demonstrate and is used to construct a measurable yearly goal. The goal needs to be attainable and describe how the student will demonstrate proficiency. Each service provider needs to have data to support the present level and goal. For example, our speech therapist supports the special education teacher for language skills, therefore, she does not need to provide a separate goal. If the student requires articulation, then a separate speech goal will be written. I have received IEP’s with students’ receiving reading, but there is no present level or goal attached to the service. Our district does not provide services in areas the students do not qualify for. If a student has a present level in any area including behavior, there needs to be a goal aligned with the present level and a service provider. We do not want to over qualify students in areas unless there is a need. This can be a disservice for student along with not providing LRE

Review the “CEC Initial Advanced Specialty Sets,” available from the Council for Exceptional Children website.

URL:

https://www.cec.sped.org/Standards/Special-Educator-Professional-Preparation-Standards/CEC-Initial-and-Advanced-Specialty-Sets