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HOW I WRITE SPECIAL EDUCATION IEPS: COME WORK WITH ME

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Special ed data...what dreaded words! I truly believe that every special education teacher struggles with data. We have to take it. We know we need it. Once we have it, we never feel we do enough with it. It's the nemesis of most teachers that I have met. BUT...it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, we will need to make some compromises to how much data we have, but it is possible to set up systems in the classroom to collect all the data you need.

One of the tenets of my thoughts on data is this:

It's better to have a sample of good data in the classroom than notebooks of unreliable papers.

As part of the 10 Steps to a Well-Run Classroom, I wanted to round-up posts I've written about data and share ideas for organization. As you know from this series, I like setting up systems in the classroom to run themselves. Data is no exception.

Setting Up Special Ed. Data Collection Systems

First, if you are using teaching intervention plans, your data that is needed for your IEPs will already be outlined. You can read more about teaching intervention plans here. The great thing about them is that they actually make this step of creating your data sheets so much easier. You don't have to go back to the IEPs and look everything up. You already did the thinking.

So once you have the teaching plan, you need to set out the tools for the systems in the classroom. I've written about my system for instructional data collection in several posts listed below. Essentially those posts will take you through the system of

These systems allow you to collect data in reasonable samples. Generally, for explicit instruction (e.g., discrete trials), I will take daily data (or data each time I present the skill). For skills the student is struggling with, I probably need to take more regular data. And for skills the student is progressing on that are taught in a naturalistic way, I will take 1-3 weekly samples of the student's performance. Obviously there is more to making those decisions but that's why we wrote the Taming the Data Monster book.
Affiliate links are used in this post. They yield me a small commission (you pay the same) but I would never recommend something I didn't review and use myself. You can read more in my disclosures and copyright page.
Organizing Special Ed Data for Collection

How do you organize your classroom data? I probably get asked this question more than any other. So I wanted to make sure I shared this with you. I also shared the process in a Facebook Live session. If you missed it, a replay is available at the end of this post.

I am not saying that this is the ONLY way to collect data and Taming the Data Monster has a lot more ideas. This is just what I have done and it works for me.

Put very simply, I use clipboards (some teachers use binders) in the areas of the classroom where the data is collected. So, the morning meeting data sheet is on a clipboard in the morning meeting area. The snack data sheet is kept with the snack box by the big table. And so on. For direct instruction (e.g., discrete trials), I keep each student's data on a clipboard. I stack the clipboards in the order in which I see the students. You can see that in the picture below. We worked with really young students so that's why they are on the floor.

I love clipboards. If I can't keep track of them on a table or in a bin, I Velcro them to the walls in the area. Oh, and make sure to attach a pen to the clipboard too so you always have one.

Storing Special Ed Data After Collection

Once the data is collected, I store it in a student's program book. A program book is simply all the information I need about a student in one place. So, here is what I keep in the binder. Each one is for the same student. And each number is a tab (although you may want more tabs in some sections).

1. Teaching Intervention Plan - I keep this up front (no tab) along with contact information for easy reference to the IEP

2. Behavior Intervention Plan (or Positive Behavioral Support Plan)-for easy reference

3. Reinforcer or Preference Assessment - I typically use a variety of them depending on the student. You can find some examples in this post.

4. IEP Goal data (1 tab for each goal)

5. Overall Curriculum data (1 tab for the protocol and 1 for each program being taught using STAR or something similar)

6. Reading Curriculum data (if I have a specific reading program; may also include work product)

7. Math Curriculum data (if I have specific math-may also include work product)

8. Independent Work

9. Work Samples (not contained in other sections)

10. Behavior Data for Functional Behavior Assessment (ABC data)

11. Behavior Data tracking progress of behavior plan (unless it's stored on the computer).

With the naturalistic data sheets that I talk about in this post, typically you have more than one student on a page. So, when I transfer the data to the Excel spreadsheet I talked about here, I sometimes will store the raw data sheets in a binder specific to that activity. So I might store the weekly sheets for morning meeting in a morning meeting data binder.

However, sometimes I use a data sheet designed to be printed on address labels. Then I can just post the label for that student on a page in his/her book. I talk about this more in the Facebook Live video below.

Analyzing Special Ed Data

In addition to storing it, obviously I have to analyze the data. For tips and a free Excel spreadsheet, check out this post:

The spreadsheet graphs I typically keep on the computer. Or when I work with districts, I print them out and they get stored in the program book with the skill they represent.

If you missed the Facebook Live discussion, you can catch it below. If you are interested in the discrete trial data sheets, you can find them in my discrete trial kits on TPT. I have not created an editable version of all the data sheets yet but they are on my list. The group data sheet I showed is in the post above on naturalistic data sheets and the Excel spreadsheet is in the analyzing data links above.

Finally, to learn more about data and access most of the data sheets I share in the video, check out our book Taming the Data Monster.

Until next time,

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How to Organize Special Ed Data for Easy Review - Autism Classroom Resources

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Special ed data...what dreaded words! I truly believe that every special education teacher struggles with data. We have to take it. We know we need it. Once we have it, we never feel we do enough with it. It's the nemesis of most teachers that I have met.

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0:00 / 11:57•Watch full video

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0:00 / 20:55•Watch full video

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Special Education Classroom Prep | Caseload and Documentation

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Maintaining organization is crucial part of being a special education teacher. This binder can be used to ensure that you stay organized all year long!

This product includes:

Binder/Section Cover Pages

IEP Compliance Information Tracker

Checklists for IEP and Eligibility Processes

Parent and Student Information Page

Parent Contact Log

IEP Snapshot Form

Meeting Reminder Form

Meeting Notes Form

Various Data Collection Tools

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions! Don't forget to leave feedback to earn TPT Credits!

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IEP Caseload Management Binder- Editable!

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Maintaining organization is crucial part of being a special education teacher. This binder can be used to ensure that you stay organized all year long! This product includes:Binder/Section Cover PagesIEP Compliance Information TrackerChecklists for IEP and Eligibility ProcessesParent and Student Inf…

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Made for Google Drive™

This resource can be used by students on Google Drive or Google Classroom. To access this resource, you’ll need to allow TpT to add it to your Google Drive. See our FAQ and Privacy Policy for more information.

Description

A template for Special Education teachers to manage important information on their caseload students. Open to suggestions and feedback!

Track:

Important Dates

Services

Important Student Information

Report this Resource to TpT

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A template for Special Education teachers to manage important information on their caseload students. Open to suggestions and feedback!Track:Important DatesServicesImportant Student Information...

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Lots of long division practice of 3-digits by 1-digit numbers with NO REMAINDERS using the standard algorithm. These FREE differentiated long division worksheets, organizers, templates, and graph paper keep work neat and guide students through the long division process.
>>>> This FREE resource covers only 3-digit by 1-digit long division with NO REMAINDERS. If you like this set, I hope you'll try these multi-digit long division sets WITH REMAINDERS - CLICK HERE. <<<< SHAPE ORGANIZERS AND GRAPH PAPER GRIDS:

The visual shape organizers work as cues to guide students to the next steps. Teacher instructions are included so you'll feel confident teaching this strategy to students.

The grid paper long division worksheets feature light gray graph paper grid lines to help students keep numbers and columns aligned.

Detailed Answer Keys showing every step of the problem solved - saves you grading time. Perfect for error analysis. Use these organizers and worksheets for:

New long division learners

Whole class - large group learning

IEP accommodations for special education students

students who are in a Response to Intervention (RTI) program

Students who need simple a differentiation strategy

Reluctant learners - struggling students

Small group intense instruction

Scaffold to the correct level of support to encourage independence. Repetition and lots of practice benefit new learners, struggling students, and special education students.

These worksheets help students learn the standard algorithm for solving long division problems by using organizers and graph paper. They guide students through the standard algorithm and keep work neat and lined up. They're helpful for students who struggle with fine motor skills.
Do you need multiplication worksheets? Try this FREE pack of 2-Digit Differentiated Multiplication Organizer Worksheets - FREE!
Benefits of organizers and graph paper:

Alignment of Numbers and Columns

Neatness and Number Size - improves graphomotor skills

Effective for visual learners and visual discrimination

Organized Writing = Organized Thinking

Remember - proper alignment is critical to success with multiplication and division! Looking for more Shape Math resources? SHAPE MATH BUNDLES: SHAPE MULTIPLICATION SETS: SHAPE DIVISION SETS:
⭐ CLICK HERE FOR ALL SHAPE MATH RESOURCES ⭐
FREE SAMPLE PACKS:
⭐ NOT SURE WHERE TO START? ⭐
Click here to follow my store. You'll be notified about sales and new resources posted at 50% off for the first 24 hours.

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Long Division Worksheets and Organizers for Long Division Practice FREE

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Lots of long division practice of 3-digits by 1-digit numbers with NO REMAINDERS using the standard algorithm. These FREE differentiated long division worksheets, organizers, templates, and graph paper keep work neat and guide students through the long division process.>>>> This FREE res...

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Data Collection for Special Ed Teachers - Mrs. D’s Corner

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Data collection for special education teachers doesn’t have to be a tedious or all day task. As a self-proclaimed data nerd, I am here to tell you that it’s possible to collect data daily without feeling overwhelmed. Click to learn more about this data system, tested and implemented by licensed spec…

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Helpful article regarding creating a teacher binder and everything you might need to put in it.

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Being a special educator means you have a lot of tasks to manage. First, getting everything organized can be a task in itself! The Special Educator’s Everything Binder will help you keep all your information in one convenient place. Here are some essential pieces for your SPED caseload binder!

Calendars

First, start your binder with weekly and monthly calendars. These calendars will allow you to see tasks at-a-glance. For example, recording important meetings, lessons, and assessments listed in a calendar will keep you organized and on track. As a special educator, you have to coordinate schedules with parents, administrators, and classroom teachers to attend meetings. The undated calendars in this “everything binder” can be started at anytime of the year!

Lesson and Unit Planning

Many special educators are also involved in multiple content areas. Keep track of your students’ assignments, lessons, and materials needed with lesson planning sheets complete with the The Special Educator’s Everything Binder.

The binder includes several different lesson plan templates to choose from and the option to edit the tables depending on your individual needs.

There are even pages for small group planning!

Important Information

There are so many important items you need to know as a special educator. Having an important information section in your SPED Caseload Binder can encompass all the extra things you can’t forget!

Here are some pages that you may want to include in your binder:

School Contact List

Special Ed Contact List

2 Password Logs (for Students and Teachers)

Library Books Log

Favorite Substitutes Sheet

Daily Schedule

Weekly Specials

Zone Planning Charts

Student Information Sheets

Schedule Cheat Sheet Chart

Student List

Birthday Chart

Allergies Chart

Transportation Chart

Transportation drop-off and pick up logs

Form Log

2 page view checklist view (grading, papers, checklists, attendance, etc.)

Student Tech Cards

Student IEPs, progress monitoring/goal tracking information, and assessment data and annual/re-annual dates are all pivotal materials to include for each of the students on your caseload. Keeping track of modifications and accommodations can be challenging. Therefore, putting them in one SPED Caseload Binder will not only help you organize your students’ needs, it will also make sure that you are able to communicate those needs with all classroom teachers.

Behavior

Rather than publicly displaying behavior data for your students, keep those goals private in your SPED Caseload Binder. Using behavior tracking sheets for your students is more helpful than displayed behavior charts. Your students, parents, and other classroom teachers can have conversations around the data in order to improve or maintain positive behaviors.

Parent Communication

Parent communication logs are a perfect addition to The Special Educator’s Everything Binder. In addition, send home notes such as meeting reminders and positive note cards! Finally, parents love hearing the great things their students are doing in the classroom.

Events, Trips, & Volunteers

It can be difficult to get parent volunteers for class events and field trips. Parents are busy, of course, but sometimes they just don’t know how they can help. Let them know by sending home volunteer information from the Special Educator’s Everything Binder.

Meetings & Professional Development

Your yearly goals, staff meeting notes, and everything professional development can be stored in your Special Educator’s Everything Binder. Being able to access PD all year long is so helpful! Those pages can get lost and forgotten in file cabinets or Google Drive, so put them all in one convenient binder. In short, organizing notes to improve your practice can help you help your special learners!

Checklists

Of course, I am a big fan of checklists! The checklists in the Special Educator’s Everything Binder are the perfect way to prioritize everything on your list. For example, you’ll love using daily task lists, “Back to School lists”, and lists to help your teacher assistants. Click here to read about 5 checklists every special educator needs! Overall, lists are a great way to stay organized and get things done!

Finally, these essential pieces for your SPED Caseload Binder will help you stay organized and meet your students’ needs. Start with a binder, tabs, and print out the fantastic resource to make sure you have everything you need for your students this school year.

Pin this for later!

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Essential Pieces for Your SPED Caseload Binder - Teaching Special Thinkers

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Being a special educator means you have a lot of tasks to manage. First, getting everything organized can be a task in itself! The Special Educator’s Everything Binder will help you keep all your information in one convenient place. Here are some essential pieces for your SPED caseload binder! Calen…

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This is one of my favorite ways to keep track of student data.

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Progress monitoring and data collection. IEPs and RTI. We know how important it is and why it is so important... better yet, we know how time consuming it is.

But I am here to share with you a simple, easy, and effective way to save time... and your sanity. This system has been working for me for over 4 years now. Oh yeah, and it's FREE.

This post may contain affiliate links.

If you're anything like me, you are always trying to simplify the paperwork that being a special education teacher brings along with the title.

I wouldn't trade what I do for the world, but I will admit to being overwhelmed at times because... seriously... there is. so. much. paperwork.

One of my goals a few summers ago was to simplify the way I collect data on my students' IEP goals and objectives. I had been putting this task off because the system I already had in place worked, and why fix something that isn't broken, right?

But this time I really feel like I've found an effective, simple, and easy way to collect and manage IEP data ( that works for RTI too).

Supplies you will need:

CREATING THE DATA RINGS

When you download the free resource, you'll need to be on a computer. Open the editable file in PowerPoint.

When you open the resource, you'll see that it is completely editable. One IEP goal / objective for one box, just as you see in the image above. I create one page for each goal.

Now to make my life even simpler, I will create a Progress Ring PowerPoint for each of my students. That way when an IEP is updated, I can go in, edit, and reprint!

Because my classroom is color coded, I print each student's goals on their color of card stock.

To save myself more time, I use a paper cutter to cut out each goal sheet.

Add a cover for confidentiality... and this is what you finished Progress Ring will look like.

I like to add the subject or topic of the goal ( a general statement as you can see above) for easy toggling when I am progress monitoring.

Your finished goal pages may look something like this.

USING THE DATA RINGS

So how do I use these goal pages to make collecting data simpler, easier, and still effective?

Let's first take a look at how I keep data on the pages.

1. J = January, F = February, M = March... make sense? After printing, I will go through each page and add a *star* above the month in which the child's IEP is due. You'll notice in the sample above, this fictitious child's IEP is due in November.

2. When I type the goal in, I tag on the measurable part on the end. In the sample, you'll see "4 of 5". If it were a percent, I would just type in 80%. It's easy to read and find.

3. In my district, we are advised to have at least 3 data points for each IEP goal/objective for each progress update (which is quarterly, or 4x a year). You can edit the number of boxes, but I like to keep them... I figure one box for each week of the each month suffices.

If I don't collect official IEP data one week, I leave the box blank.

HOW AND WHEN AND WHERE AND... WHAT DOES DATA COLLECTION LOOK LIKE IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

This video is the easiest way for me to explain and show you exactly how I progress monitor and data collect on goals in my classroom:

4. So what does collecting data look like in my classroom? We do the majority of our academic work at the back table - which is also where I keep the Progress Rings. They're easy to find, easy to grab a certain student's ring in the middle of a lesson, and easy to find when it's time to write progress reports.

So if we're working at the back table on IEP goals, I will have the student's Progress Ring right in front of me. I typically use sticky notes to keep track of correct/incorrect responses (tallies), and then put the total fraction or percent in a slot on the binder ring. I keep the sticky notes with my weekly plans, that way if I ever need to look back at any of the data, I have it.

But the Progress Ring is simple and so much easier to look at during progress reports, where I can just type in percents or fractions, instead of filing through tens of sticky notes and deciphering data.

Want to save this idea for later, or simply keep the instructions to come back to as a refresher? Pin the image below to save or share.

How do you collect, manage, and store student data in your classroom?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

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Progress Monitoring Made Quick and Easy - Mrs. D's Corner

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Progress monitoring and data collection. IEPs and RTI. We know how important it is and why it is so important... better yet, we know how time consuming it is. But I am here to share with you a simple, easy, and effective way to save time... and your sanity.

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3 Extremely Helpful tips if you Have a Large Caseload

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3 Extremely Helpful tips if you Have a Large Caseload

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3 extremely helpful tips if you have a large caseload

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Progress monitoring is an important part of a special education teacher’s job. Ensuring that students are making progress on their IEP goals is key to helping them achieve success.

However, monitoring progress for multiple students can quickly become overwhelming… especially when your caseload is 10+ students!

Having strategies in place to help with progress monitoring will not only make your job easier but will allow you to identify the areas where your students need additional supports and practice.

Special education caseloads are larger than ever and that means that for each special ed teacher, there are often a dozen or more students whose IEP goals need to be monitored.

The strategies below may make that easier despite the large number of students that you are responsible for during the school year.

1 – Make “Fun Friday” All About Progress Monitoring

Set aside one day of the week for progress monitoring across all of your classes. Break students into groups with similar goals and check their progress during small group time. By grouping the students together in a way that allows you to monitor several similar goals, it frees up planning time and gives you more exposure to the students’ actual progress.

Some teachers also have their paras participate in the progress monitoring by assigning them a small group as well. This can work well if your para is explicitly trained on what to look for, how to record progress, and how to implement the lesson or activity.

While you are working with the small groups, other students can be working independently on goals.

2 – Daily Progress Monitoring by Goals

When you have a large caseload of students, it’s important to make sure that none of their goals get overlooked. Create a master list of all of the IEP goals that they are working on. From there, group similar goals and separate those out by day. For example, reading goals could be monitored on Mondays, math goals on Tuesdays, etc. By streamlining the progress monitoring into daily chunks, it helps you keep the focus for the day and ensures that all of the goals are being monitored.

While this method works well, it’s also important to set aside time each week to work with students who have been absent so that you can monitor the goals that they did not have assessed on the day when they were not in school.

3 – Schedule It Out

One of the easiest things to do is to get overwhelmed and forget to schedule in progress monitoring time. At the start of each month, grab your calendar and mark off the days when you will be doing the monitoring. While the rest of the schedule may change, those days should remain the same. Be sure to let your supervisor/principal know that those days are important and that interruptions should be few and far between.

While there is no easy way to manage a large caseload of students, planning and committing to a specific time when you will monitor students’ progress is key. Not only will it help you stay on track, but it will give you the data you need to shape the rest of your lessons. Recruit help if needed and do not be afraid to limit interruptions during those progress monitoring times.

And if you’re in need of a simple, effective way to progress monitor your students’ IEP goals in any setting, Intentional Data Collection is included in The Intentional IEP and will teach you the strategies that you can implement tomorrow. Learn more here.

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2021-09-23T11:47:44-04:00

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3 Tips for Progress Monitoring with a Large Caseload

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Progress monitoring is an important part of a special education teacher's job. Ensuring that students are making progress on their …

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Plans for managing your work load presentation