Another component of the IEP that IDEA requires is specifying how the child's progress will be measured. This statement flows naturally out of the annual goals written for the child, which must be measurable. IEP teams may find it easier to address this component of the IEP by framing the discussion around specific questions. For example, the IEP team might ask itself these three questions:
- How will the child's progress be measured?
- When will the child's progress be measured?
- How well will the child need to perform in order to achieve his or her stated IEP goals (and, for some children, benchmarks or objectives)?
Characteristics of Effective Tracking Systems
Effective tracking systems should be accurate and efficient. Four characteristics of tracking systems include:
- They monitor progress toward IFSP goals;
- They show if the child needs to advance to the next level of the program;
- They indicate if the child is not making progress; and
- They show the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of the instructional strategies or methods.
Current literature stresses the importance of data collection in programs that serve children with special needs. The presence of an ongoing systematic data collection system has been cited as one indicator of a high quality program and has been identified as a key component in the listing of recommended educational practices. It is often necessary to break learning tasks into small parts for teaching and to plan carefully for skills to be practiced in a variety of settings to assure that children generalize them. These skills that are broken down and taught must be tracked to assure that if a child is making good progress that they can move ahead and if they are not, that they do not waste valuable time being frustrated by something that is either too difficult or not presented in a way that they can understand. In addition, the child may advance in such small increments that unless we collect fairly meticulous data, we may not see the progress. Therefore, data is a way to fine tune the learning process for children with disabilities. We need to view data as a tool; a means to an end, not an end in itself.
