During the IEP meeting, it is very important that each party representing the child, be ready to provide information in regards to the child's IEP goals. (Specialist, teachers, parents, etc.) As a teacher I would have documents dated that either shows progress or no progress being made. If a child is attempting to learn their colors I would write down what activities were being tried as well as how many trials were given to the child. I would make sure that it was done over an extended period of time to show the team as whole my opinion on rather or not the child knew his colors. Individual specialist will have their notes based on individual/group sessions that they held with the child throughout each week. Parents can bring notes or work from home to have a voice in what the child is performing at home. A collection of information will represent the child's progress towards the goals. If nobody keeps accurate information, nobody would be able to say accurately if the child has met or not met their goals. Once everyone discusses the information they have gathered, the team as a whole can come together to voice concerns of the child and continue goals being worked on, create new goals due to the other goals being completed, or the team may decide to simplify the goals. It is all done based on what the child needs.
I also believe that if everyone has information to share with each other, as a team everyone can come up with new ideas and ways to implement the goals. As a teacher I could make suggestions for parents to work on at home or I could let the therapist know what is working best for me. Everyone learns different and teaches differently. Everyone needs to be open minded to suggestions in order to provide the child with the best activities to help the child be the most successful.
Last week I experienced a parent who stated that the information on her child's progress report was wrong. She stated that her child does not know her colors. I was able to look through my notes and give her the dates in which assessments/activities were completed in order to back myself up on what I put in her child's progress report. I had the necessary paperwork to guide me in discussing the information with the parent. If I didn't have anything to show her, it would have looked like I really didn't know if the child knew her colors or not. As a professional, you can never OVER document!
Reference:
Cook, Ruth E., Klein, Diane & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs.
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