Blog
Practical notes on the paperwork side of special education: goals, data, timelines, from ten years of writing it in special ed.
Andy Ward · · 7 min read
Most accommodation lists get copied forward year after year, written for the file instead of the classroom. How to write fewer of them, in words a busy teacher can act on, so they happen on a normal Tuesday and not just on paper.
Andy Ward · · 8 min read
The annual review should never contain surprises. If you open a file in March and find a goal has flatlined since October, the data didn't fail, the monitoring did. How often to measure by goal type, the aim line and the 4-point rule, and what to do when the trend goes flat.
Andy Ward · · 7 min read
A goal without a baseline is a guess. Baseline data has a reputation for meaning weeks of clipboards and stopwatches. It doesn't. How many data points you actually need (three to five), what to measure for each goal type, and the data sheet that takes ten minutes to make and thirty seconds to fill in.
Andy Ward · · 7 min read
Present levels is the most skipped-over section of the IEP and the most important. Goals, accommodations, services and placement all hang on it. The four things IDEA requires, the "so what" test every sentence has to pass, and weak and strong PLAAFPs side by side.
Andy Ward · · 6 min read
The goal looks fine in October. Then February comes, progress reports are due, and you're staring at it thinking: how am I supposed to measure this? The four parts every measurable goal needs, the three mistakes I see most, and worked examples for reading, math, behavior, and writing.