TRANSCRIPT Ð Don't Build Your House on the Sand: IEPs, PLAAFPs and Goals Ð 9/18/23

>>Kate: We are going to be talking about present levels and IEPs and tying them to standards. I know it's not the most thrilling topic but we can talk about some important things and , you know, I will say we did a session last fall about this. And so some of the information is going to be very much the same. But as we talked about this theme of IEPs and special ed law this month, I felt it was really important to touch on this again. You know, we always have new teachers and those of us that are old hats, it's always good to just remember and be reminded in what we need to have compliant IEP documents. I do want to say too that there are some things as we go through -- and I'll kind of point out those areas because I recognize the individual states and especially individual districts may have some different, like, policies and wording that you need to have for goals or sentences and statements you have to have in your present level. So we're really just going to be talking more about components, things that need to be in there in order to drive appropriate services for each student. So I do just want to acknowledge and recognize that things can vary across districts and across states, so we recognize that. In fact, Texas, we don't really call it an IEP, we call it an ARD, an ARD. Like I said, it can be very different across states, but for purposes of today we're going to call it an IEP, all right? 

Okay. So as we get started -- sorry. Just lost my air bud. I want to just review the objectives that we're going to be talking about today. I want to make sure that we know and understand the components of a present level statement. Making sure we know and understand the components of an IEP goal. I want to describe the connection between present level statements and the goals. And then, finally, we're going to end with understanding how to align goals to state standards. We're going to touch on that a little bit. 

Okay. So I have up here a very colorful image of the periodic table of elements. And the reason that I wanted to put this image up is because -- I don't know where we're at now -- 103 elements that are identified. And it can be a little bit overwhelming as we look at all of these things that make up our universe. When we think about an IEP, sometimes it's really easy to get lost in all of the different elements that they're required to make an IEP, you know, and having to decide service time and transportation questions and questions about AT. And all those are important and, you know, legally necessary. But for today I really just want to focus in on a few of these elements. So I want to be talking about the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance. We're going to talk about annual goals and objectives. Now, I put on here services and supports. We're really not going to be talking about those today, but it's important to remember that services and supports are driven by goals, which are driven by your present levels. They are all connected and all necessary in that IEP document. All right. So I have up here a quote that comes to us from IDEA. I'm going to share three quotes that have to do with writing an IEP for a student. So one purpose of IDEA is to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. And so on here I have put in bold and underlined in a different color the words "unique needs." All right. On the next slide, again, from the law, special education is: Specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. I think maybe you get where I'm going here. So just in case we need it, here a third witness. And this comes from the American Foundation for the Blind. The Expanded Core Curriculum, or the ECC, is the body of knowledge and skills that are needed by students with visual impairments due to their unique disability-specific needs. And so when we think about an IEP, Individualized Education Plan, it has to be just that. Individual to that student. We're going to talk a little bit about how we don't copy and paste. See, I've got my principal face on. We don't copy and paste things from -- well, either from other IEPs or from year to year. That we're really looking at what is that child's current needs based on their skill set. Okay? All right. I think I've beat that drum enough that we understand we're talking about unique and individualized. So, with that mindset, let's talk about writing present levels. I love this quote by Charles Kettering. He's an inventor and a ahead researcher for General Motors. So this quote has nothing to do with IEPs yet it has everything to do with IEPs. It says a problem well stated is a problem half solved. If we write a present level statement that is very well stated, the rest of the IEP is going to write itself. A really well-stated present level is going to have already built into it the goals that we need. It's going to identify services and supports that every student is going to need for their IEP. I agree, Heather, I love this quote so much. Again, a problem well stated is a problem half solved. So let's talk just a little bit about the law, okay? Excuse me. The law talks about present levels as a statement of the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance. And it also has to include how the student's disability affects their involvement and their progress in the general education curriculum. 

Okay. Also, it talks that for preschool students we mentioned how their disability affects their participation in appropriate activities. Now, a lot of states do have specific early childhood standards, which would be what you would use as you're writing present levels for preschool students. Not every state does and so that's where you would be looking more at developmental milestones. Regardless, we need to have statements of their academic achievement and functional performance and how their disability is affecting their involvement and their progress in general education, okay? So let's talk just a moment about this academic achievement versus functional performance. Because sometimes there's some confusion there. So the academic achievement generally refers to a child's performance in academic areas. So things like reading, language arts, math. The Department of Education goes on to say we believe the definition could vary, depending on a child's circumstance or situation. So got to love, you know, when government gets involved and they don't necessarily give us specific answers. But I think that this is important here because, again, they go on and they say therefore we do not believe a definition of academic achievement should be included in these regulations. So the reason that they didn't define exactly what academic achievement is is that could be different for each student, depending on their ability levels, their cognitive levels, where they are developmentally and also gives us a lot of latitude when it comes to the Expanded Core Curriculum. Now, kind of the same thing for functional performance. So functional performance generally refers to skills or activities that may not be considered academic or may not be directly related to a child's academic achievement. So functional is often used in the context of routine activities of everyday living. And, again, they are going to be varied depending on the needs of the child. So, again, the Department of Education, the reason that examples of functional skills were not included in IDEA was because the range of functional skills is as varied as the individual needs of children with disabilities. And so, again, we have this emphasis on those individual needs. So this is one time, actually, that I'm really glad that these aren't specifically lined out or outlined, excuse me, in the law. Because, again, as practitioners, this gives us the latitude to be able to say this is what this child needs to work on in order to progress in their education. 

Okay. So this is also where and why we can use the Expanded Core Curriculum to base our IEPs on for our kiddos. Because the Expanded Core Curriculum, as we all know, is what gives students access to their education. And so there are areas of the ECC that are going to fit under that academic achievement umbrella. Things like compensatory access could fit under there. And then there's going to be areas of the ECC that are going to fall under that functional performance. So that could be things like independent living skills, right? 

Okay. So having established this academic achievement and functional performance that both need to be addressed in our present level statement. Let's talk a little bit about what a present level statement is and what it isn't. 

Okay. So I'm actually going to start here on the right-hand side. So something that a present level statement is not is it is not only grade or age levels. What it is a student's current performance in relation to grade-level content in measurable, objective terms. 

Okay. So it's not enough to just say that, you know, so and so, say Joey is a 10-year-old fifth grade student. That's good information to have. Then we need to know how is 10-year-old Joey performing in fifth-grade level content areas. All right. Again, what a PLAAFP isn't is only standard scores. So it is important that we are putting data in our present levels. But just putting standard scores in doesn't give us any information. So, again what that present level needs to do is describe how the student's disability is impacting them in the general curriculum. So it's not enough just to say, hey, on their state test last year they scored X percent in math. We need to say how directly is their disability -- in this case vision, for example, affecting their ability to access their math instruction. Again, something that a present level is not is just subjective observations. Now, this one I say because I need to. It's okay to make a statement that, you know, so and so is a really bubbly 4-year-old who's just so cute. 

Okay. You can put that in your present level but that cannot be the only thing that we say about this student, right? So it's okay to put some subjective observations in there as long as we just use them as maybe an introduction to this child. Because, again, what a present level is, we need to identify current areas of need. 

Okay. All right. Last slide on this is and isn't. So something that it is not is a repeat of information from previous IEPs, present levels, full individual evaluations, et cetera. No copy/paste. Except -- I'll get to the except in just a second. It's based on current, relevant data from a variety of sources. Right? So anything in our present level has to be just that: Present. This is information that is current to this student. I have seen a lot of IEPs that data was just copied and pasted from the year before, which means we don't have updated assessments on this kiddo, which we need to have. It needs to be a present level. Now I will say copy/paste if you're putting in that present level, some health history information. That's going to look the same from year to year, unless we need to update new information that we have received in the last year. But, you know, like birth story or whatnot. That's okay to copy/paste but that's probably just about the only thing that is. Because everything else should be changing every year with that child. All right. Whew! Take a breath for just a moment. All right. So let's talk a little bit more about what a present level must be. A present level must be current, right? I think I've driven this point home a lot. It has to be current. Present level needs to be relevant. We are talking about things that are affecting the child's education. We're talking about how that child is accessing their education. We're talking about that child's skill set within their education. We need to have statements that are objective and are measurable. And then, finally, that present level needs to be understandable. And we're going to talk just a little bit more about this. Anybody should be able to pick up that present level statement and know that child. They should know how they are functioning in the classroom and they should know how they are performing in, you know, grade-level content areas. This is the story of that specific student. And so that's why. Current, relevant, objective, measurable, and understandable. All right. I need everybody's fingers warmed up and for you to go to the chat. I am going to read just a few statements and I want you to put whether this is an example or a non-example. So you can just put like E or N if you want in the chat. Is this an example of a good present level statement or a non-example of a good present level statement. 

Okay. You ready? You got your fingers all warmed up? 

Okay. First statement. Damien has difficulty attending to tasks. All right. I'm seeing more Ns than I am Es and that is correct. What does that look like? What does that mean that he's having difficulty attending to tasks, right? I don't know what that's going to look like. What tasks? All tasks ever? We just need more information. 

Okay. Here we go. Next statement: Per Carmen's FIE, the EOWPVTR administered as part of ore FIE measures her language is at 26 months. 

Okay. Good. Hanna says my brain. [Laughter] Yeah, it's true. So that is a non-example because I don't know what any of that meant. Maybe we have an SLP in the audience that can explain it to us but I don't know. That was completely not understandable. 

Okay. Here we go. Next one. Sammy struggles with word problems. His learning disability in reading comprehension results in needing to have text read aloud to him. 

Okay. This one kind of a trick one because that statement by itself is not an example -- oh, I like -- yes. Mara, you're right. Getting better but not there. This statement by itself is not a good present level statement because we don't know word problems, are we talking about math? What grade is he in? His learning disability and reading comprehension results in a need to have text read aloud to him gives us some information but, again, we don't know how is he functioning. Is this all text that needs to be read aloud to him, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So we're getting closer but just not quite there. 

Okay. Let's just do a couple more. You have these in your handout as well. Maria has difficulty reading third-grade level text. Good. Yeah. I'm seeing lots of Ns. Again, in print, in Braille, large print. What does "has difficulty" mean? We don't have enough information. 

Okay. Here we go. Last one. Based on parent and teacher observations, Carmen uses one-word utterances to communicate wants and needs to known adults. Observational data shows she does not communicate with adults whom she has known less than two weeks. Yes. Awesome. Those Es. That's actually an example of the gobbledygook of the hard data that we took and made it understandable. Everybody in that meeting could read and understand and know how Carmen communicates what that looks like. 

Okay. Awesome. Thanks for humoring me with that. There are a few more examples and non-examples that you can see in your handout. So for every non-example, there's an example of how we can rewrite it so that it is useful and compliant for what we need for a present level. 

Okay. So as we're writing our present levels, we have questions that we need to make sure are answered. Sorry. I'm just messing with the Zoom settings for a minute. 

Okay. Here we go. So questions that we need to make sure are answered as writing present levels. Again, these are in your handouts. The first question: What are the sources of information that give the student's strengths and what they are currently able to do? So we're listing what it is that they can do, what are their strengths, and how do we know this. Okay? The second one is: Using that baseline data, what then are the resulting priority needs that we need to address in the goals? And then, finally, with all of this: What are the effects of that disability on the student related to their involvement and progress in general education? So, in other words, this is a lot easier to remember what's the data, what can that student do? What do they need to be able to do? And then, finally, what is the impact of their disability on their education? So data, what can they do? What do they need to be able to do? And then how does this all impact their ability to learn in the general education environment? 

Okay. I'm going to share with you a present level statement. Now, on purpose I am sharing one that is not specifically VI related. Because I want you to see that when we have a well-written present level statement, we understand this kid, even if this isn't our area. So I'm going to be sharing a communication present level -- and there's also a link from where I grabbed this. Because, again, I want you to see that when it's written well we can it even if it's not our area of expertise. 

Okay. Here we go. So based on teacher/parent reports, informal and benchmark assessments conducted -- there's a date. Matthew asks and answers who and what questions with 85% accuracy. He independently speaks in full five-word sentences about non-personal topics and follows two-step oral directions 70% of the time. Matthew is friendly and outgoing -- so we have a little bit of subjective. But then we get right back into objective. And does not exhibit frustration when he is unable to understand or communicate effectively. However, he has difficulty with where and when questions and answers with 60% accuracy. I'm not going to read the whole thing but I just want you to see that, again, when we have a present level that is written in measurable terms that are understandable, we don't need to be an expert in this area to know how Matthew communicates. So as you're writing your present levels, you need to be thinking about that. Could anybody have picked up this paragraph and know this child? Know what it is they're able to do, what it is they need to do and how that impacts their ability to access their education. So, I want to read this quote that comes out of a court decision -- it's the Kirby v. Cabel County board of Ed. So if the IEP fails to assess the child's present level of academic achievement and functional performance, the IEP does not comply with IDEA. This deficiency goes to the heart of the IEP. The child's level of academic achievement and functional performance is the foundation on which the IEP must be built. Without a clear identification of a child's present levels, the IEP cannot set measurable goals, evaluate the child's progress, and determine which educational and related services are needed. So I have on here a picture of a house that was built on sand which has fallen over because this house was not built on a strong foundation. It's the same with the IEP. That present level needs to be the strength of this IEP. Because, as we just heard from this court decision, that is the foundation that the whole IEP is built on. Without present levels, we don't have goals and without those goals, we don't have supports and services. Without a strong present level, we don't know what we're measuring and can't track data. So just remember we are telling the story of this student. As I said several times already, anybody needs to be able to pick that up and to know what that child can do, what they need to do, and that impact. 

Okay. All right. I know that was a lot very quickly. You've got all of this in the handouts for review. We are going to switch gears now and we're going to take that present level that we just wrote -- beautiful present level -- and we're going to talk about goals. Now, again, recognizing that across districts or across, you know, electronic platforms that generate IEPs, some of the wording or the language may be different. But the components of an IEP goal should be the same. There are things that we need in every IEP goal, regardless of how they are worded. I don't want you to get hung up in the vocabulary so much, I want you to focus on what those components are. So the law tells us that an IEP must include a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals. Anything that's going to help meet the child's needs that result from their disability. Especially as it comes to how they access or make progress in the general education curriculum. There's also a caveat in there for children with disabilities who take alternate assessments. We're going to talk about that when we talk about standards. But, again, we're going to be talking about how the child is making progress towards those annual goals related to that alternative standard. 

Okay. So that's what the law tells us. Remember that goals are required in all areas of the child's unique needs and they are not restricted to a category of eligibility. So what I mean by that is, for example, once a child is found eligible for special education services, all of their needs need to be addressed, not just the ones in the eligibility category. So we have a student that is found eligible under a VI label and they need support in communication, then we're going to give them support in communication, right? If we have a child that is found eligible under a specific learning disability category but they need support in behavior, well, then guess what. We're going to give them support in behavior. Okay? So just remember that along with that goals are not required in areas of general curriculum where only accommodations are needed. So if a child needs a CCTV in order to do their reading, they don't necessarily need a reading goal. Now, if they need to learn to use that CCTV, that's a different story. We may write a goal. But once they're independent in those tools, if all they need is the accommodation to access that core curriculum area, we don't need to write goals for that anymore, okay? So when we think about writing IEP goals, we want to think SMART. Every goal needs to be specific, needs to be measurable. There needs to be an action. Needs to be realistic and relevant and also needs to be time-limited. So let's talk about these pretty quick. All right. So specific. Specific goals target areas of academic achievement and/or functional performance. They must include clear description of the knowledge and skills that will be taught and how that child's progress will be measured. So we need a specific knowledge or specific skill that we're working on. Here we go. Which one is specific? Dylan will increase study skills for academic success. Or Dylan will demonstrate the following study skills: Skimming written material and use reference materials in social studies class. So that second one is where we see it's specific. We know exactly what the study skill is he's working on and where he's going to be working on it. Awesome. Yep, Britney got it. Second one. Thank you. Measurable means you can count it. You can time it or you can measure the accuracy. Okay? That's it. Count it, time it, measure the accuracy. So measurable goals allow us to know how much progress the child has made. That's why they need to be measurable. So a measurable goal or objective reveals what to do to measure whether the goal or objective has been accomplished, gives the same conclusion. If it's measured by several people, that's important too. And can be measured without additional information. Y'all are ahead of me in the chat. Awesome. Owen will improve his reading skills versus given second grade material in Braille, Owen will read a passage of text orally at 60 words per minute with 90% accuracy. We can count it. We can measure the accuracy. Right? 

Okay. Man, y'all are awesome. Next is our action. So IEP goals include three components that must be stated in measurable terms. The direction of the behavior. Are we trying to increase? Are we trying to decrease? Or are we maintaining skills? We have to go somewhere. We also need to talk about the area of need: Reading, writing, social skills, transition, et cetera. And then the level of attainment or level of prompting. So, like, to grade level without assistance, with partial physical prompt. So direction of behavior, the area of need, and then the level of attainment. 

Okay. On this one, which one is specific, measurable, and includes action words? Betsy will decrease her anger and violation of school rules. We at least have a decrease there, right? Yep. I see 2. Awesome. We want to provide anger management training and adult support. Betsy will be able to remove herself from environments that cause her to lose control of her behavior so that she has no disciplinary notices. 

Okay. Now let's talk realistic and relevant. So IEPs need to have realistic goals and objectives that address the child's needs. So this is where I say I am not a fan of goal banks. That's probably an unpopular opinion. Now, using a goal bank to maybe get some ideas of how to word something, that's okay. I'm not going to judge for doing that. But, remember, we don't copy/paste. Goals need to be based on that student's unique needs. That's why that realistic and relevant come in. So IEP goals are also not based on curriculum or on tests, but they can be and should be tied to general education standards as appropriate. We're going to talk about that more in just a minute. All right. Here we go. Keltsey will demonstrate improved writing skills versus Keltsey will improve her writing and spelling skills in Braille so she can write a clear, cohesive, and readable paragraph consisting of at least three sentences, et cetera, et cetera. That's in your handout. And then finally -- I'm not going to read this whole slide. But finally is time-limited. What does the child need to know and be able to do after one year of special instruction? What's our starting point? What's our ending point? These time limited goals and objectives help us to monitor progress. That's why it's important to have. We know if they've met the goal within the allotted time. Now, on this slide and in your handout I have an example of how this can work with a goal and objectives, right? So we may have an annual goal. So we know within one year -- in this example Alex needs to increase his reading skills, specifically in contracted Braille. And then we can use the objectives to help break it down even further and put some time limits on each objective. Again, that's in your handout so you can take a look and use that for an example. So I have on here don't forget to remember that IEP goals cannot be broad statements about what a student will accomplish. They must address the student's specific academic achievement and functional performance. So I see Jessica asked the question if a goal is not mastered can it be carried over to work on for another year? Here's what I want to say about that -- I'm going to put my special ed administrator hat on for a second. If a student doesn't meet a goal within one year and we are sure that instruction was provided -- good instruction was provided -- clearly, something needs to change. Okay? So I would caution and I would say a goal should not just be exactly carried over. Now, maybe let's word it similar, so we're going to raise the expectation. Or we may say, hey, we're going to need to change supports for the student to reach this goal. So I'm going to say that if this was one of my folks writing an IEP, I don't want to see the same goal carried from year to year. Again, that's not relevant to where the child is right now. Okay? But using that same goal area, yeah, I think that can be appropriate. Again, we just make sure what are we addressing so we think that child's going to reach it this year. Jessica, I hope that answered your question. Anybody else that has thoughts on that, please go ahead and put that in the chat. Okay? But this would be something that especially I would ask your administrator maybe for advice on, what they would like to do. I would say if they haven't met it in a year, we need to change up something. Remember that an IEP must identify all of the student's needs and then how the school will meet those needs. We've already talked about how an IEP needs to be based on student's present levels. We can think of it, when we're writing goals, as a formula. I have on here some complicated Big Bang Theory physics problems. The good news is that goal writing is not that complicated of a formula. Now, I have this on here just as a tool for you. Again, I recognize different districts may have different wording requirements. But if you have all of these things in there, then you're going to have a compliant goal. So we need some sort of condition. So given something. The student will... what's our specific, observable behavior. We're going fill in the blank. With how much or how many accuracy/prompts. Something measurable. With what consistency. So is this every day, four consecutive data collection days? Every recess opportunity? As measured by teacher observation and data collection. Is it going to be measured by a chapter reading test? We just put in there how we measure it. And then by the date to be completed. So if you have all of this information in your IEP goal in whatever order, whatever platform your district requires, you're going to have a compliant goal. Yes, this is going to be recorded or it is being recorded. 

Okay. So before we get to talking about state standards, I just want to really quick give a word about "given." You can see here given some sort of condition. This is what I want to say. This is an area we're going to use common sense to be our guide. Sometimes we need a given, sometimes we don't. Here's an example of where we might need a given. So given access to the internet, Alex will locate ten sources of information for a research topic. Without the internet, Alex cannot complete this goal so we need to make sure we has access to that because it might be different than what's happening every moment of the day. But here's an example. So an example of when we don't need it. So a student will bounce to a height of one foot, five consecutive times without falling off of a trampoline. Well, we know they're going to be on a trampoline for this. We don't need to say when given a trampoline. Another example of when we might not need a given statement, if the student has an independent living goal of being able to zip up their jacket, well, it's not goal, right? We don't need to necessarily say when given a jacket that zips up, so and so... so really just think about if a given is embedded in our instruction or if it's embedded in the goal, we don't necessarily need to put it. Given a faucet of water, Sally will wash her hands. If she's washing her hands, there's going to be a faucet of water. On the next slide -- we're not going to go through these. On the next slide are some "what's wrong" statements. There's some goals here that are written and each one has something missing. That's going to be your homework is to go through and see if you can identify what is missing. I will tell you each one has at least one thing that's missing, okay? All right. So we are going to wrap up by talking about aligning goals to state standards. Now, the information I'm going to share today comes from -- a lot of it comes from the ECC Essentials book. I'm going to be a commercial for a second. If you do not have this book, I would say beg, plead your district to buy it or spend the money and invest yourself, because it is a wonderful book. Literally what it says. The essentials for teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum. And there's a chapter towards the end that talks about aligning the ECC to state standards. There's wonderful charts and graphs and lots of ideas. So for O&M if a student is working on diagonal cane technique, you wouldn't need to say "given a long white cane." Exactly, Joanna. That's a given already in the goal. Awesome. Yes. You're welcome. 

Okay. All right. So let's talk about four steps to standards-based IEPs. So step one is we got to examine and identify the standards. So we, the VI professionals, don't always live in these state standards but we need to. We need to know what those content areas are for the kids that we work with. Another word about that in just a moment. Don't let your anxiety get really high. Second, we need to conduct appropriate assessments. Third, select goals and benchmarks. Step four, implement the IEP. So, in examining and identifying standards, it's important to review those core content standards for student-specific grade levels. Or if a student has complex access needs, that we are looking at those alternative standards. Again, these are going to via across states but become familiar with your state standards or those alternative standards as appropriate. So it's our job to at least review them but meet with those GenEd teachers and with families to obtain information regarding those skills in the content. It doesn't mean that it's your job to assess every science standard. No, no. That's GenEd's job. You need that information on how they're performing. It's our job to conduct evaluations to determine access to the content. So like a Functional Vision Evaluation, our Learning Media Assessment. How was the student accessing that content. And then being able to explain to families and professionals about those ECC areas, especially their relevance to the core curriculum. Okay? All right. Let's go to step two. We're going to do this in time. Very easily. Conduct appropriate assessments. We as vision professionals provide specialized assessment in the areas of the ECC as determined by the education team. Easy enough, right? We have some other Coffee Hours that talk about assessing the ECC. Again, this book goes area by area and gives tips, tricks, and resources for being able to assess those different resources. 

Okay. Step three is we select our goals and our benchmarks. So we determine those present levels, as we talked about, through assessment. And then we use those to design measurable goals for identifying areas of the ECC. Identify core content standards that are related to those ECC areas. 

Okay. So sometimes they're going to seem straightforward. Like we have a student who is learning Braille. Well, that is very easily tied to grade-level reading standards, right? Easy. Sometimes maybe they're a little less related. So an example could be under self-determination, a student needs to understand and be able to explain their own vision impairment. Well, in eighth/ninth grade, most states have a standard that talk about being able to demonstrate and advocate for personal, family, and community help. So we can tie their ability to explain their own vision impairment to that state standard. Okay? We call this "unpacking the standard." So any time we teach part of the standard or we tie it to something else, we call that "unpacking." An example of unpacking a standard might be for math. The state standard might say something like in fourth grade that students are going to generate and draw conclusions from graphing data with bar graphs, pie charts, and line graphs. So, as we're teaching tactile graphics, we may say, okay, this student is not ready for all of those. So we're going to write an IEP goal that they're going to be able to build and read tactile line graphs. And so we're going to unpack that standard and just do that piece of it. Now, when they've mastered that goal, then we can bring in some of the other pieces of the standard. Don't feel like you as the vision professional have to tackle all these standards yourself. No, no. That's not what we're saying. We're saying the areas of the ECC we are teaching should be tied to that child's education and how they access it. Okay? All right. Implementing the IEP. This is step four to standards-based IEPs. The reason I put this up here is because remember our instruction -- and I'm going backwards on this graph. That our instruction is determined by the goals, which are determined by the present levels, which are determined by our assessment. And so this is why for each step of writing this IEP, we need good-high-quality, detailed information, present levels of this kiddo because this drives our instruction. So I have heard -- well, lots of teachers but VI professionals say I'm not sure what to teach. Well, that should be coming from the IEP. Right? 

Okay. I want to end with a few examples. But this first one you're going to help me with the examples. So here is a grade three reading standard. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. So what could be an ECC area that's going to help us cover this reading standard? So not the goal yet, just what's the ECC area that can help us with this? Chrissy put Braille. Yeah. Concept development, Braille. Awesome. Both of those fall under compensatory access skills. Yeah. There we go. We got an ECC area. So a possible goal could be an accuracy and fluency reading goal. That this student in Braille, contracted or uncontracted, whatever they're ready for. So this student in Braille will increase their reading fluency to X number of words per minute with 90% accuracy by next year. So that could be the reading goal that we tied -- or the Braille goal, excuse me, that we had tied to a reading standard. Now let's do it in reverse. Our orientation and mobility specialist that we had there in the chat, you know, they may be writing a goal but a student will create a scale mold of an O&M route. Obviously the ECC area for that is orientation and mobility. We might be able to say compensatory access as well. So worthying how do we tie this to their grade-level standard . A grade seven math standard, for example, solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume, and surface area of two and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms. For every goal in the ECC we can tie those to the core standards. Use your GenEd teachers for this. Use your special education teachers for this to find out what it is that they're teaching. Again, what it is that that student needs to be able to do and how they need to be able to access it. So Renee asks do you have one ECC goal with multiple objectives? Renee, I'm not sure if I understand your question. Do you mind clarifying? And I'll come back to that. 

Okay. So to wrap this all up, I have an example here. So this is our student Andrew. Obviously we're not going to put a whole present level on here. We're just going to put a piece of this present level that has to do with screen reader. Here's a present level. Andrew has been introduced to using the internet by using a screen reader -- in this case, JAWS. He is able to navigate research topics with verbal support. In order to make progress in the eighth grade writing standards, Andrew needs to be able to independently navigate websites using a screen reader in order to write a research report. So there's the present level. We know what he can do. We know what he needs to be able to do and we know that it's impacting his progress. In order to make progress, he needs to be able to do these things. So the grade-level standard says write a research report that defines a thesis, reports important ideas, concepts, et cetera, and uses a variety of sources. Then we can write our goal. In order to navigate web-based research sites, Andrew will independently use a screen reader by using 20 shortcut keystrokes with 90% accuracy over three consecutive trials by September 18, 2024. So instead of writing a JAWS goal that is just not tied to anything, we're tying it now to the work that he is doing in his classroom. So that's why writing these standards-based IEPs becomes so important. Because it connects those ECC skills -- which, remember, the whole point of the ECC is access to education. So I see Renee. Do VI teachers make a goal for improving ECC skills or work within other provider's goals or have multiple goals? I see what you're saying, Renee, and the answer is yes to all of these. There are sometimes, like this, we may need a specific goal because this is addressing access to assistive technology instruction. Sometimes, you know, the SLP may write a communication goal. So as the VI professional, we may say, hey, how can we help support you in this, right? Now communication is part of the Expanded Core Curriculum but we may not need to write a separate goal for that because we've got lots of colleagues who can help us cover all of those areas. So, Renee, I hope that helps answer your question. If it doesn't, send me an e-mail because I'm happy to go more in depth. All right. That is our time. I just want to end with this slide because it's cute kids. Just remembering that everything that we do -- oh, thanks, Kaycee, for putting my e-mail in the chat. Everything we do is about these little faces right here. That we write these individualized unique plans for students. I know this was a lot of information and a lot very quickly. You've got the handout. You've got links, resources, and my e-mail. Please reach out if there's anything we can do to support you.