Living the Speducator Dream

  Special Education Case Manager  Data Collection Systems "Special Education case manager" is synonymous with detail-oriented, paperwork, and organization systems. I'm sure there are some Type Bs among us, but in Special Ed, there are always SO MANY things to juggle. Many of them are paper-based or on a spreadsheet. Here I hope to share some of the data collection systems that I have developed over the last 19 years. While I'm always tweaking the systems, for the most part, they're pretty effective (and efficient!). IEP Goal Data Collection Academic Data For academic data, I use a Google sheets document. The master tab includes a caseload list with exceptionality, teacher, and related services. Then there are 3 other tabs for testing accommodations (district-wide, statewide, and WIDA), and each student has his/her own tab with their IEP goals. This document is shared among all paras, and this is where we record student data. We aim to collect one data point for ea...

Teaching Social Skills in a Small Group Setting Teaching the Social Skill Earlier in my career, I was guilty of Social IEP goal data collection being a "gotcha." There always seemed to be more minuses than plusses. I have realized over time that my mistake was not being intentional with the way the skills were TAUGHT. I don't know how I thought students would perform a skill that they weren't taught. Also, it always seemed I caught students NOT performing the skill, rather than noticing when they did not engage in the target behavior. Now, I try to be intentional about HOW to teach the skill and then collecting data following instruction. No more gotcha! Like with all IEP goals, how the skill is taught depends on the student. For example, in a self-contained classroom, I may give a scenario (hypothetical, or it may have really happened) and then show photos of possible solutions in a field of 2 or 3. The student would use the visual supports to select an appropriate ...

 Why Prompt Hierarchy Is So Important Ultimately, our jobs are to promote independence. By providing too much support, we are not promoting independence - and worse, students may even become prompt-dependent. As a special education classroom teacher or case manager, it is our job to make sure all members of our team (e.g. paraeducators, support staff) are consistent in moving from least invasive prompting to most, with the ultimate goal of fading that support over time. Least Invasive to Most Invasive Verbal Gestural Model Partial Physical  Full Physical Another important point is that the prompt level should be included in student IEP data. I like to make an extra row or column where staff record the level of prompting. (Of course if there is ANY prompting - unless indicated in the goal criteria - this would be a negative or minus in student data, as the student is not performing the skill independently.) Below is a sample data sheet with prompt data included: I also make su...

 Writing K-5 Grade Level CCSS-Aligned IEP Goals (and identifying prerequisite/foundational skills if students aren't quiiiiiite able to access grade level standards) Everyone knows to write SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) IEP goals. We practice those in undergraduate or graduate programs.  BUT we don't learn how to write goals for specific skills or learn a progression of skills. For example, what are the foundational or prerequisite skills a student needs to be able to access this grade level standard? It is also worth considering whether an off-grade level standard-based goal is more appropriate for a student, if it builds to a grade level standard. For example, if I have a 5th grade student who is struggling to access the grade level Reading Literature standard of " Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, summarize the text (RL.5.2) ," I reference off-grade level standards that would be foundational...

 Novel studies are a fantastic tool for elementary students in a resource/small group setting. For students who read below grade level, it may be the only time they have experienced reading and understanding a novel. Here are my tips for doing novel studies in small group: 1- My current district does trimesters for elementary, so I try to schedule one novel study per trimester for each grade level. Too much more than that and I feel it takes away from other skills we're working on, like fluency, reading curriculum, or IEP goal-specific skills. 2- I try to align grade level content or priority standards to the novel studies I select. We currently use CKLA (though only for another couple of years- and then I'll have to redo my small group pacing! 😭), so when 3rd grade is learning about the Vikings, we can do a novel study with Magic Tree House Viking Ships at Sunrise. Or when 4th grade uses details or examples to draw inferences from the text, The BFG lends itself to this stan...

 REINFORCEMENT VS. BREAKS - PART 2 REINFORCEMENT  In Part 1 , I explained my hot take that an effective special educator would never take away breaks from a student as a consequence. Students should never EARN breaks. Breaks are a regulation tool. Students MAY earn reinforcers.  Here is a general overview of how to structure reinforcement within a special education classroom. Student "rules" should be tied to IEP social or behavior goals If a student has a social or behavior goal for an identified area of growth, there is no reason to create a reinforcement system for a totally different skill.  Likewise, narrow the focus of behaviors you're trying to modify. (A student typically would never have 5 rules! I like to keep it to 2-3, but this is predetermined by how many IEP goals the student has.) Reinforcement tied to student rules Students may be aware of the social or behavior skills they're working on. Love that! Bonus points if they're self-monitoring their pro...