At Partners in PROMISE (PiP), we recognize that the power of partnering to improve progress reports lies in understanding and using data effectively. Data drives decision-making. When it comes to tracking your child’s Individual Education Program (IEP) progress, collaboration with your school’s Special Education team ensures that every goal is clearly measured and monitored throughout the year.
These goals and objectives should be SMART goals. This means they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. Progress monitoring will need to be aligned with what each goal specifies.
The Power of Partnering Begins with Strong Data Collection
When we discuss a goal or objective being measurable, we expect that the school team will be able to document progress toward a specific goal. Progress monitoring for special education includes systematically tracking a student’s progress toward their IEP goals.
No family should ever receive a progress report that states, “Progressing towards goal,” or “Not progressing towards goal,” without the data that can explain how a team arrived at that statement. Progress reports should include detailed data, what was measured, when it was measured, and what has been accomplished. An additional powerful measure is to have students graph their progress toward achieving their goals. This allows them to see their growth over time.
Analyzing and Reporting: Turning Data into Progress
Progress monitoring occurs after short durations of instruction. The goal is to measure whether a student has learned specific skills or needs further instruction. Consistent progress monitoring allows teachers and families to adjust instruction before challenges grow. For most IEP goals, collecting four or five data points over a nine-week quarter of school demonstrates continuous progress tracking and monitoring. Here’s how schools commonly collect and analyze data across subjects:
- Social & Behavioral Goals: Observation and data sheets record friendship skills, emotional regulation, and social interaction.
- Reading Fluency: Tools like DIBELS DORF track oral reading accuracy and speed. Error analysis identifies which skills need reteaching.
- Reading Comprehension: Monitored through Aimsweb MAZE or DIBELS reading recall, which evaluate comprehension and recall.
- Sight Words: Fry or Dolch lists measure instant word recognition—scored correctly when read without hesitation.
- Writing Skills: CBM Writing tracks total words written, words spelled correctly, and correct writing sequences, providing clarity and comparability.
- Math Skills: Aimsweb Math Computation and other tools assess problem-solving accuracy and speed on a weekly or biweekly basis.
Partnering to Improve Progress Reports: Collaboration Is Key
Step 1: Learn more about the most commonly used progress monitoring tools. The National Center on Intensive Intervention maintains a database that provides information on some of the most commonly used progress monitoring tools, along with their reliability and validity.
Step 2: Inform your special education teacher or case manager at the start of the school year that you would like data to be included in the progress report and work samples, if possible. Ask what specific tools they will be using to monitor each goal. If the progress report indicates no growth or progress, request a meeting to discuss the next steps. The Center for Parent Information & Resources offers additional information on measuring and reporting student progress. Furthermore, the website includes prompting questions to guide your conversation with your school’s Special Education team.
Step 3: Remember, parents and guardians contribute important insight, too! Document what you observe at home. Share examples, photos, or notes. This shared data helps the whole team better understand your child’s growth.
Harnessing the Power of Partnering at Home
PiP’s Special Education & EFMP Binder is a great tool for organizing your child’s progress monitoring data from home or outside service providers. In the “Parent or Private Provider Data” section, you’ll find templates for tracking home goals, IEP goals, and behavior goals. Beyond keeping your data organized, the binder helps you store and access your child’s important academic records in one convenient place, making it easy to reference during meetings and discussions.
About the Author – Barbara Bratton
Barbara Bratton is an Educator and Certified Academic Language Therapist. She specializes in working with students with Dyslexia and Specific Learning Disabilities in reading. She has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Special Education from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Education in Special Education and Multisensory Structured Language Education from King’s College. Mrs. Bratton has taught in Arizona, Maryland, and Colorado. She is ALTA certified (Academic Language Therapy Association) and completed her Dyslexia Specialist training through the Colorado Literacy and Learning Center. Mrs. Bratton has held a variety of elementary teaching positions and has extensive experience as a special education resource teacher, general education teacher, and reading interventionist. Mrs. Bratton is the author of Maggie with a G, her first book in a series about students successfully navigating school with various disabilities.
Barbara is a passionate military family advocate and has volunteered as a USFF Key Senior Spouse Mentor as well as a GSP Pilot Program Joint Coordinator, UCCS/ASD20 Cooperating/Mentor Teacher, and Youth Group Leader. Her recent accomplishments include the Arizona Meritorious Service Award, Academy Endeavour Elementary School Teacher of the Year, Academy School District 20 Team of the Year, and the Journey K8 Team of the Year.
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