This past week was the second reporting period for school performance with the progress report discussed at the parent-teacher conference. A few weeks ago I attended an IEP Workshop presented by the Compliance Unit of LAUSD. It was discussed that at each of the conferences parents are to receive the progress reports on goals listed in the IEP. These are to be received from DIS services, and if not reported to the Administrator at the School.

So far I only have the reports from the Special Education Teacher for both reporting periods. The forms are the bottom part of the goals pages from the IEP. The reporting periods are separated on this form.

Reporting period - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. The fourth is for secondary schools only. There is a box for entering the date. At the back of the actual progress report the dates are listed - which helps when trying to determine when the next conference will take place.

8-18-05 thru 11/11/05, 11/14/05 thru 4/7/06, 4-17-06 thru 6/29/06.

Progress Mark - 4 - goal met or exceeded, 3 - substantial progress (50-99% of goal), 2 - partial progress (1-49% of goal) 1 - no progress

Is progress sufficient to meet annual goal? - yes or no

If no, please comment - needs more time, excess absence/tardy, assignments not completed, need to review/revise goal and other.

Goal achievement - Objectives 1 and 2 with a spot to check off they were met with a yes or no. There is a blank box to explain when leaving a no response.

The progress report breaks down into academic subjects with achievement and effort for each one listed. The scores for achievement are - 4 is advanced, 3 proficient, 2 partially proficient, 1 is not proficient.

The effort scores are 4 for strong, 3 is consistent, 2 is inconsistent with 1 being poor. There are also English Language Development (ELD) achievement scores that do not pertain to either of my children.

Nicholas had his conference a few weeks ago and finally got a 4 in effort for Science. Many of his friends also got 4's in Science. Nicholas went the entire third grade year without getting a 4 score. He had received many in second grade so this was a surprise to us for third grade.

I never received the IEP goals progress reports for Nicholas. I called the Administrator about the first reporting period, but they never did materialize. Nicholas's IEP was held the week before the parent-teacher conference so I was not really expecting to get them. We did run into the Administrator as we left the school grounds from the conference and gave the feedback that the reports were not received. She mentioned that probably because of the IEP they were not produced.

The first year at his current school Matthew's teacher gave him a 4 score for Physical Education, which I protested about. This was based on his skipping skills and nothing else. I did not want that to go against obtaining Adaptive PE services.

The Progress Report indicates whether your child will receive ESY and the DIS services they receive. If they require accommodations for the State testing this is also listed.

Nicholas received a few 2 scores for the work and study habits - this was for making good use of time and then under learning and social skills he scored a 2 under follows directions and procedures. For the majority of the Academic Subjects Nicholas received scores of 3. A few had the 2 score.

Matthew received a 3 in Math and Writing, 1 in Health Education - even though the teacher does not know what that consists of. It would be nice to know exactly what that means. Being that Matthew is a non-verbal child he continually gets 1 scores for speaking. His previous teacher from another school who retired gave him 2 scores for effort in the speaking subject.

A few years ago the IEP goals would be 2 and 3 for progress, where now they are usually 1 or 2s. It seems to me that the goals are too advanced for the student and not enough feedback from related services. I have not received any input from Adaptive PE and have no idea if any compensatory time is owed. The same thing relates to Speech services. Their schedules may be extremely busy, but efforts should be made to communicate with parents, especially regarding goals and progress.

Parents are to be notified of progress for students in Special Education as often as general education students are. This means the DIS services are out of compliance with submitting progress reports for two reporting periods. This is not helpful to families to learn where their child is excelling, if at all, and to gain insight into what takes place during therapy sessions.

It is time to visit the school and sit in on therapy sessions to see what is being done. School gets out in a few months, IEP meetings are being held during these final months. We need to make sure we are aware of the progress our children are making before we arrive at the meeting.

Handbook of Goals and Objectives Related to Essential State of California Content Standards

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Goals — The Basics - Great Schools

Examples of IEP Goals and Objectives Suggestions For Students With Autism

Choosing A Camp for a Child with Autism

Classroom Visitation Checklist