Progress Reporting
The Bottom Line
Progress on annual IEP goals must be reported to parents/guardians as frequently as progress is reported to general education students in the district (i.e. report cards)
It can be either a formal ✍️ written report or an 💬 oral report (during the IEP meeting), but either way there needs to be written documentation that it happened
In order to ensure that we are providing students with FAPE, we review students' progress monitoring data more frequently (i.e., monthly) and make changes to instruction and supports to ensure adequate progress
Go-To Tools
We use the eduCLIMBER website to monitor students' progress toward their IEP goals, document instructional decisions, etc.
Follow that link and then scroll down to the 'Managing Interventions' heading to learn how to review data and make data-based decisions.
Progress Reporting Requirements
When?
(Minn. R. 3525.2810, subp. 1(A)(9))Progress on annual IEP goals must be reported to parents/guardians of special education students as frequently as progress is reported to general education students in the district (i.e. report cards). This schedule is described in the IEP's Student Information page.
What?
(Minn. R. 3525.2810, subp. 1(A)(9))The following information must be included:
A quantitative description of the progress the student made toward their IEP goals: Using data, describe the student's present performance and what the expectation was for performance at that point in time (i.e. the IEP goal target).
A statement of the extent to which that progress is sufficient to enable the student to achieve their goal by the end of the year: Based on the progress data compared with expected performance, determine whether the student has made: insufficient or adequate progress toward the goal, or whether the goal was met.
Ex."On the last 3 reading probes, Holden read a median of 47 words per minute. His goal by 2/23/2019 was 75 words correct per minute. Holden has made insufficient progress toward meeting his goal this year."
How?
(Minn. R. 3525.2810, subp. 1(A)(9))Progress reports can be either written or oral. In most cases, written reports are sent home at report card time. However, an oral report during the annual IEP meeting can substitute for one of these. NOTE: Oral progress reports must be documented — see the Oral Progress Reports heading below for more info.
Here are your two options...
...demonstrated via this scenario: "Our school sends home report cards three times per year: November 15, February 15, and on the last day of school. My student has an annual IEP meeting on February 10. I am considering my options for my progress reporting schedule."
✍️ Option 1: All written
I choose to send out written progress reports each time report cards are given out. In this example, that's three written progress reports.
IEP Progress Reporting Statement would read: "Progress will be reported three times per year in writing, which is as often as progress is reported for general education peers."
Action I would need to take: If the annual IEP was held on February 10 and report cards were sent out on February 15, you would report on progress orally at the IEP meeting and send a progress report on February 15 as well as during the next regularly scheduled progress reporting times (i.e., last day of school and November 15).
Advantages: This option may enhance efficiency in that the same process can be used with all students on your caseload at the same time; you do not need to track IEP meeting dates and who got which progress report when. In addition, the Progress Report form in SpEd Forms provides prompts to help you remember what needs to be included.
💬 ✍️ Option 2: One oral, the rest written
I choose to send out written progress reports for two of the report card periods. For the third report, I provide an oral progress report during the IEP meeting.
IEP Progress Reporting Statement would read: "Progress will be reported three times per year, which is as often as progress is reported for general education peers, with two written reports and once orally during the IEP meeting."
Action I would need to take:
Option A (recommended): If the annual IEP was held on February 10, and report cards were sent out on February 15, you could document progress discussed at the IEP meeting in each PLAAFP (see example below) and would not send a progress report out on February 15. You would then need to send progress reports for the remaining two report card periods covered by the annual IEP (i.e. last day of school, and November 15).
Option B: Alternatively, you could document the progress reporting requirements in a Record of Team Meeting or IEP meeting agenda document and include it with the student’s IEP (see examples below) and would not need to send a progress report out on February 15. You would then need to send progress reports for the remaining two report card periods covered by the annual IEP (i.e. last day of school, and November 15).
Advantages: This option would eliminate the need to complete an additional document during the IEP annual review period. In addition, this option would ensure that some of the required PLAAFP information is included and rationale for changes to IEP goals would be clearly embedded within each PLAAFP section.
✍️ Written Progress Reports
Typically, case managers begin to compile progress reports 1-2 weeks before the end of the grading period.
The following documents are (1) sent to the parent and (2) filed in the student's special education paperwork:
IEP Progress Report form from SpEd Forms (see screenshot)
Progress monitoring graphs from eduCLIMBER.
Some case managers also send the "Understanding Your Child's Graphs" cover sheet to parents because it can help parents to interpret the graphs.
On the 'IEP Progress Report' in SpEd Forms:
Indicate the date of the report.
Click the "Show objectives" button, which will insert the 2-3 objectives/benchmarks for that IEP goal. Keep the objective that the student is currently working toward and delete the others. For example, if you are reporting progress in December and the first objective reads, "Objective 1: By January 2018..." delete the other objectives. They will be included in subsequent progress reports.
Review the student's progress monitoring data/graph. Based on your determination, select an appropriate checkbox (Insufficient progress, Adequate progress, or Goal met).
Describe the student's present performance. This includes quantitative data ("Brenda has scored a median of 22 on her last three written expression probes.") and a statement of the extent to which progress made enables the student to meet their goal by the end of the IEP year ("If Brenda continues making progress at the current rate, it is expected that she will meet this goal by the end of the school year.")
Adequate Progress
(Example)
Insufficient Progress
(Example)
✋ FAQ: If a student has "insufficient progress" on their progress report, what happens? Are we supposed to hold an IEP meeting?
There's no statutory requirement to hold a meeting after a certain number of "insufficient progress" marks on progress reports.
However, there's an overarching requirement for the school to provide the student with FAPE which means we should be regularly reviewing the student's data (i.e., monthly) and — when needed — making data-based changes to their instruction and supports to promote progress toward their IEP goals.
💬 Oral Progress Reports
Compared to creating a formal written progress report, an oral report during the IEP meeting is more convenient. That said, state auditors still want "proof" that the oral report happened. Ergo, oral progress reports must be documented in writing.
Where? How? Below are your three options for where to put the documentation. Highlighted text = examples of the oral report documentation.
Meeting Notes
Progress Report Example_Meeting Agenda.pdfRecord of Team Meeting
ROTM Progress Report Example.pdfPLAAFP
Progress Report Example_PLAAFP.pdfNOTE: This documentation must be filed with the student's special education paperwork and uploaded to SpEd Forms history. This automatically happens with a PLAAFP or Record of Team Meeting. However, if you choose meeting notes, this creates additional work for you.