Elena Ratsprecher, a Resource Room teacher at Kakiat Elementary School in the East Ramapo Central School District shares this Bright Spot:

“Over the last two years parents of my students have been consistently positive about annual CSE meetings, saying that because of the visuals I provide, they leave with a clear understanding of the growth and continuing needs of their child. “

Here are the practices that she says have led to that result:

• I begin IEP development by collecting data using Curriculum-Based Measures, or CBMs, to get a clear picture of the student’s strengths and weaknesses.
• I develop IEP goals that represent the outcomes I want a student to achieve, not the specific skills that need to be taught to get a student to the goal. When developing goals I ask myself, “Is this something that will improve the student’s ability to access the Common Core Learning Standards?” and whether the goal represents a push for growth. Data from CBMs allow me to make these meaningful goals measurable.
• I continue to use the CBMs throughout the year to collect clear, concise data on progress towards the goals.
• I create graphs using the CBM data so that progress can be seen at a glance and shared with administrators, parents and colleagues.

Because of the positive feedback, I am now providing turn-key trainings on progress monitoring with CBMs to staff.