(upbeat music)
- [Instructor] Welcome to our video
for High-Leverage Practice number 11,
Identify and prioritize long- and short-term learning goals.
There are 22 High Leverage Practices
for supporting students with disabilities
grouped into four domains.
HLP 11, identify and prioritize
long- and short-term learning goals
falls under the instruction domain.
The major source for content in this video
is the Chapter by Shelia Alber-Morgan and her colleagues
in the HLP for Inclusive Classrooms book
published by Routledge and CEC,
and the PROGRESS Center website.
This video is divided into 2 parts.
Part 1 defines short- and long-term goals
and provides a rationale
for identifying and prioritizing learning goals
for students with disabilities.
Part 2 demonstrates
how various individual student data sources,
state standards, and the IEP support educators
in identifying essential areas of need
to develop long- and short-term goals.
Part 1, what are long- and short-term learning goals
and why are they important?
First, HLP 11 can apply
to academic and behavioral goal setting.
When HLP 11 is implemented,
teachers prioritize what is most important
for students to learn and access
to benefit from general education
and other contextually relevant curricula.
The principles of this HLP
intersect with several other HLPs,
including HLP 6;
using assessment data and making instructional adjustments,
HLP 12;
systematically design instruction
toward a specific learning goal,
and HLP 20; provide intensive instruction.
HLP 11 refers to both long- and short-term learning goals.
But what is the difference?
Long-term goals refer to those
that focus on broader outcomes
essential for teachers to develop and implement
high-quality educational programming
for students with disabilities.
Most educators are familiar with long-term goals
required as part of the IEP,
referred to as measurable annual goals.
These annual goals are developed by an IEP team
for students found eligible for special education
and are based on the students' unique needs
outlined in their evaluation report
and in the students' present levels of academic
and functional performance, or PLAAFPs.
Here are examples of an academic
and a behavior long-term goal.
IEP Academic Goal Example,
when given a standardized third-grade level reading probe,
Michael will read 99 words read correctly in 1 minute
with 95% accuracy by spring benchmarking.
IEP Behavior Goal Example,
during whole group instruction,
Kenisha will remain academically engaged
at least 80% of the instructional period
as measured by direct behavior rating.
Educators will also use state standards
and grade level benchmarks or expectations
that are necessary for students to progress
in the general education curriculum
to develop long-term instructional goals.
These goals generally focus
on what students will be able to do by the end of the year
and tend to focus on general academic,
social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.
Success on long-term goals can be measured by state tests
or grade level benchmark assessments
and through progress monitoring
using general outcome measures.
Once long-term goals have been identified and prioritized
based on student need and grade level expectations,
educators will backwards plan
to identify relevant short-term goals.
Short-term goals help teachers
develop weekly and daily lesson plans
and individualize instruction for students.
These differ from long-term goals
in that they generally focus on more targeted skills,
sometimes foundational skills,
necessary for the students to progress toward
and achieve the long-term learning goals.
Fuchs and colleagues and research by Doabler and colleagues
affirmed the need to identify and prioritize
students' goals and instruction around critical content
while linking to their present levels of performance.
Examples of short-term goals are:
in reading, when given a list of 20 2nd grade sight words,
Maya will accurately read with 98% accuracy
3 of 4 trials by the end of 1st semester.
Mathematics, given a set of numbers,
Jamal will solve two-digit addition and subtraction problems
with regrouping with 80% accuracy.
Behavior, when working in a group,
Joseph will use an appropriate voice level
with no more than 1 prompt from the teacher
in 5 group activities.
Transition, given a job application,
Maddy will complete the application with 100%
accuracy in 2 of 3 trials.
Why do long and short-term goals matter?
Research from Hattie summarized findings
from 11 meta-analyses on learning goals.
He found large positive effects on achievement
when teachers set specific and challenging goals
versus no learning goals.
Short- and long-term goals support teachers
in clarifying the outcomes
of classroom or intervention instruction,
which is essential for implementing HLP 12;
systematically designing instruction
toward a specific learning goal
and HLP 20; providing intensive instruction.
Students with disabilities who are eligible
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
receive a free appropriate public education
in the least restrictive environment through their IEP.
The purpose of the IEP is to ensure
that the maximum extent appropriate,
that children with disabilities are educated
with peers without disabilities
and they are able to make progress
in the general education curriculum.
The IEP must include a statement
of measurable annual academic and functional goals.
These long-term goals are designed to meet the child's needs
that result from the child's disability
to enable the child to be involved in and make progress
in the general education curriculum,
and meet each of the child's other educational needs
that result from the child's disability.
For children with disabilities
who take alternate assessments,
the IEP is required to include a description
of benchmarks or short-term goals and objectives.
The IEP team uses the IEP goals
to develop the remaining components of the IEP,
including how progress will be measured,
a statement of special education,
related services and supplementary aids and services,
and the transition plan, depending on the student's age.
IEP goals support teachers
in developing more immediate and short-term goals
needed for daily, weekly,
or unit-based instruction necessary to implement the IEP.
In 2017, the Supreme Court decision
in Endrew F. versus Douglas County School District,
often referred to as Endrew F,
highlighted the need to rethink and redesign
IEP goals and instruction
to ensure that students with disabilities
experience meaningful benefits.
The Court ruled that,
"[t]o meet its substantive obligation under the IDEA,
a school must offer an IEP reasonably calculated
to enable a child to make progress
appropriate in light of the child's circumstances."
In other words, learning goals should be challenging,
yet attainable.
Part 2, developing long- and short-term goals.
Setting appropriate long- and short-term goals
is best done with a collaborative team.
The team members participating in developing goals
will vary based on the purpose.
For example, establishing IEP goals
will include a team of individuals, including families,
specified in IDEA,
while developing daily short-term learning goals
may include only the teacher and the student.
We know that when students take part
in developing their goals,
they are often more motivated and engaged in their learning.
Developing classroom instructional and behavioral goals
may also include students,
as well as other grade level educators,
curriculum specialists, school psychologists,
and instructional coaches.
Educators identify and prioritize
short- and long-term learning goals
using grade-level standards,
assessment data, learning progressions,
students' prior knowledge, and IEP goals and benchmarks.
Educator's use of these data sources
aligns with the assessment HLPs,
specifically HLP 4; using multiple sources of information
to develop a comprehensive understanding
of a student's strengths and needs
and HLP 6; using student assessment data,
analyzing instructional practices,
and making necessary adjustments
that improve student outcomes.
Since the purpose of the IEP is to ensure
that to the maximum extent appropriate,
children with disabilities
are educated with peers without disabilities,
long- and short-term learning goals
for students with disabilities
should connect to state grade-level standards.
Grade-level standards are designed
to clarify what all students are expected to learn
at each grade level to achieve school
and post-school success.
For students with the most significant
cognitive disabilities,
the IEP team may at times determine
that the student will progress toward learning goals
aligned to alternate academic achievement standards
that align with state grade-level standards.
While the state standards and the IEP annual goals
help educators to identify and prioritize
long-term learning goals,
educators use students' prior knowledge,
student assessment data, learning progressions,
and IEP benchmarks where appropriate,
to develop short-term learning goals
necessary for the student to progress
toward long-term goals.
- What do you think about the data?
- Well, it looks like they based on his 20%,
and now he's scoring
between fours and five and a half out of 10
on those consistently,
so I mean, he's 35% in the past five weeks,
and I think that's a great start
for reaching our goal of 60% by the end of the school year,
just in five weeks,
I mean, we're we have a long time to go
if we continue this and-
- And those are only the first five data points.
So I mean, the first three is really just seeing
all right, where are we landing now?
And I feel like 60% would be a good goal,
'cause we want them to hit it consistently.
- Correct.
- Like, all the time.
- And he's working hard towards it,
'cause he's doing the same thing.
And he's he's very comfortable using this new accommodation
that we're trying to implement.
I think that by looking at this over the last five weeks,
I think this is probably time to get the team together,
call mom and say, hey, these are some of the new strategies
that we're we're putting in
along with all the other implementation
that he's been getting throughout the whole year.
And this might be something we need to write into the IEP
is actual accommodation and have an agenda meeting,
because it seems like to be really working for him
and making him progress in his comprehension.
- I agree.
I mean, it's clear that data shows improved scores,
so I'd love to see it continue.
- [Instructor] Educators can use data
included in the IEP PLAAFPs,
formal progress monitoring data, summative data,
or formal and informal classroom assessment data
to understand students' prior knowledge and learning needs.
Learning progressions provide teachers
with a carefully sequenced trajectory
of core concepts and skills
aligned with grade-level standards.
Teachers should begin
with the most critical foundational skills and concepts
based on student needs,
and then sequence instruction toward the long-term goal.
Instruction should be organized
along a developmental trajectory
from concrete skills and concepts
to more complex and discrete skills,
as described in HLP 12; systematically designed instruction.
Writing clear long- and short-term learning goals.
Learning goals should be clearly written
to clarify what groups or individual students
will be able to do at the end of the learning period.
Goals typically are written using three key components;
the condition includes the context
under which the student
will be able to perform the target behavior.
The conditions will vary
based on students' grade level and needs
and may include the type of material, the setting,
level of teacher support,
or whether the behavior is completed
as part of a group or independently.
The target behavior should include observable action words
like define, read, calculate, analyze, or demonstrate
as opposed to unobservable behaviors
like understand, think, or know.
The level of proficiency or timeline
includes the timeframe for the goal,
such as annually or weekly,
as well as the level of accuracy expected for mastery.
When developing learning goals,
educators should ask themselves;
does this goal make sense and align with desired outcomes?
Is the goal meaningful for the student?
How will I know if and when the goal is met?
In the following sample video,
Dr. Dia Jackson portrays as a special education teacher,
and Dr. Michael Kennedy
portrays a general education teacher.
They discuss the development of long term goals
for a student with an IEP
and how they will use learning progressions
to carefully sequence short term goals.
- Her IEP team developed the following long-term goal,
given a two step word problem,
Molly will solve a range of problems
to requiring use of addition, subtraction, multiplication
or division with 85% accuracy.
- Yeah, so when we look at the learning progression
for this skill, students in the third grade,
they need to be able to solve multi step problems,
and Molly is indeed having trouble
remembering each step in the process,
which means she ends up making small errors along the way,
which ultimately results in her getting the wrong answer.
It looks like Molly is currently able
to do the necessary computation
for solving two step problems.
But she's struggling to apply strategies
for consistently addressing
and tackling these tricky problems.
- So with learning progressions,
as you know, we begin
with the most critical foundational skills
and those concepts that Molly needs to master
and then we sequence instruction for the long term goal.
So based on the learning progression
and her mastery of computational skills,
a good objective may be to first start
with Molly using a written checklist to apply the strategy.
And then she can use that checklist with teacher guidance,
and then move to using that checklist independently,
and then eventually we'll fade the checklist
so she can independently use the strategies
to solve problems.
I think we could set a criterion of 85% accuracy.
That way we can see when she's mastered an objective
and should move to the next.
- I think that all sounds terrific.
So let's think about how we can provide instructions
and support that will help Molly
learn the problem solving strategies she needs
to answer these two step problems
and help make progress towards that IEP goal.
- [Instructor] In conclusion,
prior to developing and implementing
instruction and intervention,
educators need to identify and prioritize
long- and short-term learning goals.
Learning goals should align
with grade-level standards and needs identified in the IEP
and reflect students' current performance levels.
When implementing HLP 11,
educators will use their knowledge
of essential curriculum components,
identify essential prerequisites and foundations,
and assess student performance
in relation to these components
to ensure learning goals are meaningful
for students with disabilities.
For more information
about developing long- and short-term goals
and its role in supporting the needs of students
with and without disabilities,
please visit the PROGRESS Center
at www.promotingPROGRESS.org
the High-Leverage Practices in Special Education website,
www.highleveragepractices.org
and the National Center for Intensive Intervention website,
www.intensiveintervention.org
Thanks for watching,
and please continue using resources from this series
on High-Leverage Practices
for supporting students with disabilities
served in general and special education.