IEP Data Collection tracks student progress over time to help the IEP team make informed decisions about moving forward in the child’s IEP. Without proper guidance, though, IEP goals can be vague which makes data collection a tricky thing.

This is why it is important to create a good foundation for the IEP by writing solid goals that are as specific as possible. This will aid later in tracking student progress on these goals, and all of these things can be transformed into a quantifiable resource for IEP teams to use. This is often carried out using a data collection method to compile all of the data into one centralized location.

1. Create SMART IEP Goals. These goals should be specific to the student, measurable to aid with progress monitoring, attainable for the student, relevant to the present level of performance, and time-bound to one year.
2. Use a data collection method. SpedTrack has a progress monitoring module that makes data collection and tracking student goal progress easy. It has features such as group data entry, real-time graphing, and outlier detection.
3. Collect data frequently. By collecting student data weekly, it will be easier to identify student progress and target performance struggles during quarterly progress reports. This will also aid the IEP team in recognizing trends or specific evaluation times that resulted in lower progress due to an outside influence that was occurring in that period of time.

Data collection is the foundation for tracking student progress toward IEP goals. The IEP team meets periodically to determine if the student has made measurable progress toward their goals and decide how to adjust the IEP accordingly for the next year.

There is also often quarterly progress monitoring involved throughout the year which shows quantifiable data reflecting the student’s progress quarterly. This progress report may include graphs and charts showing how the student has progressed toward goal mastery level over a specific period of time. These quantifiable sources require data collection throughout the course of the year.

Data collection begins with baseline data, which is the student’s present level of academic achievement and functional performance. This data serves as a starting point to set goals for the student to achieve. It also is used as a reference when measuring student progress during IEP meetings.

After collecting baseline data, progress monitoring should begin so that quantifiable information about student progress can be provided at quarterly progress meetings.

An example of a goal that could be measured with data collection would be “an improvement in the ability to read 25 words per minute with no more than ten errors on 3 out of 5 pages.”

Data from the quarter, such as quantifiable data from schoolwork or tests, can be used to measure the student’s progress toward this goal to determine if they are on track or falling behind. This will then guide the IEP team to determine if they need to make adjustments to the next IEP or determine any changes that may need to be made to better the student’s learning opportunities.

In addition to these progress monitoring sheets, SpedTrack has a progress monitoring module that helps you track student goal progress in one centralized location. With the built-in progress monitoring dashboard, you can see a broad overview of how your students are doing with their goals. It shows how many goals a student is on track for and off track for.

There also can be group data entered all at once. If you are having a session with a group of students that you need to record, you can enter the data once and it will be recorded for all students in that group.

Our progress monitoring module also takes the hassle out of progress monitoring graphing. It creates all the needed points and lines for the graph, such as the baseline, target line, mastery level, and student progress points. This gives easy oversight over how the student is doing with a visual representation to show the IEP team.

Try out our free data tracking sheets today to create an easy, organized process for your IEP data collection.

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