How have assessment reports you have seen followed or not followed best practices?  How could those assessment reports be improved?

The article “from Assessment to Annual Goals,” for the most part described the process accurately, however, it did not address the situation that we have in our district where a kid is moved from school to school depending on where the grade level SDC class is located.

When a child changes schools each year, the team continuity is loss. The goals that one team sets, are not necessary what is needed six months from the IEP date. Most teachers will ride out the old goals rather than go through the amendment process to implement new goals.

Although the present levels follow the student on the IEP, they are usually brief and non prescriptive, as they should be; however, when the new teacher doesn’t have access to the old, she has to start the assessment process again in order to plan instructional strategies. The way to improve this process would be to have the teachers meet at the beginning of the school year to exchange assessment information. I’m not sure how the logistics would work.

Another important point is the time given to the teacher to test, write, and coordinate IEP meetings. I am not given additional time, but I do have a smaller class size than a general education teacher.

The irony is that I can write the same lesson plan for 15 students or 30. It’s the differentiation that is the real time eater. And based on my experience, very few General education teachers assess, differentiate, assess and adjust for each student in their class.  Writing the report at the detailed level described in the articles is only the beginning of the process.