Suzanne Fitzgerald's Strategies for Progress Monitoring and Effective Data Use in Special Education (Part 2)

🎙️ Episode Summary:

Welcome back to The FAST 15 podcast, delivering transformative tips for special educators in a quick 15-minute format. Sponsored by Specially Designed Education Services, this episode features Suzanne Fitzgerald, President and CEO of Specially Designed Education Services and author of the Functional Academics Program.

Key Points:

Part two of the discussion delves into progress monitoring and the pivotal role of data in supporting meaningful IEP goals. Suzanne explores the benefits of proficient data collection, highlighting its impact on decision-making, progress tracking, and effective communication with parents about goal progress.

Benefits of Progress Monitoring:

1. Informed Decision-Making: Proficient data systems aid decisions on advancing or modifying lessons based on student performance.
2. Concrete Evidence: Data offers tangible proof of IEP goal achievement, especially crucial for students with complex disabilities.
3. Support in Tough Conversations: Data facilitates discussions with parents, ensuring transparency and collaboration, especially when difficult decisions need to be made.

Team Approach to Data:

Suzanne underscores the importance of a whole-team approach, involving related service providers like speech language pathologists and physical therapists in data collection. Collaboration and consistency across the team are vital for effective progress monitoring.

Challenges of Progress Monitoring:

1. Building Data into Routine: The initial challenge lies in incorporating data collection into daily routines. Suzanne acknowledges the difficulty but emphasizes that once integrated, it becomes second nature.
2. Not Using Data Effectively: Collecting data is valuable only when actively used. Suzanne stresses the importance of regularly reviewing and acting upon the collected data for effective progress monitoring.

Closing Thoughts:

Progress monitoring, supported by proficient data collection, is critical for informed decision-making and tracking student progress. Suzanne acknowledges challenges but emphasizes solutions, hinting at upcoming tools within the Functional Academics Program.

 Barb encourages listeners to stay connected, support one another, and anticipates the upcoming tools designed to make progress monitoring more efficient within the Functional Academics Program.

Subscribe and stay tuned for more impactf

Support the show

Barbara Beck is the host of the FAST 15 Podcast. She is a highly dedicated Disability Advocate and Special Education Consultant specializing in IEP Transition Services. Barbara has an extensive background as a special education teacher spanning nearly 30 years. She has dedicated her career to empowering transition-age youth and fostering positive post-school outcomes.

Barbara's expertise lies in providing comprehensive support and guidance to students with disabilities, ensuring their successful transition from school to adult life. She possesses a deep understanding of secondary services and possesses the skills to develop tailored strategies that maximize individual potential.

For more information and resources on special education school-to-adulthood transition planning and independent living, visit www.mykeyplans.com. Join us on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and discussions about special education, inclusion, and disability advocacy. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and use #IEPLaunchpadPodcast to join the conversation. Thank you for tuning in to the IEP Launchpad Podcast! 🎧🎙️#IDD #teaching #specialed #specialneeds #InclusionMatters #DisabilityAdvocacy #EmpowerVoices #edtech, #education #edtech, #teachers

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Fast 15 Podcasts offering
gain-changing tips, advice andmotivational tools for special
educators, designed to transformyour special education
classroom in a quick 15-minuteformat.
Our podcast includes authenticstories from amazing educators
like you and is proudlysponsored by the publishers of

(00:22):
the Functional Academics Programspecially designed education
services.
Join us as we endeavor totransform the landscape of
special education.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Today for the Fast 15 , we're excited to welcome the
President and CEO of speciallydesigned education services and
the author of the FunctionalAcademics Program, suzanne
Fitzgerald.
We had so much to discuss thatwe decided to break this into
two episodes.
Today we will discuss why weshould take data around the
goals to support the IEP andinclude the benefits and

(00:57):
challenges of progressmonitoring.
We are picking up from where weleft off on the last episode of
the Fast 15, and if you haven'thad a chance to listen to the
first part of our discussiontogether, make sure you go back
and check that out as well.
And if you haven't done so yet,be sure to subscribe to our
Fast 15 podcast on whateverplatform you're listening.

(01:19):
We want to make sure that youget all that you can out of our
quick time together, so itreally helps us if you write a
quick review so other people inthe world of special education
can find us and share theencouragement.
Those of you who are familiarwith the Functional Academics
Program, you know that theprimary focus really is on

(01:41):
progress monitoring.
It is highly data-driven,database-based and, suzanne, can
you speak to the benefits andchallenges of progress
monitoring and how teachers canuse data to support their
meaningful IEP goals.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Absolutely so.
Let's start with the benefitsof progress monitoring.
So when you have a proficientdata collection system in your
classroom, you are able toeasily make decisions.
Data tells you when to move astudent on to the next skill or
lesson, or perhaps when you needto take a step back and break a
skill down or modify somethinga lesson in some kind of a

(02:19):
different way to help yourstudent get to mastery quicker.
It's concrete evidence that IEPgoals have been met or progress
is being made.
For students, this one is alsois really important, but for
students with more complexdisabilities, frequent data can
show even tiny little gains thatyour team can.

(02:41):
It gives you something tocelebrate, because those tiny
gains can be huge in so manydifferent ways.
It's also really helpful duringconversations with parents,
especially when tough decisionsneed to be made.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
So, for example, those are tough discussions to
have and so when you have datalike you're talking about to
anchor to yes, yes, and I don'twant to be the one, nor should I
be the one, who makes all ofthose decisions.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
It absolutely has to be a team decision.
So when you have that data tosupport why you're bringing up a
concern or a suggestion, itmakes it a lot easier for
everybody to come together andgo okay, yeah, let's move on
from this.
Or okay, the data shows this,but can we give it a little
longer and you can set a timelimit on it.

(03:29):
I use the example.
It's a lot easier for a parentof an elementary age child to
make the decision to move fromletters and sounds to a sight
word based program when they'reshown consistent data that has
been taken over a reasonableperiod of time that reflects
little to no progress.
Data holds a lot more valuethan simply an opinion that was

(03:50):
made by a teacher based on anobservation that they had of the
child.
So that would be an example ofwhere it can help parents go
yeah, okay, let's move on.
Let's try this for a while.
Another example I'll give you asecondary example would be a
parent of a who might be moreopen to the idea of perhaps
allowing their child to be moreinvolved in managing their

(04:13):
finances.
If they can see concrete datathat shows that their child has
been successfully depositing andtransferring money while
practicing budgeting a bankingat school, that would be a clear
way to be like oh okay, maybewe could explore this.
Yeah, exactly, so really, datafacilitates conversations and
decisions.
It's hard to argue with datathat is taken frequently and

(04:35):
consistently.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
I'm thinking it also maybe takes emotion out of some
of the highly charged IEPsituations that we're in.
You can talk more about thatlater, but I think what you're
saying there's concrete evidenceof where the students at yes
exactly.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
And, like I said, even if the decision isn't what
you think it should be, you havea baseline and something to
continue the conversation over.
If a parent's not ready to moveon, it may be being like, okay,
I can see that this data hasbeen taken for six months
consistently, but sometimes ittakes my child a while for it to

(05:13):
click.
I'd really like to continuethis for a little longer.
Can we keep going with the datafor another three months or six
months or whatever it might be?
Then you have that frameworkand that concrete data to have
the discussion later on againand revisit it.
I think that's just the way itshould be.
It should be together as a team.

(05:34):
You have those conversationsand you've got something to
really be able to rely on.
Gotcha, okay, yeah, in additionto being able to make academic
decisions based on datacollection, data is also
critical in identifying andaddressing patterns of problem
behavior.
It can be incredibly helpfulfor identifying what
communication strategies areworking or whether or not a

(05:58):
student's range of motion hasimproved with stretches that
were incorporated throughout theday.
It really is essential for somany aspects of a child's
program.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
All of the related service providers may be a
speech language pathologist or aspeech language pathologist or
a physical therapist who mightbe working on your team or
coming into your classroom, andeverybody being on the same team
around that data collection.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Exactly.
You know this, barb.
We've talked about this all thetime.
We both believe wholeheartedlyin a whole team approach, that
communication, physical therapy,occupational therapy.
None of that should be done ina 30, 60, 90 minutes a week
session only.
No, it has to be done all day,every day.
It really does so.

(06:43):
Having again being able to takedata on how often a student is
getting out of their wheelchairand is on the being stretched or
whatever it might be, thatgives the physical therapist
again concrete data to be ableto look at and see if
improvements are being made.
And I've had situations in thepast where doctors have actually
used our data to help supportdecisions on whether surgery is

(07:07):
needed or braces are like theyneed to a different brace, back
brace or whatever it might be.
So it can be useful in so manydifferent ways.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Informing really powerful and huge decisions that
a family has to make.
And yeah, that's amazing.
Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
So let's talk a little bit about the challenges.
Yes, there are challenges.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Data.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
Everybody who knows me again I'll say knows I love
data, but I'm not.
I am willing to admit there arechallenges with data.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Well, I've experienced a lot of challenges
myself, so I'm interested tohear what you have to say about
that.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
So I would say probably the biggest and most
common challenge with datacollection is getting it built
into your daily routine.
Yes, so I often hear fromteachers that they don't have
time to take data, or they can'ttake data and manage materials
at the same time while workingwith a student, or they don't

(08:02):
have time to train paraeducatorsto take data.
I would agree that all of theseare incredibly challenging,
especially at first, when youare initially learning how to
take data.
However, once you get overthose initial hurdles and data
collection becomes part of yourdaily routine, these other
challenges really go away.
If you can get through thathump, that initial hump, it just

(08:26):
becomes second nature and somuch easier.
Gotcha.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, yeah, I think some of the foundational things
of what we do as specialeducation teachers or really
anybody in the field, that'sreally critical as far as laying
the foundation in yourprogramming.
If you don't have those things,you don't have anything to
build on top of.
It's the rebar of your program.

(08:50):
Yes, I think it can be.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yes, and I would say probably another big challenge
with data is not using it.
I know the opposite happens,where teachers are really great
about taking data and I've beenguilty of this myself where
we're taking tons of data onsomething and I don't take the
time to look at it, or ifsomebody you don't look at it to

(09:13):
see oh okay, yikes, the studenthas been at 100% now for 10
days in a row, we got to move on.
So taking data is great, but ifyou don't actually use it, then
it's worthless.
So that's another challenge, Ithink, is just making sure
you're using it the way youshould be.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Gotcha, I agree.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
I would say yeah.
Just to wrap up, when you'reused to taking data, it really
doesn't require extra time.
It can easily be donesimultaneously when working with
students.
It just takes a little extrapractice, which is why frequent
data is recommended.
The more opportunities you haveto practice, the more
proficient you become, just likepretty much anything.

(09:52):
And then, even if you're notable to collect data during a
specific task, there's alsoshortcuts and ways and
suggestions for collecting andreporting data at the end of a
lesson.
That really takes no extra timeat all.
Yeah, Just getting in theroutine of doing that yes,
absolutely.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
And having that just be part of the practice for
yourself and for your team.
Yes, all right, and I just I'velearned so much just from today
talking with you, and I'mreally grateful that you're
taking the time to spend on ourFast 15.
And it's a pleasure always toget a chance to work with you,
to hear from you, to bounce offideas, and thank you.

(10:32):
I just wanna say thank you.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
Are you kidding me?
This is fun.
I'm loving this.
Yeah, it's great.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome.
Thank you very much for joiningus on our podcast today.
We really appreciate you takingthe time to share your
expertise and wanna thank youfor being a champion of in the
field of special education andbeing a leader for a lot of
people and for putting out somereally amazing products.

(10:57):
We have some really incrediblethings coming down the line that
I know you're working on, andspecifically around helping
teachers take data moreeffectively, more efficiently
and with fidelity.
Thank you so much for all thehard work that you do.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Awesome.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
All right listeners, our time's up and that's all for
this episode of the Fast 15.
But real quick.
Keep in mind some of the thingsthat Suzanne shared with us.
Let's do that together.
Number one it's so evident thatprogress monitoring with a
proficient data collectionsystem really is critical to our
programs.
It allows us to make informeddecisions about when to move

(11:38):
students to a next skill, whento modify our lessons and when
our IEP goals have been met.
It also helps us celebrate thetiniest of gains, and we can see
that in the data.
Remember the importance of ateam approach.
That's number two.
Suzanne emphasizes theimportance of a whole team
approach in special education.

(11:59):
Collaboration and consistencyacross the team are crucial for
effective progress monitoring.
It helps involve relatedservice providers like speech,
language pathologists orphysical therapists in the data
collection systems and theanalysis of the data.
We want them to be on the teamand for everybody to be on the

(12:19):
same page, working toward thesame goals.
Number three keep in mind thatthere are challenges, but there
are also available solutions.
Suzanne acknowledges thechallenges of incorporating data
collection into daily routines.
It really is so difficult.
I know for myself.
I've struggled with that for somany years.

(12:42):
But solutions are coming.
Friends.
I'm really excited about whatSDES has and functional
academics is bringing to thetable with progress monitoring
and data collection.
It is going to really help uswith the effectiveness of
sharing the data with our IEPteams Listeners.

(13:04):
Suzanne is the real deal.
I know this because I get towalk alongside her on the
journey of developing contentand providing solutions for
teachers.
I've gotten a sneak peek intosome really incredible tools
that she's building into thefunctional academics program.
Incredible and innovative toolsthat will really make progress

(13:27):
monitoring more efficient willbe taken with fidelity while
keeping everything functional.
That's what functionalacademics is all about.
So stay tuned for more comingyour way very soon.
Let's continue to connect andfind ways to support one another
in the work that we're doingevery day.

(13:48):
And until next time you are notalone.
Remember that you are not alone, champions of Special Ed.
Until the next one, until thenext time, you are not alone,
champions of Special Ed.
I am with you and you've got awhole lot of people on your team
.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
So until the next one , be well and be kind A
heartfelt thank you to ourgenerous sponsors, specially
designed education services,publishers of the functional
academics program.
Please take a moment to learnmore about the only true,
comprehensive functionalacademics program that enables
students with moderate to severedisabilities to improve their
ability to live in dependency,to live independently and show

(14:32):
meaningful growth bothacademically and personally,
while creating accountabilitywith data-driven, evidence-based
results.
Visit wwwsdesworkscom to learnmore.