Check, Please? Guidelines for Documentation of Student Work

Submitted by Liz Eagan on Apr 02, 2015

Look Familiar?

woman sitting at desk surrounded by paperwork

Why Document?

Chart student progress
Record contact with parents/teachers/service providers
Accurate IEP objective updating/progress reports
Tweak lessons to focus on weakness while expanding on student strengths

Where to Start?

Determine what you want to document
Find a form
Form not perfect? Adapt it!
No form? Make one!

What I Document

Contacts from parents/service providers (school district and agency)
Student progress (IEP)
Student behaviors, as appropriate
Observations of student in classrooms
Technology use
Accommodations used/not used
Teacher consults/feedback

IEP Behaviors

Whether you’re using percents or fractions, objectives need to be tracked!
Some teachers use a grade book (paper or electronic), others use data collection sheets
Find a method that will work for you…

"I’ve got this objective, but I don’t know how to document it…"

Try a tally sheet type form
Easy to utilize and keep up with
Adapt an existing form to meet your needs OR create your own!
Try using a voice recorder to record your data to put to paper later

IEP Objective Data Collection Example

Completed Data Collection Example

$percents to fractions$

Behavior

Behavior happens
We need to document the behavior during the VI sessions to provide continuity in data collection/implementation of a behavior plan

Objectives

to verify the FVE/LMA recommendations are effective
the teacher is utilizing said recommendations
the student is on task & prepared
student using the technology appropriately
the student an active part of the class
etc

Assessment

FVE/LMA
Technology
ECC

Using forms to help document your assessment helps you to not overlook anything and helps to organize your thoughts/write less

Collaboration

Observations complete
Evaluations complete
Time to discuss the student’s needs
Assist the teacher in lesson planning (i.e. unit on Texas…ensure teacher has the tactile graphics/enlargements needed)meet with other service providers

Recommendations

We evaluate. We report to the ARD committee. We then provide services, right?
The recommendations are often overlooked and not provided.
Simplify them.

Record Keeping

Information pertaining to the caseload/student
District information
Scheduling/lesson plans
Student attendance

Making Your Own Forms

You’ve looked and nothing meets your needs…not even to adapt.
Determine what it is you want in the form (behaviors, objectives, etc.)
Do you want the form to be a checklist or comments?
Sketch it out on paper (easier to make corrections).
Open up a Word or Excel document and create it!
Keep it simple.

There's An App for That

Super Duper Data Tracker

Closing Thoughts...

Document…just do it!
Documentation helps verify what you do on a daily basis.
Documentation helps when you have ARDs that might be contentious.
Documentation helps when others pick up where you’ve left off when changing teachers/districts.
It’s the smart thing to do.
Keep your documentation.

Resources

Leon-Guerro, R and others, 2011. Show me the Data! Data-Based Instructional Decisions Made Simple and Easy. AAPC Publishing, Shawnee Mission, KS.
Olmstead, Jean E, 2008. Itinerant Teaching: Tricks of the Trade for Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired Students. American Foundation for the Blind, New York.
“Teacher’s Book of Forms”. Remedia Publications, 2000
2007. Evals – Evaluating Visually Impaired Students. Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Austin.

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