Richard: Where Did I Put My Map?

A special educator (read: paperwork specialist) enters the field with the foreknowledge that they will have a significantly higher amount of paperwork than the typical teacher.

I knew going into my position that I would have to complete IEPs, FBAs, BIPs, and goal progress reports every grading period. I spent my summer organizing my lessons and days to accommodate my duties because I knew I would not have a planning period, being in a self-contained setting. I started the year off with a wonderfully ignorant belief in my ability to complete paperwork within the school day without any complications, all while providing exemplary instruction. Boy, was I wrong!

Three weeks into the school year, our district decided to require that each case manager keep a four-inch binder of progress monitoring data for each student. We would be responsible for keeping student work samples and all the relevant paperwork up to date, such as IEPs and BIPS, both in the notebook and in the student’s file. We were charged with “regularly monitoring and assessing student progress” toward IEP goals and recording that information every few weeks on a form—forms we needed to create on our own, given only the vaguest examples possible.

That doesn't sound too hard, does it? Well, it is much easier said than done. Being a new teacher and a philosopher by trade, I view things in terms of fundamentals. If a student is struggling with reading, I ask what the fundamental problem is. Is it reading fluency, comprehension, self-esteem, or something else?

But being a special education teacher, I am also focused on explicit examples and data. While in a previous post I discussed the difficulties of using data practically, I am also having difficulty creating standards for mastery and specific objectives for student success. I have the overwhelming feeling that I am merely arbitrarily assigning a master criteria of 8:10 time for almost all objects, as that is all I have seen on my colleagues’ IEPs. I also struggle with assigning benchmarks for emotional/behavioral objectives.

For example, if a student has problems with writing organization, I can have objectives such as: uses topic and supporting sentences; uses the “hamburger” organization method; includes intro, body, and conclusion, etc. How do you do that for goals like “student will appropriately interact with peers” or “student will display responsibility and engage in independent tasks”? To me, those seem a means to an end, with few stepping stones to mastery beyond “on X day they failed to do this but on Y day they succeeded in doing this.”

I end my vent with two questions:

1. How do you deal with the ever-changing demands and changes of special education paperwork and still maintain your sanity?
2. How do you make objectives that are realistic and easily measured in the classroom setting for emotional/behavioral IEP goals?

Comments

[Chelsea]

Richard, myself included can feel your pain when it comes to paperwork! I have a self-contained classroom for autistic children and there is so much paperwork for each student on a daily and weekly basis it can be unreal. But being organized and efficient helps and having paraprofessionals that can help with paperwork can take some of the burden off of you as well.

[Alyse]

I am still a student right now and my biggest fear is the paperwork. We've done so much practice with it all but I'm so scared that when I get into the field I won't remember what to do. I'm also fearful that I will run out of time. I know that being a special education teacher takes a lot of time on paperwork and unfortunately it has to be done. One thing I am not looking forward to.

[Alysha]

I think when it comes to paperwork, we just need to come to terms with the fact that it will always chance. I have seen the paperwork change many times and I am only student teaching so I have seen what I will have to deal with as a teacher. Also, I have found it is easier to write my objectives with the thought of how you will measure them and then write the goal. You may also want to look online at different ways to collect data based on goals and objectives and you can combine different ones until you find the best for what you are evaluating.

[Keisha Wilder]

Richard,
I am so glad you decided to vent about this issue as I deal with the same issues as a self contained teacher for students with autism. However, what I have learned is time is of the essence. Eventually, you will find a method that works for you in terms on completing paperwork. Speed comes with the consistency of doing things right.
As far as the developing measurable objectives, keep in mind what it is that you are really asking for. " The student will display responsibility and engage in independent tasks by using a checklist to track progress." This is something that I too am still learning but being very specific and stating those steps to your main goal leaves out any question as to what is measureable or not.

[Love Diogu]

Richard,
You and countless other teachers share the same story. It is a sad case when the special education teacher spends most of the work day filling out bottomless stacks of paper with no end in sight. I sometimes feel the same way when I find myself bogged down in paper work. I make the process easier by making sure that I reveiew any memos or literature on how to fill out an IEP correctly. It gets time consuming when you fil out the IEPs wrong. Second, to make sure that we are filling out IEPS correctly and efficiently we have recently put an IEP team in place that consists of some parents, department heads, resource teachers and assistant principals. Our goal is to make sure that we are all comfortable filling out IEPs AND sharing any questions or concerns that we may have. Believe it or not this makes the process a lot smoother and less nerve wracking. We also meet once or twice a weekk to discusse any issues that we may have.
To answer your other question, which I have heard before as well, it helps to collaborate with other teachers in your school to get their feedback as well. Another thing to remember is that the IEP goals and objectives should be developed with input from teachers, students and parents.

[Betty Canty]

Richard,
Your venting was a great relief. Every new exceptional educator comes in the job with a positive attitude of helping children. We all have been informed of some of the paperwork through our course studies and internship. There is a different world when you actual start an exceptional teaching job on your own. Other than administration paperwork and exceptional paper work, some new teachers, are not aware they have to learn the layout of new textbooks; or search and find resources on your own. Yes, I understand your point about your expectations for your job was not as you thought. I have been teaching for over 12 years. I have to search out the best resources for my students, incorporate a volunteer program for my parents to help support my student needs and/or ask an organization to adopt my class. I love my job even with all the changes. Exceptional teachers learn to be flexible.

On your question about setting measurable objectives, I have to say treated each child as an individual separately. Look at the most dangerous or disruptive behavior first, set the goal high for the child to master it. For example, if you want a child to stop touching others, you want the goal to be at 100% for mastery. If you do not the child will continue off and on in which no progress is being made. Next, you should think about what behavior is impeding the child from learning. I would not have more than 3-5 behavior goals to concentrate on at one time. If so, you are being unfair to yourself and the child. Richard you will enjoy teaching in the exceptional education field. One thing, you and you alone can make a difference in a child life.

[Henry]

Richard,

I appreciated your honesty as you shared about the frustration of paperwork as a special educator. I spent about 17 years in the classroom before I became a special educator. I've now spent seven years in this position and still love it. Yes, there is plenty of paperwork besides all the rest of the work and sometimes one wonders if justice is being done in all areas, however; it still thrills me when I see a student "catch on", whether that is under my direct leadership or through programs I've helped another teacher prepare.

Perhaps I can bring some consolation by saying it does get easier with time. Speed should not be the goal, but I believe the old adage, "first we get good, then we get fast" seems to work here. Get to know what works and you should find that it takes less time to do the reams of forms that are required.

I hope you find your rhythm soon!

[taylor koehne]

I am very impressed with your blog and how accurately it conveys the special education world. I am a life skills teacher and can become very overwhelmed with paperwork/documentation, especially when it might take us away from the classroom.

[Michelle]

Richard, I think you share the same frustrations as many other special educators! In my building, we often discuss at departmental meetings how there just never seems to be enough time to complete all the paperwork, let alone when the time rolls around for "extras" such as alternate assessment and transition of students from to either a new program, grade or school. In an attempt not to "re-invent the wheel" time and time again, we have tried to come up with as many generic forms as possible that are available to every special education staff member and can be easily modified. We have found that by creating documents to monitor progress by checklists, for example, we are really just filling in small blanks to personalize the checklist for a particular student, then we are able to quickly and easily pull it out for a quick assessment. We also spent a lot of time two years ago creating transition forms that are used by all elementary and secondary teachers, which include any necessary and important information for teachers to learn about their upcoming students. We are in the process of making it web-based so it is more easily accessible. The pile of paperwork never does seem to diminish, however by utilizing strategies to keep organized/structured, it hopefully does not seem so tedious.

As far as goals/objectives for students with emotional/behavioral needs, that is also a topic we have spent a lot of time discussing this year. When you state that a student will use self-monitoring skills, how do we really know what they are thinking at a given time? A few ideas we have come up with include using attendance records (for students who have a difficult time getting to class on time, if at all--which is then connected to a Social Studies Citizenship and Responsibility standard, as showing up and being on time is a citizenship characteristic) and behavior records (for students who have issues with fighting in school, inappropriate language, or any other behavior that would get them suspended). Those items are referenced at the time of interim reports as well as the end of each quarter. They are at least factual and not based on a teachers personal thoughts through observation.

Good luck, I think you pose some great questions and I look forward to reading more responses and suggestions!!

[Chris Bushlow]

Richard and others - If it weren't already too late you all would have me second guessing my decision to teach children with special needs. I am a fully certified teacher with no place to teach. My state just layed off massive numbers of teachers consequently I am currently working on my Master's degree to keep up with what's going on in the classroom. I understood that paperwork was a big part of a special education teacher's life but it sounds to me that instead of improving it is getting worse. Bureaucracy at its finest. Besides Richard, whoever said being sane was a requisite for teaching.

[Morgan]

I am currently a student majoring in Special Education, and if everything I've heard about the overwhelming amounts of paperwork wasn't enough to motivate me to get organized while I am still in school, this blog post would do it! So many of my mentors who work in schools have told me that to be a special education teacher is to be a master at paperwork. The more I learn, the more I believe them! All of the paperwork that I will be completing as a teacher is among my biggest worries about being a teacher. It is encouraging to hear from people like you who, although a bit annoyed by the amount of paperwork, are able to have passion for teaching and the kids they work with. Thank you for sharing!

[Karyssa]

Isn't this the truth? I definitely struggle to refrain from being too negative about the constant flow of paperwork, although I know its intended use is for the better. I completely agree with Daniel's posted reply: "Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far now, to the point where all the paperwork and justification, detracts from the actual doing." I find my cooperating teachers putting in hours before and after school, not to mention between every class period trying to complete more and more paperwork being assigned. It amazes me that they are still able to prepare well-planned and interesting lessons for their students, and guide general education teachers in implementing appropriate accommodations. Now the school I am student teaching in is implementing an inclusion model, which is great! The problem now is, more time is needed to coordinate time in general education classes, but the paperwork and data-collection continues to grow. At a few points in the past few weeks, I remember collecting data over several days without having any time for remedial interventions. Documentation is important, but is it still serving its purpose when there are no improvements to document because there is no longer time available for interventions? I hear this from so many special education teachers, I often wonder if this is a concern that needs to be expressed in the near future. Where is the happy medium?

As far as goal-writing goes, my current cooperating teachers and school have used student self-monitoring strategies to collect data on behaviors. This may not work for all students, but self-monitoring can be really useful for the student to recognize their own behaviors, and give the teacher a way to measure progress without feeling that they have to constantly be watching the student.

[Caitlin]

It seems like special educators sometimes have endless amounts of paper work to do. Just this past year, the school that I'm currently student teaching at, was audited by the state. We had a meeting last week where our supervisor pretty much told us everything that we did wrong and need to make changes for. Not a very fun thing to hear. You just have to keep the fact that you are doing it for your students so that they can reach their highest potential.

[Ashley]

For your sanity, maybe making 'cheat sheets' for yourself will help; it has helped my cooperating teacher do more forms quickly and efficiently (I am currently student teaching). In our district, they provide yearly updates as to how to complete any special education forms. We get a copy of the powerpoint and my cooperating teacher has made post-its of changes that she needs to make from the old way that she completed the forms. That seems to work pretty well for her.

As for the behavior goals, my cooperating teacher has a 'goal bank' of goals and objectives for academics and behaviors. An example that may possibly fit your self-contained setting: "When faced with a challenging task or when s/he has a question as to how to complete an activity _____ will appropriately request adult assistance on ___ out of 5 occasions, as measured by staff observations." To me, this doesn't seem like a means to an end. This is a goal for a student that he/she will need to acquire to improve in more areas than just EBD - it can also qualify for life and vocational skills. "When s/he encounters a difficut situation, ____ will advocate for him/herself and seek out adult assistance when appropriate on ___ our of 5 opportunities, as measured by staff observation." These can be for students who get easily frustrated when they are stuck on a problem or for students who have a hard time sticking up for themselves. These are good skills to have for the student and again to me, doesn't seem like a means to an end. I hope this helps!

[Kayla]

Aren't these questions that all special education teachers need answers to? There's seems to be no easy fix. I am student teaching and my cooperating teacher and I are just finishing up our September benchmarks for our caseload of 18 students. The next bunch of data that we are supposed to collect is for November. So, we feel like we need to start November's data collection and we are still finishing Septembers. It's an endless cycle. We have difficulty trying to find times to do these data collections around giving students the amount of direct instruction they need each day. It is very hectic. Our school is also getting audited this year so when we sit down and write our IEPs, we have to ask ourselves, how can we measure this? We often find that we have to reword our goals and objectives to make it measurable. One of our students has a goal similar to yours to act appropriately towards peers and staff. We ended up making objectives such as, "student will respond with at least a one-word answer, such as yes or no, when asked a question at least 75% of opportunities." We have three measurable objectives that we copied onto a chart and placed on the students clipboard with her communication log and we make + or - marks after each session to monitor her progress towards her goal. It has been working okay for us, but it is definitely a never ending process. It can certainly drive a person insane to have to spend excessive amounts of time collecting data and writing measurable behavior goals and objectives for students. Good luck figuring it all out!

[Carissa]

This is such a great post! I feel like so many people deal with this and as a future teacher I fear this! I am so nervous that once I get a teaching job I will not be able to keep up with the amounts of paperwork I hear about. How is one person suppose to do and keep track of every thing for every student? I am a very organized person, but now always to most creative with thinking of ways to constantly evaluate students. This is something I hope I can gain a very good understanding of by the time I finish student teaching. I know I will not have this mastered but I can only hope I have a good understanding. And the hardest part of it all it every student is different! one way of evaluating may work for one student but not another. I do not know how to answer your question about the ever changing paper work and remaining sane. I hope you find a way or others can give you great ideas. This is something I feel that so many go through. Good luck to you!!

[Kathleen]

I know how you feel. When I started school I was told that Special education teachers were mostly about paperwork! I think this is true but there are many more rewarding parts to being a special education teacher too. Dealing with the ever-changing demands and changes in the paperwork is going to always be a constant struggle. I do not think that it will ever be perfect and will stop changing. I am student teaching and watching how a new program was incorporated into the system was interesting. My teacher went about it by going to different seminars about the program and just playing around with it. She was able to make up a student or use different parts of students to just work through it. The changes were significant enough that she had to relearn everything. As a new incoming teacher, I think that it is going to be extremely daunting to come in with so many new changes from what I have learned in college to what each different school district is using. It would be impossible to learn all the different types of paper work.
I haven’t worked specifically with student with EBD, but the few occasions that I have worked with students I use simplistic measurements in the beginning and made more difficult ones once I started to get the understand of the student more. Starting off simple worked for me. Finding something that you need to measure can be difficult too. I would go about it with measuring something in number of times that happen in a day or in a certain time limits. Then I would go about decreasing the behavior based on the data. Using data trackers work wonders!

[Rachael]

I sort of understand what you went through or are still going through. The school I am at we are getting audited this year so everyone is making sure that everything is squared away to be the way it's suppose to be and make sure all goals are being met. The EBD teacher at the school we feel she isn't doing her job correctly and that she isn't following through with the students FBA's or BIB's. It's interesting to read and hear about everyone elses school and how things are ran there. Thank you for sharing.

[Daniel Dale]

Richard,

I love your questions and discussion. As a grad student in an early childhood Sp. Ed. program (at Hunter College in NYC) who is not yet a special ed teacher, I may be in no position to give advice, but I have some ideas I thought I'd share just in case something may be worth exploring.

I am currently doing student teaching, and one of my assignments involves doing a case study, collecting baseline data, planning and implementing an intervention, etc. (while at the same time creating lesson plans and teaching lessons in the classroom, on a daily basis). I have run up against frustrations similar to those you "vent" on above. It often seems that one is at times expected to provide data on things that are so intangible as to defy quantification. As you are a philosopher, your standards for logic may be higher than what the expectations are for your new profession, I would venture to guess.

I think teaching involves lots of reliance on intuition, which may escape logical arguments (or require too much time for us to find a way of rationally explaining), and I think the special ed profession now asks us to quantify the intangibles we do best intuitively.

What to do? I know that it was a great relief to me, in any case, when my professor suggested to me that I could simply collect and chart data for "on-task" and "off-task" behavior. Depending on context, this could be applied to many things, and on paper the data collected would provide a neat-looking picture of something that previously seemed only able to be captured in narratives. To make this approach justifiable, then, I believe one need only provide a concise and clear operational definition of the behavior one is recording. What constitutes being on- or off-task in the setting must be explained with multiple, practical examples.

This would be applied in the case of "appropriate social interactions" you referred to, by giving a list of examples of appropriate and non-appropriate (whether in terms of age-appropriate, or in terms of safety, or whatever) types of interactions.

Then, if possible, you can pick a certain time of day, or activity/period, during which to take snapshots of behavior, e.g. every 5 minutes (a timer may be used). This was my professor's recommendation to me, and I found it to be the one way I could achieve the data collection requirements of my case study assignment while still remaining an active participant in the classroom and not a researcher acting like a fly on the wall. So, even while in the middle of teaching a lesson, I am able to keep tabs on a particular child and collect data. When the 5 minute interval has passed and the alarm sounds, I merely take a glance at the child and check off on my notepad next to me if he is on or off task in terms of the expectations of the present moment.

Whenever the timer goes off, merely take a quick glance at the child, and make an x on a prepared chart (e.g., scribbled on an index card) to show, for each 5-min interval, whether the child was on or off task.

I also found the first few chapters of Scheuermann & Hall's "Positive Behavioral Supports for the Classroom," by to be very useful. (For example, explanations of how to create an "operative definition" of a behavior.

I realize this doesn't fix the overarching problem of a system that often asks so much that it may be impossible to do it all well, and, as you say, keep your sanity......

The teacher used to have a lot more autonomy to do as he or she felt needed to be done, without having to provide "data" to justify everything. Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far now, to the point where all the paperwork and justification, detracts from the actual doing. I know that from a data-recording standpoint, operational definitions are necessary, particularly for inter-observer agreement and reproducibility, but as pointed out in an interesting blog post (not by an educator but a software developer), this kind of standardization does in essence make us "stupider." See "Operational definition = stupider people": http://processrants.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/operational-definition-stupider-people/

You are right to vent-- what is a philosopher to do?