Parent Education
Meeting
February 16, 2016
Agenda
• Understanding PLAAFPS
• Understanding IEPs
• State Assessment – STAAR, STAAR-A, and
STAAR-ALT
PLAAFP stands for...
 Present Level (PLAAFP) utilizes CURRENT data
 Academic Achievement (PLAAFP) focuses on what
specific kinds of academic information and skills
the student has mastered – such as reading at a
certain grade level / rate, or performing certain
mathematical calculations for example.
 Functional Performance (PLAAFP) refers to other
areas of achievement that are not academic. It
can include information about your child’s social
skills, communication skills, and other activities of
daily living (ADL).
TEA Resource
Region 20 IEP Goad Development Q & A Document revised
6/14/2015
Develop the PLAAFP
• Strengths & Needs
– What do we know about the student’s response to
academic instruction?
– What programs, accommodations and/or interventions
have been successful?
– What have we learned form previous IEPs and student
data that can inform decision making?
– Are there assessment data (i.e., state, district, classroom,
formal) that can provide useful info about strengths &
needs (patterns in data?)?
Develop the PLAAFP
• Factors related to disability
– How does the disability affect participation and
progress in the general curriculum?
– What supports does the student need to learn and
attain skills to progress in the general curriculum?
– Is the student on track to achieve grade level
proficiency within the year?
PLAAFP is the
basis on which the
ARD Committee
will write goals for
the student’s
Annual Review
year.
After reading the PLAAFP, we should
know…
1. How the child’s disability affects the involvement
& progress in the general education curriculum
2. Current Progress
3. Current accommodations & modifications
4. Student’s strengths / needs
5. Current supports the student used in the year
6. Baseline data
TEA Resource
• Region 20 IEP Goal Development Q & A
Document revised 2015
Questions 1.15, 1.16, 1.17 & 1.18
• Measurable annual goals are developed from
information contained in the PLAAFP
• Separate goals will need to be written for
each subject area where the PLAAFP indicates
a critical need
• The PLAAFP provides the baseline of where
the student is performing. That information
is then used to determine the progress that
can be reasonable expected in 1 year
PLAAFP
Short Term
Objectives
Annual Goal
Annual
Goal
OBJ. #3
OBJ. #2
OBJ. #1
PLAAFP
STAAR ALT 2
participants MUST
have at least 2
objectives per
academic goal
Success Ed has identified Five
PLAAFP areas:
• Physical
• Behavior
• Discipline
• Functional
• Academic
PLAAFP
Annual Goal
1. trace her name with
assistance,
2. bath, eat & dress herself
3. likes nursery rhymes and
country music
4. likes looking at picture books
5. match some colors and shapes
6. responds to verbal praise and
OBJ. #2
reinforcers
7. repeats words/phrases
OBJ. #1
PLAAFP
Short Term
Objectives
OBJ. #3
Annual Goal: Kelly will
solve mathematics
problems using visual
support 7 out of 10
times
PLAAFPs in Success Ed
• SE IEP Goals
– Student Narrative
• SE Manager
– Physical
– Behavior
– Discipline
– Functional…including
• Transition
• Vocational
• communication skills
– Academic
PLAAFPs that give a good picture
of the student follow these steps…
Define how the student's disability affects their
involvement and progress in the general curriculum
Describe the student as of today and indicate
amount of progress over the past year(s)
Defines your data source – use both qualitative & quantitative
Baseline data is measurable / observable / comparative
Define how the student's disability affects their
involvement and progress in the general curriculum
 This defines why they needed special education for
the disability.
 Do not use disability / eligibility condition but how
the disability affects them in the educational setting.
 How does this weakness get in the way of doing well
in the general education curriculum (TEKS)?
Describe the student as of today and indicate
amount of progress over the past year(s)
1. What are the current accommodations /
modifications in place?
2. Knowing data on student performance “with /
without” certain specially designed instruction
provides justification for why a particular acc /
mod is included in the IEP
3. Helpful if an Accommodation Request Form
(ARF) is needed for state testing
Describe the student as of today and indicate
amount of progress over the past year(s)
• Accommodations
change the how
of learning
• Modifications
change the what
of learning
Accommodations
ARE…
ARE NOT…
• Service or support
that helps students
access content and
instruction
• Changes to content or
performance
expectations
• Allows student to
accurately
demonstrate what
he/she knows
• Major changes to
standards
• Alterations to the big
idea or learning
outcome
(Nolet & McLaughlin, 2005)
Modifications
“Practices and procedures that change the
nature of the task or target skill.”
(TEA IEP Q & A 2013)
ARE…
Modifications
• Changes to content
or performance
expectations
• Thoughtfully
planned and tightly
aligned to enrolled
grade-level
standards
• Used when “all”
accommodations
have been
exhausted
ARE NOT…
• “Dumbing Down” the
curriculum
• Reducing a student’s
opportunity to learn
critical knowledge and
skills
• Teaching off grade level,
resulting in greater gaps
(Content courtesy of the IRIS Center,
Peabody College, 2004)
How do I know which it is?
• It all depends on the standards…
– What is the intent of the goal / standard?
*what should student know and be able to do?
*what ways must student demonstrate
competency of the standard?
– How does the teaching strategy / practice /
procedure impact the integrity of the content
standard?
How do I know which it is?
• The important concept is not what particular strategy is
an accommodation but the purpose of that
accommodation. It is something that offsets the impact
of the disability without changing the content standard
or performance expectation.
• In contrast, a modification, whatever it may be, and it
could be exactly the type of strategy or device that is
mentioned under an accommodation, but in this case
when it is applied, it actually changes or alters the
content standard or the performance expectation.
Margaret McLaughlin, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, University of Maryland, Courtesy of
IRIS Center, Peabody College, 2004
Know the TEKS
• Readiness Standards
• Supporting Standards
• Essence Statements
“Shorten Assignments”
• When might we recommend this?
• When is it an accommodation?
• When is it a modification?
“Calculation Device” to help with Xs
• 4th Grade Standard
(4.4) Number, operation, and
quantitative reasoning. The
student multiplies and divides
to solve meaningful problems
involving whole numbers. The
student is expected to:
(D) Use multiplication to solve
problems (no more than two
digits times two digits without
technology)
• 8th Grade Standard
(8.2) Number, operation, and
qunatitative reasoning. The
student selects and uses
appropirate operations to solve
problems and justify solutions.
The student is expected to:
(D) Use multiplication by a given
constant factor (including unit
rate) to represent and solve
problems involving proportional
relationships including
conversions between
measurement systems.
Accommodation or Modification?
Adaption
Adding more white space to a test or assignment
Providing a student with a list of five words to
include in a chapter summary
A student is to learn six new words when the
standard state that 10 new words will be learned
Allowing a student to respond orally to test
questions rather than taking a written test
The student uses an alternate curriculum rather
than the general education curriculum for a
specific subject level
Acc
Mod
Accommodation or Modification?
Adaption
Adding more white space to a test or assignment
Providing a student with a list of five words to
include in a chapter summary
A student is to learn six new words when the
standard state that 10 new words will be learned
Allowing a student to respond orally to test
questions rather than taking a written test
The student uses an alternate curriculum rather
than the general education curriculum for a
specific subject level
Acc
Mod
State Assessments
• STAAR
• STAAR-A (Participation Requirements)
• STAAR-ALT (Participation Requirements)
STAAR & STAAR-A
STAAR A is the same as STAAR in the following
ways:
• Same passing standards
• Same time limits
• Same assessed curriculum
• Same test blueprint
• Same progress measures
STAAR vs. STAAR-A
STAAR A is different than STAAR in the following ways:
• STAAR A contains accommodated STAAR test questions and
selections; however,
• not necessarily the same ones as STAAR on the day of the
test
• No field test questions (this applies to EOC only since STAAR
3-8 have no field test
• items in 2016)
• Online administration
• Embedded accommodations and accessibility features
• Braille and Spanish versions of the assessment are not
available