Presuming Competence in Students with Significant Disabilities For too long, students with significant disabilities (SWSD) have been understood as little more than collections of low test scores and high needs. The very nature of a significant disability prevents educators from knowing with any certainty what a student’s true capabilities are, but the simple fact that a student’s IQ has been identified as “low,” or that they have complex physical or communication challenges, doesn’t automatically mean they are incapable. [More]
Leveraging Progress Monitoring for Student Success For students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), progress monitoring has meaningfully changed in recent years – from a required, compliance-driven exercise to one that truly provides data on a child’s progress, thus informing his or her instruction. At the same time, educators continue to struggle with it. When conducted effectively, progress monitoring can be used as a critical tool to drive instruction. But when conducted poorly, or nonexistent, a lack of progress monitoring can hinder a student’s academic and functional growth and have avoidable, distracting, and costly legal ramifications. [More]