Keeping Track of Student Progress

Abstract

As of this writing, there appeared to be a lack of information on how schools were going to keep track of student cohort groups' progress. Given that the guidelines to meet the expectations of No Child Left Behind will be implemented in the 2005-2006 school year, this information should be more forthcoming within the next one to two years. Although the government will be requiring information on the results of state tests in the areas of math and reading/language arts and high school graduation rates, the bottom line is that educators need information in order to support and improve the instructional program for the students who had completed a specific exam and/or assessment. A word of caution recommended not to waste valuable resources by collecting data that will not be utilized. In order to support this, districts should check the data for its appropriateness, correctness, and usefulness. The literature suggested that teachers need information on every student, schools should look at high performing schools because most likely they will be the ones with the best practices, and to establish goals early on for the students' success post high school. Some high schools use a Personalized Education Plan to help students keep track of important information, goals, courses taken, and actions they need to take in order to be successful. In Rhode Island high schools, students are teamed with one advisor who is with them through their entire high school experience, the instructional program is set up to do interdisciplinary types of work, seniors present a final project, and those students with low reading and writing skills are given additional support.

Professional Training Needs for Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Inclusive Classrooms: Voices From Saudi Arabia

“…Thus, a questionnaire was developed for this study based on the review of the literature. Many of the survey items were drawn from the study conducted by Peckham-Hardin et al (2018) which provided evidence of the critical skills that special educators need for working with students with CCNs. Items addressing how to assess communication skills and selecting appropriate interventions were drawn from Brady et al (2016) whose study provided recommendations for such assessments and interventions.…”

“…Although the benefits of using AAC are supported by empirical evidence, educators often lack clear guidelines on how to implement AAC strategies in the classroom (Da Fonte & Boesch, 2016; Locke & Mirenda, 1992; Peckham-Hardin et al, 2018). This skills deficit may be attributed to the inadequacies of many pre-service training programs in AAC strategies, especially for special educators (Costigan & Light, 2010; Da Fonte & Boesch, 2016).…”