A parent opens the quarterly progress report. Under the speech goal, in the clinician's own words: "Improving." That is the whole entry. The parent has questions: improving from what, to what, and how fast?
A progress report is where session data meets the family. It is usually short, and it is often the part of the IEP that families read most closely. This guide shows how to turn the data you already collect into sentences that say something.
What the rule asks for
Section 300.320 requires the IEP to describe how the child's progress toward the annual goals will be measured and when periodic reports on that progress will be provided, such as quarterly reports or reports issued with report cards. The measure comes from the goal. The report is where you give the result.
Illinois's recommended practices for school OT and PT describe a progress report as a written document summarizing student progress and response to any interventions over the course of the IEP. They say the content may include a summary of the interventions used, the student's progress toward the goal, whether the student achieved it, the student's present level of performance, and continued educational needs in the therapist's area. They also say practitioners may integrate their report into the IEP, write a joint report, or write a separate one.
A four-part pattern
Most good progress sentences carry four things, in this order.
| Part | What it says | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | In a few words, what the student is working on | "Using past-tense verbs correctly" |
| The starting point | The baseline and its date | "In September, 4 of 10" |
| The latest result | The most recent data, with the date and the number of chances | "On Oct 10, 8 of 10 with no cue" |
| What next | What changes, or what the team will do | "Next, the same skill in a story retell" |
Put together: "Past-tense verbs: 4 of 10 in September, 8 of 10 on Oct 10 with no cue. Next, the same skill in a story retell."
Swapping vague words for facts
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| "Improving" | "Up from 4 of 10 in September to 7 of 10 in October" |
| "Made good progress" | "Now answers on his own on 7 of 10 pictures. In September he needed a verbal cue on most" |
| "Needs more time" | "At 5 of 10, below the 8 of 10 target. Will try shorter tasks and review the data in January" |
| "Mastered" | "Met the goal: 8 of 10 or better in three weekly checks, Sept 26 to Oct 10" |
| "Slow progress" | "Gained 1 point in six weeks. The team may want to review the goal" |
The right column is longer than the left. It is also the only one a family can check.
Name the data
Say where the number came from. "From five probes between Sept 12 and Oct 10" or "from the weekly data sheet" tells the reader the number is not a guess. If someone else collected some of the data, say who. And if there are gaps, say so: "No data for the week of Oct 17 because the student was absent."
AOTA's decision guide recommends plotting data at regular intervals, including a goal line or target, and sharing trends with the IEP team. If your district allows a small chart with the report, a line that rises toward the target can say as much as a paragraph.
When progress is slow
Slow progress is information, and it is better said clearly than hidden. The Illinois practices say that a practitioner who decides a student is not making adequate progress should communicate with other team members to decide whether an IEP meeting is warranted to consider changes to services, supports, or strategies. They also say revisions to goals and strategies should be based on the data collected.
So your sentence can say two things at once: where the student is, and that the team will look at it. "At 5 of 10, below the 8 of 10 target for this point in the year. I will ask the team to review the goal and the supports" is honest and gives the family something to expect. Do not promise what only the team can decide.
When services were interrupted
If sessions were missed, the report should not pretend otherwise. Wisconsin's guidance on interruptions says that when missed services may have affected progress, decisions about compensatory services are based on the extent of what was missed and the effect on progress, including a review of progress monitoring data on the affected goals. That is the reason to keep data regularly and to log gaps accurately, as described in documenting make-up sessions. In the report, state the dates of missed sessions and the data you have, and leave the decision to the team.
Plain words for families
- Spell out abbreviations, or avoid them. "Cue" is fine if you say what kind: "a spoken reminder."
- Describe what the student does, not what the data are called. "Answers on his own" beats "independent response rate."
- Use the same terms across reports, so a family can compare quarter to quarter.
- Leave out jargon that you would not say aloud at a meeting.
Who reads it
A progress report is an education record. A parent may read it closely, a teacher may use it to plan, and a new clinician may read it at a transfer. Write it to be understood by all three. Keep it factual, as described in objective language in school session notes.
Progress-report slips
- A percent with no chances. "80 percent" could be four of five or eighty of a hundred.
- A result with no date. The reader cannot tell how recent it is.
- A goal copied in full. The report should be shorter than the goal.
- Silence about a stall. A flat line deserves a sentence.
- Different terms each quarter. Changing the wording makes real progress hard to see.
For the sheet behind the numbers, see progress data sheets for IEP goals. For where the starting point comes from, read baseline data for IEP goals. Terms are in the glossary.