Quality of Individualized Education Program Goals of Preschoolers With Disabilities

Abstract

Individualized education programs (IEPs) are a fundamental mechanism for making special education services unique for the child and for enhancing the developmental outcomes of children with disabilities. If written IEP goals diverge, however, from recommended practices, they might result in ineffective interventions. This study investigated the quality of Portuguese IEP goals written for 83 preschoolers with disabilities attending public preschool classrooms from 21 school groups from the District of Lisbon, Portugal. The quality of IEP goals was measured using the Goal Functionality Scale III (R. A. McWilliam, 2009) and the IEP/Individualized Family Service Plan Goals and Objectives Rating Instrument (A. R. Notari, 1988). Results showed that IEP goals were too broad, lacked functionality and measurability, and did not appropriately address skills within the context of natural routines and settings. Moreover, findings indicate that measurability was slightly higher the more severe the children's disabilities were and that autonomy (ie, self-help) goals were somewhat more functional and measurable than were social, language, cognitive, and motor goals. Findings raise concerns about the effectiveness of interventions based on such goals in enhancing children's developmental outcomes and suggest the need for clear guidelines on the development of effective IEPs and teacher training on developing high-quality goals.

Práticas atuais e ideais em intervenção precoce no Alentejo: Perceções dos profissionais

“…Este é o item em que os profissionais de IPI se manifestam mais em concordância com as práticas recomendadas, relacionadas com a formulação de objetivos funcionais e significativos, necessários para o funcionamento das crianças nas rotinas diárias, em contextos naturais (Bruder, 2000). Note-se, contudo, que estudos que analisaram diretamente a qualidade dos objetivos, incluídos em PIAF ou PEI de crianças Portuguesas, encontraram objetivos de qualidade moderada (Campelo & Nunes, 2008) ou pobre (Boavida, Aguiar, McWilliam, & Pimentel, 2010). Noutra investigação, efetuada por Salisbury, Woods e Copeland (2010), foi demonstrado que a maior parte dos objetivos definidos no PIAF tinham características que não iriam aumentar a interação das crianças com os adultos ou com os objetos.…”

A Training Program to Improve IFSP/IEP Goals and Objectives Through the Routines-Based Interview

“…The contextual basis of this needs assessment encourages families to think about the details of their everyday lives, thus promoting their ability to specify what they want to change. The need for this training in Portugal was evident from aforementioned existing data about the low quality of Portuguese IEP/IFSP goals and objectives (Boavida et al, 2010;Campelo & Nunes, 2008;Valentim, 2006). In the following sections, the rationale for in-service training is presented, along with a description of how the program was developed and a description of the final version of the program.…”

“…Boavida, Aguiar, McWilliam, and Pimentel (2010) found a mean of 38.18 goals per IEP, ranging from 4 to 95. Furthermore, Portuguese plans have lacked specificity in the writing of goals and objectives (i.e., did not address observable or measurable behaviors) and inadequately contextualized skills within natural routines and settings (Boavida et al, 2010;Campelo & Nunes, 2008;Valentim, 2006).…”

“…Boavida, Aguiar, McWilliam, and Pimentel (2010) found a mean of 38.18 goals per IEP, ranging from 4 to 95. Furthermore, Portuguese plans have lacked specificity in the writing of goals and objectives (i.e., did not address observable or measurable behaviors) and inadequately contextualized skills within natural routines and settings (Boavida et al, 2010;Campelo & Nunes, 2008;Valentim, 2006). These results are consistent with previous research on American IEP and IFSP goals (Goodman & Bond, 1993;Grisham-Brown & Hemmeter, 1998;Jung & McWilliam, 2005;Pretti-Frontczak & Bricker, 2000;Yell & Stecker, 2003) and support the need for strategies to bridge the gap between recommended and actual practice.…”

“…These results are consistent with previous research on American IEP and IFSP goals (Goodman & Bond, 1993;Grisham-Brown & Hemmeter, 1998;Jung & McWilliam, 2005;Pretti-Frontczak & Bricker, 2000;Yell & Stecker, 2003) and support the need for strategies to bridge the gap between recommended and actual practice. Thus, interventions aiming to support ECI and ECSE professionals in the development of family-centered, meaningful, measurable, and functional goals are of critical importance (Boavida et al, 2010). Because the low quality of Portuguese IEP goals and objectives might be associated with a lack of full understanding of familycentered practices, training should focus on practices consistent with a family-centered conceptual framework for developing the IFSP or IEP (Jung & McWilliam, 2005).…”