Welcome to issue #4 of Around the IEP Table, Reader!

Intentional Thought ⭐

Baseline data isn't about proving and knowing what your student can do right now so you can see how far they go.

Baseline data is one of those special education terms we use constantly. "Collect your baseline data." "You need a baseline before writing the goal." "Make sure you get beginning of the year baselines." But what are we actually talking about? What does any of it mean?

Simple terms: baseline data is a snapshot of what a student can do right now, before instruction or intervention begins, and it comes before you begin measuring progress on the skill.

More simply put, baseline data establishes the starting point. And you can't accurately measure change if you don't know where the student started, which is why that starting point matters so much because eventually we're going to ask:

• Did what we did work?
• Did the student make progress?
• Did the Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) help?
• Is the student moving toward mastery of their IEP goal?
• Do we need to change something?

Even though it is September and it's the beginning of the school year, baseline data isn't something we collect once in September and then forget about. You'll want to establish a new baseline anytime you need a clear starting point for what comes next. That might be when you're preparing to write a new IEP or annual goal, when a new skill is being introduced or targeted, when you're beginning a new intervention or instructional approach, and/or when existing data doesn't clearly tell you what the student can currently do.

But beginning of the year student baseline data is especially valuable, for multiple reasons: maybe the student regressed over summer, maybe the IEP was written 6 months ago, maybe the IEP goal was written by another teacher, or maybe you just want to be proactive for ESY conversations in the Spring. So before you spend weeks implementing an IEP based entirely on someone else's snapshot of this student... take your own data.

Then as you collect data through October, November, January, March... you aren't just looking at another percentage in a year-old Present Levels section. You're comparing it to where the student started at the beginning of the year with you.

Community Spotlight

Which brings us to the question teachers ask every year: “Okay... but what should I actually use to collect baseline data?” The answer isn't necessarily one giant beginning of the year district-provided assessment (which I don't think actually exists for special education? If it does, I've never seen it...). On the flip side of that, I'd rather you collect targeted data on specific skills than collect a bunch of data on random skills that you then don't know what to do with. WHERE TO START Start with the student's IEP. Look at the Present Levels. Look at the IEP goals. Look at the skills you're responsible for teaching and monitoring. Then ask yourself: What do I need to know about this student's current performance to teach them well? Then you choose the tool that will best help you answer that question (re: get that data). That tool might be a curriculum-based measure, work sample, observation, checklist, teacher input, student interview, or a targeted skill Screener. And yes - this is exactly why we built Screeners into The Intentional IEP System.

Inside the System

There are 2,000+ print-and-ready-to-use Screeners inside TIIS, covering academic and non-academic skills for PreK-6th... and you can also create your own on any skill with our Screener Generator.

Academic skill based Screeners are quick assessments designed to help you dig into a specific skill and establish what the student can currently do. The non-academic Screeners use observation checklists to help you gather information in areas that don't make sense to assess with a worksheet or traditional test.

The best part is: you don't have to hunt down a random assessment online.

Identify what you need to know → choose the right way to measure it → establish your starting point → use that information to decide what comes next. That's intentional data collection.

​Try a few Screeners on me, or you can locate the Screeners inside the Goal Bank or in the Screener Bank, and our Screener Generator here.

Beyond the System

Starting a new IEP goal without baseline data is like trying to navigate anywhere without a map... or plan... or any idea of what you're supposed to be doing. In this free training, I'm giving you a complete walkthrough of The Intentional IEP System's IEP Screeners.

• And then here are 12 free Screeners you can use to get that baseline data.

This Week's Focus

This week, I want you to:

✅ Collect baseline data on at least 3 students.

Start with the IEP → Identify what you actually need to know → Choose the right data source → Get the data → Then use the baseline to decide what happens next.

Looking Ahead

Don't let the baseline data overwhelm you. If you're freshly back into the classroom or if you've been back in school for a few weeks now and haven't yet collected baseline data - it's not too late.

You're doing a great job and I'm proud of the work you're doing!

Stephanie
Founder, The Intentional IEP