Technology's Role in Progress Monitoring Non-Academic IEP Goals

In 1975, a free, appropriate public education was granted for all students regardless of their disabilities. As a result, the special education landscape has constantly been reshaped by new policies and legislation. Progress monitoring calls for the use of data collection to determine the appropriateness of services provided to students with disabilities. The recent Supreme Court ruling in Endrew F. v. Douglas County SD warrants giving increased attention to student progress, specifically pertaining to improving functional skills that are addressed outside the general education academic curriculum. While using technology to enhance data collection has become a common practice for measuring academic growth, its application for non-academic individualized education program (IEP) goals is uncertain. This mixed-methods study examined current practices and rationales for implementing technology-based progress monitoring focused on non-academic IEP goals. Fifty-seven participants responded to an online survey regarding their progress-monitoring programs for non-academic goals. After isolated analysis and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative results, data was synthesized to produce meta-inferences that drew broader conclusions on the topic. The findings from this study highlight facts impacting the use of technology-based progress monitoring. Furthermore, tools being used for progress monitoring non-academic IEP goals are summarized, along with barriers and benefits to using these tools. Based on these conclusions, recommendations are made to IEP teams, school districts, and software developers to improve the progress-monitoring process. Further research is suggested to further explore the topic of progress monitoring on non-academic IEP goals.%%%%Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management  – Drexel University, 2017