Gifted Network Meeting: PLEP-The Foundation of an Effective GIEP

1. Gifted Network Meeting: PLEP-The Foundation of an Effective GIEP Timothy J. Runge, Ph.D., NCSP Assistant Professor Director, Center for Gifted Education

2. Legal Requirements Regarding PLEP

3. Chapter 16[http://www.pacode.com] • § 16.32. GIEP. • (a) The GIEP team, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter shall, based upon the evaluation report, develop an initial GIEP and arrive at a determination of educational placement. Revisions to GIEPs, changes in educational placement, or continuation of educational placement for a student determined to be a gifted student shall be made by the GIEP team based upon a review of the student’s GIEP and instructional activities, present levels of educational performance, as well as on information in the most recent evaluation.

4. Chapter 16 Continued… [http://www.pacode.com] • § 16.32. GIEP. • (d)  The GIEP of each gifted student shall be based on the GMDT’s written report and contain the following: • (1)  A statement of the student’s present levels of educational performance. • (2)  A statement of annual goals and short-term learning outcomes which are responsive to the learning needs identified in the evaluation report. • (3)  A statement of the specially designed instruction and support services to be provided to the student. For a student with disability identified as eligible under 34 CFR 300.8 (relating to child with a disability), this would include accommodations and modifications in accordance with 34 CFR 300.320(a)(4) (relating to definitions of individualized education program). • (4)  Projected dates for initiation, anticipated frequency, location and anticipated duration of gifted education. • (5)  Appropriate objective criteria, assessment procedures and timelines for determining, on at least an annual basis, whether the goals and learning outcomes are being achieved. • (6)  The names and positions of GIEP team participants and the date of the meeting.

5. Legal Requirements • Chapter 16 has no timelines/permission requirements for Present Levels of Educational Performance (PLEP) testing • But Chapter 16 is strikingly clear that PLEP forms the basis of developing a strong, appropriate, (and defensible) GIEP • How can you program effectively if you don’t have comprehensive, current PLEP?

6. Best Practices Regarding PLEP

7. Best Practices • PLEP forms the basis for annual goals and short-term learning outcomes • Must be updated each year • Must include information that clearly identifies functional levels • Must be data driven • Variety of assessment tools should be used • PLEP testing should yield specific grade level results for each academic subject • Should identify strengths and prioritize needs of the student • PLEP should provide a cohesive and holistic picture of the student

8. Appropriate and Inappropriate Information to Include in PLEP

9. Who Contributes to PLEP? • EVERYONE on GIEP Team: • Regular Education teachers • Gifted Education teacher • Parents • Student • Support Personnel (i.e., School Counselor, School Psychologist, Administrator, Extracurricular Advisor)

10. What to Include in PLEP • Ability and Assessment Test Scores • Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III: Cog) • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB-5) • Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC 2) • Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) • Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) • Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) • Bilingual Verbal Abilities Test (BVAT) • Raven Progress Matrices

11. What to Include in PLEP • Group and Individual Achievement Measures • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-III) • Woodcock-Johnson Test of Individual Achievement (WJ-III: Ach) • Benchmark assessments (e.g., 4Sight, Study Island, AIMSweb, DIBELS, Yearly Progress Pro, STAR, MBSP) • Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) • Terra Nova / California Achievement Test / Iowa • Curriculum-Based Assessments (more on this later…)

12. What to Include in PLEP • Grades • Report card grades (including mid-term / final exams) • Classroom performance (e.g., teacher comments, project grades) • Progress on goals - Report on student’s progress on attaining annual Goals and short-term learning outcomes established in previous GIEPs • Instructional levels – Establishes starting point for instruction during the time period covered by the GIEP. Use Results of above-level testing, curriculum-based assessments, and other measures to determine current level of functioning. • Iowa Acceleration Scale • Purdue Academic Rating Scale • CBA (more in a bit…)

13. What to Include in PLEP • Aptitudes, interests, specialized skills, products and evidence of effectiveness in other academic areas • Scales for Identifying Gifted Students (SIGS) School Version Rating Scale* • Gifted Evaluation Scale – 3 (GES-3)* • Gifted Rating Scale (GRS)* • IOWA Acceleration Scales 2* • Screening Assessment for Gifted Elementary and Middle School Students (SAGES 2)* • Test of Mathematical Abilities for Gifted Students (TOMAGS)* • Fisher Comprehension Assessment of Giftedness Scale (Multicultural assessment of behavior, creativity) • Renzulli / Hartman Scale • Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scale (GATES) • Learning Styles Inventory • Creative Thinking Assessments

14. Scales for Identifying Gifted Students (SIGS) Ages: 5-18 Raters: School rating scale form and home rating scale form Length: 7 scales; 12 items per scale Domains assessed: general intellectual ability, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, creativity, and leadership Product information link: http://www.prufrock.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=170

15. Gifted Evaluation Scale Ages: 5-18 Raters: anyone familiar with the student (e.g. classroom teacher, clinical personnel, other school personnel) Length: 48 items; 20 minutes Domains assessed: intellectual, creativity, specific academic aptitude, leadership ability, performing and visual arts Product information link: http://www.hawthorne-ed.com/images/gifted/samples/swf_files/h04150sb.pdf

16. Gifted Rating Scale • Ages: 4:0- 6:11 & 6:0-13:11 • Raters: teachers • Length: 5-10 minutes • GRS-P: 60 items • GRS-S: 72 items • Domains assessed • GRS-P: intellectual, academic readiness, motivation, creativity and artistic talent • GRS-S: intellectual, academic, motivation, creativity, leadership and artistic talent • Product information link: http://www.pearsonassessments.com/HAIWEB/Cultures/en-us/Productdetail.htm?Pid=015-8130-502&Mode=summary

17. IOWA Acceleration Scales – 2 Grades: K-8 Raters: Child study team consisting of child’s parents, teachers, counselor or school psychologist, an administrator, and a gifted teacher or coordinator Length: 1.5 - 2 hours Domains assessed: assesses whether a child should be accelerated Product information link: http://www.giftedbooks.com/productdetails.asp?id=92

18. Screening Assessment for Gifted Elementary and Middle School Students SAGES 2: K-3 & 4-8 Ages: 7-12 Length: 30-45 minutes Domains assessed: aptitude and achievement in mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, and non-verbal reasoning Product information link: http://www.prufrock.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=128

19. Test of Mathematical Abilities for Gifted Students (TOMAGS) Grades: K-6 Length:30-60 minutes Domains assessed: mathematical reasoning and mathematical problem solving Product information link: http://www.prufrock.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=84

20. What to Include in PLEP • Areas of strengths • Review of objective criteria • Student/teacher reflection • Rates of acquisition and retention • Ability to utilize a variety of higher level thinking skills/strategies • Ability to produce, create and elaborate ideas or concepts • Specialized skills, abilities or aptitudes • Awareness and appreciation for aesthetics • Developed and conversed sense of humor • Talents in the visual, written and performing arts • Talents in science and mathematics • Motivated and interested in learning experiences • Demonstration of leadership and interpersonal abilities • Diverse interests in philosophy and other principles • Advanced development, elaboration and usage of vocabulary

21. What NOT to Include in PLEP… • Test scores that are two or more years old • Negative statements in a student’s area of strengths • Jargon • Insufficient information • Vague statements

22. Some Words About CBA

23. What is Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA)? “Direct observation and recording of a student’s performance in the local curriculum as a basis for gathering information to make instructional decisions” (Deno, 1987 as cited in Hintze, Christ, & Methe, 2006, p. 45).

24. Support for CBA Students are directly assessed on the curriculum that is being taught Directly linked to instructional objectives Provide reliable and valid measures of student performance Quick and easy to administer Great for progress monitoring Sensitive to student change

25. Criterion-Referenced CBA (Blankenship, Idol, and colleagues) • Overarching goal- One, determine the specific instructional level at which the student is performing and two, determine the curricular materials that are necessary to improve student learning • Stepwise Process: • Select items from across the curriculum or develop items to match the curriculum. • Order items by difficulty and combine them within a single test. • Create two or more test forms containing similar items and administer on Days 2 and 3. • Student performance is compared to mastery criteria • According to Shinn et. al., (1989) – test formats tend to approximate “teacher-made” tests

26. CBA – Math 6th Grade Example

27. Or Better Yet…. • PDE SAS – Assessment Creator http://www.pdesas.org/Assessment/Search

28. PLEP Examples

29. Example #1

38. Example #2

50. Integration of PLEP into the GIEP and Educational Planning