Based on the scenario developed for Frank Malone, a sample EP was developed for you. Let me introduce you to Frank.
Student # 012345678
Intermediate Elementary
Frank J. Malone
Frank is a fifth grade student who loves to write and has an exceptionally high level of vocabulary. He scored a perfect 6 on his FCAT Writes in fourth grade and now considers himself to be a writing expert, accepting no constructive criticism on any writing assignments. Frank takes pride in work that he does complete and loves to share by presenting to the class.
Frank’s parents state that at home, he is an avid writer and he is working on a novel he began in third grade. He continues to work on the novel, rereading and revising moving forward very slowly. He also enjoys watching the Discovery Channel and writing scripts for shows on Animal Planet.
Frank’s current teacher has to constantly motivate Frank to move forward during classwork. She notes that he erases and crosses out excessively until he is totally satisfied with his work product. Many of his assignments are continued as homework, which does not always come back because he is still revising! She also has to closely monitor any situations where the students provide feedback and constructive criticism other because Frank can become hostile or shut down, refusing to share at all. He also tends to proceed very slowly with science experiments and labs because he will not move on until everything is just so.
On his current FCAT SSS he achieved a level 5 on the reading, and level 4 on his math, and a level 3 on science. His teacher states that he proceeded slowly with science experiments and labs because he would not move on until everything is just so. On the NRT Frank’s scores were 97% on the math and 80% on the reading.
Now, take a look at the EP that was developed especially for Frank using Broward County's EP form.
Now that you have all this information about Frank, how do you use it to develop a plan that is going to help him work up to his potential, continue to show growth and progress, and also encourage him to stretch? Always keep in mind that the purpose of the curriculum and learning domain is to guarantee that Frank continues to progress in his area of strength, his area of expertise! (For the purpose of this course we will only be working with the curriculum and learning domain. If you encounter a child who also has issues that must be addressed in independent functioning or social/emotional domains, you develop your goals using the weaker areas.)
Based on the information collected from the data, you begin writing the Present Level of Performance (PLP) and the priority educational needs. This is a summary of Frank’s strengths and what is necessary for him to continue building on these. You are combining information gathered from his parents and teachers. The State mandates that recent state and district test scores be included. Then any other relevant performance documentation can be added to create a summarized portrait of the child. From this information you will develop the student’s Priority Educational Need.
In the curriculum and learning domain, the Priority Educational Need addresses the student’s academic strength. For example in Frank’s case, his strength is in writing. Therefore his Priority Educational Need is to participate in an accelerated and enriched writing curriculum.
The annual measurable goal is the big picture; it is what you want Frank to master over the duration of the EP (usually 2 to 3 years). Looking at his area(s) of strength, how can we guide him to make continuous progress?
The key is to keep your goals broad. As the sample EP states, “Frank will create a portfolio of his writing with at least five samples from five different genres of literature.” See the EP Manual for more specific examples of how to write goals and objectives. As you can see, Frank’s goal is very broad and long term. Additionally, every goal needs to be measurable. In Frank’s EP the words “… with a minimum score of 90 percent on a teacher generated rubric” fulfills the measurable requirement of his goal.