Contractions Progress Monitoring Probes

About this resource

One skill, start to finish. A contractions IEP goal, six equivalent probe forms that measure it, and a graph scaled to the probe. Baseline on Monday, goal written by Tuesday, first data point on Friday.

Contractions are on most early reading goal banks and almost nothing measures them on their own.

WHAT IS INCLUDED - 15 pages, five probe forms, FIELDS_TBD type-in fields, a binder cover and divider tabs, a family update page

A Binder Cover And Divider Tabs

• A binder cover with student, case manager and school year fields, cut and slide into a binder front or folder tab
• Six divider tabs, one per section of this file, print and cut

The Goal Page

• What the probe measures, in one paragraph
• A sample goal, invented, with every bracket meant to be edited by the team
• The six-part goal frame as type-in fields: by (date), given, student will, criterion, on ___ of ___ consecutive probes, as measured by
• A baseline table: three probes and the median
• Three benchmark rows with target date, target score, actual score and met
• The administration and scoring directions
• Lines for this student's own scoring rules, and a box for what the errors say to reteach

Five Probe Forms, A Through E

• Ten contractions per form from a 55-word bank
• FIVE forms, not six: fifty contractions across them, none on two forms. There are only so many common contractions, and the build refuses to make a sixth form rather than repeat one
• Reading the two words it stands for (do not for don't) is scored as an error on this probe, because the goal is reading the contraction. Whether your team counts it as correct is a line on the goal page - the score box on the form does not
• Every form carries the goal it measures: the sample goal, plus a type-in box for the goal as written for this student, so the goal prints on the sheet the person giving the probe is holding
• A teacher scoring strip, 1 to 10, and a Correct ___ / 10 box at the foot of every form
• Name, date and form letter at the top

The Data Log And Graph

• A y-axis already scaled 0 to 10, twelve probe columns, and the instruction to draw the aim line from the baseline to the criterion first
• A twelve-row log: date, form, correct, errors, the score used on the graph, and notes

The Caseload Summary

• Twelve student rows, baseline and criterion, eight probe columns, a trend column and a decision column
• For the data meeting: rows that are flat together are a group, a row that is flat alone is a different question

A Worked Example

• Wes, second grade, invented. Twelve weekly probes: the baseline taken as a median, the aim line, three points under it forcing a teaching change (matched each contraction to its two words, then read only the contraction), the criterion met, and the progress-report sentence the log produces. Every number in that sentence is on the log.

A Family Update And Team Handoff Page

• A family update with blanks for this week's score and how it compares to the goal, ready to send home or read at a conference
• A team handoff checklist for a substitute, a new provider or a shift change, so whoever gives the probe that week knows exactly what to do
• A meeting summary sentence with blanks for the two numbers off the log, ready to drop into the progress report

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF. The goal page, the goal box on every probe form, the data log and the caseload page are type-in fields: open the file in a PDF reader, click a line or a cell, type, and Save As once per student. The probe forms are meant to be printed; the student reads from paper and writes nothing. It works offline with no account or subscription. It does not calculate percents or draw the graph.

It is not a norm-referenced assessment and it carries no benchmark score or "typical" rate. The criteria in the sample goal are in brackets because your team sets them from the baseline and the student's IEP. Every probe is untimed on purpose; the goal page says so, so the condition stays the same all year.

Who This Is For

Special education teachers and case managers writing decoding goals for any age student, first and second grade intervention teachers, and the paraprofessionals who give the weekly probe.

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