Special Right Triangles Progress Monitoring Probes

About this resource

One skill, start to finish. A special right triangles IEP goal, four equivalent untimed probe forms that measure it, an answer key and a graph scaled to the probe. Baseline on Monday, goal written by Tuesday, first data point on Friday.

Every form has eight problems over two student pages, four problems a page: four 45-45-90 triangles and four 30-60-90 triangles. On every problem one side is given and the student finds the two missing sides, labeled x and y, and writes each in a box, as a whole number or with a simple square root, such as 5 or 5 root 2. The given side moves from problem to problem: a leg, the short leg, the long leg or the hypotenuse, and the triangles are drawn both ways round. The kinds of problem are in the same places on every form, so the score means the same thing on Form A and on Form D. No ratio reference is printed on a student form, so the probe shows what the student knows; a teacher reference page is included for students whose IEP allows one.

WHAT IS INCLUDED - 24 pages, four probe forms of eight problems each (32 problems, none repeated), 8 student form pages, a student warm-up page on the two side ratios, a two-page answer key, a directions page, a teacher notes page, a two-triangles side-by-side teacher reference page, a binder cover and divider tabs, a family update page

Start Here And The Goal

• A one-page quick start: six steps and which page is for which job
• A goal page with a sample goal (every bracket meant to be edited), the goal frame as type-in fields, a baseline table and three benchmark rows
• Lines for your district's own rules, this student's scoring rules and the supports the IEP allows

Four Probe Forms, A Through D

• A big My name line, one short instruction with a pencil picture, and a drawn triangle with its angles, the right-angle mark and the three sides labeled for every problem
• Problems 1, 3, 5 and 7 are 45-45-90 triangles (a leg given, then the hypotenuse given); problems 2, 4, 6 and 8 are 30-60-90 triangles (the short leg, the hypotenuse or the long leg given)
• Two answer boxes, x and y, on every problem
• No answers, goal text or scoring strip on a student sheet

Warm-Up Page

• One student page with a 45-45-90 and a 30-60-90 triangle: write the hypotenuse, long leg and hypotenuse for a side of 1 and for a side of n, then write what you notice about the sides. Answers are on the teacher reference page.

Directions, Answer Key And Teacher Notes

• A directions page: what to say, what is on every form, how each kind of problem is placed
• A two-page answer key with a mark box per problem, both answers shown in radical form, how they come out, and the kind of triangle named
• Reading the misses: doubling instead of root 2, putting root 3 on the wrong side, going from the hypotenuse back to a leg, misses that cluster on one kind of triangle, writing the answer
• A side-by-side reference page: the 45-45-90 and the 30-60-90 with their side ratios, and the answers to the warm-up page

Data Log, Graph And Caseload

• A graph scaled 0 to 8 with twelve probe columns and a ten-row log
• A caseload summary grid, a filled-in example with a plotted graph (Marcus, invented) and a family update and team handoff page

Standards Note

Special right triangles appear in high school geometry. Check your own state's standards and your student's IEP for the wording you use.

How To Use It

Give Forms A, B and C on three different days and take the middle score as the baseline. Write the goal from the sample on the goal page. Then give one form a week in rotation, score it with the key, log it, plot it and look at the last three points.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF. The goal page, data log, caseload page, family update page and the mark boxes on the answer key 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 print: the student writes on paper.

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. Your district's own rules for goals and scoring go on the blank lines provided.

Who This Is For

Ninth and tenth grade special education teachers and case managers writing special right triangles goals, geometry and math intervention teachers, and the paraprofessionals who give the weekly probe.