Measuring Success

As a special education teacher, I struggle daily with tracking the progress of my students.  First, I have to determine what "progress" actually means.  Is progress the fact that no one sat on the tables today or that all the words were spelled correctly on the weekly spelling tests?  Is progress measured by everyone sitting together at group time without anxiety, completing a math assignment independently or is success just simple having a calm day in the classroom.  My job as a teacher is of course to teach students academic skills in math, reading, writing.  But with my students diagnosed with autism, it consist of a little more than just the core subjects.  I find myself having to teach social cues along with coping methods that the students can use in stressful situations.   I have to teach the students to work independently and I am constantly giving reassurance and building self esteem.  Now, I am not saying that these additional skills are not taught in a regular education classroom, but I feel it is amplified in a special education classroom.

Any one familiar with autism knows that the disorder creates an emotional roller coaster of ups and downs. My students have sensory issues which sometimes leads to sensory overload on certain days.  On the days that the students are calm and not irritated by their environment, academics are the focus of the day.  But there are somedays when lack of sleep, hunger, environmental distractions or unknown causes rule the day.  On those days, my wonderfully crafted lesson plans become obsolete because my students are not able to focus.  On those days it is very difficult to measure academic success but I might observe one student attempting to initiate a social interaction.  Would that be considered progress or do I just consider the results of a norm referenced test.

A few weeks ago, I was summoned into a parent conference for one of my students.  The parents felt that their child had not learned anything new from a year ago. They could not see the academic progress or determine the level of success their child was having in school It was of course their right to question what their daughter was learning and it was my job to show them the progress that their daughter had made. Armed with her portfolio of academic progress,  I was able to show to show the parents that the student had made remarkable progress in all academic areas.  But the areas that I wanted to point out the most were the progress in areas that were difficult to show at a parent conference.  They were the observation of her social skills, her coping abilities, and her ability to resolve conflicts in a positive way.  Fortunately, the student had improved in all areas but how do we judge the areas that are most important.  My answer to the question is simple this; we have to teach the students the skills necessary to function in society one day.  It is our hope that the children diagnosed with autism can one day acquired skills that would someday help them cope with a rigid socially structured society.  The necessary skills needed to accomplish this are different for each student.