My Thoughts

Imagine you are the 5th grade classroom teacher and have two students in your class on IEP's. When it comes time to do report cards, your principal informs you that the grade you assign these two students should reflect their progress toward IEP goals and not how much of the in-class material they have mastered.  You also cannot make any notes to indicate this in the report card because that is illegal (this is true in Idaho and maybe other states).  Essentially, these two students will get A's in reading because they are making good progress, but they are unable to do 5th grade level work equal to that of most of their peers.  Please explain your thoughts about this.

I think that this would be a very hard situation to be in. I would do what I had to do but I would also make it a priority to inform the parents exactly of how the students are doing. I would call a meeting with the parents so that I can tell them how much they have progressed in their IEP goals but also how much they have progressed in class in general and the subjects or things they need to work on. I think that this is very important because it is essential to get the parents on the same page as you so that they understand fully about what is going on in class and how their child is doing. If the student also has a paraprofessional with them mostly I would also include them in the meeting.