WritingaComprehensiveReportinSpecialEducation-National.ppt

WRITING A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT IN SPECIAL EDUCATION National Association of Special Education Teachers Overview of Report Writing Many different professionals may provide input in the assessment of a child with a suspected disability. When this occurs, a comprehensive report based on the findings must be written. The purpose of this report is to communicate results in such a way that the reader will understand the rationale behind the recommendations, and will be able to use the recommendations as practical guidelines for intervention. Overview of Report Writing This report may be presented to the parent, sent to an outside doctor or agency, or presented to the Eligibility Committee. In any case, the report needs to be professional, comprehensive, and practical. Writing a good report is a real skill. The fact is, all the wonderful data collection becomes useless if it cannot be interpreted and explained in a clear and concise manner. Overview of Report Writing For example, being too general or explaining results poorly creates many problems and confusion for readers. Also, citing numerous general recommendations will not be practical for the school, teacher, or parents. Writing a report that contains jargon that no one other than you understands is also useless. Completing an extremely lengthy report in an attempt to be too comprehensive will result only in losing your reader. PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR REPORT WRITING When writing a report, the key is to be as comprehensive as possible while being clear and concise. To do this effectively, it is important to understand some very practical guidelines. Listed below are some practical guidelines to follow when writing an educational report. PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR REPORT WRITING Write the report in the third person using phrases such as: According to the examiner It was felt that There seems to be It is the professional opinion of this evaluator that Never write “I think” or “If it were up to me” This is not