The discrepancy conclusion addresses the question, “How does the child’s performance compare with general education classmates.” At the end of the annual goal period the student’s growth is compared to peers or a reasonable standard of performance for same grade peers. The discrepancy conclusion is different from the progress conclusion. The progress conclusion is referenced to the individual’s improvement toward the goal. The discrepancy conclusion compares gains to a norm or standard. Thus, an individual could meet his or her goal and yet be more discrepant from peers than before. The discrepancy judgment is independent of the progress conclusion and contains the five following options.

1. Discrepancy determined at the beginning of the goal period. For every IEP goal, the IEP team calculates the discrepancy between the student and peers, or a standard that relates to peers (developmental behaviors). This information is appropriately included in the PLEP statement on the IEP goal page in the section entitled “Baseline.” This discrepancy represents a gap.
2. Discrepancy determined at the end of the goal period. The discrepancy is calculated a second time using the same methods and materials as were used at the beginning of the goal period.
3. Compare the magnitude of the discrepancy. The discrepancy at the beginning and end of the goal period are compared for the purpose of judging the magnitude of change. Using the same measures at the beginning and end of the goal period allows the team to make this comparison at two points in time.
4. When there is insufficient information to make a professional judgment, then the “X” is identified as the conclusion.

Unacceptable practice in decision making

Using two different standards or peer norms at the beginning and end of the goal period does not allow for a conclusion about the magnitude of the discrepancy. This is because any change may be due to the change in measurement rather than a change in the student. Also, this conclusion can only be made if appropriate data are collected at two points in time.