Impact of Goalbook Toolkit

Why This Research is Meaningful

Special education directors often face intense pressure to improve student outcomes while simultaneously facing citations for deficient IEP quality. When IEPs lack high-quality present levels or measurable goals, students often remain in more restrictive settings because their progress isn’t clearly documented or supported by specially designed instruction.

This research demonstrates that by building teacher capacity to write higher-quality IEPs, districts can improve student achievement in reading and successfully transition more students into regular education settings. This evidence suggests Goalbook supports both improved compliance and better student results.

Study Overview

In 2022, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro evaluated the impact of Goalbook Toolkit across four North Carolina school districts: Nash-Rocky Mount, Durham, Guilford, and Vance. The study used a quasi-experimental design involving over 13,000 special education students.

Research Institution: University of North Carolina at Greensboro (SERVE Center).
Participants: 13,038 special education students across 248 schools.
Evidence Standard: Designed to meet ESSA Moderate Evidence standards and WWC standards with reservations.
Design: An event study model comparing treatment students to similar students in comparison districts over two years.

Key Findings

Increased Placement in Regular Education Settings

Special education students in Goalbook-using schools were statistically significantly more likely to be placed in a regular education setting.

The impact was consistent across all student subgroups, including economically disadvantaged and minority students.
By the second year of implementation, 72.5% of students in Goalbook schools were in regular settings compared to 69.7% in comparison schools.

Significant Gains in Student Reading Achievement

Goalbook Toolkit had a statistically significant positive impact on reading scores for special education students.

Students in Goalbook schools outperformed their peers in comparison districts on regular reading assessments.
Research showed these gains in reading scores increased over time from Year 1 to Year 2.

Usage Directly Correlates with Improved Outcomes

The study found that as teachers used the Toolkit more frequently, student outcomes improved further.

Increased usage was statistically significantly associated with higher reading scores.
The highest volume of teacher usage occurred in literacy-related areas, which correlates with the positive reading outcomes.

Key Insights

"Goalbook Toolkit builds teacher self-efficacy and capacity to develop higher quality IEPs and implement them with more effective, specially designed instruction... that can improve student outcomes." —Page X of the Technical Report

"Special education students overall, and in all sub-groups in Goalbook schools had statistically significantly higher reading scores than the comparison special education students." —Page X of the Technical Report

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Additional Resources

Download the Technical Report