FLORIDA EARLY STEPS LEARNING CENTER
Learn More About Identifying Functional Progress Indicators
Identify Functional Progress Indicators
Progress indicators for child outcomes are statements of skills a child is expected to learn within 3 months and 6 months that signify progress toward their IFSP outcomes. Progress indicators are the "in-between" steps towards the outcome. For example, a child's outcome focused on the skill of walking across the room to access a toy or snack might include progress indicators for standing without support and then taking steps holding someone's hand.
Breaking Down IFSP Outcomes and Progress Indicators
In the FL-EPIC 5Q framework, the child's priority skill, or "WHAT?" is an even shorter-term skill connected to the IFSP outcome and the 3- and 6-month progress indicators that we want to help a child learn within 2-3 weeks within routines. A 3-month or 6-month progress indicator might include groups of skills (e.g., standing and walking) that children use together and involve first learning several individual 5Q "WHAT" priority skills (e.g., stand with support, stand without support, walk with support, walk without support).
Family Progress Indicators
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Progress indicators for family outcomes are also the intermediate or "in-between" steps a family member will take to achieve their IFSP outcome. For example, a family member's outcome might be to find current, credible research information about the health and medical needs of children who have Down syndrome. In that case, an intermediate step might be to visit the library to find resources recommended by a provider. In another example, if a mom is learning to use safe positioning strategies for her child's head and neck during meals and bath time, a progress indicator might be to use safe positioning strategies during meals while still working on bath time.