The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a landmark federal civil rights law aimed at ensuring children with disabilities have equal access to educational opportunities. The law affirms the human dignity of every child with a disability and guarantees Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Yet, as we honor the 50th anniversary of its passage, we recognize the immense challenge faced by leaders: the tension between the law’s human-centered promise and the daily demands of compliance, paperwork, and chronic educator shortages. Turning IDEA’s vision into meaningful practice requires finding practical solutions that build the human connection, capacity, and effectiveness of every educator.
Since our founding, Goalbook has committed to supporting IDEA through our mission to empower educators to transform instruction so ALL students succeed. We believe that educators are the most impactful instructional lever. Our proven, holistic, research-based solution, Goalbook Toolkit, is designed to build special educator capacity to develop and implement high-quality, cohesive IEPs with more effective, specially designed instruction—ultimately leading to improved student outcomes.
We Empower Educators
Research has shown that teacher effectiveness has the greatest impact on student outcomes.
The collective conviction among a school’s staff that they can positively influence student learning—known as Collective Teacher Efficacy—is a greater predictor of student success than demographic factors like socioeconomic status, according to research by John Hattie. Even more, this effectiveness is not defined merely by a teacher’s credentials, but by the consistent application of high-leverage, evidence-based practices and skills in the classroom, as discussed by researchers Stronge and Hindman.
This is why Goalbook’s holistic research-based approach focuses on empowering educators to improve instructional practice. By prioritizing improving instructional practice throughout the special education process, Goalbook Toolkit has achieved proven results over 10+ years of positive impact research on educator effectiveness, compliance, and student outcomes.
We are committed to supporting districts and special educators with our research-backed solution, Goalbook Toolkit, including our latest AI feature, Threads. We increase educator capacity to develop cohesive, high-quality IEPs more effectively and efficiently.
In our 2024 Annual Survey of Goalbook Toolkit, we asked educators how and in what ways they perceive Goalbook Toolkit positively impacts their practice, and they reported:
- 93% strongly agree/agree that Goalbook supports their effectiveness
- 88% strongly agree/agree that Goalbook supports their efficiency
To Transform Instruction
Our work at Goalbook is continually informed by research, and our growing portfolio of evidence shows we successfully build, augment, and sustain educator effectiveness, leading to improved student outcomes. Goalbook Toolkit not only improves educator instructional practice in developing high-quality IEPs, but also in implementing them with more effective, specially designed instruction.
In their research, Billingsley and Bittini state: “Because teachers influence student learning through how they choose to teach, effective special education teachers are those who use research-based instructional practices.”
A study conducted at Earlywood Educational Services of Indiana explored how special educators utilized Goalbook Toolkit to enhance their instructional practices and support students with special needs.
Key findings include:
- Teachers’ level of efficacy increased across all practice areas, with the most significant improvements in instructional planning (28% increase) and creating standards-aligned goals (16% increase).
- Teachers’ level of efficacy increases 12% for unpacking standards and creating meaningful goals.
Additionally, in the Annual Survey, educators reported:
- 96% strongly agree/agree that Goalbook supports them in planning and delivering specially designed instruction that is aligned with the IEP
- 94% strongly agree/agree that Goalbook supports them in using classroom-ready resources and evidence-based strategies that meet the needs of their students
These findings align with our mission. Our holistic solution focuses on improving instructional practice, leading to improved teacher effectiveness. When educators are more effective in their work, student outcomes may improve as a result.
ALL Students Succeed
Ultimately, our work and partnerships with districts is about students. When teachers implement high-quality IEPs with effective specially designed instruction, student outcomes improve.
A 2021 study conducted by the University of Missouri College of Education examined the relationship between the quality of present levels statements and student achievement. Data from 211 special education teachers across 23 school districts in Missouri were analyzed.
Key findings include:
- Educators’ usage of Goalbook Toolkit resources was positively associated with higher-quality Present Levels statements.
- Higher-quality Present Levels statements were linked to increased student achievement outcomes in reading and math for students in grades 1–11.
In addition, Empirical Education conducted a study that leveraged Goalbook Toolkit usage data and school district data from 2021–22 to explore the impact of Goalbook Toolkit usage on student literacy outcomes.
Key findings include:
- Strong evidence that Goalbook Toolkit usage is positively associated with student outcomes across grades 6–8.
- A positive association between the frequency of Goalbook Toolkit use and student outcomes on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) reading test.
- Weekly usage of Goalbook Toolkit predicted a 9-percentile gain in student reading assessment scores.
- Significant positive impacts on student reading outcomes were observed when special educators used Goalbook Toolkit at least weekly.
Finally, Iberville Parish Schools in Louisiana partnered with Goalbook to build educator capacity to write higher-quality IEPs and increase consistency with progress monitoring. As a result, in two years (from 2021 to 2023), the district saw an increase in growth for students with disabilities in the following subjects on the Louisiana state assessment:
- Math: 10-point increase
- ELA: 5-point increase
Goalbook Toolkit resources support special educators in creating more personalized and effective learning experiences for all students, including those with special needs.
Conclusion
By striving for educational excellence and improved outcomes for all students through focusing on enhancing educator self-efficacy and instructional quality, Goalbook works to support IDEA’s human-centered vision.
Goalbook’s mission to empower educators to transform instruction so that all students succeed is not just an aspiration, but a practical pathway illuminated by research and educator feedback. We understand the challenges the special education community faces, and we offer a solution that allows districts to shift from compliance management to instructional leadership by investing in the most impactful instructional lever: educators.
Since 2011, we’ve partnered with over 1,100 school districts to support and empower our educators. In doing so, we are investing in the success and future of every student and working towards helping IDEA’s vision to be fully realized.
References
Billingsley, B. S., & Bettini, E. (2017). Improving special education teacher quality and effectiveness. In Handbook of special education (pp. 501-520). Routledge.
Stronge, J. H., & Hindman, J. L. (2003). Keeping good teachers. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 48–52. https://analopes081.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ascd_230_1-1strongetronge.pdf.
Waack, S. (2018, March 7). Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) according to John Hattie. Visible Learning. https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-efficacy-hattie/
