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Data collection.

Those words can get any SLP’s heart racing. Data drives our therapy. It’s how we decide to keep going with our technique or start something new. It’s how we decide whether we can reduce services and start to focus on carry-over into the classroom. Data drives everything, but keeping track of data on every objective, for every child can be quite a task.  Everyone has their own system; for me, it was data sheets in binders. The binders were great, but they became overwhelming when I needed to enter data for 20 kids and found myself staring at a literal wall of binders.  Until recently, I used a data tracking app from Super Duper. It was fine, but I needed something a bit more refined.  That’s when I stumbled across IEP PAL and decided to check it out.

IEP PAL home photo screen shot the speech bubble slp

IEP PAL is a two-pronged data collection system. You enter all of your information (student’s name and goals), then sync it with the app. The more I looked, the more I liked. I could keep track of data AND behaviors! The app has everything preset but offers customization and the option to add behaviors. This works great for tracking my RtI students when behavior is also a concern.

Now, my district uses an online IEP system already, so I just copied and pasted my students’ goals and objectives from the district’s system to this one. Yes, this took time, but it was super easy!  Once I’d entered my students’ information, all I had to do was click the SYNC button on the app.

  iep pal home screen shot the speech bubble slp

This is where the fun starts.  Just tap which students you want to work with.  Then, for each student, tap the goal you’re targeting and track away! Not only can you track correct and incorrect responses, but you can also see how many cues or prompts were given.  It also shows you the last three accuracies for that goal.

I LOVE being able to have the option to simply enter data that I had taken on my own. This means I can take my tallies, enter in the numbers, and that data is included in their progress. This is a feature that was missing in the other data apps that I desperately needed!

  iep pal data tracking student id screen the speech bubble slp

When you want to check progress or print out information for IEP meetings or progress updates, just log in and get progress graphs for each objective! If you don’t want graphs, you can choose to have just numbers.  The app gives you their average accuracy, as well as best and worst accuracies. All the adding and averaging, BOOM, done!

IEP PAL offers a 15 day FREE TRIAL and lots of support if you have questions.  They have great You Tube videos on how to use the system if you get stuck, but it’s pretty simple.  If you like it, you can get a year subscription for $95.  I know, it’s a chunk of change, but to me, it was worth every penny!  You could see if your school would be willing to purchase the subscription for you, or perhaps you could write a grant to have it covered if you are not up to/able to get the subscription on your own.

If you are looking for a different data tracking option, I definitely recommend giving IEP PAL a look. 🙂

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Meet Maureen

Hey there! I’m Maureen Wilson, a school-base SLP who is data driven and caffeine powered. My passion is supporting other pediatric SLPs by teaching them how to harness the power of literacy and data to help their students achieve their goals…without sacrificing time they don’t have.

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28 Responses

  1. Thanks for sharing! I used Super Duper’s app as well for a long time, but couldn’t keep up with typing everything into the app all the time and it wasn’t super user friendly. I might have to check this out!!! Thanks for sharing!!

    1. It is worth checking out 🙂 I used the Super Duper app too and this had some features that the other one didn’t.

    1. You need them both. You set up all the information on the computer and then take data on the iPad. Then when you want to get you information (graphs and percentages) you go back to the computer. It is not as back and forth as it sounds. I am really just on the computer if I get a new student and need to add their IEP info or if I getting information for progress reports/IEPs.

  2. Sounds like a great thing, indeed. Too bad it is yet another app only for folks with access to an iPad. Maybe the developers will remember the rest of us because this looks like something I would really be willing to pay for out of my own pocket.

    1. It was recently updated (2014-2015 school year) that you can actually enter the session data on a computer. So if you have a lap top or desktop it will work for you there as well.

  3. How did you like the group data tracking. I watched their video and it shows them taking all the data on one student at a time, rather than taking more frequent turns with students. I find in my groups I go down the line with one response at a time for each student. Can you have all the students in your group open at once to take data more frequently that way?

    1. Yes, you just tap the students you want in the group and then click start session. Then you just go down the line and tap each student as you take data for them.

  4. Hi! I am wondering if you are still using IEP Pal now, two years later? Are you finding it continues to save you from all the time spent with the hand-written logs?

    Thanks,
    Dawn

    1. Hi Dawn,
      Yes, I am still using IEP PAL and still love it! When it comes to progress reports and data collection I have yet to find anything to rival it. I just click a button and all my data is averaged per objective or displayed in parent friendly graphs. I know the price can be intimidating but it is money well spent in my opinion.

    1. It currently does not. You could do the that in the notes options that appears for each student when you start a new session though, but that is a great suggestion I will have to pass on.

  5. Is the quick reference chart for slp’s at the bottom of the iep for sale? I couldn’t find it on tpt or in the freebies section

    1. Hi Lea,
      It is an exclusive freebie that you can access if you subscribe to my newsletter 🙂 I have a growing library of goodies just for those fabulous friends. If you do get my newsletter you can email me and I can resend the password you would need to get access to that library.

  6. Have you used SLP toolkit at all? I’m stuck between the two as I can’t afford both and I’m curious to hear your (or anyone else’s) opinion.

    1. Hi Kelly,
      I do use SLP ToolKit and really enjoy it. While they do have a progress monitoring option they currently do not have the ability to take daily data, but I do know they are working on that which is great. But I don’t know when it will be ready. IEP PAL is just data collection, no screenings or other features like SLP ToolKit. So it may come down to what you need more. Something to do daily data or something to help with screenings, progress monitoring, etc. Let me know if you have more questions!

      1. Just a quick update… SLP Toolkit now offers the option of being able to take daily data. However, I have not used it yet because I do not start school until late August.

  7. Are you still using this and do you know if they have ever released the android version or if you can use it without an ipad. I have a work Ipad but I am not allowed to download apps to it.

  8. Hi! I am considering purchasing this, they said the annual individual subscription is only $29 now. Is it worth the buy still?
    Thanks so much

    1. I have actually stopped using IEP PAL. I am currently using SWIVEL Scheduler for my goal management and data collection. It is a bit more but I get a lot more out of it.

    1. Hi Lynda 🙂 SWIVEL scheduler automatically rotates all of your students’ goals into your therapy schedule so you don’t have to worry about missing any goals in therapy. When you have hundreds of goals to manage among all of your students it is a big weight off of your shoulders. SWIVEL also allows you to enter your therapy plans right into the schedule and collect digital data. Data is graphed and calculated for you too.

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