User`s guide

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Assistive Technology, Inc. 1.800.793.9227 www.assistivetech.com
>Stages Overview
What is Stages?
Stages is a comprehensive solution for special
educators. Stages helps you identify and assess
your learners’ skills, select appropriate instructional
software, and document each learner’s gains.
The Stages framework starts with
pre-academic skills and continues on to reading,
writing, math, and functional learning.
Depending on your learner’s level, you can begin
at any Stage. Graphing and reporting functions
allow you to measure your learners’ progress in a
meaningful way.
With Stages you can:
3 find out what your learners truly know
3 see a dramatic increase in your learners’
time on task
3 show learner progress over time
3 use the same software tool with all
your learners
3 produce accurate reports of student
performance
3 generate primary evidence for alternate
assessment portfolios
3 communicate better with the IEP
team and parents
3 identify curriculum software that
will improve your learners’ skills
How can Stages help you?
Stages saves you time and effort in documenting
the achievement of all your learners—even those
with the most significant delays. The result is
organized and meaningful data that shows their
progress toward IEP goals and state standards.
The following pages describe the Stages solutions
and show how they work together to provide you
with a complete program for working with your
special needs learners.
— Software Solutions for your
Learners with Special Needs
First, read the Stages book to learn more
about the Stages framework and each
Stage. Return to the book later for off-
computer activities to support your learner.
(See page 19.)
Use Stages Assessment Software to find
out what your learners already know and
what skills they need to practice.
(See pages 19–23.)
Use the recommended curriculum software
to build your learners’ skills, then reassess
later using Stages Assessment Software.
(See pages 20–23, 27.)
Refer to the data that the assessment soft-
ware gathers and to your Observations Forms
to help you use the Software Feature Charts.
Use the Software Feature Charts to identify
curriculum software that is right for your
learners to use every day.
After Stages assessments, use Stages
Report Wizard software to create reports
with graphs and tables that show your
learner’s progress over time.
(See page 25.)
“I didn’t know he knew that much!”
— Stages User
Stages
ASSESSMENT AND CURRICULUM SOFTWARE