Seeking and verifying are effective communication strategies that can be used throughout the process of working together with professionals and families. Seeking and verifying information helps you to identify concerns and perspectives, and conveys an open and non-judgmental attitude.
Gathering information can happen informally in day-to-day conversations, or in more formal situations, such as team meetings with professionals and family members. The information that you gather now will help you later on as you work together to achieve mutual goals.
Watch the video and look for examples of how the teacher used seeking and verifying strategies to gather information.
Video 3.4: Conversation with examples of seeking and verifying information
Andi, a Head Start teacher, and LeeMarie, a speech therapist, have a conversation about collaborating to address the learning goals of a 4-year-old child in Andi’s classroom. This is part two of a three-part conversation highlighting examples of seeking and verifying communication strategies (running time 2 min. 39 sec.).
View Transcript
Narrator:
This video clip is Part 2 of a 3-part conversation that takes place
between Andi, a Head Start teacher in a 4-year-old classroom,
and LeeMarie, a speech therapist.
Look for examples of seeking and verifying communication practices.
LeeMarie:
So you and I should decide how we want to gather information about Enrique’s progress with his IEP goals, and how we’ll share that information with each other and with his family. So why don’t we get started by talking about how we will gather this information.
Andi:
O.K. So how do you usually gather information for the children you work with?
[There is brief silence. Andi pauses to allow LeeMarie time to answer this question.]
LeeMarie:
(pause)…..Well, let me think. There are many different options, and usually it depends on the kind of information that you want to gather. So in Enrique’s case, I’d say the primary focus is on his communication skills and helping him interact positively with his peers. Would you agree?
Andi:
Yes, that makes sense. Now my program requires that I use a curriculum-based measure with all of the children throughout the year. I just check off the skills that they’ve mastered in each of the areas. Now is this the type of information that would help us to determine if Enrique is meeting his communication and social goals?
LeeMarie:
Maybe. We should take a look at that measure together, Andi, and see if we think it would provide enough information about Enrique’s communication and social skills. But we might also want to consider using an additional tool to gather some more information.
Andi:
So, you’re suggesting that we should take a look at the curriculum-based tool and see if this would be helpful in keeping track of Enrique’s progress, but that we might want to consider using another tool as well. Is that right?
LeeMarie:
Yes, that’s what I’d recommend.
Andi:
Is there a particular assessment tool that you have in mind that we should consider?
LeeMarie:
(pauses and considers)….Yes, there is a simple observation tool that I’ve used in the past. I think it would help us monitor Enrique’s attempts to relate positively to his peers and it would also look at how often he makes simple verbal requests.
Andi:
O.K. So far, I think we’ve agreed that we should consider two different approaches for gathering information about Enrique’s progress—the curriculum-based assessment tool that I’ve already been using and then the classroom observation tool that you’ve used in the past. But, that we should actually look at both of these tools more to see if they’ll actually help Enrique. Did I get that right?