Helping Students With
Disabilities to Meet/Exceed
Standards: Reflections on
What Teachers Can Do
Dr. Kathryn H. Ellis
elliska@boe.richmond.k12.ga.us
East GLRS
GACIS/PLC Meeting
January 28, 2011
TEACHER: John, why are you doing your
multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using
tables.
TEACHER: Ryan, what is the chemical formula
for water?
RYAN:
HIJKLMNO
TEACHER: Ryan, what are you talking about?
RYAN:
Well, yesterday you said it was H to O.
TEACHER:
Greg, how would you spell "crocodile?"
GREG:
K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L
TEACHER:
GREG:
No Greg, that's incorrect.
Maybe it's incorrect, but you asked me how
"I" spelled it.
TEACHER: Parker, what do you call a person
who keeps on talking to people who are no
longer interested?
PARKER:
A Teacher.
Common Needs
of All Learners
Art & Science of Teaching
5%
10%
20%
Reading
Audio/Visual
30%
Demonstration
50%
Discussion
75%
90%
National Training Labs, 2010
Lecture
Learning by doing
Teaching others
Learning that endures!
Differentiation of
Instruction
It’s all about student learning!
Access without extraordinary means!
It begins by knowing your students.
Content of Standard,
Lesson or Unit
What students must learn
Process of Instruction
How students engage in
learning
Products Showing Student Learning
How students demonstrate and convey
learning
Assessment & Instruction
Interconnectedness
• Instructional decisions
–Based on continuous collection
& analysis of data
• Differentiation decisions
–Based on specific learning
needs of students
Develop a Learner Profile Card
Gender Stripe
Learning Style:
Student Interests/motivation
Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic,
Tactile
Student Name
Multiple Intelligence Preference
Important learning
information: special
needs
NOTE: OR Put the student’s name on the back of the card so
decisions can initially be made without knowing the particular
student.
Pre-assessment & Formative
Assessment:
• Determine what students know about a topic
before it is taught or during the teaching of
the content
– Use regularly in all curricular areas
• Make instructional decisions about student
strengths and needs
• Determine flexible grouping patterns
• Determine which students are ready for
advance instruction
"Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction."
Carole Ann Tomlinson
Pre-assessment & Formative
Assessment:
• Determine what students know about a topic
before it is taught or during the teaching of
the content
– Use regularly in all curricular areas
• Make instructional decisions about student
strengths and needs
• Determine flexible grouping patterns
• Determine which students are ready for
advance instruction
"Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction."
Carole Ann Tomlinson
Quick Informal Assessment
Tools
• Lists and Surveys
– Tell me all the words that come
to mind when I say …
– List the
attributes/characteristics of …
– Name several types of …
– Give examples of …
Burns and Purcell, 2002
14
Burns and Purcell, 2002
15
Quick Informal Assessment
Tools
– Performances or
Conferences
• Explain how you found this
answer
• Import a graphic for the
newspaper
• Use a calculator to solve an
equation
• Read to me
17
Burns and Purcell, 2002
Performance Assessment
Example:
-Graphic Organizers or Thinking Maps
-Used for concepts and principles
-Graphic representation of understandings
-Uses a word bank, web, and links
day
see in
sun
is a
Star
Burns and Purcell, 2002
space
has
see at
night
is in
makes a
constellation
heat
Word Bank
Sun
Hot gas
Space
Heat
Night
Constellation
Day
makes
hot gas
18
Performance Assessment Tool:
A Modified K-W-L
K
N
What the student
ALREADY KNOWS
What the student
NEEDS/WANTS
TO KNOW
-Prior Experiences
-Knowledge
-Skills
-Accomplishments
-Attitudes
Burns and Purcell, 2002
-Self-rating of current
proficiency with unit
objectives
-Teaching style
preference
W
What the student
WANTS TO KNOW
-Interests
-Questions
-Ideas for exploration
or investigation
6
Burns and Purcell, 2002
7
Burns and Purcell, 2002
8
Informal Assessment Tool
Example
•Journals
Relate to standard
Ask students to
Give examples
Provide reflections
Describe process for
Debrief w/students
Tell me what
you know
about
fractions.
What is
the purpose
of a hero
in a story?
Burns and Purcell, 2002
9
Burns and Purcell, 2002
Performance Assessment Tool:
Human Continuum
–I know this!
–I know something about this!
–I don’t know this!
Fist
Fist to Five
Clueless
1 Finger
Heard about
2 Fingers
Talked about it, read a little,
thought about it
3 Fingers
Want to know more
4 Fingers
Have knowledge about it
5 Fingers
Could teach someone else about
it
Selecting An Informal
Assessment Tool
• Consider
–Nature of Content
–Nature of Feedback
• Individual
• Small group
• Whole group
–Time/Efficiency
Burns and Purcell, 2002
22
Ongoing Assessment
is the
of
Differentiated
Classroom
Differentiation Through Tiers
• Use of varied levels of activities to ensure students explore
ideas at a level
• Builds on prior knowledge
• Promotes continued growth
– Task is focused on key concept
– Use a variety of resource materials at differing levels of complexity
and/or associated w/different learning modes
– Adjust task by complexity, abstractness, number of steps,
concreteness, and independence to ensure appropriate challenge
– Be certain there are clear criteria for quality and success
Tiering A Lesson
What range of learning needs are
you likely to address?
What should students know,
understand, and be able to do as
a result of the lesson?
What’s your “starting point
lesson?” How will you hook the
students?
Know:
Understand:
Be Able to Do:
What’s your first cloned version?
What’s your second cloned
version of this activity?
What’s your third cloned version
of this activity?
Questions to Ask When Planning Tiered
Assignments
1.
What is the outcome? What do I want students to know, understand, or
be able to do?
2.
Will this lesson, activity, or workshop help students achieve this
outcome?
3.
4.
5.
Who needs this? Who knows this already? How do I know?
6.
Are there some students who don’t need this at all? What will they do
instead?
7.
Are there some students who need more support or modification? How
can I provide this?
8.
Are there some students who would not benefit even with more support
or modification? What will they do instead?
Are there some students who should do this lesson or activity as is?
Are there some students who need more challenge? How can I provide
this?
Attention to Student
Differences
• Focus on student strengths
– Best avenues of access to content and skills
– Optimizes acquisition and recall
• Create varying paths for students to learn
– Based individual readiness, interests, and
learning style preferences, etc.
Specially Designed
Instruction
What the special education teacher brings to the general education
classroom….
• Expertise in
– Individual student learning characteristics
– Instructional Strategies
•
•
•
•
•
•
Universal Design
Differentiated Instruction
Scaffolding
Previewing/Acceleration
Assessment
Accommodations
Guiding Essential Consideration
for Inclusive Cotaught Classes:
“What I see in cotaught classes is
substantially different and more effective for
students than what I see when one teacher
instructs alone!”
Small Group Instruction
• Schedule & provide small group instruction at least
once a week for specific struggling students (more
often preferably)
• Use student dossier/learning profile, accommodation
plans & pre- & formative assessment to develop
groups
• Plan a lesson that specifically focuses on area in
which 3-5 students are struggling
• Utilize skills of paraprofessionals and expertise of
special education teachers who provide support to
students within room
Station Teaching
• Each teaches/monitors
group(s)
• Student grouping
– Heterogeneous or
homogeneous groups
• Teacher roles
– Provides instruction on
specific content
• Content broken into
chunks for mastery
– Collects data on student
progress
• Recommended use
– 30-40%
Classroom Application
• Station Teaching
– To enhance learning by allowing students to apply skills in practical,
relevant application
– To provide students more practice or assistance on assignments
– To chunk or group content into manageable amounts for mastery
– To review concepts and skills
– To arrange different topics and mediums by levels of difficulty
within a single area
– To develop a hands-on lesson by incorporating life experiences
– To provide choices in assignments, activities, & products at
independent stations
– ELA Example
• One teacher leads in identification of types of poetry
• One teacher assists students with sorting of poems based on
structure
• Students create examples of two types of poetry from the
following: sonnet, ballad, haiku, limerick, Iambic pentameter
Parallel/Simultaneous Teaching
• Each teaches/monitors
group(s)
– Parallel
– Simultaneous
• Student grouping
– Heterogeneous or homogeneous
groups
• Teacher roles
– Provides instruction on same
content & assesses student
learning
• Delivery of content varies
(process)
• Student assessment varies
(products)
– Recommended use
• 30-40%
Classroom Application
• Parallel
– To provide instruction based on interest, readiness, learning
style, multiple intelligence preference
– To differentiate process or product of instruction
– To provide students with more assistance on their assignments or
practice w/content
– To chunk or group content into manageable amounts for mastery
– To foster student participation and discussion
– ELA Example
• One teacher uses text to analyze the four basic types of
persuasive speech, then compares and contrast.
• The other teacher uses video clips and leads the students in
analyzing the speeches presented.
Alternative: How it Should Work
•
•
•
•
One teaches large group, One teaches
smaller group
– Large group involved in repetitive
instruction
– Small group involved in
instruction for brief period
• Remediation, reteaching,
tutoring, acceleration,
compacting or enrichment
(readiness)
Student grouping
– Heterogeneous and
homogeneous groups
– Group membership changes
Teacher roles
– One teacher instructs students
who are on target
– Other teacher instructs students
on specific needs
Recommended Use
– 30%
Classroom Application
• Alternative
o Based on assessment (mastery varies)
–To preview vocabulary and concepts
–To reteach or remediate
–To provide extra practice or direct instruction
–To provide activities for extension (enrichment)
–To provide compacting or acceleration
–Math Example
»Group 1 Plotting positive and negative integers
on individual number lines
»Group 2 Computation of addition and
subtraction problems with positive and negative
integers
Team Teaching
• Both instruct together & co-monitor
student work
– Tag Team (“turn teaching”)
• Take turns presenting
information: one on, one off
– Speak & Add Teaching
• Support teacher adds examples,
humor, & other perspectives
– Speak & Chart Teaching
• Support teacher writes ideas on
a chart, overhead projector, or
whiteboard
– Duet Teaching
• Both talk (alternate or finish
sentences for one another)
• Student grouping
– Whole class
• Teacher roles
– Teachers work together to teach a
whole-class lesson
• Recommended Use
• 20-30%
Classroom Application
• Team
– To provide primarily lecture, discussion & instruction to the entire
class
– To allow creativity in lesson delivery
– To incorporate charts, visual representations, supporting notes and
adapted notes, directions, or steps
– To provide support to instruction through examples, humor, use of
strategies and interjection of other perspectives
– Math Example
• One teacher provides direct instruction on solving algebraic equations
to entire class
• The other teacher will chart factors for the given numbers in the
equation
• The other teacher will interject strategies such as FOIL or the Box
method to address order of operations
Coplanning “Before”
• Curriculum
–
–
–
–
Standards, content, learning outcomes
Essential concepts / essential questions, and skills
Assessment (pre-, formative, summative)
Co-teacher’s strengths and interests
• Delivery of Instruction
– Student needs
– Plan for differentiation
– Plan for specialized instruction & accommodation
(scaffolding)
– Strategies for grouping students
– Co-teaching models
Coplanning “During” Co-Teaching
•
•
•
•
Monitor student understanding
Communicate & share feedback
Engage in on-going reflection
Adapt instructional plans as
needed
Co-planning “After” Coteaching
• Debrief the lesson
• Review student progress
• Arrange for re-teaching or extension as
needed
• Assess
– Tests
– Projects
– Formative & summative assessments
• “We are situated at a moment in our
national educational history when we
have the opportunity to learn anew how
to craft classrooms in which each
student has access to high quality
knowledge, understanding, and skill.”
• — Barbara Gartin, Nikki Murdick, Marcia
Imbeau, & Darlene Perner, authors and
educators