Raising Student Achievement
Conference
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December 3, 2007
Raising Achievement in Special Education Reading and Math
Lyons Township High School District 204
LaGrange, Illinois
Scott Eggerding, Director of Curriculum
Matthew Wanzenberg, Ph.D., Special Education Program Coord.
Lyons Township High School:
Our Perspective
Multi-year initiative to improve PSAE
performance for students with disabilities,
involves four key areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Curriculum changes
Staff training
Parent/Student involvement
Systemic change and strategic decisions
A student description…
“The PSAE wasn’t as scary as I thought it
would be… I saw that lots of teachers that I
trust were concerned about our
performance… After realizing that it was a
test that we could actually tackle, we all
became more confident that we could do it.”
--Russell H., c/o 2006
Curriculum
Changes
Associated with the
LTHS Initiative
Curriculum Changes Associated
with the LTHS Initiative
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Curriculum Skills Resource (special education)
Level One Reading (special education)
Level One Math III (special education)
Intro to Alg II/Finite Math preparatory class
(general education)
 Transition Level Reading (general education)
Curriculum Changes Associated
with the LTHS Initiative
 Strengths at time of initiative:
 Highly trained and motivated staff
 Exceptional “wave” of students
 Inherently motivating challenge of ACT preparation for post-high
school goals
 Challenges at time of initiative:
 NCLB backlash
 Of approximately 100 special education students, 1/2 of these
kids maintained one or fewer special education classes with our
department (e.g., fewer opportunities in school day for low ratio
intervention)
 For students in resource level and content-area special
education, gaining consensus on approach was difficult
 CSR’s traditional use as a ersatz study hall was a difficult
transition
Age distribution of LD
Placements of Students with LD,
Ages 12-18
Typical deficits warranting the shift in
curriculum
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Communication/oral language
Phonological awareness
Rapid naming skills
Consistent application of memory/recall
Visual-motor skills
Fine- and gross-motor skills
Attending abilities
Emerging self-advocacy skills
Social Skills
Curriculum Skills Resource Class
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Curriculum Skills Resource Class
 Traditionally a guided study course for credit, the
curriculum was changed to reflect the following
emerging needs…
 Growing number of students in preparatory and
transitional (general education) classes
 Emphasis on teaching skills to promote more efficient
learning
 Performance on PSAE subtests (including work keys)
 Between 45 minutes and an hour a week in direct
instruction on Strategic Intervention Model strategies
 Of 100 Juniors, roughly 3/4 of our students take this
class
Level One Reading
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Adolescent Literacy Continuum
2. General Education
Embedded Strategies
1. General Education
Enhanced Content
3. Intensive Reading
Strategy Support
• strategy classes
Students not
making AYP in
reading
4. Evidence-Based
Reading Class
• strategic tutoring
5. Clinical
Intervention
6. Before/AfterSchool Strategic
Tutoring
Level One Reading
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Recommendation by IEP team which have required sacrifices
Semester enrollment discouraged
Full year commitments are most rewarding
Emerging trend of college bound Juniors and Seniors
Alignment with general education Reading course
Conversations that begin in 8th to 9th grade transition
Class sizes capped at 12 but sometimes lower.
Para professional assistance in class
Read 180
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Highly motivating
Provides excellent tools for reporting pre and post intervention
Enlists students in self-monitoring
Generates Lexile-based recommendations for outside reading
Excellent tool for broad range of readers in one class
Computer-based with multimedia
Average student at LTHS enhances reading by end of year
Read 180 Reading Instruction
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/read180/
 Non-consecutive 45- or 50-minute class
periods
 Integrated into our Reading Class at LTHS
Reading Strategies:
Where we ultimately want to be!
 Good readers
 Motivated and academic energy to spare
 Aware of learning style (strengths, needs,
interventions of worth)
 Good expository skills (background info)
 Good metacognition = better comprehension
 Can glean crucial parts from passage
 Can stop and monitor and do frequent selfchecks for understanding
Reading Strategies
 A more meaningful approach
 Reading comprehension is expected at all levels of
independent reading
 Students should explain how concepts interrelate
 Students should go through the text; not around (eg,
use problem solving skills to attack the passage for
clarity)
 Qualitative emphasis on comprehension as well as
decoding
Level One Math III
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Intro to Algebra II/Finite Topics
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Perspectives on Mathematics
Instruction
What are the demands placed upon our clients?
1.
Curricular limitations (eg, textbook driven approaches):
Prerequisite skill mastery
Inflexible pace
Strategies are often in a difficult format
Teaching to application is missing steps
Reviews are inadequate
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Basic Skills/High Stakes tests
Hierarchical nature of math
Language-based LD hinders word problem skills
Economic independence related to practical math
Perspectives on Mathematics
Instruction
An effective curriculum for Students with LD:
1.
2.
3.
Takes into account learner characteristics
Plan for integration into other classes
“Where do we go with this concept?” and linking the next lesson
Charter for special education teachers:
1.
Provide examples and non-examples
2.
Practice (guided and independent)
3.
Provide “explicit instruction” (heavy on elaborative element)
4.
Separate confusing elements (eg, numerator and denominator)
5.
Occam’s Razor: unify and streamline
Perspectives on Mathematics
Instruction
Affective Domain Considerations
1. Development of an “internal locus of control”
2. Math Anxiety: increases math avoidance
3. Natl. Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM) & Natl.
Council of Sup. Of Math (NCSM) guidelines:
Establish goals (make students a part of this process)
Provide for success
Decontaminate tension and anxiety by using competition carefully, be
clear and concise, allow for time extensions, avoid high stakes
tests
4. Use motivation
5. Make instruction fun and practical
6. Integrate high interest materials and subjects into math
Learning Responsibilities
Client
 Ultimately, the “boss” of
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learning process
Preparation
Communication
Awareness of learning
opportunity
Attending
Personal effort
Teacher
 Facilitator
 Understanding of how client
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Identifies information
Interprets information
Organizes information
Processes information
 Compensatory skills
 Efficient and/or effective skill
instruction
Strategies Intervention Model (SIM)
Deshler and Lenz, 1990
 There are such things as universal strategies that
can be understood and facilitated by a caring
teacher
 Know thy student!
 The environment should support learning as much
as possible… The environment is much more than
geography!
SIM Learning Strategies
Curriculum
Acquisition
Storage
Expression
Word Identification
First-Letter Mnemonic
Sentences
Paraphrasing
Paired Associates
Paragraphs
Self-Questioning
Listening/Note taking
Error Monitoring
Visual Imagery
Vocabulary
Themes
Interpreting Visuals
Assignment Completion
Multipass
Test-Taking
SIM Strategies and the LTHS
Perspective
Strategies are not just a “bag of tricks;” The peak performing special educator
can…
1. Describe the proposed strategy in detail to a student, parent, or
2.
3.
4.
5.
regular education colleague
Verbally and physically model the strategy prior to implementation
so that the client can get an idea of what is ahead; The product of
this sub-step would be that the student gathers a clearer picture of
his/her preferred learning style
Contrive opportunities for the student to hone and embellish the
skill in a “safe place”
Provide appropriate feedback and positive critique in a manner that
is designed to adjust for optimal performance
Monitor performance and offer opportunities to generalize to a
variety of settings
Learning Responsibilities
continued
 Review data (eg, IEP, observations, etc.) to come
to an understanding of his/her needs
 Determine how best a student can retrieve
information in a certain academic situation
 Determine roughly how much and what types of
information can be stored in short or long term
memory.
Three approaches to
Learning Strategies
 Reductionist: “We can break this concept down into
smaller, more ‘edible’ components for you.”
 Constructivist: “I will teach you the concept at large by
drawing upon your strengths, needs, and experiences to
make meaning of the big picture.”
 See reciprocal teaching example on page 21
 Functionalist: “Because learning is highly individualized,
the place, precipitating factors, and timing of skill
instruction is probably the most important thing to
consider.”
 Functional Analysis of Behavior (FAB)
 “Learning/behavior is a function of…”
Effective and efficient strategies
Strategies Intervention Model (SIM)
How to teach it!
 Client as co-teacher: gather their opinions and
validate; “permission to help the teacher”
 Group critique: rate independently and then
share ratings
 Group generated visual aides: have students
analyze and IMPROVE upon the visual aide,
outlining clearly what they have added and why
it is of benefit
 Including visual aides into tests and quizzes
Stages of Acquisition
Staff Training
Staff Training
 Intensive general education and special
education certified staff training
 N = 5 sessions during institute days
 More frequent observations and consultation
with resource level staff in special education
 Rethinking how we trained certified and
classified staff for Prairie State Exam
proctoring
Parent/Student
Initiatives
Parent and Student Initiatives
 Self-advocacy goals for all special education
students
 IEP team involvement
 Variations on extracurricular PSAE preparation
 Prep-level ACT prep program (sponsored by LTHS)
 IEP only PSAE prep program (Jan-April) which includes work keys, test
taking strategies
 For parents and students seeking more intensive approaches, we
maintain info on third party ACT prep
 Engaging parents in students in transition-goal
based dialog on ACT/PSAE
 Connecting the dots between performance on PSAE
and post high school options
Systemic Change
and Strategic
Decisions at LTHS
Systemic Change and Strategic
Decisions at LTHS
 Five years of similar PSAE schedule
 Defeating misconceptions about timing codes and
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tests read
Intensive discussion in IEP meetings regarding
matches for accommodations
Groupings and ratios
Building confidence in testing and putting this
performance in perspective
Awareness of socio-emotional and behavioral
aspects to testing
Learning the nuances of ACT approval of
accommodations
Strategic decisions regarding IAA and hospitalized
students