Title: Language Arts instructional strategies transition for Special Education teachers and All Teachers
1Language Arts instructional strategies transition
for Special Education teachers and All Teachers
Lisa Campbell, Ed.D. Hamilton County
Educational Service Center April 10, 2012
2Reflection Question
- Is it unrealistic to expect that students with
disabilities (outside of the small of students
who will qualify for alternate assessment) be
expected to master the new and more challenging
CCSS in ELA? - Is this expectation long overdue?
3Welcome
Your task is to join all nine dots using only
four (or less) straight lines, without lifting
your pencil.
4Whats the point?
We need to think differently about opportunities
to provide high quality instruction for students
with disabilities in order to meet the demands of
the CCSS.
5Common Core State Standards in ELA
- ELA CCSS are K-12 standards in reading, writing,
speaking, listening, and language. They also
include standards for literacy in content areas
for grades 6-12.
6Common Core State Standards Students with
Disabilities
- IDEA requires that students with disabilities
participate in high-stakes testing. - Students with disabilities must be challenged
within the general education. - The CCSS will help students with disabilities
prepare for and access high-stakes testing.
- Students with all disabilities including
- Specific learning disabilities
- Emotional and behavioral disorders
- Speech and language impairments
- Developmental cognitive disabilities
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Other health impairments
- Physical impairments
- Sensory impairments
- Severe multiple impairments
- Traumatic brain injury
(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997 Individuals with Disabilities
Improvement Act of 2004)
7Whats Not Covered in the Standards?
8Intentional design limitations of the standards
- The Standards define what all students are
expected to know and be able to do, not how
teachers should teach. - The Standards set grade-specific standards but do
not define the intervention methods or materials
necessary to support students who are well below
or well above grade-level expectations. - It is also beyond the scope of the Standards to
define the full range of supports appropriate for
English language learners and for students with
special needs
9Application to Students with Disabilities
- The www.corestandards.org site includes a PDF
promoting a culture of high expectations for all
students in a document titled Application to
Students with Disabilities - http//www.corestandards.org/assets/application-to
-students-with-disabilities.pdf
10Importance of Early Intervention
- When the instructional needs of learners are met
early, students with and without disabilities
have less difficulty and require less specialized
instruction later.
11Standards-Based IEPs Classroom Instruction
- Include IEP goals based on academic content
standards for the grade in which the student in
enrolled (regardless of the students
disability). - Standards-based IEPs should be designed to
monitor the students progress in achieving the
students standards-based goals.
- Students with disabilities need access to
grade-level curriculum and instruction. - Access can take place in either a special
education or a general education classroom.
(Minnesota Department of Education 2010)
12 Shift in Writing Applications Increase in
Writing from Sources
- Instructional Implications
- Writing instruction needs to emphasize use of
evidence to inform or to make an argument it
includes short, focused research projects K-12. - Students K-12 develop college and career-ready
skills through written arguments that respond to
the ideas, events, facts, and arguments presented
in the texts they listen to and read (Appendix A,
pp. 24-26 student samples, Appendix C). - Shifting away from todays emphasis on narrative
writing (in response to de-contextualized
prompts), the standards place a emphasis on
students writing to sources, i.e., using evidence
from texts to present careful analyses,
well-defended claims, and clear information.
Rather than asking students questions they can
answer from their prior knowledge or experience,
the standards expect students to answer questions
that depend on information in a variety of text
selections.
13 Shift in Reading Standards Increase in
Informational Text and Text-based
Answers
- Instructional Implications
- Teachers need to ensure that classroom
experiences stay deeply connected texts and that
students develop habits for making evidentiary
arguments based on the text, both in conversation
as well as in writing, to assess their
comprehension of a text (Appendix A, p. 2). This
includes critical reasoning with focus on
analysis and evaluation. - Increasing the amount of informational text
students read K-12 will prepare them to read
college and career-ready texts. -
14Additional shift requiring critical reasoning
Text Complexity
- Instructional Implications
- In order to prepare students for the complexity
of college and career-ready texts, each grade
level requires growth in text complexity
(Appendix A, pp. 5-17). Students read the
central, grade-appropriate text around which
instruction is centered (see exemplars and sample
tasks, Appendix B). - Teachers need to prioritize time in the
curriculum for close and careful reading and
provide appropriate and necessary supports to
make the central text accessible to students
reading below grade level.
15Scaffolding for Text Complexity
introducing background knowledge
immersing students in more complex language
exposure and usage that makes a difference in
their ability to access knowledge
engaging students with carefully selected or
constructed graphic organizers that make the
structure of the text visible
modeling how to interpret the meaning of texts
that use more complex approaches, like satire or
rhetorical argument
engaging pairs or teams of students with more
challenging texts as buddies and giving them
opportunities to reflect on those texts through
discussions with each other or through buddy
journals
making 20 percent of their class reading
stretch texts that help them reach beyond their
reading level
16Scaffolding for students with disabilities and
all struggling readers
- Using tiered text is one way to scaffold.
Teachers select an easy-to-read text aligned with
students entry-level background and academic
knowledge. Built on the Gradual Release of
Responsibility model, which involves explicit
teacher modeling, guided instruction, and
independent practicetiered texts scaffold
student understanding and provide background
knowledge and the multiple exposures to academic
vocabulary required for comprehension. - Balancing the rigor of text complexity as
proposed by the CCSS with current student reading
levels may seem daunting however, through
explicit instruction in vocabulary and by
building background knowledge through the use of
tiered texts, teachers can make complex texts
accessible to all students.
17TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
I do it
Focus Lesson
Guided Instruction
We do it
You do it together
Collaborative
You do it alone
Independent
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Model for Success for All Students
Fisher, D., Frey, N. (2008). Better learning
through structured teaching A framework for the
gradual release of responsibility. Alexandria,
VA Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
18Deconstructing the State Standards for Students
with Disabilities
- Be aware of the students present level of
academic achievement and functional performance
(PLAAFP). - Identify the appropriate grade level standard(s)
statements. - Unpack the standard. Identify what the student
needs to know and be able to do in the simplest
terms possible.
19Example of Deconstructing a Standard
- Break the standard into its component parts
- Quote accurately
- Explain what happened
- Draw inferences
- Analyze the subskills
- Decides on a focus. For example, focus on
explaining what happened in the text to improve
the students comprehension - Determine Accommodations and/or Modifications for
student to successfully reach standard - Determine Plan to Monitor Progress
- Standard
- Quote accurately from a text when explaining what
the text says explicitly and when drawing
inferences from the text. (RL.5.1)
20Accommodation vs. Modification
- Accommodation
- An effort to alter the representation or
presentation of the curriculum or to modify the
students engagement with the curriculum to
enhance access and progress. - Changes in the assessment or curriculum that do
not alter the validity, reliability, or security
of the test or curriculum. - Modification Substantive changes in an
assessment or academic curriculum that change
the rigor or expectation.
21Various Accommodations
- Presentation Accommodationschange how an
assignment or assessment is given to a student.
These include alternate modes of access which may
be auditory, multisensory, tactile, or visual. - Response Accommodations allow students to
complete assignments, assessments, and activities
in different ways (alternate format or procedure)
or to solve or organize problems using some type
of assistive device or organizer. - Setting Accommodationschange the location in
which an assignment or assessment is given or the
conditions of the setting. - Timing/Scheduling Accommodationsincrease the
allowable length of time to complete an
assignment or assessment, or change the way the
time is organized for an assignment or
assessment.
(Minnesota Manual of Accommodations 2009, 12)
22Facts Related to Modifications
Differentiation and Universal Design for Learning
(UDL) are not modifications, adaptations, or
accommodations, but are supports that should be
afforded to ALL students regularly. Curriculum
modification is based on ranging degrees in which
our educational approach becomes distinct from or
maintains the similarities to existing general
curriculum.
Modifications are described by altered content
knowledge, conceptual difficulty, educational
goals, and instructional method versus building
scaffolding and bridges between existing
curriculum and people involved in the educational
process.
Note
Inappropriate modifications have the potential to
increase the gap between the achievement of
students with disabilities and grade level
expectations. This could adversely affect
students throughout their educational career.
23What can I do TOMORROW to better prepared to
implement the CCSS with all students?
- Learn more about or solidify knowledge of
differentiation - and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
- Gather and respond to data gathered from
formative and - summative assessments.
- Engage in Response to Intervention (RTI).
- Practice gradual release of responsibility.
- Specific to the content area of ELA
- Phonemic Awareness
- Phonics
- Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension
- Writing
24A Framework for Success RTI
- Features include
- Focus on prevention prior to intervention
- Universal screening
- Quality instruction for ALL students
- Progress monitoring
- Data-based decisions
- Tier 1 instruction
- Intervention (tier 1)
- Tier 2 instruction
- Intervention (tier 2)
- Tier 3 instruction
- Intervention (tier 3)
25References
- Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2010a.
Application to Students with Disabilities.
Accessed March 26 2012. http//www.corestandards.o
rg/assets/application-to-students-with-disabilitie
s.pdf. - Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2010b.
Common Core State Standards for English Language
Arts Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science, and Technical Subjects. Accessed March
21, 2012. http//www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSS
I_ELA20Standards.pdf. - Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2010e.
Frequently Asked Questions. Accessed March 23,
2012. http//www.corestandards.org/frequently-aske
d-questions. - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997, Pub. L., No. 105-17, 105th
Cong., 1st sess. - Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et esq.
(2004) (reauthorization of Individuals with
Disabilities). - Minnesota Department of Education. 2003.
Adaptations Form. Roseville, MN Minnesota
Department of Education. - No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C.
6319 (2008). - Samuels, Christina A. 2011. Special Educators
Look to Tie IEPs to Common Core. Education Week,
January 11, 2011. http//www.edweek.org/ew/article
s/2010/12/27/15iep_ep.h30.html.