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Building Collegiality Between Regular Education and Special Education Teachers to Meet the Needs of Struggling Students
National Council of Supervisors of MathematicsPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaApril 25, 2011
Melissa Hedges, MathematicsTeaching Specialist, MTSDBeth Schefelker, Mathematics Teaching Specialist, MPSConnie Laughlin, Mathematics Instructor, UW-Milwaukee
Milwaukee Public Schools
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
MathAllianceProject
Why Math Alliance?
Alliance
A merging of efforts or interests by
persons, families, states, andorganizations…Webster Dictionary, 2012
Research question we were pondering…
What collaboration needs to happen between Regular Education teachers and Special Education teachers in order to effectively meet the needs to Teach All Learners of Mathematics (TAL)?
• Largest Wisconsin School District (ranks 33rd in the US)
• 80,098 students
• 175 Schools: 118 elementary, 8 middle, 18 mid/high, 40 high
• Poverty 82.6% (State 39.3%)
• Disabilities 19.8% (State 13.7%)
• ELL 10.0% (State 5.7%)
• Non-white 85.0% (State 25.6%)
Milwaukee Public SchoolsMathAllianceProject
MPS Students’ Performance on State Test
Vision
• Improve mathematics performance for students in grades 4–8, particularly for students with special needs and for students who struggle in mathematics.
• Support a school culture for collaboration of general and special education teachers on improving math learning for all students.
MathAllianceProject
Project Goals
• Strengthen the math content knowledge of general and special education teachers;
• Enhance math instruction and assessment, focusing on appropriate accommodations and modifications for special education and struggling students;
• Increase collaboration on math instruction of general and special education teachers.
MathAllianceProject
Participants
Year 1 Participants
Year 2 Participants
Continuing from Year 1
CertificationGeneral Ed 13 19 68%
Special Ed 22 21 86%
Total 35 40
Grade Level
Elementary 12 12 83%
Middle 13 21 76%
Both 10 7 71%
MathAllianceProject
Project Staff
UWM Mathematics Education
DeAnn HuinkerUWM Mathematics
Kevin McLeod & Patrick Hopfensperger
UWM Special Education
Judy Winn & Mary Ann Fitzgerald
District Teachers and Specialists
Chris Guthrie, Special Education Teacher
Beth Schefelker, Math Teaching Specialist
Melissa Hedges, Math Teaching Specialist
Mary Spidell, Special Education Supervisor
MathAllianceProject
Fall Spring Summer
Year 12009-2010 Recruitment
Math: Number, Operations, & Algebraic Reasoning Education: Development of Math Knowledge with Differentiation for Struggling Learners
Year 22010-2011
Math: Geometry & Measurement Education: Teaching Math to All Learners Part 1
Education:Collaboration &
Planning for Math Differentiation
Year 32011-2012
Math: Data Analysis, Statistics, & Probability Education: Teaching Math to All Learners Part 2
MathAllianceProject
Timeline
Structure
• Tuesday evenings (dinner and 3-hour classes)• Year I (Number and Operations)
• Math content and Teaching all Learners content separate (Your turn, my turn)
• Developed a planning format that combined the two• Math team and special education instructional teams
• Year 2 (Geometry and Measurement)• Teaching all Learners content planned to link with specific
math content• Mixed teams
• Year 3 (Statistics and Probability)• Alternating weeks but working to link• Mixed teams
Strands MathAllianceProject
“I believe that development is more dependent on instruction than on age or biological maturation and that types of instructional experiences can foster, or impede, development.”
Pierre M. van Hiele
Van Hiele levels
• Level 0 – Visualization
• Level 1 – Analysis
• Level 2 – Informal Deduction
• Level 3 – Formal
• Level 4 - Rigor
Alliance teachers …
• The tricky triangle activity. I had some misconceptions about triangles and this assignment helped me clear them up. Learning about the Van Hiele levels helped me understand where I am as a learner of math and what level I want to be at. Understanding these levels also helped me figure what I need to work on in order to get to the next level.
• It is easier for me to assess students now because my expectations have more categories : vocab--van Hiele levels
Barriers and Strategies Studied for Supporting Teaching All Learners
Cognitive Demands• Reading/Language • Organization• Calculation
Information Processing• Visual• Auditory• Motor• Memory• Attention deficit• Expressive/Receptive
Instructional Suggestions Explored
• Vocabulary • Cue Cards
• Multiple representations
• Alternate Algorithms• Task Cards• Talk Formats• Large and small group
work• Variety of
Manipulatives
Tools Developed Support TAL
Planning for Differentiation
Three stages of an educational collaborativerelationship: Interpersonal, Logistical, Curricular
Communication Skills
Conflict Resolution Skills
Problem Solving
ListeningActive vs. PassiveBlocks
Verbal•tone
Non-verbal•Cues•Body movements
Causes of conflict
Resolving conflict
Negotiating through conflict
Identify the Problem
Gather Information
Clarify the Concern
Reach Agreement on Problem
Stay Away From Blame
Projects/Assignments
Textbook and Intervention ProjectsTextbook Analysis:
• Part 1: Reflect on own learning of mathematics
• Part 2: Plan, instruct and collect data around the big idea.• Reflect on the mathematics and mathematics understanding as
demonstrated in formative assessment.• Plan differentiation of lesson to meet all student needs
• Part 3 Make suggestions for focus and differentiation
Tier 1 Intervention Project
• Use data to select a small group.
• Use activities from class to work with students.
• Progress Monitor with classroom assessments based on standards.
Content Knowledge
I have learned how the distributive property moves through math from elementary to middle to high school. I now know the importance of using the area model and being able to use it and the distributive property method in multiplying. I’ve used this in my class and it offers me opportunities to present more strategies to my students.
---General Education Teacher
MathAllianceProject
Content Knowledge
The biggest impact has been exploring 'how you get there.' I remember doing a lot of memorizing as a student. Going through the process from addition to grouping to multiplication gave me the words to explain more fully those connections.
The activities for multiplication, as well as the different methods of getting an answer have really enhanced my teaching.
---Special Education Teachers
MathAllianceProject
Content Knowledge
I can say that when we discussed area as covering I became clearer in my understanding. Before this class when asked what is area, I would rattle off the formula.
---General Education Teacher
I hold a deeper level of understanding of how the moving and combining principles can be applied for various shapes when determining areas.
---Special Education Teacher
Another “ah ha” moment was when I found out that you can measure to find the circumference and that it would be approximately a little bit more than 3 times the diameter; always wondered why we use pi to figure area of circles.
---General Education Teacher
MathAllianceProject
• Curriculum development• Literacy dominates special education, Limited guidance in math• Understand philosophical differences
“Inquiry vs Explicitness” “Explore vs Systematic”
• Collaborative planning and teaching• Challenges consistent with K-12 teacher collaboration literature –
(e.g., time, teacher content & pedagogical content knowledge (PCK))• Understanding each other’s roles, potential, and shifts in practice
• Range of participants’ content knowledge• Substantial “holes” in math knowledge, lack of PCK (e.g., tools, models)
• Being able to put change into practice, harder for General Education
• Meeting needs of both Special and General Education Teachers in one project (attrition)
ChallengesMathAllianceProject
Addressing challenges
• Instructional teams with communication• Using some of the RtI guidance (e.g., IES Practice
Guide)• Wrestling with “explicit instruction” with
participants • Focusing on identifying students’ developmental
conceptual understanding while acknowledging more assessments are needed• Van Hiele levels
MathAllianceProject
What are we learning?MathAllianceProject
Lessons Learning from Math Alliance What has this made us think?
Learned Think about
Absolute importance of math content knowledge both for teaching math and collaborating to teach math
How do we ensure that special education teachers develop this knowledge in our preparation programs? Can we?
We have to say more than “he can’t do it because is working on a third grade level in math.”
How to challenge that kind of thinking along with acknowledging it
Lots to understand about explicit instruction
How to provide it without guilt but in a way that supports students who struggle without it.
Role of language (bigger than we thought)
What can be taken from reading instruction
MathAllianceProject
I really believe that I have high expectations for all of my students now. I think when I encountered a barrier previously it was easy to think that a particular student would just never get it. Now I know that I can find at least one strategy that will reach all students. My students are now more confident themselves. We have grown together.
----Special Education Teacher
MathAllianceProject
Melissa Hedges, MSTSMequon-Thiensville School District
Beth Schefelker, MTSMilwaukee Public SchoolsMilwaukee, WI
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