Meeting the Accommodation Needs of Students with Disabilities Through Differentiated Instruction Valecia Davis Division of Technical Assistance 2011 -

Meeting the Accommodation Needs of Students with Disabilities Through

Differentiated Instruction

Valecia Davis

Division of Technical Assistance

2011 - 2012 Mississippi Department of EducationOffice of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education

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300.42 Supplementary Aids and Services

• Supplementary aids and services means aids, services, and other supports that are provided in general education classes, other education-related settings, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate.


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Supplementary Aids and Services

• Supplemental aids and services are commonly referred to as accommodations and modifications and are to be listed on page W-2 of the IEP form.


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Who Decides?

• The responsibility to make decisions regarding accommodations and/or modifications for students with disabilities rests with the IEP Committee.

• Accommodations are required, when appropriate, and allowable by law – IDEA.


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What Are Accommodations and Modifications ?

Accommodations and modifications are an important part of planning the educational program for your students. Many students with a disability may only need small changes to the way they are taught and tested. Then they can participate successfully in regular classes.

McNary, S., Glasgow, N., and Hicks, C., (2005) What Successful Teachers Do in Inclusive

Classrooms: Researched-Based Teaching Strategies That Help Learners Succeed

2011 - 2012 Mississippi Department of Education

Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education6

Understanding Accommodations

• Accommodations involve many kinds of techniques and support systems. Accommodations help students work around limitations related to their disability. Students who are blind may need to use Braille textbooks or books-on-tape. Students who use wheelchairs may need a ramp or elevator to move independently in the school building. Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may need a sign language interpreter.


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Understanding Accommodations

Accommodations are really “whatever it takes” to make sure that students with a disability can participate as fully as possible in the general curriculum and ultimately earn a standard high school diploma.

Accommodations can be provided for

• instructional methods and materials

• assignments and assessments

• learning environment

• time demands and scheduling

• special communication systems.


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Understanding Modifications

• Not all students with a disability are able to meet all of the requirements of a standard high school diploma. Some students may not be able to work on grade-level or pass the required courses for graduation. Generally, these students will be working for a special diploma, i.e., the Mississippi Occupational Diploma or a Certificate of Completion.


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Understanding Modifications

Modifications may include

• completion of part of the program or some of the course requirements

• curriculum expectations below grade level

• alternate curriculum goals

• alternate assessments.


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Modifications are changes

to what a student is

expected to learn

Standard/Allowable Accommodations

Not all accommodations that are noted on a student’s IEP and utilized during instruction are allowed on the statewide assessments. The master list for all State-wide assessments and a list of allowable and non-allowable accommodations for each test are included in the Testing Accommodations Manual www/mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/specpop.html.


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Standard/Allowable Accommodations

It is important to note that if there is an accommodation that has been used by the student throughout the year, but is not allowed during State-wide testing, the building-level or district test coordinator should complete a Petition for Special Consideration Form and submit it to Student Assessment. To be done only if the accommodation does not invalidate test results.


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What Is Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction refers to a systematic approach to planning curriculum and instruction for academically diverse learners.


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Why Do Both?

• Differentiating instruction and using accommodations and/or modifications is not an either/or approach. These strategies work collaboratively with each other to benefit the learner.

• Understanding how to implement them effectively is the key to student success.


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Differentiating Instruction Meets LRE Goals

• IDEA does not use the term “inclusion,” however, it does require school districts to place students in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

• LRE means that, to the maximum extent appropriate, school districts must educate students with disabilities in the regular classroom with appropriate aids and supports, referred to as “supplementary aids and services,” along with their nondisabled peers, unless a student’s IEP requires some other arrangement.


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Differentiating Instruction Meets LRE Goals

• The relationship of IDEA’s LRE requirement to the IEP process is key, since, under IDEA, the student’s IEP forms the basis for the student’s placement decision.

• Consistent with this requirement, any modification to the regular educational program, i.e., supplementary aids and services that the IEP team determines that the student needs to facilitate the student’s placement in the regular environment, must be described in the student’s IEP and must be provided to the student.


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Setting the Stage for Learning

• There are five classroom elements that teachers can differentiate or modify, to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as possible, as efficiently as possible: Content Process Products Affect Learning Environment


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Setting the Stage for Learning

• Content—What we teach and how we give students access (accommodation) to the information and ideas that matter.

• Process—How students come to understand and “own” the knowledge, understanding, and skills essential to a topic.

• Products—How a student demonstrates what he or she has come to know, understand, and be able to do as a result of appropriate instruction.

• Affect—How students link thought and feeling in the classroom.

• Learning environment—The way the classroom feels and functions.


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Content

• Content is what students should know, understand, and be able to do as a result of a segment of study.

• Content is defined by the State curriculum guidelines.

• The teacher is the facilitator of content and it’s his/her role to ensure the student’s readiness, interest, and learning profile.


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Strategies For Differentiating Content

Student Characteristic

Strategy

Readiness • Provide texts at varied reading levels• Provide supplementary materials at varied reading levels• Re-teach for students having difficulty• Demonstrate ideas or skills in addition to lecture• Provide materials in various formats; i.e. audiotape, videotape, etc.• Provide organizers to guide note-taking


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Strategies For Differentiating Content


Strategy

Interest • Provide interest centers to encourage further explanation of topics• Provide a wide range of materials on a wide range of related topics• Use examples and illustrations based on student interests• Use student questions and topics to guide lectures

Learning Profile • Present in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modes•Teach in whole-to-part and part-to-whole approaches• Use wait time to allow for student reflection


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Process

• Process is what the student is actually doing (actions of the learner).

• Process requires the student to work directly with the content goals.

• Process develops critical thinkers and not simply performance output. It is more than repeating what has been said or done.


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Strategies For Differentiating Process


Strategy

Readiness • Use activities at different levels of difficulty, but focused on the same learning goals.• Make task directions more detailed for some learners and more open for others.• Allow for mixed intelligences work groups.• Use a variety of criteria for success, based upon whole class and individual student readiness.• Vary the pacing of student work.


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Strategies For Differentiating Process


Strategy

Interest • Use interest-based work and discussion groups.• Design tasks that require multiple interests for successful completion.• Encourage students to participate in the design of some tasks.

Learning Profile • Allow multiple options for how students express learning.• Encourage students to work collaboratively and individually.• Develop activities that seek multiple perspectives on topics and issues.


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Product

• Product means the way by which students demonstrate what they have learned.

• Products should have a clear and specified criteria for success, based both on grade-level expectations and individual student needs.

• Products can take many forms.


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Strategies For Differentiating Product


Strategy

Readiness • Use similar-readiness critique groups during product development.• Use mixed-readiness or teacher-led critique groups during product development (particularly for students who need extra support and guidance).• Develop rubrics or other benchmarks for success based both on grade-level expectations and individual student learning needs.


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Strategies For Differentiating Product


Strategy

Interest • Allow students to use a range of media or formats to express their knowledge, understanding, and skill.• Provide opportunities for students to develop independent inquiries with appropriate teacher or mentor guidance.

Learning Profile •Teach students how to use a wide range of product formats.• Provide auditory, visual, and kinesthetic options.• Provide creative, analytic, and practical product options.


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Affect and Learning Environment

• Affect and learning environment simply means to provide a safe and healthy school culture that fosters academic, social, and behavioral success in the student.


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Map Out A Strategy

• True differentiation begins at the administrative level. Instructional leaders are to assess their resources to see if they have the necessary amount of special educators and general educators to make the inclusionary instructional process work.

• This will ensure that the needs of all students are met within the general classroom setting, and it fosters “Team Building” among the teachers.


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Attitudes and Beliefs

• The regular educator believes that the student can learn.

• School personnel are committed to accepting responsibility for the learning outcomes of students with disabilities.

• School personnel and the students in the class have been prepared to receive a student with disabilities.


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Attitudes and Beliefs

• Parents are informed and support program goals.

• Special education staff are committed to collaborative practice in general education classrooms.


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School Support

• The principal understands the needs of students with disabilities.

• Adequate staff development and technical assistance, based on the needs of the school personnel, are being provided.

• Appropriate policies and procedures for monitoring individual student progress, including grading and testing, are in place.


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Bring It All Together

Collaboration• Special educators are part

of the instructional planning team.

• Teaming approaches are used for problem-solving and program implementation.

Instructional Methods• Teachers have the

knowledge and skills needed to select and adapt curricula and instructional methods according to individual student needs.


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Collaboration• Regular teachers, special

education teachers, and other specialists collaborate (e.g., co-teaching, team teaching).

Instructional Methods• A variety of instructional

arrangements are available.

• Teachers foster a cooperative learning environment and promote socialization.


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Teachers use joint planning time to problem-solve and discuss the use of special instructional techniques for all students who need special assistance.


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• Teachers use curriculum-based measurement to systematically assess their students’ learning progress.

• They adapt curricula so that lessons begin at the edge of the student’s knowledge, adding new material at the student’s pace, and presenting it in a style consistent with the student’s learning style.


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REMEMBER

Monitoring and adapting instruction for individual students is an ongoing activity.


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Identifying Instructional Strategies

• Once the decision has been made for differentiated instruction, the next step should be assessing the learner needs to develop appropriate instructional strategies.

• This will require aligning teacher and learner intelligences for maximum achievement.


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Begin with the Basics for the Students

• Identify learner preference (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, or combination).

• Identify learner strengths/weakness.

• Adapt instruction to fit learner needs.

**This does not require developing individual instructional plans for each learner. It does provide teacher(s) with most effective strategy to aid in instructing the group.


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Begin with the Basics for the Educator

• What are the learning and support needs of the students in the classroom?

• What are the most logical and necessary instructional interventions?

**These are factors that must be considered when developing instructional strategies.


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Begin with the Basics

• Identify needs

– Do the individual needs of the students with disabilities warrant inclusion?

– Will the entire student population benefit from inclusive practices?

• Assess Resources

– Does the school have enough certified/credentialed personnel to implement inclusion effectively?

– How can the current resources be best utilized to implement inclusion effectively?

• Collaborate

– Ensure that all staff are willing to work together to ensure inclusive practices are successful.


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REMEMBER!

• Differentiation won’t just happen– it has to be deliberate, structured, systematic, and ongoing.


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Possible Reasons Why Differentiation Won’t Just Happen

Some possibilities might be:

• Little understanding of curriculum, instruction, and assessment between general and special educators.

• Collaboration does not occur without a student-driven reason and a deliberate structure with resources.


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Some possibilities might be:• General educators begin with the

curriculum first and use assessment to determine what was learned.

• Special educators begin with assessment first and design instruction to repair gaps in learning.


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• Limited understanding of appropriate accommodations and/or modifications

• Accommodations and/or modifications not appropriately addressed in IEP

• Unsure how to implement

• Belief that accommodations and modifications are “unfair”


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• There is a mismatch between what is allowed during instruction and assessment.

• Accommodation and modification decisions are not made based on individual student needs.

• There is no time to communicate with all teachers about individual students.


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Ways We Can Make This Work

Develop a process for general and specialeducators to make collaborative decisions about accommodations and modifications.

• Provide purpose and structure.• Create baseline and a plan for scaffold

change.• Provide a visual map to guide discussions.• Keep discussions objective.


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Ways We Can Make This Work

• Align differentiated instructional strategies with the MS Curriculum Frameworks.

• Develop instructional learning communities to review instructional strategies and monitor student achievement.

• Involve the learner, parent(s), and community in the implementation of the process.


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Suggestions for Administrators

Administrators should:

• Provide information and encourage proactive preparation of teachers.

• Assess level of collaboration currently in place.

• Pre-plan.

• Implement slowly.


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Suggestions for IEP Committee Members

IEP Committee members should:

• Consistently apply decision-making process.

• Select accommodations and modifications based on individual student needs and preferences.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and modifications.


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Suggestions for District Personnel

• Inform all staff of IDEA requirements.• Familiarize all staff with State content standards.• Identify relationship between State standards and

individual student (IEP) goals in order to promote access to the general curriculum.

• Ensure that goals and support services reflect the new learning experiences that students will receive in general education classes.


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• Attention needs to be given to individualized education plan (IEP) setting changes that an inclusive classroom may invoke.

• Familiarize all staff with standard (allowable) accommodations and/or modifications.

• Discuss the roles of the general education and special education teachers in delivering instruction related to the general education curriculum.


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• Develop a plan to implement accommodations and modifications during instruction and assessment and how to bridge across these two conditions.

• Structure the process to allow for true collaboration among special education and general education.

• Implement a collaborative decision-making process when determining accommodations and modifications.


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Keep In Mind

As schools are shifting to provide more inclusive programs, a popular service delivery model that is frequently being suggested in meeting academic needs of students with disabilities in the general education classroom is co-teaching.


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What Is Co-Teaching?

Co-teaching is also called collaborative teaching, team teaching, or cooperative teaching, but regardless of which term is used, it is two or more professionals who deliver quality instruction to students with and without disabilities in a classroom.


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Keep In Mind

This is not an “all or nothing” approach.

• Teachers do not have to commit to only one approach of co-teaching.

• Co-teaching is not the only option for serving students.

• Some students with disabilities may be in a co-taught classroom for only part of the day.


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Limitations and Potential Drawbacks

• Co-teaching is not easy to maintain in schools.

• There may not be enough special educators for an inclusive program.

• Inclusive classrooms may be disproportionally filled with students with disabilities.

• Special educators can function more as a teaching assistant than as a co-educator.


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Instructional Tips

• Develop unobtrusive signals to communicate with each other.

• Create signals for students that are consistent and can be used by either teacher.

• Vary instructional practices (Differentiate instruction).• Clearly display an agenda for the class, which includes the

standard(s) to be covered and any additional goals (Curriculum Mapping).

• Avoid disagreeing with or undermining each other in front of the students.

• Strive to demonstrate parity in instruction whenever possible by switching roles often.

• Avoid stigmatization of any one group of students.


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Resources for Effective Differentiation:

The following resources are located in the Tool Kit for Success:• Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating

Curriculum

• What Successful Teachers Do in Inclusive Classrooms: Researched-Based Teaching Strategies That Help Special Learners Succeed

• How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms

• Universal Design for Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Education Professionals

• Adapting Curriculum & Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms

• Inclusive Schools in Action: Making Differences Ordinary

• Leadership for Differentiating Schools & Classrooms

• Inclusion Strategies That Work! Researched-Based Methods for the Classroom


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Contact Information

Valecia Davis

[email protected]

Desma McElveen

[email protected]

Tanya Bradley

[email protected]

601-359-34982011 - 2012 Mississippi Department of Education

Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education60

Documents

Meeting the Accommodation Needs of Students with Disabilities Through Differentiated Instruction Valecia Davis Division of Technical Assistance 2011 -