Session Three

Part two

Making Instructional Decisions

• Teachers make hundreds of decisions a week, some are easy and routine, some are unique and difficult

• 40 % of all children will experience some type of difficulty

Child Find

• School districts are required by law to make efforts to identify students that need special education services

• They do this by – Publications– Teacher identification– School screenings

Indications Students are having Difficulty

• Students ask questions that indicate that they do not understand new material

• Students do not know previously taught material

• Students make numerous errors and few correct responses

• Students do not keep up with their peers• Students can not maintain their work even in

the lowest group

Indications Students are having Difficulty

• Student’s work deteriorates from good to poor to unacceptable

• The student performs adequately in most academic areas but has extreme difficulties in one or more important core skill areas

Reasons for Difficulties

• Students lack prerequisite knowledge– Could have missed time– Not learned skills when originally covered– Not understood it when originally covered– Was not developmentally ready when originally

covered

Reasons for Difficulties

• Insufficient instructional time– Curriculum was rushed– Student needed more time, but it was not

provided– poorly constructed schedule

Reasons for Difficulties

• Teacher lack of subject knowledge– In some areas it is difficult to get qualified

teachers like in Physics..• Teacher lack of pedagogical knowledge– Teachers may know know a wide range of skills on

how to introduce, organize• Teacher commitment to ineffective methods– Lots of research on effective methods, but they do

not find their way into the classroom

Reasons for DifficultiesWhen good instruction is present– Students ability- students learning potential, slow

learners take longer– Interest level, if a student has no interest in a

subject, it will affect how well and quickly the learn

– Cultural differences- affects background knowledge and subtlety of languages.

Getting Help

• When students experience difficulties, they can get help in a number of ways they can get informal help ( if a new teacher) by asking their mentor

• Systemic help is built into the IST process• IST is the Instructional Support Team

IST

• The IST process is an intensive building-based pre-referral intervention program to assist elementary students experiencing difficulty in the classroom. The IST is a working group of teachers and other school professionals that helps teachers find solutions to instructional challenges through classroom-based assessment and collaborative problem-solving.

IST• The Instructional Support Team (IST) is an

innovative program whose goals are to maximize individual student success in the regular classroom, while at the same time serving as a screening process for students who may be in a need of special education services. IST is a positive, success-oriented program which uses specific assessment and intervention techniques to help remove educational, behavioral, or affective stumbling blocks for all students in the regular classroom..

IST Members• Although members of the IST may differ from school to

school, the team always includes– the building principal,– the student's classroom teacher, – the support teacher,– The parents are encouraged to participate as active partners in

the process.– Often but not needed

• The school psychologist, • guidance counselor, • Chapter I teacher, • speech pathologist,• school nurse and • representatives from community agencies

IST Process

• 1) Identifying a student's need for academic or behavioral support;

• 2) Determining the strategies needed to assist the student;

• 3) Implementing intervention strategies through a continuum of services.

IST Process• After an initial assessment of the student's academic,

behavioral, and/or coping skills, the IST recommends strategies to be implemented to help the student achieve success in the regular classroom.

• The team determines what support is needed for the student to maintain a level of success in the classroom.

• These strategies are evaluated by the team after 30 days, based on the goals set for the student.

• If the student's teacher reports a positive change, the strategies are continued.

• If there is no progress, the student is referred for a multidisciplinary evaluation (MDE) which may recommend special education service

Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)• The multidisciplinary team (MDT) uses the

instructional evaluation process to analyze the level and intensity of the intervention(s) needed in order for the student to succeed in the regular education setting, or whether special education may be required. The MDT gathers the data necessary for making eligibility decisions and for design of an IEP for eligible students. A re-evaluation process reviews the student's IEP, determines which instructional approaches and techniques have been successful, and recommends changes to the IEP.

Steps

• Make a referral/ clarify problem– Each school uses a form to help gather data– What are the problems?– Keep observable• What problems do you see?

– Academic list the problems , test scores low, not completing work? Not doing homework, not being able to sit still

– The problem will be further clarified in the meeting with the team

Considerations when designing the Intervention

• Degree of disruptions, be realistic with what you expect the teacher to do as they are teaching? Teaches need to speak up. Your are professional, but need to say what can’t be done- Know the differences

• Side effects- will it have negative effects, will the child be teased?

• Support services required- How often will the plan require services, Are they available

• Prerequisite competencies? Does the teacher have the necessary skills and experience to implement the intervention

Considerations when designing the Intervention

• Control- does the teacher have control of the necessary variables to ensure success. Don’t develop a plan that is out of the teacher’s control

• Immediacy of results- will the teacher see results quick enough to believe in the plan?

• Consequences of Nonintervention- what are the consequences of the behavior if left un corrected

Considerations when designing the Intervention

• Potential transition- do you need to phase in the plan?

• How do you wean the students off the supports( really not a major concern till after the plan succeeds- good problem to have.

Implementing the Plan

• Members of the team should observe to make sure it is being implemented

• Sometimes teaches want it to fail in hopes of getting rid of the student

Evaluate the Results

• Assess frequently• Use graphs• If progress is seen continue and look to

transition• If no progress

• Consider another IST meting• Consider a MDE referral• Modify plan

Special Education

• About 12% of the population receives special education services

• Many decision need to be made in the process for a child to receive special education services.

• Most of the decision are based on Assessment data

Special Education

• The documents that guides special education are – ER- Evaluation Report (reevaluation report)– IEP- Individualized Education Plan

• Parts of the IEP– Demographics– PLEPS-Present Levels of

Educational Performance

– Annual Goals– Related Services

• Participation with non disabled students

• Participation in district and state assessments

• Transition services

IEP Development

• The IEP must state how the child is currently doing in school (known as present levels of educational performance). This information usually comes from the evaluation results such as classroom tests and assignments, individual tests given to decide eligibility for services or during reevaluation, and observations made by parents, teachers, related service providers, and other school staff. The statement about "current performance" includes how the child's disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general curriculum.

Current Levels- PLEPs

• Can be standardized or curriculum based– Standardized are more defensible, Curriculum

based are more helpful with guiding instruction

• Advantages to both• Are a starting point for instruction and should

be instructionally relevant

PLEPs

Annual Goals

• Annual goals re designed for the one year plan ( although IEP may not last one year)

• Goals should be related to Needs that were identified in the PLEPS

• Goals should also be based on the general curriculum in Most cases (exception life skills)

• There is an expectation that a child will reach the goal within one year

• These are goals that the child can reasonably accomplish in a year.

• Goals may be academic, address social or behavioral needs, relate to physical needs, or address other educational needs.

• The goals must be measurable-meaning that it must be possible to measure whether the student has achieved the goals We will review it quickly

Annual Goals.

• An objective is a clear and unambiguous description of your educational expectations for students. When written in behavioral terms, an objective will include three components: student behavior, conditions of performance, and performance criteria.

Behavioral Objectives(Goals)

• Student Behavior -- skill or knowledge to be gained (e.g., two digit numbers, vocabulary words) and the action or skill the student is able TO DO (e.g., define, count, label, categorize, analyze, design, evaluate, add, multiply, etc.)

Student Behavior

• Students will add two-digit numbers; Students will define the vocabulary words identified in bold print in the first story.

Examples

• under what circumstances or context will the behavior be performed

• * Examples: In an oral presentation; Without the use of notes

Conditions of Performance

how well is the behavior is to done; compared to what standard

• * Examples: 80 out of 100; containing all components discussed in class.

Performance Criteria

• In an oral presentation, the student will paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther Kings's I Have a Dream address, mentioning at least 3 of the 5 major points discussed in class.

Examples

Specially Designed Instruction

• These are specially designed instruction that is provided in the classroom– It includes accommodation or adaptations

• Could be a specific strategy, seating arrangement, special technology

• Assessment can help identify these areas

Specially Designed Instruction

• Very Important• There is no Defense against not implementing• You can defend not reaching a annual goal,

you cannot defend not meeting and SDI

Parents are ready for you

• Parents are trained to see if you do not meet the legal agreement that you put together

• There are advocate and trainings for them• See the next clip

Related Services

• Related services are those services that are necessary in order for the students to benefit from special education

• Could be corrective or supportive

Related Services

• Audiology- could include a hearing evaluation, and auditory training

• Psychological services- could include the evaluation, observation and consultation

• Physical and occupational Therapy- most often therapies used to restore, develop or improve functional impairments caused by illness, disease injury, – The goal is usually independent functioning

Related Services

• Recreation- could be in the school or in the community that provide therapeutic recreation

• Counseling services- group, individual, career development, employment preparation, social skills

• Medical services- diagnostic and evaluative services required to determine medically related disabilities are allowed

Related Services

• Recreation- could be in the school or in the community that provide therapeutic recreation

• Counseling services- group, individual, career development, employment preparation, social skills

• Medical services- diagnostic and evaluative services required to determine medically related disabilities are allowed

Related Services

• Others include– Speech and language– Transportation– School health– social work

• The need for theses services are usually determined by an evolution from a specialist

LRE

• School districts are required to provide a continuum of services, range or services or hierarchy of placements

• Instructional support by a special education teacher in the regular classroom

• Instructional support by a special education teacher in a resource room

LRE

• Part time instruction in a special education classroom

• Full Time Instruction in a special education classroom with limited integration

• Full Time Instruction in a special education classroom without integration

Array of Services

Each program for a child is individualized and may contain different supports, PT, OT, speech

Students may also be placed receiving a instruction on a continuum of placements- resource room, or at an APS. Together, this is called Array of series

Consultative

Resource room

Push in Support

Self Contained class in

Self ctn clss other school APS

Residential Setting

Types of Delivery Models

Pull-out Resource room Direct instruction Itinerant Push-in Consultative Self Contained Co-teaching

At home school At a school within

district At a regular school

outside district APS/IU Residential setting

Paraprofessional Support Classroom Aide

Support Teacher Support students

PCA (one-on-one) Supports the child only

Wrap around Case Manager Behavior Specialist TSS BHPCA

Factors affecting Placement choices

• Disruption- – can the students handle going to the new

placement-– How will they deal with the transition– Can they travel to the new room alone– If they cannot, need less restrictive placement

Factors affecting Placement choices

• Well being of non-disabled individuals– Not officially a criteria– If the child is included, will there be a danger– If so move to more restrictive

Factors affecting Placement choices

• Well being of the disabled individuals– Will they be teased– D their needs match up with others in the

placement

Factors affecting Placement choices

• Labeling- many parents do not place students because they are afraid the will be labeled

• Inclusion- some parents want their child in less academically beneficial placements for social benefits