Accessing the General Curriculum the 4 Step Way

1. Accessing the General Curriculum the 4 Step Way Mike Burdge and Jean Clayton Keystone Alternate Assessment July 2010

2. Hitting a Dead End (Instruction not leading to general standards/curriculum)

3. BobbieFollowing a Dead End

4. BobbieHitting a Dead End

5. Following a False Lead (Instruction not leading to general standards/curriculum)

6. BertaFollowing a False Lead

7. BertaFollowing a False Lead

8. Breaking the Code (Doing the same old thing with bits of access to general standards/curriculum.)

9. JuneBreaking the Code Today we did an activity on plot. June sat really well and looked at me. She is joy to have in class.

10. JuneBreaking the Code

11. Solving the Case (Accessing general ed. standards and curriculum on routine basis)

12. B.J.Solving the Case

13. B.J.Solving the Case

14. STANDARDS LESSON PLANS SKILLS Special Education Teachers General Education Teachers ASSESSMENT CURRICULUM INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ACTIVITY(IES)

17. Your turn! (15 minutes) • Select an instructional unit based upon the grade level benchmark • Discuss the outcomes that have already been determined for all general education students. • Determine prioritize outcomes for the student (see slides 24 – 28) • Discuss the formative assessment(s) for all general education students. • Determine if any changes are needed for the student. • Complete the DOK sections of the DOK chart: • Briefly describe objectives at various DOK levels • List possible formative assessments at various DOK levels Jean Clayton and Michael Burdge, Keystone Alternate Assessment

19. Accessing instruction within the context of what all students are learning Can the target student comprehend information shared during instruction using the materials provided? Can the student interact with materials, communicate, and demonstrate knowledge? Will the student be interested in the activity and remain engaged long enough to learn? Jean Clayton and Michael Burdge, Keystone Alternate Assessment 19

20. Identify Barriers Based on 3 UDL Principles • Can the targeted student comprehend information shared during instruction using the materials provided? • Can the student interact with materials, communicate, and demonstrate knowledge? • Will the student be interested in the activity and remain engaged long enough to learn? GSEG II: PAC6 Assessment Implementation Project

21. Perhaps there is no more fundamental outcome of education than the right and the ability to communicate.

22. Academic content is by definition symbolic content – access to the general curriculum is only meaningful if one can understand and express that content.

23. Making content accessible requires us to consider the student’s communication/language capabilities • Receptive abilities impact a student’s ability to process and make sense of instructional activities • Expressive abilities impact a student’s ability to demonstrate what they have learned

24. What did a study of over 13,000 students involved in alternate assessment in 7 states on the mainland tell us about receptive and expressive skills?

25. Receptive Language • 37-56% responded to 1-2 step directions via spoken, signed, or printed words without additional cues • 34-51% requiredadditional cues to respond to directions • 7-13% alerted to sensory input from others, but required physical assistance to follow directions • Across states, approximately 2-3% displayed an uncertain response to sensory stimuli

26. Expressive Communication • 61-79% of students across the states used true “language” in some form to communicate • Between 13-26% used understandable modes such as gestures, point, objects, etc., to express intents (illocutionary/emergent symbolic) • 7-17% used cries, facial expressions, change in muscle tone, etc., to communicate, but no regularized gestures, pictures, etc.

27. Students at Pre and Emerging Expressive Symbolic Levels Elementary School: 32.8% • 20.3% “emerging symbolic” • 12.6% “pre-symbolic” Middle School: 25.5% • 17.6% “emerging symbolic” • 7.9% “pre-symbolic”) High School: 22.7% • 13.2% “emerging symbolic” • 9.5% “pre-symbolic”)

28. Students who are unable to use oral speech have no way of displaying their actual level of cognitive and academic achievement if no AAC has been offered or established.

29. Collaboration is essential for effective communication in the classroom, and each team member has a unique role. Hurd, Robin. (2009). AAC and the IEP. Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 18: 65-70.

30. So, what can teachers do to help these students with expressive and receptive language issues access the curriculum?

31. Receptively • Provide simplified input • Pre-teach vocabulary • Break complex directions down into simple forms • Use signs or symbols in addition to speech for input • Provide multiple repetitions of content vocabulary • Check comprehension • Do not assume that a student who doesn’t use symbols can’t understand

32. Expressively • Provide alternate systems for the student to respond (e.g. signs, objects, symbols, communication boards, voice output communication aids) • Model expressive use of the sign/gesture/symbol system the student is using • WAIT – provide the student adequate time to formulate a response • Learn to recognize and respond appropriately to student’s unconventional communication

33. Increasing Classroom Participation • Develop an “Ecological Inventory” of the students favorite things, greatest needs, etc. INVOLVING FAMILY INPUT!!!!! • Display a Daily Schedule for each student • Identify what communication adaptations the student may need in order to participate in the classroom/curriculum • Develop a matrix of the student’s day which includes how he/she will participate in each class and what means of communication he/she will utilize

34. Classroom Activity Analysis