Designing a Middle School Classroom for Students with Disabilities

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Designing a Middle School Classroom for Students
with Disabilities

• Middle School motivation
• Motivating instruction
• Middle School learning strategies
• Changing a lesson modifications and
  accommodations

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The Middle Schooler

• What motivates a middle school student?
• Need for approval-
• Achievement-
• Competence-
• Curiosity-
• Self- Esteem-
• Competition-
• Learned Helplessness
• Students who repeatedly fail look to who for
  their success or failure?
• Treat them differently Extrinsic versus intrinsic

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Where do modifications and accommodations come in?

• What did Elliott, McKevitt, and Kettler (2002)
  say about accommodations used in class?
• What are the differences between modifications
  and accommodations?
• Why are there successes mixed?
• Can an accommodation ever become a modification?
• Are we making it too easy to have a disability?

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What is a modification?

• Modifications are changes to what a student is
  expected to learn.
• In other words, the standard or concept is
  changed or different from general education
  expectations.

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Modifications

• Content modifications likely change what the test
  measures (McDonnell et al., 1997).
• Modifications, for example, may include deleting
  certain items that are inappropriate for an
  examinee or making constructed-response questions
  into multiple-choice questions.
• These types of modifications are presumed to
  change the nature of what is being tested.

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Distinguishing Modifications and Accommodations

• The term modification is occasionally used
  interchangeably with the term accommodation
  (Hollenbeck, Tindal, Almond, 1998).
• They are actually very different in concept and
  purpose
• A modification is considered a change in the
  content of the test, whereas an accommodation is
  considered a change in the way a test is
  administered.

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What is an accommodation?

• Changes that can be made to the way students with
  disabilities are instructed and assessed.
• Accommodations can be made to instructional
  methods and materials, assignments and
  assessments, learning environment, time demands
  and schedules, and special communication systems.
  
• (FL Department of Education)
• Tindal Fuchs (2000) define accommodation as a
  change in presentation or response format that
  does not alter the construct / purpose / standard.

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Accommodations

• Testing accommodations are changes in the way a
  test is administered or responded to by the
  person tested.
• Changes are intended to offset or correct for
  distortions in scores that may be caused by a
  students disability (Elliott, Kratochwill,
  Schulte, 1998 McDonnell et al., 1997).
• Accommodations are used to help students show
  what they know on assessments without being
  impeded by their disability. Accommodations are
  not intended to change the nature of the
  construct being measured for the examinee
  rather, they are meant to make the measurement of
  a particular construct comparable across
  examinees.

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Making accommodations work

• AERA (1999) adds that when a disability warrants
  change in testing protocol, then accommodations
  may be presented.
• Example is eye glasses as an accommodation on a
  reading test but a modification on a driving test
  (Elliott, McKevit, Kettler, 2002).
• Implementing accommodations before the testing
  situation will improve the students adaptations
  with the accommodations (Helwig Tindal, 2003).
• For more on testing accommodations, go to
• http//www.wcer.wisc.edu/testacc/publications/AER
  Apaper4-2000.htm

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Difficulties with implementation

• Helwig Tindal (2003) teachers were no more than
  chance able to predict who would benefit from the
  read-aloud accommodation during large-scale math
  tests
• Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, et al (2000) reading
  questions and scenarios aloud may help children
  with reading difficulties. In this situation, we
  must consider their listening comprehension and
  processing
• Helwig Tindal also found that 45 of elementary
  school students and 57 of middle school students
  were incorrectly assigned accommodations during
  math testing. For example, during video testing,
  88 of middle school teachers stated an
  accommodation would not help their student when
  in fact, it had a significant effect.

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Who must follow section 504?

• "If something is being funded by the Federal
  government, shouldn't it be accessible to
  everyone?"It is the stated intent of the
  Federal government that all of its programs and
  activities should be available to all citizens.
  Discrimination on the basis of disability is not
  allowed. Activities and programs provided by a
  Federal executive agency or anyone receiving
  Federal financial assistance are governed by
  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. (ITTATC,
  2006)

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Lesson example 1 (Bennett, 2007)

• WINTHROP UNIVERSITY
• Teacher Candidates Name Gina Bennett
  Grade/Level9th
• Subject/content taught Algebra TP I (inclusion)/
  Writing Equations
• Lesson Title Math messages
• Lesson Objectives
• (List the SC Curriculum Standard(s) the objective
  addresses objective must be observable.)
• Instructional procedures and materials for each
  objective(Explain what will be done to achieve
  the objectives. Explain modifications/adaptations
  made for specific learners. Explain the specific
  motivational strategies that will be used.
  Explain how you will transition from one
  activity/lesson to the next. Underline or list
  materials/equipment needed. Attach handouts /or
  worksheets used.)
• Analysis of student mastery of objectives
• The student will be able to
• Identify math hot words in closure and post
  assessment with 83 mastery (10 out of 12
  times).
• Translate word problems into mathematical symbols
  with 86 mastery (12 out of 14 times).
• Define a variable in word and mathematical
  equations with 100 master (10 out of 10 times).
• Translate mathematical equations into word
  problems with 86 mastery (12 out of 14 times).

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• Connection to SC Curriculum Standard(s)9.II.C.2.
  Use symbols to represent unknowns and
  variables.9.III.B.11. Describe functional
  relationships for given problem situations and
  write equations, inequalities, and recursive
  relations to answer questions arising from the
  situations..
• Materials Colored Card stock cards with numbers,
  variables, and mathematical symbols printed on
  them. Textbook Glencoe (2001). Algebra I
  Integrations, applications, connections.
  Columbus McGraw-HillHot Words handout
• Introduction (5-10 minutes) Teacher will pose
  the following question to students Jessica is 22
  years old. Her sister Shannon is Jessicas age
  minus 1. Together, the sum of Jessica and
  Shannons age is 43. How old is Shannon? The
  teacher will take students responses after
  providing adequate time to solve the problem.
• Procedures (45-50 minutes) The teacher will
  explain the concept of hot words using
  students background knowledge. In life there are
  certain words that we see that stand for other
  things. For instance, when you go shopping and
  you want to save some money- what are some words
  that you might look for? Clearance, sale,
  liquidation, free gift, etc. Or when you hear a
  strange sound coming from your car- what are some
  things that you might look for? Diagnostics,
  check engine light, gas light. Are you guys big
  on text messages? I know I am. What are some
  things that you use in text messages to stand for
  something else, maybe a longer word? Idk, btw,
  l8r, msg, etc.

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• The teacher will write the following headings on
  the board, while Mr. Grant passes out the
  handouts. 1. Equals, 2. Add, 3. Subtract, 4.
  Multiply, 5. Divide.
• The teacher will explain the handout and will
  tell students to fill it in when they see fit.
  The class will then fill out the sheet together.
  (Accommodation This handout is mainly for
  students with disabilities who are poor note
  takers. There are also other students in the
  class who do not take notes because they do not
  feel like it. The worksheet is a form of guided
  notes and takes less effort in handwriting and
  processing (especially for students with fine
  motor difficulties).
• After the class has discussed the hot words and
  what they mean, the teacher will ask certain
  students to come to the front of the classroom.
  The teacher will give the students the colored
  cards and will position them into an equation.
  The other students will have to identify and
  solve the equations that are presented to them.
• Closure (20-25 minutes) HOT WORDS BINGO The
  teacher will ask the students to fold their paper
  into a 3 x 4 grid and will ask them to place the
  following words randomly into the grid number,
  is, sum, more than, less, less than, of, product,
  quotient, variable, equation, FREE. The teacher
  will call out and write examples of each of the
  words, at which time the students must locate and
  mark the coordinating spot on their grid.
• Accommodations Bobby is required to complete 75
  of the homework due to handwriting speed.
• Modification Since fluency is being measured,
  calculators may be used during this activity and
  assessment for Joey and Nandi.

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Potential accommodations

• Extra wait time
• Procedures clarification
• Minimize classroom distractions
• Homework reminders and planners
• Weekly progress report and home checks
• Increased 11 assistance
• Peer tutoring or reciprocal teaching
• Homework from previous week

• Classroom signals for attention
• Visual organizer
• Scribe or notetaker
• Guided notes
• Shortened assignments
• Chunked lesson of brief assessed activities
  throughout a lesson
• Frequent praise to teach proper academic and
  social behaviors
• Any more????

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Potential modifications

• Altered grading procedures
• Alternate but related standard during lesson
• Different reading assignments
• Different questions

• Alternate assessment content and / or
  expectations
• Elimination of parts of assignments if they
  remove a standard
• Calculator during math fluency assignment

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Is good teaching an accommodation or a
modification?

• Depending on the needs of the child, a
  modification is simply better teaching if the
  performance of the child increases. The
  difficulty comes in defining performance.
• Accommodations may work for all the students in
  the classroom. However, not every student must
  have the same accommodation. Strive for equity
  over equality.

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Modifications and Accommodations

• What are modifications to a teachers
  instruction?
• An algebra teacher is a teaching trigonometric
  ratios (sine, cosine, tangent). You expect
  students to memorize the formulas to solve for
  angles and lengths of sides. How might you modify
  the assignment for a student with memory problems
  and calculation at the 2nd grade level?
• What are accommodations?
• The same teacher decides not to modify the
  assignment but instead provide accommodations.
  What accommodations could be applied and how?

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Modifications and Accommodations

• What are modifications to a teachers
  instruction?
• A 7th grade teacher is instructing students on
  the skeletal system and wants students to learn
  the name of the bones in human arms and legs. How
  might she modify the lesson for a student with
  memory and attention concerns who reads at the
  4th grade level?
• What are accommodations?
• The same teacher decides not to modify the
  assignment but instead provide accommodations.
  What accommodations could be applied and how?

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• Modifications and Accommodations are important
  to the success of students with special needs in
  inclusive settings. Educate colleagues as to the
  potential of differentiating instruction to help
  students achieve at their optimal levels.