1. PLANNING AND TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING

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• 1. PLANNING AND TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING

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Who are students with learning and behavior
problems?

• Poor academic performance
• Attention problems
• Hyperactivity
• Memory
• Poor language abilities
• Aggressive behavior
• Withdrawn behavior
• Bizarre behavior

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• 15 to 25 percent of all students have some type
  of learning or behavior problem,
• 6 of the student population are special
  education.
• Learning disabilities are five times more
  prevalent than behavior disorders.

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Factors to Consider when Determining Seriousness
of Problem

• Persistence of the problem
• Severity of the problem
• Speed of progress
• Motivation
• Parental response
• Other teachers responses
• Relationship with the teachers
• Instructional modifications
• Adequate instruction
• Behavior-age discrepancy
• Other

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Effective Instruction for Students with Learning
and Behavior Problems

• Individually planned
• Specialized
• Intensive
• Goal-directed
• Employ research-based methods
• Guided by student performance
• (Heward 2003)

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Learning and Educational Environments

• Most students with learning and behavior problems
  are educated in the general education classroom.
• In many schools, reading or math specialists
  assist students with learning problems.
• Some classroom teachers have a teaching assistant
  who provides supplemental instruction for
  students with learning problems.
• Students with disabilities receive services
  through special education.

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Including Students with Learning and Behavior
Problems (continued)

• Almost 47 percent of students identified as
  severely learning disabled spent 80 percent of
  their time in general education classrooms,
  whereas only 29 percent of students identified as
  seriously emotionally disturbed were in regular
  classrooms for that same amount of time.

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More on Inclusion

• Lawmakers intended for students with special
  needs who are included in the general education
  classroom to receive accommodations for their
  learning and/or emotional needs within the
  classroom.

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Roles of Special Education Teacher and General
Classroom Teacher

• The special education teacher, as
  consultant/collaborator with the general
  education classroom teacher, is to facilitate the
  implementation of the students IEP and then
  promote effective practices and planning to
  assure appropriate instruction.
• Working cooperatively with the special education
  teacher, the general classroom teacher is
  responsible for planning, monitoring, and
  delivering the instruction or intervention the
  student needs.

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Identifying Students with Learning Disabilities

• Typically,
• individuals with learning disabilities have been
  identified through referral by classroom teachers
  or families.
• these assessments included an IQ and an
  achievement test.
• If the students IQ scores were a certain
  number of points above their achievement scores
  (large discrepancy between IQ and achievement
  scores), the student would be identified as
  having a learning disability due to their
  unexpected underachievement."

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Concerns Regarding IQ-Achievement Discrepancy

• The discrepancy is difficult to determine with
  young children and may unnecessarily postpone
  identification until second grade or later this
  concern highlights why some refer to the
  IQachievement discrepancy as the wait to fail
  model.
• Many young children ages five to seven benefit
  greatly from prevention programs, particularly in
  reading, that could keep them from developing
  greater difficulties in reading or math.
• Formal IQ and achievement tests are expensive to
  administer and interpret, and the money might be
  better used to provide instruction.
• IQ tests provide little information to teachers
  to assist them in improving or modifying their
  instruction.

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Alternatives to the IQ-Achievement Discrepancy
Model

• The most frequently suggested alternative is
  response to intervention (RTI).
• RTI typically involves
• a multi-tiered system of interventions
• a data collection system that informs decision
  making
• ongoing progress monitoring

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RTI

• Provides a preventative approach to special
  education.
• Promotes early screening and interventions.
• Addresses concerns about the IQ-achievement
  discrepancy.

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IDEA 2004 RTI

• The 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, the Individuals
  with Disabilities Education Improvement Act,
  recommends that states and schools abandon the
  IQachievement discrepancy to identify students
  with learning disabilities and instead use an RTI
  approach. However, IDEA 2004 does not require
  that schools use RTI.

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Teaching Students with Learning and Behavior
Problems

• Key players in teaching-learning process
• Learner
• Teacher
• The Instructional Cycle

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• 2. RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION

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Response to Intervention

• RTI is the most current model for screening
  students and using their response to intervention
  as a data source to facilitate identifying
  students who need special education services.
• (Burns, Griffiths, Parson, Tilly, VanDerHayden,
  2007 Glover Vaughn, 2010)

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Why Use RTI?

• PAST/TRADITIONAL
• An increase in more than 200 since the category
  was established.
• Questionable procedures for determining learning
  disabilities through emphasis on IQ-achievement
  discrepancy and processing disorders.
• Students identified using a wait to fail model
  rather than a prevention-early intervention
  model.
• Subjectivity in student referral for services
  with teachers and others perceptions sometimes
  weighing too heavily in the process.

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Past Challenges(continued)

• Students opportunities to learn not adequately
  considered during the referral and identification
  process.
• Considerable variation from state to state
  concerning identification procedures and
  prevalence rates for learning disabilities.
• An identification process that provides little
  information to guide instruction decision-making.
• Problematic assessment practices, particularly
  for culturally and linguistically diverse
  students.
• Disproportionate numbers of culturally and
  linguistically diverse students inappropriately
  identified for and served in special education.

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Challenges to Implementing an RTI Approach

• Questions about who provides the more intensive
  secondary and tertiary interventions and the
  extent to which validated instructional practices
  exist in academic areas other than reading, such
  as math or writing.
• Defining response to intervention so that
  school districts are able to determine
• Responders from non-responders
• The necessary professional development for
  practicing professionals
• The role of families.

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Other Issues and Perceived Barriers to
Implementation of RTI

• Personnel may not be adequately trained to
  implement RTI.
• High-quality instruction in early reading is well
  understood, however, research based practices for
  implementing instruction in other domains (e.g.,
  math, writing) are less well delineated.
• Leaders at the school, district, and state levels
  are inadequately prepared to implement RTI
  practices.

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Other Issues and Perceived Barriers to
Implementation of RTI (continued)

• Many folks perceive RTI as a special education
  initiative rather than a combined general and
  special education initiative.
• Inadequate local and state level policies and
  resources may compromise effective implementation
  of RTI.
• Effective practices models for implementing RTI
  at the secondary level are less well developed
  making it difficult for middle and high school
  personnel to implement RTI models.

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IDEIA 2004

• Based on these initiatives, Congress passed the
  Individuals with Disabilities Education
  Improvement Act (IDEIA 2004). The new law
  promoted RTI as a means for preventing learning
  difficulties and furthering accurate
  identification of students with learning
  disabilities.

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Critical Elements of RTI

• Screening and progress monitoring
• Implementation of effective classroom
  instructional practices so that all students have
  an opportunity to learn (Tier 1)
• Provision of secondary intervention (Tier 2) when
  students fall behind
• Provision of a more intensive individualized
  intervention for students for whom secondary
  intervention is inadequate (Tier 3)

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4 Key Components of RTI Models

• They implement high-quality, research-based
  instruction matched to the needs of students.
• They provide universal screening to identify
  students at risk and monitor students learning
  over time to determine their level and rate of
  performance (for ongoing decision making)
• They provide interventions of increasing
  intensity when students continue to struggle.
• They make important educational decisions based
  on data.

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Using Progress Monitoring in the Classroom

• Why use progress monitoring?
• To keep track of student learning
• To identify students who need additional help
• To assist in arranging small-group instruction
• To design instruction that meets individual
  student needs
• To refer and identify students for special
  education based on data gathered during progress
  monitoring

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Progress Monitoring(continued)

• How do I monitor student progress? (continued)
• Assess progress by comparing learning goals with
  actual student progress. Students who are making
  adequate progress should still be assessed
  approximately three times a year to ensure that
  they are learning and continue to achieve at
  grade level.

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Three Tiers of Intervention

• RTI models often discuss instruction or
  intervention in terms of tiers.
• As students move through the tiers, the intensity
  of the interventions they receive increases.
• Some RTI models include 3 tiers, and others
  include a 4th tier.

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Implementing Interventions

• Standard treatment protocol
• Used for all students with similar problems
• Evidence based interventions
• Instructional decisions follow a standard
  protocol
• Problem-solving method
• More individualized or personalized approach

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Implementing InterventionsProblem-Solving Method
(Continued)

• Problem solving team
• Classroom teacher
• School psychologist
• Special education teacher
• Other key educational stakeholders (e.g., parent,
  speech and language therapist)

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Implementing InterventionsProblem-Solving
Method (Continued)

• Process
• Define the problem.
• Analyze the problem.
• Develop a plan.
• Implement a plan.
• Evaluate the plan.

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Decision-Making Teams

• Should include members with relevant expertise
• One team member must have expertise in learning
  disabilities.
• Another should be an expert in the targeted area
  of concern (e.g., reading, math, behavior)
• Another should have expertise in language
  acquisition, and if relevant, bilingual education
  (for English language learners).

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How Team Members Facilitate RTI

• Reviewing progress monitoring data of students in
  interventions and for grade levels and the school
  as a whole.
• Observing classroom instruction to ensure that
  research-based instruction is occurring.
• Providing professional development to teachers
  and other key educators.
• Assisting with data collection and monitoring.
• Facilitating instructional decision making.
• Organizing intervention groups and monitoring
  their effectiveness.
• Communicating with parents and professionals.

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RTI for Students Who are Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse

• ELLs benefit from teachers who are highly
  interested in ensuring that their students make
  adequate progress in reading and that they
  themselves have the knowledge and skills to
  provide appropriate instruction.

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RTI for Students Who are Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse (continued)

• ELLs will be better served if teachers and school
  personnel do not expect or accept low performance
  and if they do not view students as undeserving
  of effective interventions.
• ELLs who exhibit learning disabilities may be
  underidentified and undertreated because school
  personnel may not have the knowledge and skills
  needed to identify and treat these students.

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Working With Families

• Family involvement is required in all aspects of
  identifying students with disabilities.
• If schools are using RTI models, families must be
  informed and involved in the process.
• Families can request a formal evaluation for a
  disability at any time.
• The Council for Exceptional Children suggests
  that schools let families know about their
  childs participation in the RTI process at least
  by Tier 2.

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Role of Teachers

• Identify students who need intervention.
• Provide evidence-based interventions.
• Monitor the effects of the intervention.
• Make decisions, in consultation with other key
  professionals, about the need for more or less
  intensive intervention.
• Meet regularly with interested stakeholders
  (parents, other teachers, school psychologist).
• The teacher plays the most important roles in
  implementing an RTI model.

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Using RTI Data to Identify Students with
Disabilities

• You are likely to work in a school or district
  that uses data from screening, progress
  monitoring, and other records related to
  students progress in primary and secondary
  interventions to influence decision making about
  identifying students with learning disabilities.

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3. Learning Theory

• This chapter highlights some of the critical
  features about how we learn that apply to
  delivering effective instruction and providing
  classroom management. Models and theories of
  learning can assist teachers in understanding and
  explaining how students learn.

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Common Features of Cognitive Strategy Instruction

• Strategy steps
• Modeling
• Self-regulation
• Verbalization
• Reflective thinking
• See next slide for example of how CSI is used
  in a resource science class to help students
  understand the science concepts and textbook.

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Sociocultural Theory

• Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978) is similar
  to cognitive strategy instruction in that it
  highlights the importance of modeling and the use
  of language to facilitate learning. However, the
  theory assumes that learning is socially
  constructed and, as a social activity, is highly
  influenced by the funds of knowledge that
  learners bring to situations. Knowledge is
  meaningfully constructed in these social
  activities.
• (Lantolf Thorne, 2006 Moll, 1990 Tharp,
  Estrada, Dolton, and Yamauchi, 1999)

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Sociocultural Theory(continued)

• Three concepts that are particularly important
  for teaching students who may have special needs
  or are from diverse cultural and linguistic
  backgrounds
• the use of resources
• the social nature of learning (including the use
  of interactive dialogue), and
• the use of scaffolded instruction.

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Schema Theory

• Whereas applied behavior analysis focuses on
  observable behaviors and views learning as
  establishing functional relationships between a
  students behavior and the stimuli in the
  environment, cognitive learning theory focuses on
  what happens in the mind, and views learning as
  changing the learners cognitive structure.
• Schemas

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Teaching Implications of Schema Theory

• When teaching, think about how you can modify
  your teaching and the learning environment to
  facilitate directing students attention to
  relevant stimuli and their perception of incoming
  information. How can you teach students to use
  executive functioning to coordinate the various
  learning and memory strategies? (See next slide
  for general implications.)

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Teaching Implications of Schema Theory (continued)

• Provide cues to students so they can be guided to
  the relevant task(s) or salient features of the
  task.
• Have students study the critical feature
  differences between stimuli when trying to
  perceive differences.
• Have the students use the context to aid in
  perception.
• Facilitate the activation of schemas, and provide
  labeled experiences.
• Teach students how to be flexible thinkers and to
  solve problems, thereby encouraging them to use
  executive functioning.

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Review

• Primary Instruction Tier 1
• Who are the key players?
• Secondary Instruction Tier 2
• Who are the key players?
• Tertiary Instruction Tier 3
• Who are the key players?

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Universal Screening

• Universal screening in reading, and sometimes in
  math, is an essential component of RTI models at
  the Tier 1 level.
• It involves administering same test to all
  students to determine who is likely to be at risk
  for academic difficulties.
• In many schools, screening is carried out 3 times
  a year.
• Screening instruments usually have few items and
  are short in duration.
• Screening is used to determine whether additional
  testing is needed.
• Screening involves providing a reliable and valid
  measure that can be easily and quickly
  administered to large numbers of students to
  determine whether these students have academic
  difficulties.

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Progress Monitoring

• Progress monitoring involves frequent and ongoing
  measurement of student knowledge and skills and
  the examination of student data to evaluate
  instruction.
• How do I monitor student progress?
• Assess all students at the beginning of the year
  in the critical areas for their grade level
• Use assessments to identify students who need
  extra help and to create goals for learning. Once
  you determine which students require extra help,
  you can plan small-group instruction.
• Monitor the progress of students in small groups
  more frequently (weekly or monthly) in the
  specific skill or area being worked on.

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Group Activity

• List the Screening Instruments used at your
  school.
• How often are they administered?
• How are the result made available to teachers?
• List the Monitoring methods you use in your
  classroom.
• How often are they used?
• Describe how they are used.
• Describe how you keep a record of the results?

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Features of Effective Instruction

• Will benefit all students but particularly
  helpful for students with learning and behavior
  problems
• Assessing progress
• Designing instruction
• Determining goals of instruction
• Flexible grouping
• Adaptations
• Scaffolding
• Careful use of instructional time
• Delivering instruction
• Quick pacing
• Sufficient opportunities for student response
• Error correction

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The Mini Lesson
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Stages of Learning in Acquiring Proficiency in
Learning

• First stage of learning entry
• Second stage acquisition
• Third stage proficiency
• Fourth stage maintenance
• Fifth stage generalization
• Sixth stage application

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Role of Special Education Teacher

• Once a student has been identified as needing
  additional assistance, the special education
  teacher may be consulted. The special education
  teacher plays several important roles in a
  multitiered RTI model.

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Role of Special Education Teacher (continued)

• Collaborating with general education teachers and
  providing consultation services.
• Helping to identify children with disabilities.
• Offering intensive interventions to Tier 3
  students.
• Helping Tier 3 students access the general
  education curriculum.
• Special educators may work with struggling
  students who have not been labeled as having
  disabilities.

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Applied Behavior Analysis

• Manipulating Antecedents
• Instructional Content
• Classroom Schedule
• Classroom Rules
• Room Arrangement
• Peer Interactions

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Applied Behavior Analysis (continued)

• Increasing Desirable Behaviors through
  Consequences
• Progress monitoring
• Reinforcement
• Intrinsic vs. Tangible
• Secondary reinforcement
• Shaping
• The Premack Principle
• Group contingencies
• Contingency contracting

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Applied Behavior Analysis (continued)

• Decreasing undesirable behaviors through
  consequences
• Extinction
• Differential reinforcement
• Response cost
• Punishment
• Time-Out

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Identifying Why Students Do Not Respond to
Instruction

• Before concluding that a student is a non
  responder who needs more intensive services,
  consider that there are many reasons the student
  may not be responding to instruction, such as
• The method is not an effective one with this
  student, and a different approach would yield
  better results.
• The level of instruction might not be a good
  match for the student.
• The environment might not be conducive to
  learning.

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Responders and Non-responders to Intervention

• Responders or high responders students who
  respond well to interventions
• Non-responders students who make minimal or no
  gains after being taught with high-quality
  validated interventions

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Cognitive Strategy Instruction

• Cognitive strategy instruction (CSI) integrates
  ideas from behavioral, social, and cognitive
  learning theories and assumes that cognitive
  behavior (thinking processes), like observable
  behaviors, can be changed.

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Example of CSI

• Strategy steps
• Teacher selects the steps she wants the students
  to use when they read their science text.
• She and the students discuss the strategies they
  currently use and their effectiveness.
• They discuss the importance of improving their
  skills and the payoff for improvement.
• Modeling
• Teacher tells students about the steps she uses
  when she reads.
• She reads and explains what she is thinking.

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Example of CSI(continued)

• Modeling (continued)
• Teacher talks them through the steps as the
  students try them.
• Self-regulation
• Verbalization
• Teacher gives students lots of opportunities to
  practice the steps when reading their textbooks,
  encouraging them to say the steps aloud as they
  work through them.

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Example of CSI(continued)

• Reflective thinking
• Teacher provides feedback on how they are doing,
  and she teaches them how to evaluate their own
  performance.

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Executive Functioning or Metacognition

• The specific processes in the information-processi
  ng system (i.e., attention, perception, working
  memory, and long-term memory) are controlled or
  coordinated by what has been referred to as
  executive functioning (also referred to as
  metacognition).