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MakingSpecial EducationWorth Getting

Let’s Start Off with a Case Example…

Adapted from Chris Fallon

Areana

Discrepancy• Areana is 2.32 times discrepant from her 10th-grade peers.

Problem Identification graph

72

167

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83.5

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

1 2Test

Wor

ds R

ead

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AreanaPeers MedianCut Score

Survey Level Assessment

According to national norms, Areana is reading at a 4th grade instructional level.

Problem Analysis:CBE Hypotheses Testing

1. Areana is an accurate, but slow reader. – Her median rate of accuracy was found to be 95 percent which

is considered significantly accurate.

2. If given the opportunity to practice decoding reading material, Areana’s reading rate will increase. – Areana was administered the same 8th grade R-CBM probe

twice—one time to measure her initial reading rate and to become familiar with it, and the next time to note improvement in reading rate, based on what she learned about the passage in the first reading.

– Areana’s reading rate increased by 38 percent.

3. Areana has difficulty decoding multisyllabic words.– Pattern from reading passages

Revised Instructional Planning FormSkill Teaching Strategy Materials Arrangements Time

Decoding multisyllabic words

Teacher led REWARDS program

Small group 45 min/ 2 days/wk

Fluency Independent practice—silent reading

Re-reading Strategy

Text:Timed Reading Plus (level 8)—students time themselves Short stories

Independentpractice

1:1 with volunteer

10-15 min. 2-3 xs/ week10-15 mins./ daily

Comprehension

Teacher-led reading or silent readingExamples, discussion, written comprehension questions

Text:Best Short Stories (Advanced Level)Graphic organizersComprehension questions for Timed Reading Plus passages

Reading: Independent/ pairsDiscussion:Whole class (2 teachers)10:1Seatwork: independent

40-50 minutes, 2-3 times per week

Vocabulary Teacher-led Instruction & Independent Seatwork

FlashcardsShort stories

Whole class (2 teachers)10:1

10-15 minutes, 2-3 xs/ week

Plan Evaluation:Is Areana making progress toward

her goal?

Decreased Discrepancy?

72 70

167 171

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ead

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AreanaPeers MedianCut Score

Is the student decreasing the discrepancy between her and her peers?

Areana• School: High School• Grade: 10th

• Participates in general ed English (Lower track) and has 65 min. resource support

• Identified as having Learning Disability and has received Special Education Services since 2nd grade

How Effective is Special Education?

Let’s Talk…

We are not saying that Special Education does not produce

positive outcomes for students, but clearly there is a need to…

Children of the Code video

http://www.childrenofthecode.org/Tour/c1/index.htm

How Make Special Education Worth Getting?

• Giving kids what they need as soon as they need it

• Improving instruction• Monitoring progress with well

developed goals• Using data to inform instruction

START!

Giving kids what they need as soon as they need it

•Do we have an efficient system to make changes to a students programs if they are not benefitting from it?•Do we meet to problem solve on students already receiving special education on an ongoing basis?

Why are Current Interventions Not Reducing the Discrepancy

for Many Students? Are we Improving Instruction?

Let’s Talk…

Improving instruction•Need to link instruction to why the problem is occurring•Need to ensure instruction is comprehensive and intensive enough and links back to CORE

Example of CBE FlowchartAre

reading skills

acceptable?

R – Curriculum, Permanent Products I – TeacherO – Student while readingT – Using CBM

Are oral reading skills

acceptable?

Go to Comprehensi

on

K-2 or older

student who

decodes few

words?

Survey Early

Literacy Skills

Missing early

literacy skills?

Is oral reading accurate but slow? Do

Rereading assmt

Did rate increase?

Build Fluency

w/ rereadin

g

yes

noyes

no

yes

Do Error Sample & Analysis

no

Do Pencil Tap

Did accuracy improve?

Build Self Monitoring

no

yes

noMore

errors on harder

passages?

Provide Balanced Instruction

noCategorize errors

yes

Are there patterns? no

Correct Patterns

Yes, whole word

Evaluate phonics

Yes, Phonics patterns

60 Minutes?

30 Minutes+

30 Minutes?

60 Minutes+

(15 Minutes)?

Matching Resources to Needs

Educ

atio

nal N

eed

Educational Benefit

Greater needs will require MORE

instructional time to remediate….

“Time is of the ESSENCE”

Core Curriculum & Instruction

• Core Curriculum:– Primary instructional tool that teachers use to

teach children reading, writing, and math. – Ensures they reach reading levels to meet or

exceed grade-level standards.– Emphasis of five essential components for

reading* and math** • Core Instruction:

– Address the instructional needs of the majority (80%) of students in a school or district

– 90 minutes per day of uninterrupted instruction

*phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary**number sense, computation fluency, problem solving, reasoning, engagement

Supplemental Curricula & Instruction

• Supplemental Curricula is used in 2 ways:– Fill gaps in the core reading program– Highly focused instruction some students need

on certain skills• Need to be compatible with core curriculum• Supplemental Instruction:

– 30 minutes a day; 5 days a week– Homogeneous groups of 3-6 students; 20-25%

of student population– Progress monitored monthly

Intensive Intervention Curricula & Instruction

• Intensive Intervention Curricula:– Designed to meet the needs of students with little

background knowledge or great difficulty learning a basic skill

– Students require specially designed instruction and additional time

– What students learn during intervention instruction is transferred to general (core) instruction

• Intensive Intervention Instruction:– (2) 30 minutes a day; 5 days a week– Homogeneous groups of 3 students; 5-10% of student

population– Progress monitored weekly

There are 1,440 minutes in a day…

OR

About 390 minutes (if your lucky) in a

school day…

What is left for instructional time?

Monitoring progress with

well developed

goals

Why Progress Monitor ?• To track progress toward goal• To determine if intervention is successful• To determine educational benefits to the

student• For emphasis on student outcomes• To have a visual representation of results• Encourages explicit measurable expectations

which research shows is motivating to students

• To enable you to see performance patterns • Research indicates student outcomes improve

when performance is monitored regularly

Allows you to make decisions based on the data!

What do we know about the effectiveness of most Special Education interventions for

children with reading difficulties in 3rd grade and later?

Torgeson, 2004

What do we know about the effectiveness of most Special Education interventions for

children with reading difficulties in 3rd grade and later?

We know that it tends to stabilize the relative deficit in reading skill

rather than remediate it.

Torgeson, 2004

33

Goal setting

43 wrc

126 wrc

Aimline

Ambitious

Writing Strong IEP Goals

Develop Annual Goals• What can be

reasonably accomplished in 12 months?– Prioritize!

• What would be the observable and measurable outcomes?

• What would be an ambitious goal?

Shared Responsibility

• Have parents help prioritize goals

• Parents may be asked to support generalization of skills within the home and community setting.

• Share data with parents on a regular basis.

Research

• Students whose teachers used CBM to monitor academic progress and to make adjustments in instructional programs when necessary significantly outperformed comparable students whose teachers did not use CBM

Using data to inform instruction

•Have ongoing data to inform instruction•Have a visual representation of that data

Educational Need and Benefit?

Helps UnderstandIndividual Student Problem or More

Than 1?

Annual Review: Benchmark and IEP ProgressBenefit in Reading

Reducing the Educational Need (Gap)

Meeting

Exceeding IEP Goal

Educational Need?

Educational Benefit?

Educational Need?

Educational Benefit?

Educational Need?

Educational Benefit?

Major Incidents

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Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Month

Num

ber

Goal

Educational Need and Benefit?

John's Behavior Chart 03-04

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1011

Sept

15

Sept

22

Sept

29

Oct 7

Oct 1

4

Oct 2

0

Oct 2

7

Nov 3

Nov 1

0

Nov 1

7

Dec 1

Dec 8

Dec 1

5

Jan

5

Jan

12

Jan

19

Jan

26

Feb

2

Feb

9

Feb

16

Feb

23

Mar

1

Mar

8

Mar

15

Mar

22

Mar

29

April

5

April

12

April

19

April

26

May

3

May

10

May

17

May

24

Jun

1

Week of

Inst

ance

s of

phy

sica

l agg

ress

ion

Educational Need and Benefit?