Transposing ‘not applicable’ to ‘applicable and

achieved': Teacher perceptions of assessing the

literacy capability inclusive of students with special

educational needs.Dr Deborah Price and Ms Caitlin Cottnam

Centre for Research in Education (CREd)

Formerly Kensington Centre

Transposing ‘not applicable’ to ‘applicable and achieved'

Presentation Objectives

• Explore literacy assessment approaches for students with special educational needs

• Identify how teachers assess to show what students can do and be….and achieve

• Findings informed by University of South Australia DRPF grant 2013

• 3 special education teachers

• 1 mainstream school teacher

Assessment

tests

sitting in silence

time limit

writing

high-pressure

specific

Vignette Exercise• Your name is Emilie and currently you teach a

Year 4 class in a mainstream metropolitan school. David, one of your students qualifies for a modified program having been diagnosed by the school as operating two years behind his year level.

• You adjust your planning and assessment according to his individual goals, however you are required to report on the same outcomes as David’s peers.

Critically discuss

• How do you feel about this?

• What do you do?

• What are the implications for David, caregiver/s, peers?

Literacy and Learning Disabilities/Difficulties

Literacy Defined: “refers to a set of social practices that enable people to derive and build meaning in their world with the type of texts they encounter”

“The ability to read, write, speak, illustrate and to think critically about the written word”

Learning Disabilities: more permanent, neurological difficulties resistant to intervention

Learning Difficulties: product of individual and socio-cultural factors leading to disengagement and disempowerment

Include students with non-permanent cognitive or behavioural problems which can be improved with quality instruction

Estimation 10%-20% Australian students have literacy and reading difficulties

(Hyde, Carpenter & Conway, 2014, p. 110)

So what does it mean to be empowered in a literate society for students with learning disabilities/difficulties?

The Australian Curriculum

Aspires to be world class and accessible to all young Australians.

Curriculum writers have been challenged in ensuring the design is inclusive of students with special educational needs.

Literacy achievement is seen as a top priority in education.

The Literacy Capability

‘Mapping’ the class An initial assessment tool

Using the scope and sequence to assess where students are in their learning‘Mapping’ an

individual student

Defining Literacy:

An embedded element of every curriculum area.

Being able to read, write, speak/communicate , listen, comprehend

“…be able to express yourself the way that you want to express yourself” (Emilie).

“I see them using it on a daily basis to basically, to live! To support them to have quality of life

and to have choice and to have a voice, even if they don’t, even if it’s non-verbal” (Carmen).

Embedded nature of literacy

The multimodal nature of texts

Inability to categorise students with special

educational needs into a sequential literacy

capability continuum

Emerging Themes:

Teachers’ Interpretation of the Literacy Capability

Pizza LessonActivity: In developing life skills, students visit the local supermarket, choose and purchase pizza ingredients (for their individual gourmet recipe), then prepare, cook, eat and serve the pizzas to their onsite café patrons.

Literacy Objective: For students to recognise, identify and communicate ingredients and pizza making process

Your task:

• How will you assess student achievement?

• How would you assess students presenting as non verbal?

Examples of Proloque2Go app features

Assessment included;- Students making choices- active learning- Strong emphasis on individual student

goals

- Applying rich literacy skills: including interaction, responding to questions and requesting personal needs.

- Used an iPad app called ‘Proloque2Go’ which acted as an ACC device encouraging them to create a sentence verbalising their choice of topping for their pizza.

- Next students visually recognised a picture of their chosen topping, such as an image of a tomato, mushroom, pepperoni, olives, etc. on the IWB and selected it via touch.

- Reinforced by recognising their chosen topping on physical cut out paper images and transferring the image onto a felt board.

Carmen’s Reflection

• “...it’s all visual for these guys and so if I put like a word in front of them, they don’t, they can’t read, it’s got to be engaging

• ….. some of them will have a visual recognition of a word, but not necessarily know what that word is.

• But, my biggest aim is because they are so visual, is to make them feel like they’re successful in their learning.

• That’s still literacy in that they’re able to recognise, identify and communicate a whole range of ideas but just in a different format”

Opening Assessment Opportunities

Patrick walks into school and I (Carmen) greet him with “How are you feeling today?” He taps his iPad and then this voice states “I am / feeling / happy”.

For Patrick being able to tell me……… a really bright student that just can’t talk and for years has been completely frustrated through that process, it’s pretty empowering I think. I mean I’m excited by that.

Those kinds of changes really, I just think it’s a whole world that’s just opened up for these guys, I think it’s really cool. But it’s just so empowering.

Opening Assessment Opportunities“…he’s really really good with a computer and can open documents and close them and manipulate the mouse and so I’ve started using some computer programs with him, but at first I just I wasn’t aware of the extent of his knowledge I suppose”

“ …perhaps it’s the way I’m delivering my stuff, maybe there are ways I can be changing it so I can be getting my students a bit more rapidly towards those kinds of things” Carmen

“The strengths I think are technology and the visual literacies to be honest with you, because it really means that those students can actually engage

with it and actually succeed with it” (Carmen).

“What I see my job as doing with their literacy, is giving them enough tools that they can interpret and decipher and

communicate what they understand” (Emilie).

• Emilie incorporated technological and visual literacies to further assist her students to participate and feel successful during literacy lessons.

• Students in Emilie’s literacy class were finishing off their spelling tasks from the week such as writing out dictionary meanings of spelling words or putting them into sentences, revising for the weekly spelling test or completing their ‘Mr Men’ adjective stories.

• Kirra used the class computer to complete an interactive literacy program designed for year two students called ‘reading for literacy’. This program proved to be a relevant and engaging task that Kirra could complete independently and thus feel a sense of success and satisfaction.

• The program included activities such as a cloze passages, matching similar and opposite pictures and following instructions, all of which the program read aloud the text to her.

• The program offered similar tasks to what other year four students were doing, but focused at Kirra’s level. This encouraged Kirra to persist with completing the tasks.

Any links to the literacy capability?

How would you assess these skills, besides using a checklist?

Modified SACE Learning and Assessment Plan Assessed: Assigned a ‘Completed’ or

‘Not Completed’ result

Non- Modified SACE PLP Learning and Assessment Plan Thoughts on the assessment for students with special

educational needs?

Re-design the assessment conditions

Non- Modified SACE PLP Learning and Assessment Plan Assessed: Against performance

standards of A-E grades

“Enhanced, inclusive, student centred assessment

approaches that support student empowerment are also being investigated and

trialledsupport students to build skills and confidence in

becoming adults with self belief and self agency.”

(Adelaide East Education Centre)

Pre-assessments- Utilised for any new subject or learning area to indicate general placing

on learning trajectory- Developmental and sequential outcomes carefully planning- Inform pedagogy and content promoting goal driven pedagogies rather

than retrospective learning methodologies.- Are diverse and creative: discussion, quizzes, audio and film based

interviews, blogs, observation, essays, written work expressed through cartoons, contemporary connections and art.

Formative assessments - continually used- ascertain growth in leaning via, written work which may include journals, emails, blogs,

essays and personalised learning projects, ongoing 1-1 and small group discussions, staff to staff sharing of knowledge and the continual observation of each student.

- Formative assessing is paramount to student success and staff understandings as the use of testing/ summative practices are not initiated due to the highly anxious cohort within our learning spaces.

Community participation- Emphasis on staff/student/parent relationships: integral in gaining relevant insights

into student knowledge and understandings - Holistic approach to student wellbeing- Learning community workshops: teacher/parent training nights - Sharing of knowledge via email, meetings, newsletters, 1-1 meetings, small group

discussions

Formerly Kensington Centre

Complexities

• Age versus developmental appropriateness………….. What is really important for these students?

• Assessment and reporting – included/excluded

Central Human Capabilities Approach

Student assessment focused on idealisations of what SEN students should be……….

Rather

Assessing what students are able

to do and be(Central Human Capabilities,

Nussbaum, 2003)

Ten Central Human Capabilities

• Life

• Bodily Health

• Bodily Integrity

• Senses, imagination and thought

• Emotions

• Practical reasoning

• Affiliation

• Other species

• Play

• Control over one’s emotions

(Nussbaum, 2003)

I will……..by…….