School ImprovementImproving what’s happening in the

classroom for students with disabilities: instruction & its impact

on student learningSystems that ensure students are in the

classroom -- discipline systems, social-

emotional supports, family connections &

support

Systems that ensure that what classrooms provide

is valuable & effective –PD & TA systems,

observation/ evaluation, data/assessment,

resource allocation

Using the Walk-Through in the School Improvement Process

What is “special” about special education?

• Specially Designed Instruction– Individualized– Based upon assessed needs of student– Documented in the IEP– Includes instructional supports & supplemental supports

(strategies & accommodations)

• Explicit Instruction (teaching methodology)– Structured, systematic and effective way of teaching to promote

learning of students with disabilities

A Visual

Differentiated Instruction

Universal Design for Learning

ScaffoldingSpecially Designed Instruction

Explicit Instruction

• Explicit Instruction: Efficient & Effective Teaching, by Anita Archer & Charles Hughes

• Chapter 1– Pages 2-3: Figure 1.1 Elements

• Think about the instruction that goes on in your school or district. Select 3 elements that, if you could develop a shared understanding and common language about them across your school/district, you could leverage really meaningful improvement in student outcomes.

– Page 4: Figure 1.2 Functions• Use the blue chart to identify which functions you think a visitor

would see with High, Moderate and Low Frequency in your classrooms.

– Pages 5-12: Figure 1.3 Principles• Use the yellow chart to take notes/jot thoughts about the

implications of what Archer & Hughes say about the principles for your work.

RSETASC Walk-Through

RSE-TASC Walk-Through Tool Supportive and Accessible Classroom Environment

Y N NA Classroom Management 1. Staff use verbal and/or non-verbal prompts to cue expected behavior during

instruction.

2. Students with disabilities complete the cued routines within the stated time limit.

3. Staff explicitly acknowledge specific appropriate behavioral responses more frequently than inappropriate responses.

4. Both proactively and as a response to disruptions, staff use strategies like scanning, interacting frequently with students, and purposeful movement (e.g., proximity control).

5. Staff use verbal and/or non-verbal prompts to cue student transitions between instructional groupings, instructional tasks, etc.

6. Students with disabilities complete transitions between instructional groupings, instructional tasks, etc. within 2 minutes.

7. 3 to 5 positively stated behavioral expectations are prominently posted in the classroom; i.e., they are able to be read from any point in the room.

a. Staff reference the posted behavioral expectations verbally and/or non-verbally. b. Staff provide specific acknowledgements of student demonstrations of these

expectations.

8. Staff collect data on student behavior during the observation; e.g., hatch marks, time on task, # of students responding to questions.

Positive Classroom Climate 9. Staff make statements that are welcoming, caring and encouraging. 10. Students are greeted as they enter the classroom.

11. Staff use students’ names.

12. Staff make connections to students’ interests and/or goals. 13. Staff make positive statements that students with disabilities will be successful.

14. Students are praised for both performance and effort. 15. Staff encourage students with disabilities to interact with their teachers and peers.

16. Classroom walls reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the student population in the class; e.g., labels, rules, and assignments are posted in English and native language(s).

Physical Organization 17. Materials and space are organized; e.g., with clearly delineated and labeled areas. 18. Students with disabilities have necessary materials at hand. 19. Teachers have necessary materials at hand. 20. Students with disabilities can see and be seen by teacher. 21. Staff and students with disabilities are able to move throughout the classroom with

ease.

22. Equipment is adapted so that students with disabilities can actively participate in the instructional activity.

Criteria for Look-Fors

• Clear language—understood by all

• Measurable and observable

• Observable in the time of the observation

• Research-based

What Does it Look Like?

• Begley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0akVmCfUJiQ

• White: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY3t2sijb4M

• Hollingsworth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwh0A3YP5s

• Jensen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtXn9JaxcTA

• Archer: http://explicitinstruction.org/?page_id=315

• Fox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuNJTeIN79Y

• Hollingsworth: http://www.youtube.com/user/dataworksed

Let’s Apply

Supporting Districts identified for the performance students with disabilities

Developing and implementing improvement plans

Activate &Engage/Discuss & Explore

• Share State data for discussion

• Ask school staff to predict what their data will show

• Share elements of school data for discussion:– Do you think what we saw in this single observation

reflects actual practice in your school?– What questions do these data raise for you?– What might some next steps be?

Practice

• High Frequency– Working on content

aligned with the content of peers

• Low Frequency– Use of accommodations

to reading, writing, math tasks

– Use of alternative modes of communication

– Accommodations for participation or organizational demands of the classroom

– Adapted text

Connect• Does this align with teacher rubrics being used

in your region? In what areas could Look-Fors from the walk-through serve as Evidence statements?

– Classroom management

– Instructional components

Organize & Integrate/Measure

• Setting Student and System Objectives

• Planning & Implementing Activities

Student & System Objectives• Measurable• Observable • Appropriate criteria and progress monitoring methods

• The (district / building / classrooms) will show an increase/decrease in (identify behavior or performance to be achieved) from (identify baseline level of performance, criteria or standard) to (identify desired level of performance, criteria or standard) as measured / evaluated by (identify how progress will be measured).

• (Identify group of) Students with Disabilities will show an increase/decrease in (identify behavior or performance to be achieved) from (identify baseline level of performance, criteria or standard) to (identify desired level of performance, criteria or standard) as measured / evaluated by (identify how progress will be measured).

1. Student Engagement

a. Teacher’s ensures multiple opportunities for students with disabilities to respond, e.g.: 1 5

i. Oral responses: (e.g., choral response, think-pair-share; partner response) 1 5

ii. Unison responses: (e.g., choral response; white-boards; response cards) 0 5

iii. Team responses: (e.g., numbered heads together; jigsaw) 0 5

iv. Written responses: (e.g., response cards, white boards, think-jot-share; pair and write) 0 5

v. Action responses: (e.g., touching/pointing; gestures; acting out; hand signals; facial expressions) 0 5

b. Students with disabilities engage in structured activities designed to allow for processing; e.g., I-time, think-pair-share, numbered heads, elbow partners, think-jot. 1 5

c. Teacher explicitly teaches strategies for responding to higher-order questions; e.g., problem-solving, generalization, evaluative, inferential, application. 2 5

d. Students with disabilities work in groups of varying sizes; e.g., individual, pairs, small group, whole group. 4 5

e. Staff and students are making explicit connections between lesson and post-secondary opportunities and to students’ interests or goals. 3 5

System & Student Objectives1. By June 2012, the cohort of 6th, 7th and 8th grade teachers in

Integrated Co-teaching and Transition ELA Classrooms will show an increase in the use of evidence-based practices, specifically structured activities to allow processing and strategies to ensure high levels of participation by all students with disabilities, from 20% of classrooms (1/5) to 100% (5/5) as evidenced by follow-up walk-throughs.

2. By June 2012, 100% of students with disabilities in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade Integrated Co-teaching and Transition ELA Classrooms will provide at least two correct verbal or written responses during a class period, as evidenced by follow-up walk-throughs. Baseline established in November 2012 showed approximately 20% of students (6/30) with disabilities attaining this criteria.

Explicit Instruction Teaching Functions Yes Ttl

Overall Summary of Teaching Functions Observed

1. Access to the Curriculum 5 5

2. Review & Introduction of the Lesson 2 5

3. Active Teaching -- I Do 4 5

4. Guided Practive -- We Do 3 5

5. Independent Practice -- You All Do/ You Do 1 5

6. Lesson Closure 0 5

System & Student Objectives1. By January 2013, all 4 special education teachers for 3rd grade

students with disabilities (100%)* will include 4/5 steps of “explicit instruction” when teaching sight word recognition, new vocabulary word meanings, and/or decoding skills, as measured by Principal’s walkthrough/ observation and Principal’s monthly checks of lesson plans. * Baseline from spring 2012 assessed as 50%.

2. By January 2013, formative assessment conducted at the end of a lesson in 3rd grade self-contained classrooms will demonstrate that 85%* of students have mastered the sight words, vocabulary word meanings, and/or decoding skills taught in that lesson, as measured by Principal’s walkthrough/ observation. * Baseline in spring 2012 showed that on average 50% of students (between 2 and 5 out of 8 in each classroom) were able to accurately complete work in the four classrooms at the end of a lesson.