As we discuss special populations this week, we are going to approach it through the lens of being a Student Teacher in a Special education classroom. Also, we will explore other resources to assist in better understanding Special populations when developing curriculum & assessments.

Read the article When in Rome…: Influences on Special Education Student-Teachers’ Teaching and respond to the following;

Part 1:

• What did the article suggest was important in helping teachers prepare for instructional planning when including Special Populations?
• What do YOU believe is important to consider when it comes to the student teaching experience and the relationship between student teacher and cooperating teacher?

Part 2:

• Conduct some research within the Ashford Library and locate an academic resource that addresses special populations and designing assessments with them in mind. Share the resource you find and summarize it within your response.

More Info

Required Resources

Text

• Brookhart, S. M. (2013). How to create and use rubrics for formative assessment and grading. Alexandria,VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
  • • Chapter 1: What are Rubrics & why are they Important?
    • Chapter 2: Common Misconceptions About Rubrics
    • Chapter 3: Writing or Selecting Effective Rubrics
• Lefrançois, G. R. (2013). Of learning and assessment. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
• • • Chapter 2: Purposes and Characteristics of Educational Assessment

Article

• • Cook, L. (2007). When in Rome…: Influences on special education student-teachers’ teaching. International Journal of Special Education, 22 (3), 118-130. Retrieved from ERIC Digest.

• • Exemplars. (2010). Formative assessment. Retrieved from http://www.exemplars.com/resources/formative-assessment
  • Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). Assessment: A 21st century skills implementation guide. Retrieved from p21.org/storage/documents/p21-stateimp_assessment.pdf

• Wylie, C. (2008). Formative assessment: Examples of practice. Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved from http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Formative_Assessment_Examples_2008.pdf

Recommended Resources

Article

• Saluda County Schools. (2012). Common Core Curriculum Exemplars. Retrieved from http://www.saludaschools.org/Page/2272

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To complete the following discussion, go to this week’s Discussion link in the left navigation.

Special Populations

As we discuss special populations this week, we are going to approach it through the lens of being a Student Teacher in a Special education classroom. Also, we will explore other resources to assist in better understanding Special populations when developing curriculum & assessments.

Read the article When in Rome…: Influences on Special Education Student-Teachers’ Teaching and respond to the following;

Part 1:

• What did the article suggest was important in helping teachers prepare for instructional planning when including Special Populations?
• What do YOU believe is important to consider when it comes to the student teaching experience and the relationship between student teacher and cooperating teacher?

Part 2:

• Conduct some research within the Ashford Library and locate an academic resource that addresses special populations and designing assessments with them in mind. Share the resource you find and summarize it within your response.

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates. Try to find one with a different response than your own. Provide feedback regarding your shared or differing perspectives and pose a question to promote critical thinking.
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To complete the following journal go to this week’s Journal link in the left navigation.

Rubric Analysis

Using two different sources, respond in writing (APA format) using the prompts below to guide your written analysis.

Part 1:

• Explore the Exemplars website, specifically the Resources tab for Rubrics. Review the Exemplars Math Rubric and Exemplars Reading Rubric.
• Questions to discuss:
• How does the Exemplars criteria for both math and reading rubrics follow a top-down or bottom-up approach? How do you know?
• To what degree are performance level descriptions addressed?
•  Do these live up to what Brookhart proposes, that “. . .the most important aspect of the levels is that performance be described, with language that depicts what one would observe in the work rather than the quality conclusions one would draw” (p.26)?
• In your opinion, what are the values placed on using the terminology for mastery (Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner, and Expert)? In other words, how effective do you believe this terminology is and why?

Part 2:

• Explain the position Brookhart argues in Chapter 2 against rubrics that merely summarize the requirements of the task, as opposed to rubrics that describe evidence of learning.
• Explain what Brookhart means when saying; “Rubrics should not confuse the learning outcome to be assessed with the task used to asses it” (p.15).
• What is the relationship between this and what you learned about aligning formative assessments with the learning standards and objectives?

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entries.

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To complete the following assignment, go to this week’s Assignment link in the left navigation.

21st Century Instructional Plan: Student Population

Part 1: Instructional Plan Design 
This week you will construct a new instructional plan by considering your student population. Regardless of grade level, your class consists of 27 students. Of those, two are diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in reading and math. One student has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Moreover, you just received a student last week who is not fluent in English (ELL). Your school follows a full English immersion program. Therefore, you and the student are getting very little “extra” support.

Synthesize what you have learned thus far by developing a new instructional plan utilizing one of the templates provided in Week Two. Your instructional plan must include the following components regardless of the format you choose:

• Grade level content standard (using either math or English Language Arts [ELA] standards)
• Learning objective (clear, measurable, describes WHO will do WHAT and HOW)
• Gradual Release of Responsibility (each phase clearly labeled and utilized)
• Considerations for unique learners (differentiation, accommodations, modifications through instructional activities AND assessments for the specific students identified as having diagnosed disabilities and language barriers. You must be more deliberate in how and where you interject your differentiation, modifications, accommodations, and so on within your activities, etc.
• Evidence of purposeful rigor and student thinking – at least two levels of Depth of Knowledge (DOK), clearly labeled
• At least one purposeful question posed by teacher to promote critical thinking;
• Assessment FOR learning; embed three different ways to assess FOR learning, including authentic formative assessment

Part 2: Description
Following the instructional plan and within the same document, provide a one- to two-page synopsis of your plan, in essay format. Elaborate on how you determined the types of accommodations/modifications needed throughout your lesson activities and assessments. Describe how this plan sets ALL of your students up for mastering the objective and a future summative assessment.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

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EDU645: LEARNING & ASSESSMENT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Instructor Guidance

Week 4

Overview

This week students will:

1. Design instruction and assessments that consider the needs of special populations.
2. Analyze how rubrics aid teachers with instruction and assessment.
3. Align purpose of rubrics with learning outcomes and assessment.

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Instructor Expectations

Discussion Post Expectations

This week’s discussion gives you the opportunity to consider special populations while taking on the perspective of both student teacher and collaborative teacher. Specifically, you are asked to exercise higher order thinking related to  working effectively with special populations. You should be prepared to elaborate on understanding, planning instruction, and designing assessments for special populations in both your initial responses and responses to fellow classmates. This Discussion Rubricwill help you with crafting your responses.

Journal and Assignment Expectations

This week there are two assignments. The first is a Journal in which you review and discuss different rubrics so as to gain insight regarding the factors that contribute to highly effective rubrics and their link to high quality assessment. This grading rubric can assist you in completing the Journal.

Second, you will write another instructional plan in two parts considering the following information from the Course Guide: “Regardless of grade level, your class consists of 27 students. Of those, two are diagnosed with specific learning disabilities in reading and math. One student has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Moreover, you just received a student last week who is not fluent in English. Your school follows a full English immersion program. Therefore, you and the student are getting very little “extra” support.”

For Part 1, you are to complete the instructional plan, being sure to carefully review the other criteria that are listed for the plan. Be sure to synthesize what you have learned thus far by developing a new instructional plan utilizing one of the templates provided in Week 2.
Helpful tip:  It is perfectly appropriate for you to create a lesson that picks up where your last lesson left off as designed during week three as this practical to real life. You must show, however, that the specified student population is considered and your planned instruction, student activities, and assessments are not the same as the previous lesson.  You are also welcome to select a template different than what was selected during week three. The hope is that you will practice with more than one style so you can discover what works best for you.

Your instructional plan must include the following components regardless of the format you choose:

• Grade level content standards (From the Common Core State Standards, using either math or ELA standards);
• Learning objective (clear, measurable, describes WHO will do WHAT and HOW);
• Gradual Release of Responsibility (each phase clearly labeled and utilized);
• Considerations for unique learners (differentiation, accommodations, modifications through instructional activities AND assessments for the specific students identified as having diagnosed disabilities and language barriers. *You must be more deliberate in how and where you interject your differentiation, modifications, accommodations, etc. within your activities, etc. ;
• Evidence of purposeful rigor and student thinking;
• At least two levels of Depth of Knowledge (DOK), clearly labeled;
• At least one purposeful question posed by teacher to promote critical thinking;
• Assessment FOR learning;
• Embed three different ways to assess FOR learning including authentic formative assessment

Important reminder: Remember to construct your plan as if another teacher were going to execute it with your population of students. You therefore want to include very specific details so there is no doubt what is being taught and how or what students are doing and how.

In Part 2, you will write a one- to two-page paper in which you provide a synopsis of your plan, which describes and displays your higher order thinking about your plan. Part two includes;

• A description of the accommodations/modifications selected for the unique learners in your class and your reasoning behind selecting them.
• A description of how your lesson sets all of your students up to master the objectives as well as prepare them for a future summative assessment.

This grading rubric can assist you with crafting your Lesson Plan and Synopsis.

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Intellectual Elaboration

IntroductionWorking effectively with special populations is a key aspect of classroom teaching. Schools today are more diverse than ever before, and current population trends (Tavernise, May 17, 2012) suggest that this will not be changing anytime soon. Moreover, court rulings and laws passed over the past 60 years specify that schools must attend to diverse needs, such as English language learning, special education, talented-gifted, etc. While at one time it may have been possible to attend school or teach school with people who looked just like you, this is usually no longer the case.

This guidance will explore diversity, its effect on schools, and a key strategy for addressing classroom diversity—Differentiated Instruction.

Diversity

As noted above, American public schools are more diverse than ever. Of the approximately 50 million students attending US public schools, 56% are white and 44% are non-white. Additionally, there are 6.4 million special education students and 4.7 million English language learner students. These numbers illustrate certain population demographic trends. Generally speaking, there is a declining percentage of white students present in public schools, combined with increasing numbers of English language learners and special education students. Schools and teachers of necessity need to actively adjust their practices to meet the education challenges this presents.

[img width=”250″ height=”250″ title=”kids with flag” alt=”kids with flag” src=”http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/pub/content/da06401f-5889-4282-b2af-ad5fb8187206/children_with_flag.jpg“>

http://www.sandbarstosunsets.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/kids-20flag-20diversity-20school-small.jpgDiversity’s Effect on Schools

What this means for schools is that there are greater challenges present, but greater opportunities as well. The challenges come in the form of lesson planning, effective methodology, and the acquisition of specialized knowledge to work effectively with ELL, special education, talented-gifted students, etc. The opportunities come in the form of greater cultural awareness, greater cultural learning, and the opportunity to embody the ideals of our public school system and its place in a democratic society.

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is an idea that has been developed as an approach to addressing our diverse classrooms. Carol Ann Tomlinson is the leading proponent of DI, and has written numerous books and articles about it. Her website, Differentiation Central, is a ‘go to’ source for information about Differentiation and provides many resources for teachers to use.

Differentiation is not a new idea. It is an ‘old school method’ adapted for new/modern conditions. Teaching in multi-grade classrooms (think the one room schoolhouse) required the use of this method. Changes in education ideas over time caused differentiation to be set aside. New challenges brought on by NCLB, as well as advances in thinking and brain research, make differentiation valuable once again. (Sousa and Tomlinson, 2011).

Some principles of Differentiation include:

• A safe, supportive, challenging environment is necessary;
• Teachers should be clear about the knowledge, understanding, and skills students need to demonstrate;
• Teacher should frequently assess students (aka formative assessments) to determine students’ actual progress; and
• Teachers should use formative assessment data to inform their on-going lesson planning and remediation efforts.(Sousa and Tomlinson, 2011)

For assessment purposes, the second item on this list is of particular importance. Teachers need to develop clearly stated, student friendly rubrics for student use in understanding their assignments. This aids students at whatever their skill level to effectively complete their assignments. Reviewing the Exemplars Rubrics as noted in your Week 4 Journal assignment can aid in your understanding of this important topic.

(Incidentally, a rich source for information regarding Assessments can be found at http://ati.pearson.com/authors-consultants/rick-stiggins.html)

Tomlinson’s Differentiation Model (2010) includes a teacher’s response to learners’ needs. Teachers can use general principles of differentiation to accomplish this, differentiating through content, process, product, etc. They can also use student readiness, interest, and learning profiles to help them (http://www.diffcentral.com/model.html).

In recreating this model in your classroon, you would want to ensure that the classroom environment is respectful to all learners. The curriculum choices you make should reflect critical ideas of the topic at hand. You should plan to use flexible student groups a great deal, as well as frequent, ongoing, formative assessments. Ultimately, you will want to have a classroom environment that supports educational risk taking (Sousa and Tomlinson, 2011).

Conclusion

Diversity is a fact of modern American education. This diversity takes many forms, and therefore should be addressed using different planning, methodology, and teaching techniques. Differentiated Instruction, as conceptualized in its current form by Carol Ann Tomlinson, is an excellent way to provide for student learning. Doing so is one way to promote the democratic ideals of our public school system.

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Additional Resource

• Hawker Brownlow Education. (2013, July 30). Differentiation and The Brain: A discussion with Carol-Ann Tomlinson[Video file>. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLzCqoPFxRw

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References

Assessment Training Institute. (n.d.). Rick Stiggins. Retrieved from http://ati.pearson.com/authors-consultants/rick-stiggins.html

Common Core State Standards (http://www.corestandards.org/)

Differentiation Central (http://differentiationcentral.com/)

Exemplars. (2010). Rubrics. Retrieved from http://www.exemplars.com/resources/rubrics

Gebeloff, R., Evans, T., and Scheinkman, A. (2011, December 24). Diversity in the classroom. Retrieved from http://projects.nytimes.com/immigration/enrollment

National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Fast facts: English language learners. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96

National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Fast facts: Students with disabilities. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=64

Sousa, D., and Tomlinson, C. (2011). Differentiation and the brain. How neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Learning Tree Press

Tavernise, S. (2012, May 17). Whites account for under half of births in US. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/us/whites-account-for-under-half-of-births-in-us.html

Tomlinson, C. (2010). Differentiation model. Retrieved from http://www.diffcentral.com/model.html

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