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My name is Grace Pittman and I am a secondary math education major at ASU! The articles I chose for this assignment is the Whole-Group Responses Strategies to Promote Student Engagement in Inclusive Classrooms and High-Leverage Practices in Special Education Instruction.

References:

Barringer, M. J., Brownell, B. B., D, J., & Lewis, K. M. (2017, January). High-Leverage Practices in Special Education. High Leverage Practices in Education.

Burke, M. M., & Turnbull, H. R. (2024). Today’s Families and There Partnerships with Professionals. Exception Lives: Practice, progress, & Dignity in Today’s Schools.  (9th ed., pp. 111-170). Pearson.

http://www.pearsoned.com/permissions/

Nagro, S. A., Hooks, S. D., Fraser, D. W., & Cornelius, K. E. (2018). Whole-Group Responses Strategies to Promote Student Engagement in Inclusive Classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children, 50(4), 243-249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918757947 Links to an external site.

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Nagro's article Whole-Group Responses Strategies to Promote Student Engagement in Inclusive Classrooms provides ideas and an overall framework on who to create an inclusive classroom where students (those both with and without disabilities) are comftorable to share and engage in whole class discussions. The article touches on formal assessment in which students engage with the lesson and educators receive data to plan future instructional lessons.

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HLP12- Systematically design instruction toward specific learning goal

"Teachers sequence lessons that build off each other and make connections explicit in both planning and density" (Barringer, 2017, p. 2).

Utilize prior knowledge and learning goals to achieve a well designed instructional plan.

HLP18- Use strategies to promote active student engagement

"Active student engagement is critical to academic success" (Barringer, 2017, p. 4).

Build positive relationships, appeal to students interest and personal lives, utilize technology and peer-assistance.

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Chapter 7: Students with Learning Disabilities

"Primary prevention is generally considered to be the general education program with the core curriculum and instruction associated with grade-level norms.

Secondary prevention consists of small-group tutoring in core academic subjects, especially reading and math.

Tertiary prevention consists of an individualized program characterized by systematic instruction and ongoing progress monitoring" (Turnbull, 2024, p. 194).

The textbook talks about the three tiers of RTI in which the secondary prevention involves small group instruction. This is an intersting point brought up in the article where Nagro agrees that small group instruction does seem to be more effective. However, the author acknowledges that most classrooms in Tier 1 involve the whole-class.

Whole-Group Response

"... small-group differentiated instruction has been demonstrated as particularly effective for students with learning disabilities"

"teachers should strive to incorporate strategies that increase opportunities for student participation, engagement and self-evaluation." (Nagro, 2018, p. 244).

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Chapter 4: Ensuring Educational Progress

"With IEP teams generating IEP goals that were outside the general education curriculum that became, in essence, an alternative curriculum. It is clear from IDEA, however, that the IEP should be a plan to identify goals, modifications, and strategies needed to enhance, not replace, the general education curriculum" (Turnbull, 2024, p. 111).

Along with the textbook, the article also talks about the important of identify goals and using formative assessment to track progress of the students academic performance.

Whole-Group Responses

"Collecting formative assessment data during whole-group instruction can information student groupings, identify areas of relative need and strength, and TRACK PROGRESS toward IEP goals" (Nagro, 2018, p. 245).

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Chapter 6: Cross-Cutting Instructional Practices

"One common technique involves one teacher designing and delivering instruction while the other teacher is providing individualized support to students.

But this also can be a less collaborative approach when the two teachers do not jointly plan what they will teach and who will have what role. Having time to plan is highly important to successful co-teaching" (Turnbull, 2024, p. 170).

The idea of having a co-teaching in the general education classroom supporting students with disabilities is also mentioned in the article. The article references how co-teachers can help general educators create and analyze formative assessments as well as creating small groups to work with separately.

Whole-Group Responses:

"In this case, the special educator can co-plan with the general educator to build in a small-group preteaching opportunity to model independent tasks..." (Nagro, 2018, p. 246).

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How will this information help me promote inclusion and equitable, culturally responsive practices?

The article discusses how formative assessment can be used to group students in specific groups depending on how well they understand the material. Students who understands the concept well may be paired with a student who is struggling. Therefore, "by engaging in peer learning opportunities, students with disabilities can hear classmates use age-appropriate language to emphasize the concepts taught and self correct their own thinking" (Nagro, 2018, p. 245).

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Why does it matter that teaching practices be evidence based practices and inclusive?

Teachers should be very cognizant when choosing what teaching practice to implement in the classroom. The safest choice for both the students and the teachers is practices that are evidence based. For example when talking about whole-group engagement and instruction, "when implemented effectively, proactive whole-group instruction can help students with learning disabilities feel like they belong in the learning community and provide opportunities for peer interaction and active participation" (Nagro, 2018, p. 244). Evidence practices progress the students education and help them to feel more included.

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Has learning about instruction changed my thinking about students with disabilities?

I used to have the impression that students with disabilities were not in the general education classroom and instead were in special education classroom receiving differentiated instruction. However, taking this class and reading this article has shown me that differentiating instruction in the general education classroom is very important when educating students with disabilities. The article emphasized that "proactive whole group response systems paired with formative assessment charts have the potential to result in more effective instruction that actively engages students in the learning process" (Nagro, 2018, p. 248). The idea of using formative assessment and engaging whole group response systems is already something a good teacher does and it's encouraging that it aids students with disabilities as well.

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How does this information relate to my experience in school, for my career?

In my internship, I taught a mini ten minute lesson to the whole class about systems of equations. When observing the class throughout the semester, I knew that the class struggled with whole class discussions, barely talking to the teacher nor each other. Therefore, I used hand signals to check for understanding during my lessons. The article references hand gestures in which it "promotes engagement because it holds students accountable for their learning by asking students to self-evaluate and reengage in the learning process" (Nagro, 2018, p. 245).

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What can I do to be more inclusive and culturally responsive in my career/practices?

One interesting idea the article presented was using response cards when engaging in whole class discussions. For example, the cards can be true or false, multiple choice, and even more content-specific responses. Response cards are especially important because, "many students with learning disabilities struggle with writing mechanics, such as handwriting, spelling, vocabulary, and text structure." Therefore "teachers can use response cards to encourage active participation" (Nagro, 2018, p. 246).