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Turn Any Content Into a Podcast Students Will Love - Brisk Teaching Blog

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Brisk Teaching’s newest feature makes creating podcasts from any material effortless. Whether you want to bring a lesson to life, support multilingual learners, or give students more ways to access content, this tool is about to become a go-to in your teaching toolkit.

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Highly Engaging Variation of 4 Corners for Review

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This year I was fortunate to watch a highly engaging review activity in a co-taught lesson on author's purpose. The partners did a virtual variation of a 4 corners routine. Create slides with four...

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Tool for making adapted materials to enable SWD to access grade level content at their individual levels

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Use existing curriculum, or generate standards-aligned content with real, cited sources.

Choose a grade level and language, and watch Diffit create complete, differentiated resources. ✅

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Use existing curriculum, or generate standards-aligned content with real, cited sources. Choose a grade level and language, and watch Diffit create complete, differentiated resources. ✅

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AT Tools In Schools Booklet-printable9.2023

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Welcome to the graph paper page at Math-Drills.com where learning can be coordinated in a grid pattern! We have included Graph paper, dot paper, isometric paper and coordinate grid paper in both metric and U.S./Imperial measurements. Graph or grid paper may be used for many purposes such as: graphing, mapping, counting, multiplying, adding, and measuring.

Due to the wide variety of printers, the printable graph paper may or may not print out with precision. In Adobe Reader, change Page Scaling to "None" when printing to get the most precise scaling. You will see this option after you choose to print.

Most Popular Graph Paper this Week

Single Line Graph Paper

Measured graph/grid paper for use in a variety of math learning situations.

This paper is for those who are used to using the Metric system or those who want things measured using the Metric system. The gray lined paper is most useful if you need to draw overtop of the existing lines and highlight your own figures. For example, for a measurement unit, rectangles of different sizes could be outlined in a word problem like the following: "Draw as many rectangles as you can with whole number dimensions that have an area of 36 square centimeters."

Multi-Line Graph Paper

Multi-line graph paper is graph paper that includes more than one measurement interval which is indicated by different colors and weights of lines.

Multi-line graph paper has many applications including everything that you can accomplish on single-line graph paper. We'll leave the potential to your imagination, but here are a couple ideas to get you started. A three line graph paper worksheet with 2.5 cm, 1.25 cm and 0.25 cm lines ends up having smaller boxes of 25 squares and larger boxes of 100 squares. There are also small rows and columns of 5 squares. This is very similar to the decimal money system that is used in many countries. Therefore, you could model counting coins using this particular three line graph paper. The boxes of 25 and 100 and the rows and columns of 5 make it easy to get a total in the end. Multi-line graph paper also makes most graphing activities easier because students can skip count rather than having to count each line. For example drawing a bar on a bar graph that required a height of 28 would be easier if you had every 4 lines marked with a thicker differently colored line just like you'll find on the two line graph paper with 1 inch major lines and 1/4 inch minor lines.

Coordinate Graph Paper

Square Dot Paper

Measured dot paper for use in a variety of math learning situations where a square arrangement of dots is needed.

Dot paper can be useful in a variety of mathematical situations. For example, it is quite useful for drawing side views of connecting cube structures or other rectangular based figures. One very interesting use of dot paper is to find the area of irregular polygons using Pick's Formula (named after Georg Alexander Pick). You could decompose an irregular polygon into regular polygons, find the area of each polygon and add the areas, or you could use the much easier Pick's Formula which is to add the number of interior dots to half of the boundary dots and subtract one.

Dot paper can actually be used for just about anything for which grid paper can be used. Dot paper is grid paper without the line segments in between the vertices. Some people prefer dot paper as the page is less busy and allows better definition of anything that is drawn on the page.

Isometric Paper and Hexagonal Paper

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Printable graph, grid and dot papers including rectangular, isometric and coordinate grid papers.

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Papers Designed for Math

Sometimes we just need special paper for math work. At donnayoung.org, you can print paper that has the multiplication table printed all around the edges and paper that has a number line. I have graph paper and paper that can be used to make a coordinate grid notebook. To navigate the "Math Papers" use the links and the images below or use the menu above.

Print paper that is divided into sections, 10 sections per sheet. Ideally, the student would work out one math problem per block. The paper on this page is available with or without a multiplication table encircling the border and it is available with or without graph lines.

Another similar version of the paper (pictured on the left) is available without the words "Show your work."

We were more likely to use a composition book for math work; well actually we did use composition books for just about every subject including math. This small article, Using a Composition Book for Math Work, describes how we used a composition book for math.

There is a time when a student needs number lines, lots of them, and for that reason I made various number line paper s for math.

I have school-paper ruled number line paper.

I have graph paper number line paper.

I have number line paper that has a lot of number lines and of that paper, I have number lines that have numbers that are either above the number line or below the number line.

Choices in Graph Papers

This set has 6 choices of black line graph papers.

This set has some unique graph papers that can be used for other subjects and for notebooking. The set has various line colors - black, gray, pale gray, pink or chartreuse.

My children needed coordinate grids so often for algebra that I made a notebook for them to use.

At Coordinate Grid Paper and a Notebook Cover you will find several printable coordinate grids, some have x and y marked and some do not. You will also find a few images that you may use as clip art in a word processor for school work.

When I was a young girl, I enjoyed drawing things to scale. My room, for instance, I drew it to scale and I drew my furniture to scale. I used to draw house plans to scale. Later when I had my own house, I drew it to scale along with all the furniture. This is probably why I put "scale paper" on my website.

Number line paper was previously mentioned, but here it is again because of this number line graph paper. The graphs are in three sizes. Pictured here is " 20 Grid"

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Print paper that is designed for working math problems - coordinate grid notebook, graph paper, number line paper, and math problem papers.

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MagicSchool.ai - Using the magic of AI to help teachers.

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MagicSchool.ai - Using the magic of AI to help teachers.

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Using the magic of AI to help educators!

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One of the most common challenges that teachers face is planning engaging, hands-on lessons that are accessible to all students. Teachers know that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work. That's why I'm a big fan of the choice board. Choice boards can be implemented for any grade level or subject. They typically include a wide array of activities of varying difficulty. As a result, all students, regardless of learning style, are able to get the skills and learning they need.

Here's how I use choice boards in my classroom.

The setup of a choice board is simple. First of all, I plan at least nine activities that can be done at stations or centers around the classroom. Each activity is then assigned a point value based on the level of difficulty or work required to complete it. Students must acquire a certain number of points by doing activities of their choice.

When I introduce the activity to the class, I distribute the choice board and review directions orally as students follow along. Next, I walk around the room, visiting each station and explaining each activity. That way, students know where to find them and what to do. At each station, I place another set of directions, this one specific to that activity. I have found this extremely helpful, especially for students who need information presented in smaller chunks. Of course, everything that students need to complete the activity is waiting for them at the station. This really helps avoid confusion.

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Choice boards should offer a variety of activities that appeal to all learning styles.

Another benefit of using choice boards for inclusion classes is that modifications can easily be made without students feeling different or separated from their peers. A professional development seminar that my school held on UDL (Universal Design for Learning) really resonated with me. CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization, defines UDL as "a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn." This approach really motivated me to be extra diligent in creating lessons that were accessible to all learners.

Here are examples of activities from the choice board shown above:

Choice boards require a decent amount of preparation, but their outcomes are worth the extra time.

The students are learning, but they are also having fun while doing it. When students get to select the activities they do, they are involved in their own learning. This sets them up for success, and as a result the classroom becomes a safe haven for them. Consequently, they develop a positive attitude toward education.

Students also appreciate a teacher who they know is willing to go the extra mile for them. They can tell when a teacher thought outside of the box while planning assignments. If you're looking to create an engaging, hands-on lesson that allows students to take ownership of their own learning, then give choice boards a try.
Have you tried choice boards in the classroom? Come and share your experiences in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. Plus, how I engage middle and high school readers by offering more student choice.

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How I Use Choice Boards to Increase Student Engagement

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Choice boards can be implemented for any grade level or subject and typically include a wide array of activities varying in difficulty.

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click the link to access a variety of tips, tools and templates for differentiating instruction in your classroom

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By Tina Spencer, M.S., and Lee Anne Sulzberger, M.Ed.

February/March 2013

Co-teaching is one option for delivering special education services to students with disabilities in general education classes (Friend, 2007). Within this model, two or more professionals deliver content grounded in purposeful instructional intensity to a diverse group of students in the same classroom. Co-teaching partners can help meet the varying learning needs of students in their classes by adopting the principles of differentiated instruction. Tomlinson and Imbeau (2010) describe differentiation as an instructional approach that "results from an ongoing process of trial, reflection, and adjustment to the classroom itself" (p. 13).

Figure 1 illustrates the many ways in which teachers can differentiate instruction (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010):

Figure 1 Differentiated Instruction Graphic Organizer

When teachers differentiate instruction for students, they provide multiple ways for students to (a) access critical content, (b) make sense of that content, and (c) express what they have learned about that content (i.e., differentiation of content, process, and product). Table 1 lists examples of what can and cannot be differentiated in a specific unit of instruction.

Table 1
Differentiation Considerations for a Unit of Study

5.4 The student will expand vocabulary when reading using context to clarify meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases

Essential Under-standing

5.4 All students should apply knowledge of word structure and context clues to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words

Teaching Strategies
(Process)

Using mnemonics

Following a specific process

Guiding Questions

5.4 How can students continue to build vocabulary by applying their knowledge of word structure and context clues to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words?

Learning Activities
(Product)

Design a poster of word families

Build a model representing a word (Frayer Model)

Play scavenger hunt using vocabulary words

Write a report using a word web

Complete word sorts

Adapted from Glass (2012, December).

Decisions on how to differentiate content, process, and product are based on teachers' understanding of students':

feelings regarding their individual roles and abilities as learners (i.e., affect);

readiness to work with specific content;

interests; and

learning profiles that are influenced by factors such as learning style, gender, and culture (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, Chapter 1).

Planning for Content
Once co-teaching partners have decided to incorporate differentiated instruction, they must determine what students should know and be able to do by the end of each lesson.

One useful tool in determining critical content is the Planning Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, & Leavell, 1994). Using the Planning Pyramid as a guide, co-teachers determine what all students must do, what most students will do, and what some students will do (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 Planning Pyramid

Dieker (2012) suggests that co-teaching partners address the following questions to determine critical content:

General educator: What three things do ALL students need to be able to do by the end of this class? Would you be satisfied if each task looked different? What is critical for students to know and be able to do?

Special educator: What must be done for the students with disabilities so they can do what you have agreed is essential for ALL students?

This process helps ensure that both teachers agree upon and understand the critical content students must learn and what must be done for students with disabilities so they can master that content.
Assessing for Success
One of the essential features of differentiated instruction is the use of formative or ongoing assessment to guide instruction. In Differentiation Central's (2010b) online video Effective Instruction Begins with Pre-Assessing the Students, Brighton shares how formative assessments can give teachers a road map to differentiated instruction within the classroom. She provides guidelines to check for student knowledge, understanding, and skills without always using paper and pencil tests and quizzes. Differentiation Central's (2010a) Daily Assessment Serves as a Compass for Next Steps in the Classroom highlights the use of exit cards and behavior checklists, two simple formative assessment strategies that teachers may wish to use.

Gravois and Gickling (2002) have created a six-step process designed to help teachers move students forward in their learning. The process, outlined below, assesses what students know, how they think, and what they can do.
Six Steps for Instructional Assessment

1. Select material for instruction at student's instructional level.

2. Develop a relationship with the student.

3. Assess the student's prior knowledge, word recognition, and comprehension.

4. Match instruction to student needs.

5. Teach on student's instructional level (i.e., provide direct instruction and remedial strategies through co-teaching variations).

6. Use data on an ongoing basis to evaluate student progress.

Creating Flexible Groups
Grouping and regrouping students through frequent use of assessment data provides opportunities for quality instruction. Valentino (2000) observed that "teachers are discovering that informally grouping and regrouping students in a variety of ways throughout the school day can make a teacher's job easier and students more productive. This teaching strategy is called flexible grouping" (para. 2).

Ford (2005) suggests the following steps when creating flexible student groups for reading instruction. The steps can easily be applied to other content areas.

Select text with a common element, written at multiple instructional levels.

Match text to individual students.

Differentiate engaging activities within each group but hold the same expectations for all students.

Assess several times within a given reading unit whether standards are being met.

Use assessment data to dissolve and form new groups of students.

Flexible groups help students practice content in a variety of ways throughout a unit. Students can work together according to similar interests, as partners, or in small groups needing to learn specific skills. Because students learn content at different rates, flexible groups should change as often as formative assessments determine there is a need to regroup students.
Research-Based Instructional Strategies
As they plan learning activities, it is important that co-teachers select instructional strategies that have demonstrated success. Instructional strategies are specific approaches teachers use to ensure successful outcomes for student learning.

Knight (2013) has identified five "high-impact instructional strategies" (p. 131) that can help improve student learning and engagement. They are:

thinking prompts (e.g., exciting and engaging video clips or works of art that stimulate dialog);

effective questions;

stories;

cooperative learning; and

authentic learning experiences.

Further, Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone (2012) note that cues, questions, advance organizers, and nonlinguistic representations are among the effective strategies to help students develop an understanding of new material.

Teachers can help make content accessible to students by purposefully using a variety of these teaching strategies. Many can be incorporated within one lesson, as illustrated by the sequence of classroom activities below:

The general education teacher tells the objective of the day's lesson and the special education teacher shows a road map of the class as an advance organizer.

The general education teacher explains the key characteristics of plant cells and animal cells.

The special educator models the use of a Venn diagram (i.e., nonlinguistic representation) by sorting the characteristics presented by the general education teacher.

The general education teacher checks for understanding by asking students to hold up cards that say "animal cell" or "plant cell" as the teacher states different characteristics. Following the card activity, both teachers discuss the characteristics with the students. They then place the students in cooperative learning groups based on student readiness levels.

The students complete a Venn diagram showing the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells.

As a scaffolded assignment, some of the students who have difficulty writing may contribute to their group members by using nonlinguistic representations such as pictures or shapes for the characteristics.

Once the diagram is complete, the students will make group presentations. They will have a choice of presenting by writing summary paragraphs and reading their finished product to the class, creating a video presentation such as a podcast, or designing a PowerPoint presentation.

While students are working on the assignment, the teachers walk around the room asking students specific questions about the task, as well as clarifying and reinforcing effort for students who may be struggling with the activity.

The teachers give feedback to the students as they work to complete their graphic organizers and other products that demonstrate understanding and skill mastery.

Using Co-Teaching Variations
As co-teaching partners identify the instructional strategies they will use, they also determine which co-teaching variations will best meet the learning objectives for the lesson. Table 2, excerpted from the College of William and Mary's Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC W&M) Considerations Packet on co-teaching, describes common variations and the amount of planning time needed to prepare a lesson using that variation. An example of classroom use is also provided. Directions for ordering this Considerations Packet and others may be found under Additional Resourcesat the end of this article.

Table 2
Co-Teaching Variations and Examples

One Teaching,
One Observing
(Whole group)

Teachers alternate roles of teaching lessons and observing students for an understanding of academic and social functioning.

A general educator teaches a whole-group lesson on writing complete sentences. The special educator collects data related to a single student or small groups of students.

The data are used to compare targeted student behavior to the behavior of others during the lesson being taught.

In future lessons, they may reverse roles when specific behaviors need to be observed.

One Teaching,
One Assisting
(Whole group)

Teachers alternate roles of teaching and supporting the instructional process.

A general educator teaches a whole-group lesson on the causes of the Civil War. The special educator walks around the classroom to assist students by answering individual questions or to redirect students who are not following the instruction. In future lessons, they may reverse roles.

Station Teaching
(Small Group)

Small groups of students rotate to various stations for instruction, review, and/or practice.

A specialist works with a small group of students on prewriting, while other students are working with the general educator on research skills. Yet another group of students is using the classroom computer to research a topic. Over the course of the week, all students work at each task/station.

Parallel Teaching
(Small group)

Students are divided into mixed-ability groups, and each co-teaching partner teaches the same material to one of the groups.

The class is divided in half, and each teacher works with a group on creating a timeline of important events in history. At the end of the session, each group shares its timeline and reviews important concepts.

Teaming or Interactive
Teaching (Whole group)

Teachers alternate roles of presenting, reviewing, and monitoring instruction.

A general educator and specialist teach a whole-group lesson on fractions. The specialist reviews the previous lesson and the general educator introduces the concept and provides initial instruction. The special educator directs the guided practice and both supervise peer practice and conduct evaluation. In future lessons, the partners may reverse roles.

Alternative Teaching (Large group/ small group)

One person teaches, reteaches, or enriches a concept for a small group, while the other monitors or teaches the remaining class members.

The specialist works with a small group of students on an enrichment project, while the general educator teaches the remainder of the students.

Adapted from Interactions Collaboration Skills for School Professionals, by M. Friend & L. Cook, 2007, Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Co-teachers can create powerful instruction in their diverse classes by differentiating instruction and focusing on the three elements of ongoing assessment, flexible grouping, and use of research-based instructional strategies.
Additional Resources
Read " Designing the IEP: Measuring and Reporting Progress toward Mastery of Annual Goals" in this issue of Link Lines to learn more about monitoring progress for students with disabilities.

For more information on differentiating instruction, order the T/TAC W&M Considerations Packets Differentiating for Success in Inclusive Classrooms. To learn more about the instructional assessment, consult the Considerations Packet "Instruction Assessment: An Essential Tool for Designing Effective Instruction" or read KIDTAP: A Strengths-Based Approach to Curriculum-Based Assessmentin the February/March 2004 issue of Link Lines.

For additional information on instructional strategies, explore the following Considerations Packets:

Algebra Strategies for Middle School

Geometry Strategies for Middle School

Graphic Organizers

Inferential Reading Comprehension

Practice and Homework - Effective Teaching Strategies

These free packets and many more may be ordered online at http://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/considerations/index.php
References
Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Dieker, L. (2012, October). Differentiation in co-taught classrooms: Current and future technologies and strategies. Keynote address presented at the 23rd Annual Symposium on Collaboration and Inclusive Education sponsored by the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.

Differentiation Central. (Producer). (2010a). Daily assessment serves as a compass for next steps in the classroom [Online video]. Retrieved from http://differentiationcentral.com/videos2.html

Differentiation Central. (Producer). (2010b). Effective instruction begins with pre-assessing the students [Online video]. Retrieved from http://differentiationcentral.com/videos2.html

Ford, M. P. (2005). Differentiation through flexible grouping: Successfully reaching all readers (Government Contract No. ED-01-CO-0011). Naperville, IL: Learning Point Associates.

Friend, M. (2007, January & March). Collaborating for success. Presentation at workshop for VASSP/VSFEL in collaboration with Virginia DOE and The College of William and Mary, Richmond, VA.

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2007). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals
(5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Glass, K., (2012, December). Differentiated instruction aligned to the ELA common core standards. Session presented at the 2012 Learning Forward Annual Conference, Boston.

Gravois, T., & Gickling, E. (2002). Best practices in curriculum-based assessment. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (pp.1-13). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.

Knight, J. (2013). High-impact instruction: A framework for great teaching. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Schumm, S., Vaughn, S., & Leavell, A. (1994). Planning pyramid: A framework for planning for diverse student needs during content area instruction. The Reading Teacher, 47(8), 608-615. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20201330?origin=JSTOR-pdf

Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Valentino, C. (2000). Flexible grouping. Retrieved from http://www.eduplace.com/science/profdev/articles/valentino.html#author

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Assessment, Flexible Grouping, and Research-Based Instructional Strategies: Powerful Tools for Co-Taught Classes

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By Tina Spencer, M.S., and Lee Anne Sulzberger, M.Ed. February/March 2013 Co-teaching is one option for delivering special education services to students with disabilities in general education classes (Friend, 2007). Within this model, two or more professionals deliver content grounded in purposeful instructional intensity to a diverse group of students in the same classroom.

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Academic Discussions Step 1: Structures for Tasks

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How to Use Total Physical Response (TPR) in the Classroom - TeachHUB

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As an educator, how do you teach vocabulary and language? Do some students struggle? Learn more about how to use Total Physical Response in the classroom.

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Introduction and definition of each HLP

Brief review of the research

Several brief videos of general education and special education teachers implementing the practice

What the videos are:

A resource to augment training/professional learning

A demonstration of HLP practice across degrees of intensity

A portrayal of teachers' implementation of an HLP

A demonstration of practices that can be used with all students, not only those with disabilities

What the videos are not:

A complete resource for training/professional learning

A demonstration of each tier across various settings

A depiction of all features of quality instruction/student engagement

Promoting the use of practices that would replace the need for intense, data-driven decisions and interventions provided by special educators or other specialists

This content was produced under U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Award No. H325A170003 & S283B120021-12A . David Guardino serves as the project officer. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any project, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned in this website is intended or should be inferred.

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HLP #18: Use Strategies to Promote Active Student Engagement

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This video defines and provides background on high-leverage practice (HLP) 18 and highlights three essential components of this HLP, demonstrating these components through video clips from real classrooms. The three key components highlighted in this video are the importance of building positive teacher-student relationships, using a variety of strategies for ensuring student engagement during lessons, and actively monitoring for engagement while providing ongoing feedback.

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Fidgets in the Classroom from Paula Kluth

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Fidgets in the Classroom from Paula Kluth

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Paula Kluth illustrates an example from "From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks"

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The Inclusive Class Project - Using Visuals to Engage Learners

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Off the Page #5: Pick a stick, any stick

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3 Ideas for Engaging All from Paula Kluth

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3 Ideas for Engaging All from Paula Kluth

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Inclusive classrooms: Paula Kluth introduces 3 activities for engaging all learners

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HLP #18  Use Strategies to Promote Active Student Engagement

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Academic Discussions Step 1: Structures for Tasks

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Table of Contents
1. Identifying Students with Special Needs 2. Lesson Planning with Inclusion in Mind 3. Talking About Different Abilities in the Classroom
It's been nearly a half-century since President Gerald Ford signed into law a bill that would forever change education in the United States. The groundbreaking law, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), guarantees that every child with a disability in the country has access to a "free, appropriate, public education."

In the decades since, accumulated research, experience, and advocacy have continued to shape the ways in which educators ensure that students of all abilities claim these rights.

Recent years have seen a push toward "mainstreaming" students with cognitive and physical differences, which means including them in general classrooms rather than separating them into full-time "special education" classrooms. Numbers illustrate the impact this push has had: according to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1989, 32 percent of students with disabilities spent 80 percent or more of the school day in a general education class; by 2013, that figure had risen to nearly 62 percent of students with disabilities.
This significant change means more and more classrooms include a diverse array of students with various neurological and physical strengths and challenges, which has forced general education teachers to adjust their classrooms.
As cumbersome as this adjustment can be for some educators, many of them are galvanized by the research indicating that these changes present opportunities for all students to grow. One report has found that between 80 and 85 percent of special education students can meet the achievement standards of their general-classroom counterparts as long as they are offered the accommodations required by IDEA.

What's more is that research also finds no negative impact-neither academic nor otherwise-on students without a disability in an inclusive classroom. Instead, those students reap social benefits by forming relationships with a wider variety of people.
In other words, building a high-quality classroom that includes students of all abilities is well worth the effort. In this guide, we offer practical, specific tips for educators working to build such a learning environment. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec94/vol52/num04/What-Are-the-Outcomes-for-Nondisabled-Students%C2%A2.aspx https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED454636.pdf https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/how-teacher-training-hinders-special-needs-students/518286/ https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/Martha_Thurlow-Meeting_the_Needs_of_Special_Education_Students.pdf
Identifying Students with Special Needs

Students are said to have a special need in the educational setting when they have a specific physical or cognitive challenge that impacts learning. Examples may include:

Physical conditions:

Hearing loss

Vision loss

Mobility impairments

Cognitive conditions:

Autism

Down syndrome

Traumatic brain injury

Attention deficit disorder

Dyslexia (difficulty reading)

Dyscalculia (difficulty with math)

Other learning disabilities

While physical conditions that impact learning usually manifest in straightforward ways, cognitive conditions can cause discomfort and frustration for years without being identified. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, of the 1 in 5 children with cognitive learning and attention challenges, many are currently not diagnosed or receiving special attention.
The typical process to identify students with learning disabilities consists of the following steps:

Screening to determine if the subsequent steps are required and, if so, in what areas.

Examination for risk indicators, because early-life experiences, such as low birth weight, difficulty suckling or swallowing as an infant, and family history of learning disabilities, can indicate a higher likelihood of cognitive challenges as a student.

Observation in systematic ways over time, and in a range of contexts, is crucial to confidently reaching a diagnosis-and the child's family should be fully involved in this step.

Comprehensive evaluation, if the previous steps indicate that it's necessary, to determine a specific child's range of abilities and needs.

https://www.asha.org/policy/TR2007-00307.htm#sec1.3.1 https://webaim.org/articles/cognitive/ https://www.ncld.org/identifying-struggling-students

Lesson Planning with Inclusion in Mind

Many educators seeking to build classrooms that are inclusive of all combinations of abilities have benefited from the specific framework of "Universal Instructional Design."

The concept of "universal design" first emerged in architecture to describe flexible and accessible design for the physical world. It has since been appropriated for classrooms.
According to the Universal Instructional Design Implementation Guide, UID centers on seven main principles:

1. Be accessible and fair.

2. Provide flexibility in use, participation, and presentation.

3. Be straightforward and consistent.

4. Be explicitly presented and readily perceived.

5. Provide a supportive learning environment.

6. Minimize unnecessary physical effort or requirements.

7. Ensure learning spaces that accommodate both students and instructional methods.

The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center builds on these principles and offers specific ways to apply them in the classroom:

Welcome everyone.

Avoid stereotyping.

Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any student.

Make interactions accessible to all participants.

Ensure physical access to facilities.

Arrange instructional spaces to maximize inclusion and comfort.

Make content relevant.

Provide multiple ways to gain knowledge.

Use large visual and tactile aids.

Finally, educators should consider enlisting the help of apps and other technologies to help implement UID:
Talking About Different Abilities in the Classroom

When students with special needs are included in general classrooms, teachers must take care to ensure that those students never see themselves as lesser, shameful, or bad.

There are things that teachers can do to make sure students don't come to this conclusion. Below are a few ways to help students with different abilities banish shame:

Help students find and linger on their strengths.

Ask students to keep a "wins" journal so they can return to their successes.

Share leadership roles in the classroom.

Guide students to think of their abilities as always in development.

http://www.learningally.org/Blog/PostId/461/how-to-banish-shame Another concrete action educators can take is developing a lesson in which the whole class learns about successful and accomplished individuals with disabilities. Here are a few individuals teachers might include:

Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Carol Greider, who lives with learning disabilities

Animal scientist Temple Grandin, who is on the autism spectrum

https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/04/08/fp_armstrong.html

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How Teachers Can Make Their Classrooms More Accessible for Students with Disabilities | American University

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1. Identifying Students with Special Needs 2. Lesson Planning with Inclusion in Mind 3. Talking About Different Abilities in the Classroom It's been nearly a half-century since President Gerald Ford signed into law a bill that would forever change education in the United States.

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Explore Model UDL Lesson Plans

This section of the UDL Lesson Builder shows you customized, UDL lessons aligned to standards and tailored to include principles and practical applications of Universal Design for Learning. As you review the lessons, be sure to click on to read or hear teacher think alouds that explain applications of UDL.

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CAST UDL Lesson Builder: Explore Model UDL Lesson Plans

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This section of the UDL Lesson Builder shows you customized, UDL lessons aligned to standards and tailored to include principles and practical applications of Universal Design for Learning. As you review the lessons, be sure to click on to read or hear teacher think alouds that explain…

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National Center on Universal Design for Learning

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The purpose of this document is to summarize evidence-based, positive, proactive, and responsive classroom behavior intervention and support strategies for teachers. These strategies should be used classroom-wide, intensified to support small group instruction, or amplified further for individual students. These tools can help teachers capitalize on instructional time and decrease disruptions, which is crucial as schools are held to greater academic and social accountability measures for all students.

What needs to be in place before I can expect these strategies to work?

The effectiveness of these classroom strategies are maximized when (a) implemented within a school-wide multi-tiered behavioral framework (MTBF), such as school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) ( www.pbis.org); (b) classroom and school-wide expectations and systems are directly linked; (c) classroom strategies are merged with effective instructional design, curriculum, and delivery; and (d) classroom-based data are used to guide decision making.

There are three main parts to this guide on classroom strategies:

1. Interactive map with corresponding tables, tools, and tips: The interactive map provides the links to the document with the content to support the implementation of the essential features of these classroom strategies.

2. Self-Assessment and decision-making chart: these tools are intended to help guide the user to the parts of the document that will be most useful.

3. Scenarios: Two scenarios are provided to extend learning and provide concrete examples of using these classroom strategies and how to use many of the tools suggested in this document in consortium.

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Supporting and Responding to Behavior: Evidence-Based Classroom Strategies for Teachers

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The purpose of this document is to summarize evidence-based, positive, proactive, and responsive classroom behavior intervention and support strategies for teachers. These strategies should be used classroom-wide, intensified to support small group instruction, or amplified further for individual students.

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A few weeks ago, I caught up on the season finale of SongAssociation on Terrell Grice's YouTube channel. This channel has changed my Spotify, for real. Terrell plays a game with his guests - he gives them a word and they have 10 seconds to sing a song with that word either in the lyrics or the title. The game is good, but the reason I keep coming back to this channel is Terrell and the instant camaraderie he has with everyone on that blue wall.

He has a passion for music and musicians. It doesn't matter if his guest is an Instagram star, a former reality show competitor, or a whole signed-to-a-label singer, he has a way of making everyone feel comfortable. He brings an effervescence to each interview and a genuine interest in every story told. Whether he knows a person before they got there or they showed up as a stranger, everyone...and I mean EV-ER-Y-ONE leaves lifted, refreshed, and seen.

If only all of us could experience this welcoming spirit.

Well...

In July, the Lincoln Center kicked off its Activate Series. The theme of this year's event is radical welcoming, which they define as "the intentional and extraordinary effort to make people feel welcome." Dr. Christopher Emdin gave a keynote. You remember Dr. Emdin, right? He is a scholar, a hip-hop educator, and the author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood - the book we used to guide our series last year on culturally responsive practices in PBIS. During the July event, Dr. Emdin partnered with folks from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to reimagine what a classroom might look like in a post-pandemic world - a space he calls calls The Ratchetdemic Classroom.

It's beautiful!

It was in this space where Dr. Emdin moderated a conversation with five educators from across the country exploring what radical welcoming means to them. He asked them how they felt sitting in a room designed to make students feel welcome. They commented on how the green grass gave their eyes a place to rest and invited them to sit on the ground. They loved the diversity available in the seating options and their eyes kept coming back to a piece of art on the wall that said, "Imagine the person you could be if you let someone love all of you." One aspect of radical welcoming is creating a physical space that's inviting, comfortable, and allows students to engage their imaginations while they learn.

Beyond the physical elements of the space, I couldn't help but focus on the way Dr. Emdin led the conversation and made the hour comfortable enough for everyone to share some vulnerable perspectives. One example happens around the 13:26 mark in their conversation. Meghan Sullivan shares her perspectives teaching in Standing Rock reservation. She makes a distinction between "teaching in" vs "teaching on" the reservation. Dr. Emdin picks up on this, acknowledges the significance, amplifies it for the group, asks others to offer their thoughts, and ultimately takes the conversation to a place where later another aspect of Meghan's identity can be celebrated and shared. In a conversation where he is considered an expert, he continuously tells participants how he's learning from them and building on their experiences. [When you have some time, watch the conversation, soak up the lessons, and pay some attention to the way Dr. Emdin elicits ideas from everyone in the room.]

See, the physical elements of the Ratchetdemic Classroom created the space where everyone was comfortable and allowed to share confidently; the physical aspect of a space is a piece to the puzzle.

You are another.

Your students would probably say they want to be acknowledged for their efforts. They want to feel like they can share their opinions openly, to know they will be heard, valued, and cared for as a member of your class, and that the things that matter to them also matter to you.

You Have Active Presence

The way people feel when they're around you is what researchers call your affective presence. They define it as the "tendency to invoke either positive or negative feelings in others in a consistent and stable manner."[1] When you have a positive affective presence, people usually feel happy, enthusiastic, or inspired when they're around you.[2] A negative affective presence tends to make folks feel sad, bored, or stressed. Researchers also found affective presence is significantly related to how likely someone is to share their ideas openly.

The way guests feel on The Terrell Show, the way participants openly shared their perspectives during Dr. Emdin's moderated conversation, the way your students engage in your classroom, it hinges on whether your affective presence is positive or negative. Research is fuzzy on what contributes to an overall positive affective presence, but we can get some clues by looking at what people say makes them feel like they belong in a place.

LinkedIn surveyed more than 14,000 professionals from around the world to learn more about their experiences working for a company.[3] They asked respondents what would make them feel like they belong at the company where they work. This list they generated might feel familiar.

To my eye, their answers are not so dissimilar from what you might expect to hear from your students if you asked them a similar question on the School Climate Survey. Your students would probably say they want to be acknowledged for their efforts. They want to feel like they can share their opinions openly, to know they will be heard, valued, and cared for as a member of your class, and that the things that matter to them also matter to .

I emphasize the word "you" because research tells us that even more than their peers or their parents, teacher support has the most significant impact on a student's sense of belonging at school.[4] "Students who believe that they have positive relationships with their teachers and that their teachers are caring, empathic and fair and help resolve personal problems, are more likely to feel a greater sense of belonging than those students who perceive a negative relationship with their teachers." And! It's that sense of belonging that keeps students motivated academically, reduces absences, and makes it more likely they will stay in school.

Make Your Classroom Radically Welcome

As your students come back to the classroom - some of them in-person for the first time in a long time - investing in relationships and fostering a sense of belonging should be at the top of your list of to-dos. Here are some ways to start radically welcoming students in your classroom.

Popcorn Goals

This idea comes from a 5th grade teacher named Josh Monroe. At the beginning of the year, he hands each student two index cards. On one they write a goal they have for 5th grade; on the other they write a goal they have for their lives. The goals are anonymous, so no one gets to know who wrote it. Students crumple up the cards and throw them around the room. One by one, everyone picks up a card and reads it aloud. They decide as a class whether that sounds like a goal for 5th grade, a goal for life, or maybe it could be a goal for both. Mr. Monroe says the game generates important discussions as students find similarities they have with each other and think about how they can work together to create the kind of classroom where everyone can achieve their goals.

Snail Mail Shoutouts

Who doesn't love getting something special in the mail? Last year, Elkins Park School in Elkins Park, PA, started sending postcards in the mail to their students' homes. They did it as a way to encourage students during distance learning and to acknowledge the efforts their teachers saw in class. Of course, students thought it was great to get the personal note, but the school started hearing from families, too. The handwritten messages meant so much to them they put the postcards on their refrigerators. Positive, unprompted, personalized acknowledgements include families in the community you're trying to build.

Welcome Students At the Door...

Greeting students as they come into your classroom is a simple and effective way to start class. TUMS at the Door is an acronym to help you remember the pieces of the greeting that matter most.

T is for Touch. In the before times, this would mean a handshake, a hug, or a high five. These days, physical touch isn't always safe, so you'll need to improvise. Fist bumps, elbow bumps, toe taps, hip checks, or even a synchronized dance are all good ways to incorporate physical movement in your welcome that's safe and appropriate.

U is for Use Their Name. Calling students by their name demonstrates you know who they are. Be sure you use the name they prefer and you pronounce it correctly. If you're unsure how to pronounce their name, ask and keep practicing until you get it right.

M is for Make Eye Contact. Looking someone in the eye as you welcome them shows them you are focused on them and how they're doing. Even if for that brief moment, they have your undivided attention.

S is for Smile. Ever notice how hard it is to say an angry word with a smile on your face? A smile lifts your words and makes them sound more inviting.

...No Matter When They Arrive

I get annoyed when people are late to something we scheduled together, so I try to be a person who shows up on time. This last year and a half has also taught me a lot about how life is unpredictable. The same way I would hope someone would find grace and understanding when I can't make it on time, I'm now trying to extend the same to other people.

Your students will show up late to class for any number of reasons. Based on their previous experiences, they might walk in late expecting irritation from you. What would happen if you extended a welcome to students even when they show up late? Josh Monroe came through with an example, again.

Show Some Love

When it comes to your school-wide expectations, typical expectations might be: Safe, Respectful, Responsible. What if you added some love to the matrix?

What would that look like in your classroom? On the playground? How would your students feel knowing they could expect to find love in your space? Does it feel awkward or maybe impossible? Well...

Among the core values of respect, integrity, and perseverance, in her welcome message, Allika Thompson-Young, the principal at MAST High School in Queens, NY says, "The greatest legacy that you have left is that of LOVE. Make sure to demonstrate love in action throughout your tenure at MAST."

What if you added "love" to your behavioral matrix and asked your students to help you define what that might look like, what it might sound like, how it would feel in your classroom?

Our kids start school in a few weeks. I'm excited, they're excited, and I hope their teachers are excited. I think we're all a little anxious, too, about what it's all going to be like. One way to start things off on a positive note is to embrace the concept of radical welcoming. Set up a physical space where everyone feels comfortable and then focus on ways to improve your positive affective presence. How can you acknowledge your students' efforts a little more? How can you celebrate the things they love and create a community that shares openly? The tone you set, the relationships you build, and the way your students feel when they're around you matters. Start creating the kind of classroom where everyone wants to be.

1. Madrid, H. P., Totterdell, P., & Niven, K. (2016). Does leader-affective presence influence communication of creative ideas within work teams? Emotion,16(6), 798-802. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000183

2. Eisenkraft,N. and Elfenbein, H., 2010. The Way You Make Me Feel. Psychological Science, 21(4), pp.505-510.

3. LinkedIn, 2017. Inside the Mind of Today's Candidate. [online] Available at: https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/cx/17/08/inside-the-mind-of-the-candidate.

4. Allen, K., Kern, M., Vella-Brodrick, D., Hattie, J. and Waters, L., 2016. What Schools Need to Know About Fostering School Belonging: a Meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 30(1), pp.1-34.

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PBISApps | Teach By Design-Make It Radical: Ideas For Your Most Welcoming Classroom Ever

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As your students come back to the classroom, investing in relationships and fostering a sense of belonging should be at the top of your list of to-dos. Here are some ways to start radically welcoming students in your classroom.

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Fostering Belonging With Classroom Norms

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Membership and Belonging in the Classroom

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Membership and Belonging in the Classroom

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These five strategies can help ensure that students feel they belong in your classroom.

©Ikon Images/Trina Dalziel

About a year ago, I received a text in the middle of the teaching day from the mother of a student I had taught eight years earlier as a second grader. She thanked me for always being there for her son, who had come out as gay to their family the night before. She shared that her son-now a senior in high school-mentioned me in their conversation and said I had taught him that all people have equal value in the world, a lesson that helped him face the truth of who he was.

Early elementary teachers rarely see the seeds we try to plant in our young students come to fruition, but we always hope they will grow into the people we imagine they can be. For the last 16 years, I've taught in an inclusion classroom where many students have learning differences that can pose a challenge to connecting with others. I've learned that if students feel anxious socially, they will not be open to taking academic risks, so building a culture of belonging has become my greatest priority. It is important to clarify that when I say "belonging," I am not talking about "fitting in"-students' individuality and uniqueness should always be valued. Belonging in the classroom means ensuring that all students feel welcomed, comfortable, and part of the school family.

Here are five simple ways I've found with which I can convince every student that he or she was meant to be in my classroom:

1. Shine a light on each student. Students often look to their teacher for a cue on how to handle social situations. In learning, we simply call this modeling. When working with students who have learning differences, I've learned it's important to model that every child has something special about him or her that we can celebrate. I had a student who ate alone every day the year before she joined my class. Her behaviors set her apart, and other students naturally started avoiding her. When she became my student, my co-teacher, my aide, and I made an intentional effort to laugh with her and praise her around her classmates. Soon, my students began to see her in a different light, and she never ate alone again. Help your students see each other through your eyes, so they can see each other's greatness.

2. Foster student identity building. Five times per year, I allow my students to do genius hour or passion projects of their choosing. I require only a two-paragraph written or typed piece to ground the work in English language arts. For students, these projects become very personal and a way to share more about who they are with their classmates, while boosting their public speaking skills. I've had students present about their rare medical conditions that they were previously afraid to talk about. Other students have explored their family heritage or activities they participate in, like karate or dance. In every case, students are empowered by their interests and passions, and they regularly say they enjoyed the learning that took place-about themselves and each other.

3. Always leave one desk empty. Every year, I have had at least one new student join us halfway through the school year. Chances are, for any 8-year-old going through a midyear move, it is one of the most difficult times they will ever endure. Seeing an empty desk when they arrive signals that our class has been waiting for them all year-and reminds other students throughout the year that our class could grow and change at any time. I also have my students make and hand out cards for the new student to welcome him or her upon arrival. Teachers have the power to send the message that they've been inconvenienced or the message that they're excited and happy for a new student to join the class.

4. Make sure that each child feels chosen. Several times a year, I ask my students to anonymously write down the names of three students they want to sit with or work with-ranked in order of preference. I go over the results to see who is being selected and who is not. With that knowledge, I seek out students who aren't chosen and create opportunities for them to build relationships with their peers. I may call on one of them and say, "Choose anyone you want to walk this to the office," for example, to help improve their social equity in the eyes of their peers. Other times, I will assign these students specific partners who will help them by modeling good social behaviors.

5. Weave social and emotional practices throughout the day. Toward the end of a school year, I start allowing students to choose their partners for activities, but I change up the traditional classroom social dynamics by letting the students who are typically not chosen to be the choosers. Knowing how this could easily backfire, I remind students of the proper and improper ways to react if the person who chooses them wasn't who they had in mind by stating, "When someone chooses you, they are giving you a gift-the gift is saying, out of all the people in the class, I choose you." This simple exercise takes only about three minutes, but it builds an important social and emotional foundation that teaches students to appreciate each other.

We can never take for granted the importance of our students feeling they belong. In a world that does not yet fully welcome everyone, schools can reinforce existing divisions or provide students a safe community that feels like a second home. That former second-grade student of mine went on to attend the prom with his boyfriend in our very conservative town and initiated a town-wide pride campaign. I have never felt more proud of my impact as a teacher. As educators, we really can help change the world, one child at a time.

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Every Student Matters: Cultivating Belonging in the Classroom

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These five strategies can make a big difference in ensuring that students feel they belong in your classroom.

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UDL-Q&A for Educators

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching and learning that gives all students equal opportunity to succeed.

To understand what UDL is, it helps to understand what it's not. The word universal may throw you off. It may sound like UDL is about finding one way to teach all students. But UDL actually takes the opposite approach.

The goal of UDL is to use a variety of teaching methods to remove any barriers to learning. It's about building in flexibility that can be adjusted for every person's strengths and needs. That's why UDL benefits all learners.

This approach to teaching or to workplace training doesn't specifically target people who learn and think differently. But it can be especially helpful for kids with these challenges - including those who have not been formally diagnosed. It can also be very helpful for English language learners.

Watch this video to see what UDL looks like in a fifth-grade classroom.

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What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a teaching approach to help all learners be successful. Read about UDL principals and the benefits of UDL for students.

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Students with Down syndrome face many barriers in education. My son is only in preschool and he already deals with teachers' preconceived notions of Ds, improper assessments of what he knows, and difficulty communicating his needs and wants.

Supported by research and federal law, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) turns the traditional one-size-fits-all model of teaching on it's head. UDL breaks down barriers to education, and creates a path to inclusion.

At its core, UDL encompasses three principles-"that instructors should provide students with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. In lay terms, this means that, to the extent possible, instructors should (a) provide content or materials in multiple formats, (b) give learners multiple ways to show what they know, and (c) use multiple methods of motivating learners," according to the Academy of American Colleges and Universities.

Many good teachers do UDL without realizing the terminology for what they're doing. When I taught in Utah I used to have my history students do a year-long project. Every student got to choose if they wanted to work alone or with a group. They also got to choose their own topic, as long as it fit the year's theme, as well as the medium (performance, mini-documentary, website, paper, or science fair-type display board). If you would have asked me then how I came up with this UDL curriculum, I would have said "what's UDL?"

So, how can teachers implement UDL in their classroom to create a path of inclusion for students with Down syndrome and other disabilities? Start here:

First your child's strengths should be evaluated, along with how they learn. Teachers should focus on the "big picture" of what they want students to know, and the different was to assess what students have learned.

The 3 Principles of UDL include:

1. Giving learners different ways to acquire information

2. Giving learners different ways to demonstrate what they've learned

3. Tapping into learners different interest, challenging them appropriately, and motivating them to learn

I recently took a fabulous workshop on UDL at the National Down Syndrome Congress Conference in Sacramento. Some of the ideas for our students with Down syndrome included technologies like text to speech, apps that change the reading level of books, Google classroom, word prediction for writing, graphic organizers like Kidspiration, and personalized videos to show what your child knows.

Check out this link for specific apps and ideas to share with your child's school.

Federal policy under Every Student Succeeds Act and the Higher Education Act, encourages the use of UDL to reach all students. These updated federal laws state that UDL helps all students significant opportunities to access the curriculum. This is not just a nice way to teach, but a way to follow the law. Ask your child's teacher and IEP team today about how they plan to implement UDL to ensure your child is included in a meaningful way.

How does your child's class use UDL to reach all students? Let me know below. Below are some books you can gift to your favorite teacher.

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Promoting Inclusion Through Universal Design for Learning - Inclusion Evolution

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Students with Down syndrome face many barriers in education. My son is only in preschool and he already deals with teachers' preconceived notions of Ds, improper assessments of what he knows, and difficulty communicating his needs and wants. Supported by research and federal law, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) turns the traditional one-size-fits-all model of [...]

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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Flexible Classrooms: Providing the Learning Environment That Kids Need

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What is the purpose of this website?

This website provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs (CCN) such as:

Autism spectrum disorders

Cerebral palsy

Down syndrome

Developmental apraxia

Multiple disabilities

This website provides information on:

What skills to teach

How to teach these skills

Videotaped examples of instruction with learners with special needs

Meet one of our students
Krista

Krista has multiple challenges, including a hearing impairment, a visual impairment, and a motor impairment. She also has a tracheostomy.

Krista has a dynamic personality. She makes everyone smile.

Like many of her peers, she loves Zac Efron from High School Musical and Zack and Cody from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

She uses sign approximations and a computer with speech output (a Mercury with Speaking Dynamically Pro software). Because of her hearing impairment, she does best when others sign as they talk.

We started to work with Krista when she was 8 years old. At that time, she was in a special education class at school and was not receiving literacy instruction.

Watch this video of Krista at 9 years of age. She is independently reading a personalized book about a summer adventure with Zac Efron.

She is so excited to be a reader!

Visit the rest of the website to learn more about how Krista learned to read stories independently.

Krista reading about Zac Efron from AAC Learning Center - Penn State on Vimeo.

Last Updated: December 21, 2018

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This website provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs (CCN) such as: Autism spectrum disorders Cerebral palsy Down syndrome Developmental apraxia Multiple disabilities This website provides information on: What skills to teach How to teach these skills Videotaped examples of instruction with learners with special needs Krista Krista has multiple challenges, including a hearing impairment, a visual impairment, and a motor impairment.

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Bookshare | An Accessible Online Library for people with print disabilities

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Bookshare makes reading easier. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work, or the joy of reading.

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Welcome

Welcome to the Tar Heel Reader, a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens, the IntelliKeys with custom overlays, and 1 to 3 switches. Click here to learn more about alternative access methods.

You may write your own books using pictures from the huge collection at Flickr or pictures you upload. All books should be complete, edited, and revised to the best of your ability before publishing them to the site. While you are working on them, please save them as drafts.

Note the little well icon in the upper left corner of the page; clicking it will allow you to access the main menu. You can also click the settings icon to change settings on some pages.

Your browser is unsupported. The site should work for finding and reading books but you will not have switch access or the ability to write books. We recommend that you upgrade to a modern browser or install Chrome Frame.
You are in Classic mode. You will not have access to all of the features of the site but it may work better on older computers and web browsers. Click this text to leave Classic mode.
Ready to get started?

This site is also available in other languages. To help with translation, contact us.

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Welcome to the Tar Heel Reader, a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens, the IntelliKeys with custom overlays, and 1 to 3 switches. Click here to learn more about alternative access methods.

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Need a fresh teaching resource that fits your class and teaching style? Create a customized pack of interactive and printable activities in just one minute.

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Last week a new app called Overviewer got a lot of buzz on social media. The app lets you use your phone as a document camera. Overviewer isn't the only way to use your phone as a document camera as I'll explain below.

And lest you think this only works for documents, last week I used the methodology below to show my online students how to seat RAM into a motherboard.

Something to hold your phone

I have a simple "goose neck" ring light and cell phone holder that I bought on Amazon years ago. It clamps to my desk and is flexible enough to let me easily position my cell phone over a document or over anything else that I want students to see in Zoom. You could also use a camera tripod that has a cell phone holder mounted to it. I've even seen people just pin their phones between heavy textbooks with the camera sticking out (it works, but it's hard to position things properly).

Overviewer app

Overviewer is a free app for iPhones and iPads. The app uses your camera and mirrors whatever your camera picks up into your Zoom meeting. The mirroring can happen via Airplay or via a Lightening Bolt cable. I prefer to use the cable as it is far less likely to drop the mirrored connection than Airplay is. Once Overviewer is running you can share your iPhone screen in Zoom using the standard screen-sharing options. Here's a video overview of the process.

Vysor

Unfortunately, Overviewer is only available for iPhone and iPad users. However, there is an option for using an Android phone as a document camera.

To use your Android phone as a document camera you'll need a way to mirror your phone's screen to your computer. Vysor is the tool I use for that purpose. Vysor is available to install for free on Windows and Mac computers. Once it's installed you can mirror your Android phone's screen through a USB cable. I've been using Vysor since 2018 and it has worked flawlessly for me on all of my Windows and Mac computers.

With Vysor installed and running my Android phone screen appears on my computer. So if I turn on my camera, whatever the camera sees is what appears on my computer's screen. Then in Zoom I use the screen-sharing option to show my mirrored phone screen. Google Meet users and Microsoft Teams users can do the same.

My process for using my Android phone as a document camera is outlined in this four minute video.

Professional Development Opportunities

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How to Use Your Phone as a Document Camera

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Last week a new app called Overviewer got a lot of buzz on social media. The app lets you use your phone as a document camera. Overviewer isn't the only way to use your phone as a document camera as I'll explain below.

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Inclusion thru Innovation Tech Resource Links

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Calculation Flipbooks allow children to see written methods for calculation modelled step-by-step. By clicking through the pages, each new step of a calculation is shown.

The video below shows the calculation flipbooks being used:

Calculation Flipbooks from I See Maths on Vimeo.

Coloured 100-squares help children to count in 2s, 5s or recognise the size of numbers.

Base-5/10 Number Tracks help children to recognise the size of numbers around the sub-base 5.

Number Rack is an adjustable online abacus with base-5 colouring, helping children to instantly recognise quantities.

The Fractions Cards can be printed used used to compare fractions, show equivalence and model adding and subtracting fractions.

Visual Representations Map outlines how images and resources can be used to build understanding in Reception-Y6.

Big Ideas of Mathematics outlines the key concepts and ideas that can be explored in each curriculum strand for Y1-Y6.

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Calculation Flipbooks allow children to see written methods for calculation modelled step-by-step. By clicking through the pages, each new step of a calculation is shown. The video below shows the calculation flipbooks being used: Calculation Flipbooks from I See Maths on Vimeo. Coloured 100-squares help children to count in 2s, 5s or recognise the size of numbers.

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Introduction and definition of each HLP

Brief review of the research

Several brief videos of general education and special education teachers implementing the practice

What the videos are:

A resource to augment training/professional learning

A demonstration of HLP practice across degrees of intensity

A portrayal of teachers' implementation of an HLP

A demonstration of practices that can be used with all students, not only those with disabilities

What the videos are not:

A complete resource for training/professional learning

A demonstration of each tier across various settings

A depiction of all features of quality instruction/student engagement

Promoting the use of practices that would replace the need for intense, data-driven decisions and interventions provided by special educators or other specialists

This content was produced under U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Award No. H325A170003 & S283B120021-12A . David Guardino serves as the project officer. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any project, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned in this website is intended or should be inferred.

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Clarifying the Relationship Between HLPs and EBPs

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A video about Clarifying the Relationship Between HLPs and EBPs

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Creating Positive School Experiences for Students with Disabilities

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The school experiences of students with disabilities can be positively or negatively influenced by the attitudes and behaviors of students and staff and by general school policies. School counselors can take the lead in assessing school climate in relation to students with disabilities and initiating interventions or advocating for change when appropriate.

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5 Peer Support Approaches That Work! - Brookes Blog

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In inclusive classrooms, peer supports are a great way to help meet the needs of all learners. While they can’t take the place of individualized supports delivered by teachers and other members of a student’s school team, they’re an important supplemental strategy to keep in your inclusion toolbox.…

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Removing the Barriers: Planning for ALL!

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A practice guide is a publication that presents recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools. They are based on reviews of research, the experiences of practitioners, and the expert opinions of a panel of nationally recognized experts.

To search by Topic or Keyword, use the Practice Guide Search.

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A practice guide is a publication that presents recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools. They are based on reviews of research, the experiences of practitioners, and the expert opinions of a panel of nationally recognized experts. To search by Topic or Keyword, use the Practice Guide Search.

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Introduction

High Leverage Practices (HLPs) are strategies every teacher should know and use. Both general education (TeachingWorks, 2020) and special education (Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform [CEEDAR] Center, n.d.) fields have outlined specific HLPs that pertain to the respective populations of students. In the context of inclusive classrooms, both sets of HLPs must be optimized to support students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this TIPs Sheet is to provide ideas for inclusive general education classroom implementation of those HLPs that are common to both general and special education.

High Leverage Practice Crosswalk

TeachingWorks (2020) at the University of Michigan designed the original set of HLPs for teachers. In response, experts from the CEEDAR Center at the University of Florida and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) outlined corresponding HLPs for special education. In addition, CEEDAR Center (n.d.) created a crosswalk which focuses on the similarities and connections between the two sets of High Leverage Practices. This TIP Sheet provides an extension of the crosswalk developed by CEEDAR and provides practical application for the inclusive classroom.

Implementation

In the CEEDAR Center crosswalk (n.d.), each general education HLP is listed with the coordinating special education HLPs that align with the instructional strategy. In the tables that follow we provide groups of common HLPs for special education and general education. We then illustrate each set of shared HLPs with a vignette from an inclusive classroom. In this inclusive classroom Mr. Carter is the general education teacher. He collaborates frequently with Ms. Salcido, the special education teacher, and Ms. Cardoso, the speech-language pathologist, so they can best support DJ, a student with significant cognitive disabilities and complex communication needs.

Participating in Group Discussions

1) Leading a group discussion

9) Teach social behaviors

14) Teach cognitive and metacognitive strategies to support learning and independence

18) Use strategies to promote active student engagement

Mr. Carter often starts class with a group discussion but notices that DJ does not seem to participate. He knows that DJ can use his communication device to greet his peers and ask for things he needs, but notices that DJ rarely uses it in class. Mr. Carter decides to ask Ms. Cardoso for advice. Together, they discover that DJ does not have the right words programmed on his device, which makes participating in group discussions downright impossible! They create a list of all the relevant words for the next unit and program his device so that DJ can participate with his peers. Ms. Cardoso also does some pre-teaching with DJ on the unit content and relevant words as well as teaching him to raise his hand to participate.

Fading Supports for Answering Comprehension Questions

2) Explaining and modeling content, practices, and strategies

14) Teach cognitive and metacognitive strategies to support learning and independence

9) Teach social behaviors

16) Use explicit instruction

20) Provide intensive instruction

Mr. Carter knows that all his students benefit from modeling, especially when it is time to learn a new concept. He uses the "I Do, We Do, You Do" method to introduce the skill, practice it together, and then give students the opportunity to practice on their own. DJ is not always ready for independent practice, so Mr. Carter decides to use that time to work intensively with DJ on the skills he needs to be successful in class. For example, the class is working on referring back to the text to answer a comprehension question. Mr. Carter models how to look back in the text to answer a question with the whole class while he points to the text on DJ's desk (I Do). Next, Mr. Carter leads the class through a second example where Mr. Carter frames where DJ should be looking in the text by outlining around the text (We Do). Lastly, Mr. Carter will ask DJ step-by-step questions to guide him through the process while DJ works to respond to each question (You Do).

Each student in Mr. Carter's class knows they are expected to share their thinking and that it is a safe place to do so. Mr. Carter loves how much DJ has been participating now that his communication device includes the relevant words, but sometimes DJ can be off-topic. Both Mr. Carter and Ms. Salcido help shape DJ's contribution through positive and constructive feedback. An example of this is acknowledging DJ's response to a question and providing support to go to the text to verify (or revise) DJ's response, based upon what is found in the text.

Reviewing Complex Concepts

Over the years, Mr. Carter has realized that he needs to do a quick review of division before introducing fractions. This makes him wonder if there are any other skills that he needs to "break-down" for DJ. He works with Ms. Salcido to create a plan to teach some of those more complex skills in smaller "chunks" so DJ can be successful in class.

Creating a Respectful Learning Environment

At the start of each year, Mr. Carter reviews the rules for respectful discussions in his class. It is an excellent opportunity to address social skills for all participants. He makes sure to include information this year about "think and response time," as DJ takes a little longer than his peers to share his thoughts using his communication device.

Responding to Student Learning with Scaffolded Supports

Mr. Carter knows the value of formative assessment and he uses it throughout his lessons to ensure student understanding, adjusting his instruction when necessary. More complex and abstract skills are typically difficult for DJ, so he scaffolds the skills when needed by breaking the task into small chunks so that DJ can access them. One strategy that Mr. Carter often uses is a graphic organizer to break down and illustrate key points. This approach benefits all students in the class.

Managing Challenging Behavior

DJ has begun to show some task refusal during math time, and Mr. Carter hypothesizes that it is because the work is challenging. In collaboration with Ms. Salcido, they develop a functional behavioral assessment and behavior intervention support plan for DJ. Mr. Carter always phrases his feedback to students in a positive way, indicating what they should do, instead of focusing on what they should not do, so he recognizes the importance of a replacement behavior. He and Ms. Salcido decide to teach DJ to ask for help when he becomes frustrated.

Establishing Routines

In Mr. Carter's classroom, everything has its place. He uses color coding, labels, and visual cue cards to show where things go and what the expectations are. This not only helps DJ, but all of his students to become more independent learners.

Using Small Group Instruction

It can be hard to find time in his schedule to include small group activities, but Mr. Carter knows how important it is. Not only does it give his students time to collaborate and discuss concepts more in depth, it also gives him the time to sit with each small group and check for understanding. Mr. Carter switches up the small groups frequently, to ensure everybody gets a chance to work with people with different personalities, skill levels, and interests. Whenever he starts a new group, he checks in with DJ's group first, to make sure everybody in the group is including him in the conversation, and that DJ has a meaningful way to engage with his peers. Ms. Salcido frequently supports small group instruction as well, providing additional support to Mr. Carter and all students and learning more about the curriculum and DJ's access and progress in grade level content.

Building Rapport

Mr. Carter has a special greeting that he uses with each student. Some students give a high five, others a handshake, and others do a little dance. Whatever the form, Mr. Carter teaches each student the power of a greeting. This works great for DJ because one of his IEP goals is to initiate greetings with familiar adults and peers, so Mr. Carter has lots of data to share with the speech teacher, Ms. Cardoso.

Communicating with Parents

Mr. Carter communicates with all his parents on a regular basis. He sends home weekly newsletters, and makes "good news" calls home as often as he can. Mr. Carter knows that DJ's parents appreciate any information he can give them because DJ does not communicate the same way his peers do. He also takes care during IEP meetings to emphasize DJ's strengths, before moving on to discuss areas of need.

Collaborating with Families

At the beginning of the year, Mr. Carter sent home a "Need to Know?" form for families to fill out, where they could tell him anything they thought was important for him to know about their child. Some parents included information about their religious beliefs, some about custody arrangements, and some about past experiences that they believed were relevant to their child's education. He also included a place for parents to indicate whether they wanted to speak with him more in depth. DJ's parents checked this, and so they met as a team at the beginning of the year. DJ's parents really appreciated the opportunity to meet with Mr. Carter, and to share information about their son's strengths, needs, medical concerns, and more.

Setting Goals

At the beginning of the year, Ms. Salcido met with Mr. Carter to go over DJ's IEP goals. This was really helpful, because it helped Mr. Carter be aware of what DJ needed to work on. Although DJ's goals are standards-based, they do not cover all of the standards. Mr. Carter does need to cover all the standards in his teaching. So now, when he is writing his unit plans, Mr. Carter collaborates with Ms. Salcido and includes long- and short-term goals for DJ and his classmates. They are written succinctly and without jargon; but it is something that Mr. Carter believes has helped all of his students!

Sequencing Lessons

Mr. Carter likes to look to the end goal when he is writing his lesson plan. He always starts with a unit plan, and then develops single lesson plans. Mr. Carter has noticed that the lessons are still a little too complex for DJ. He decides to collaborate with Ms. Salcido, and together they use the principals of systematically designed instruction to develop task analyses and mini-lessons to help address any knowledge or skill gaps or priority concepts. Ms. Salcido also supports instruction via co-teaching, working with small groups of students, and delivering individualized instruction for DJ and others who need additional support prior to, during, or following unit completion.

Checking for Understanding

Mr. Carter keeps a data sheet to help guide his formative assessment. He walks around the room while the students are doing independent or partner work and checks off whether they can demonstrate the skill of the day (which he gets from his lesson plans). If they cannot, he gives them additional instruction during small group time. Because DJ does not show his understanding the same way as his peers, Mr. Carter always has a modified quick-check for him. For example, sometimes he uses response cards and has DJ identify the appropriate one to determine whether he is making progress toward his short-term goals. Ms. Salcido engages in this formative assessment as well and often creates the modified quick-checks for DJ.

Utilizing Assessments

Mr. Carter feels that it is very important that DJ is included in all aspects of the classroom community, including assessments. He meets with Ms. Salcido a week before the assessment to review the unit goals and skills. Together, they develop a differentiated assessment so DJ can show what he knows.

Responding to Progress

17) Interpreting the results of student work, including routine assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, and standardized assessments

1) Collaborate with professionals to increase student success

4) Use multiple sources of information to develop a comprehensive understanding of a student's strengths and needs

5) Interpret and communicate assessment information with stakeholders to collaboratively design and implement educational programs

Once DJ takes his differentiated assessment, Mr. Carter reviews it with Ms. Salcido. Together, they consider any areas where DJ may have made errors and determine how they will respond. Some skills are extremely important for DJ to make progress in future units, but others may not need to be a priority.

Providing Feedback

Mr. Carter uses descriptive verbal praise whenever providing feedback with his students. He has found that it increases their learning and motivation. It is no different with DJ, who absolutely loves social praise! Mr. Carter teaches his students to provide feedback to each other as well, using scripted phrases, response cards, and more.

Reflecting on Instructional Practices

DJ is the first student with significant cognitive disabilities that Mr. Carter has taught. And Ms. Salcido is not an expert in the general education curriculum. Although they have learned a lot this year, there is still more to learn. Mr. Carter and Ms. Salcido continuously evaluate their own teaching, ask for help from other teachers, and visit the TIES website for more resources. Mr. Carter and Ms. Salcido are well on their way to becoming great co-teachers for all students!

Summary

In summary, High Leverage Practices are really just best practices. Although separate HLPs have been developed for general education and special education teachers, there is a significant amount of crossover. These are strategies and practices that are effective for all students! By incorporating these practices into daily instruction in inclusive settings, students will have increased opportunities to succeed.

TIPS Series: Tip #8, April 2020

All rights reserved. Any or all portions of this document may be reproduced without prior permission, provided the source is cited as:

Clausen, A., Reyes, E. N., & Wakeman, S. (2020). High-Leverage Practices Crosswalk (TIPS Series: Tip #8). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, TIES Center.

TIES Center is the national technical assistance center on inclusive practices and policies. Its purpose is to create sustainable changes in kindergarten-grade 8 school and district educational systems so that students with significant cognitive disabilities can fully engage in the same instructional and non-instructional activities as their general education peers, while being instructed in a way that meets individual learning needs. TIES Center is led by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota, and includes the following additional collaborating partners: Arizona Department of Education, CAST, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, and University of North Carolina - Greensboro.

TIES Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326Y170004) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Project Officer: Susan Weigert

TIES Center

University of Minnesota

Institute on Community Integration

2025 East River Parkway

Minneapolis, MN 55414

Phone: 612-626-1530
www.tiescenter.org
This document is available in alternate formats upon request.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and educator.

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TIES TIPS | Foundations of Inclusion | TIP #8: High Leverage Practices Crosswalk

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High Leverage Practices (HLPs) are strategies every teacher should know and use. Both general education (TeachingWorks, 2020) and special education (Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform [CEEDAR] Center, n.d.) fields have outlined specific HLPs that pertain to the respective populations of students.

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J acqueline is a sixth-grade special education teacher whose school district recently decided to implement an inclusive approach to teaching and learning. Now special and general educators collaborate to provide a stronger system of instructional supports based on their analysis of students' data. Jacqueline and her colleagues are systematically supporting students with disabilities and others who are struggling in one or more academic or behavioral domains. After months of online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic, they now have a hybrid model in which students are on staggered schedules, coming to school two days a week. While some families have been able to adjust, many are experiencing a great deal of stress. More students than ever are slipping behind, acting out, and withdrawing. The whole sixth-grade instructional team has been searching for more effective practices to foster academic, social, and emotional development.
Jacqueline's sixth-grade general education colleagues have started to teach using modeling with think-alouds and strategies like summarizing text. They are also using specific scaffolds, including graphic organizers, to better accommodate students' learning needs. When working with students in small groups, Jacqueline reteaches strategies, models foundational skills necessary for successful participation in the general education curriculum, and helps her students learn to use accommodations that will support learning in both settings (such as text-to-speech software so that students who are still developing reading skills have access to grade-level content). The changes Jacqueline and her colleagues are making seem to be working. Almost all the students with disabilities and the students who have been struggling during the pandemic are securing better grades and seem more motivated to participate in instruction. Many are even beginning to show their peers how to use strategies they learned in Jacqueline's small groups.
Jacqueline and her general education colleagues have always worked hard and been dedicated to their students, but in the past their instructional strategies were not well coordinated. As they started working together more closely to adopt the inclusive model, they also dug into research on how to accelerate learning. They found that agreeing on some foundational ideas-like collaborating so that core and supplemental instruction are tightly connected and being more specific about students' learning goals and the scaffolds the team would use to meet them-made a big difference in their team's day-to-day work and their students' development.

Jacqueline's experience is in keeping with what research has established: students with disabilities can achieve content-area standards and meet social and emotional milestones when they are consistently provided the instructional practices and accommodations that best support their learning. Decades of research have defined effective instructional practices that general and special education teachers can use to help students with disabilities, and students without disabilities who need additional supports, achieve better academic and social-emotional outcomes. ¹ These well-researched, trustworthy instructional practices are freely available through national centers like the IRIS Center and the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center, and in publications like Practice Guides published through the Institute of Education Sciences.

The challenge for teachers, however, is translating the many research-based instructional practices that exist into daily classroom instruction. Classrooms are complex environments, and teachers must attend to many demands. Time to study, try out, and reflect on new practices is in short supply. And time to do so collaboratively as an instructional team is all too rare. To address this problem, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and CEEDAR convened scholars, researchers, practitioners, teacher preparation faculty, and advocates to carefully review the literature and identify high-leverage practices that improve instruction across different content domains and grade levels for students with disabilities and for other students with learning differences. These practices, when used over time, are designed to support and enhance teachers' implementation of content-specific, research-based practices in such areas as reading, writing, mathematics, and social-emotional learning. (To learn more about these practices and the professional learning system that states, teacher preparation programs, and school districts ought to provide for general and special education teachers, see the companion article, "Systemic Support for Special Education: Making It a More Integral Part of General Teacher Preparation.")

What Are High-Leverage Practices?

High-leverage practices (HLPs) are instructional approaches educators in K-12 can use to teach different types of learners and content. ² The working group convened by CEC and CEEDAR identified 22 such practices after spending 18 months engaged in the following process: discussing research on effective instruction, distilling that research into a manageable set of practices, incorporating feedback from several focus groups, presenting practices to the CEC representative assembly, and finalizing the HLPs with the CEC executive board. The group deemed the selected practices "high leverage" because they are foundational to effective instruction, they help with managing and intervening in students' behavior, and they support successful implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (the legislation guaranteeing that students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate education with their nondisabled peers to the extent that is possible ³). The 22 practices are organized into four essential aspects of teachers' work: collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral, and instruction. (For the complete list of practices, see the box on the top right.)

In this article, we describe two HLPs that are foundational for delivering effective instruction: (1) use explicit instruction, and (2) provide high-quality feedback. Research shows that teachers can use these two practices in general and special education classrooms to improve student outcomes. In addition, they are a great starting place for implementing other HLPs. In describing these two HLPs, we provide examples of how teachers might use them. We also provide a list of resources teachers can use to support their implementation (see the lower box on the right).

Explicit Instruction

Explicit instruction (HLP 16) is one of the most well-researched HLPs for teaching students with disabilities in grades K-12. When teachers provide explicit instruction, they make clear for students how to engage in a particular skill, how to be strategic when they approach a task (such as solving a mathematics problem or summarizing a paragraph), or how to define a concept using examples and nonexamples. Explicit instruction has been shown repeatedly to promote skill learning in many domains, problem-solving approaches in mathematics, and strategic thinking in disciplinary literacy instruction. ⁴

Most educators agree that explicit instruction includes the following components:⁵

Break down (or segment) the learning task.

Set clear, measurable, and feasible lesson objectives.

Provide numerous opportunities for students to respond to prompts of varying difficulty, and deliver immediate feedback.

Model by demonstrating and thinking aloud.

Provide guided and engaging practice.

Promote student independence.

In the following sections, we describe each component of explicit instruction and provide examples to support implementation. We suggest that teachers spend extra time learning how to engage in the explicit instruction component of modeling, as researchers have found that many teachers find modeling difficult and could benefit from additional professional development. ⁶

Break down (or segment) the learning task. During planning, teachers break down a learning task by analyzing the concept, strategy, or skill and listing key steps needed to teach it. For concepts, they think carefully about an appropriate definition and select examples and nonexamples that will elucidate the critical features or dimensions of the concept when teaching.

Here's an example from Jacqueline and one of the general education teachers, Tanisha; they want to use a graphic organizer to help students write persuasive essays. During a joint planning session, they list steps students need to learn in order to use a graphic organizer to map out ideas before writing. Jacqueline and Tanisha (1) decide how they will explain the graphic organizer's purpose; (2) set a measurable learning objective for each lesson; (3) script what they will say while thinking aloud-including the specific topic, examples, and nonexamples-when they model how to map out ideas with a graphic organizer; and (4) choose guided practice and independent practice activities to help students learn to use the graphic organizer. Jacqueline and Tanisha also consider scaffolds, such as speech-to-text software, that some of their students with disabilities may need to record their ideas.

Set clear, measurable, and feasible lesson objectives. This aspect of explicit instruction has been widely adopted. Many teachers begin every lesson by presenting an objective. The most effective approach is to provide a specific and measurable objective that can be accomplished in the time allocated for the lesson; they display the objective (e.g., on a dry-erase board), read it to the students, and discuss its importance. They also conclude each lesson by reviewing those aspects of the objective that were accomplished.

When introducing the graphic organizer for persuasive writing, Jacqueline and Tanisha explain to students that they will learn how to use a graphic organizer to develop a persuasive essay. They display and discuss the lesson objective: "Students will correctly explain to a partner the purpose of writing to persuade as well as how a graphic organizer can be used to organize key ideas and plan before we write." After introducing and discussing real-world examples of the genre and the purpose of persuasive writing, they explain each part of the graphic organizer, along with its function. Tanisha and Jacqueline provide several writing samples that include a graphic organizer and several others that do not. They then ask students to "explain to a partner the purpose of writing to persuade as well as how this particular graphic organizer will be used to organize ideas and plan before we write." To see if their learning objective has been met or if additional teaching is needed, Tanisha and Jacqueline close the lesson by assigning student pairs to report back on what they discussed.

Provide numerous opportunities for students to respond to prompts of varying difficulty, and deliver immediate feedback. A key element of explicit instruction is to provide students with numerous opportunities to respond to prompts. This both engages students in the learning process and enables teachers to assess understanding and learning. Teachers should be deliberate in terms of crafting opportunities to respond so they reflect the spectrum of difficulty (e.g., rote or deep/probing questions) and modalities (e.g., responses that are choral, gestural, individual, or written). Jacqueline and Tanisha use planning time to make decisions about what types of opportunities to respond each lesson will feature, and which individual students Jacqueline will focus on to demonstrate their learning. Wanting to ensure that Tanisha calls on many different students while she facilitates a whole-group discussion of which writing samples are or are not examples of persuasive essays, they decide she will use a system that helps keep students engaged: drawing popsicle sticks with students' names on them from a cup. Jacqueline and Tanisha also plan how they will provide students with immediate and specific feedback (the second high-leverage practice we discuss in this article). Feedback reinforces students' efforts and prevents them from unintentionally learning incorrect information.

Model by demonstrating and thinking aloud. Modeling includes the following steps: (1) demonstrating, (2) thinking aloud while demonstrating, and sometimes (3) presenting examples and nonexamples to reinforce learning. Although some educators assume that modeling is more applicable to elementary school, modeling is also relevant in grades 6-12, as well as in college and the workplace.* For instance, a 10th-grade history teacher can use modeling with a think-aloud to demonstrate some strategies for detecting bias in documents from a website. Steps may include demonstrating how to navigate to and within a website, describing the criteria he uses to evaluate a document for bias (such as looking for funding sources, for representation of multiple perspectives, or for acknowledgements of limitations of the work), and thinking aloud while he applies that criteria to evaluate the credibility of different documents (e.g., news articles, speeches, or policy papers). Time spent in the modeling phase is determined by skill complexity (e.g., modeling a cursive letter for third-graders versus a multistep algorithm for students in precalculus).

Jacqueline and Tanisha model with a think-aloud to show students how to use their notes from the graphic organizer to compose sentences for their persuasive essays. Jacqueline begins the model by showing students how to take two words from her graphic organizer, "vegan options," to write an introductory sentence. Jacqueline states, "My notes are brief, but contain good ideas. My notes say 'vegan options' for the introduction to my paragraph. Hmm, how will I turn this into a great sentence? Well, what I believe is that there should be at least one vegan option each day. I'll write, 'I believe the time has come for students to have a daily vegan option for lunch.' I like my sentence because it conveys to readers where I stand!" To demonstrate, Jacqueline writes the sentence on the board as she talks through the process.

Provide guided and engaging practice. In this component of explicit instruction, teachers plan highly interactive practice activities to build students' proficiency. Teachers ask students multiple questions to assess understanding or provide multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they are learning by showing their work. Teachers then provide quality feedback on students' responses.

Tanisha and Jacqueline realize that many students will require considerable support to independently write a persuasive essay. Along with breaking down lessons for each step-use a graphic organizer to plan ideas, convert notes into an essay, and revise and publish their essays-they also conduct guided practice for each step. In one guided practice session, Jacqueline, Tanisha, and their students generate ideas and notes for the graphic organizer based on the prompt: "Should the voting age be lowered to 17?" Through discussion, the class decides that 17 years old is appropriate. They then brainstorm reasons to support their position. To give students more opportunities to respond, Tanisha and Jacqueline divide the students into two groups, with each teacher facilitating one group. (Once the pandemic is over and it is safe for students to sit close to each other, they plan to pair students for "turn and talk" brainstorming.) In Tanisha's group, two students argue that 17-year-olds are responsible enough to vote because they had obtained drivers' licenses at age 16, and doing so demonstrated responsibility. As the students talk, Tanisha provides suggestions to help limit how many words they use during note taking. The students then choose the following words for their notes, "license shows responsibility."

To support three students whose graphic organizers are only partially completed, Jacqueline breaks a few of the group's ideas into more specific questions to improve their understanding of and participation in the task. For example, one student says her older brother, who is 17, has a job and that means he is responsible enough to vote; she then argues for being able to vote as soon as you get a job or turn 18, whichever comes first. To engage the three students in considering that assertion, Jacqueline asks a series of brief questions (starting with "Does having a job mean you are responsible?") and helps the students write their notes after each question. Once the class completes the graphic organizers, Jacqueline and Tanisha bring the whole class back together and provide feedback on ideas they generated. In their next planning period, they agree to create additional modeling and guided practice activities to help students learn how to generate text using ideas in their graphic organizers.

Promote student independence. Teachers gradually remove support during the guided practice phase and plan continued practice opportunities for students to increase their proficiency and their ability to apply what they have learned in new situations. ⁷ Independent practice activities vary in length and format (e.g., independent practice with solving mathematics word problems versus with writing chemistry lab reports), and include immediate and corrective feedback, a return to modeling as necessary, or additional examples and nonexamples if a review is warranted.

Tanisha and Jacqueline allot 30-minute periods spread over several days for independent practice. Students choose a topic to plan and compose a persuasive response. Topics include (1) whether the local government should install solar panels on government buildings, (2) whether the local library should add a computer lab or an art studio, and (3) which historical figure should be honored with a statue at a local park. Jacqueline conferences with students based on their needs. For instance, one student watches Jacqueline model and share examples of using transition words like furthermore, another reason, and besides when introducing a new idea. Jacqueline teaches another student to improve his writing by using the thesaurus on his laptop. Noting that he used the word obviously twice in one paragraph, Jacqueline models using the thesaurus to choose a new word. He then practices using the thesaurus independently.

Importantly, Jacqueline and Tanisha recognize that some students benefit from ongoing review as the school year advances, including repeated modeling of the steps in writing persuasive essays and other instructional scaffolds. After several months, the process of using explicit instruction to specify how to use a graphic organizer for writing a persuasive essay resulted in increased performance and greater confidence among the students, including those with disabilities. When the students with disabilities used the graphic organizer combined with speech-to-text software to support their spelling and handwriting issues, their writing improved substantially.

Feedback

Feedback (HLP 8, under social/emotional/behavioral, and HLP 22, under instruction) is a powerful research-based practice teachers can use to improve students' learning and development-from understanding concepts to mastering skills to enhancing social interactions. ⁸ Feedback is a key feature of explicit instruction that occurs after a teacher has provided an opportunity to practice a concept, skill, or strategy that the teacher has modeled and explained. When used effectively, feedback can increase student motivation and effort toward a learning task and improve performance.

To be effective, teachers' feedback must be specific. Specific feedback incorporates these qualities:⁹

Goal directed

Constructive

Immediate or timely

Positive and respectful

Goal directed. Goal-directed feedback focuses on the academic or behavioral target students are working toward. The learning target should be important for student growth, based on assessment of student performance, explained to the student clearly, and, when possible, developed collaboratively with the student.

Two of Jacqueline's students have not yet been able to write a cohesive essay. To support them, she and the students are working toward writing strong, well-organized paragraphs that include a topic sentence and three to four supporting details. When providing feedback to one of her students, Sam, she notes he has developed a strong topic sentence because it introduces what the paragraph will be about, and he has two details that support it. Jacqueline also points out that the remaining two sentences contain details that are not related to the topic sentence and helps Sam generate two related details that he can write about. In addition to focusing on Sam's writing, Jacqueline tells him that he did a good job of working independently, a skill she has been trying to promote. Being more specific, Jacqueline tells Sam that she appreciates that he first asked his peers for ideas and also looked up information on the computer before asking her for help. She emphasizes that it will be important for Sam to continue to seek help on his own to continue growing as an independent learner.

Constructive. Constructive feedback helps students understand specific aspects of performance that are effective and specific aspects that need to be improved. In Jacqueline's work with Sam, she helps him understand what he has done to meet his learning and behavior targets-such as writing the topic sentence, adding two related details, and improving his work through independent strategies. Then, Jacqueline specifies what he needs to do to improve (replacing the unrelated details in his paragraph). Building on the initiative Sam took by trying to look up information on the computer, Jacqueline later follows up to help Sam learn more about online research. Such support and clarity usually motivate all students, especially those who have been struggling to learn.

Immediate or timely. Immediate feedback is ideal in supporting student learning, whether instruction is focused on academic content or behavior. For example, while Jacqueline is teaching a small group of students to capitalize proper nouns in their essays, she draws attention immediately to the students' errors. Jacqueline offers this real-time feedback in a helpful manner, with an encouraging tone, such as pointing to a lowercased name in a student's paragraph and asking what is missing. The same is true for improving behavior. Quickly pointing out that a student engaged in an appropriate behavior is a positive way to increase prosocial interactions. For instance, right after Marcel helped Sam with his writing, Jacqueline tells him that she liked how helpful he was being-and she notices over the next week that Marcel is more frequently helping other students in the class.

Immediate feedback is not always possible, especially in general education classrooms where teachers are working with a large group of students on tasks such as extended writing or applying a summary strategy while reading with their peers. In these instances, teachers will want to provide feedback as soon as possible.

For the general education students' persuasive essays, Tanisha chooses to provide written feedback on their long-term learning goals: organization, use of details, capitalization, and appropriate punctuation. Tanisha also provides written feedback when her students are honing their ability to summarize. Once her students are ready for independent practice, Tanisha has them underline the topic sentence and then highlight ideas that supported it before writing a 10- to 15-word summary. That approach gives Tanisha insights into the students' thinking, allowing her to provide written feedback on whether they were able to identify the topic sentence and related ideas before they write their summaries. It also helps Tanisha identify what additional instruction the students need (such as a repeated modeling lesson or additional background knowledge and vocabulary).

Positive and respectful. Positive and respectful feedback helps students feel that their efforts are worthwhile and appreciated by the teacher. Teachers should acknowledge students' efforts as well as their correct answers and prosocial behaviors. For instance, Jacqueline often tells students she notices they are working well with their peers to read a passage; she appreciates the way they are taking turns and praising each other for reading carefully. Likewise, when students are decoding multisyllabic words but need additional help, Jacqueline is careful to focus on their efforts. She often makes remarks like, "Oh, that was an interesting way to sound out the word, let me show you what I would do."

To provide constructive feedback, it is most effective to focus only on what students did well and what they need to do to improve-and to avoid criticizing the quality of their efforts. For instance, when a student, Zara, gets stuck solving a word problem, Jacqueline tells her that she did a fine job of reading the mathematics problem aloud and then paraphrasing the question; Jacqueline then reminds Zara that she would find it easier to solve the problem if she drew a picture representing it, as Jacqueline taught the class to do earlier that week. Seeing that Zara looks confused, Jacqueline remodels how to represent the problem in a picture.

These high-leverage practices provide an excellent road map for K-12 educators to consider when designing and implementing instruction for students with disabilities and others who need additional supports. Although all HLPs are important for teachers' tool belts, use of explicit instruction and feedback stand out as must-have practices to produce strong outcomes for the broadest possible range of students-including large numbers of students who have fallen behind as a result of the pandemic. As noted above, educators can use explicit instruction and feedback across the day to teach just about any content, and then give students positive, timely information about the extent to which they are meeting expectations. But explicit instruction and feedback are not standalone practices.

To implement explicit instruction, teachers must also be able to establish consistent, organized, and respectful learning environments (HLP 7); otherwise, they will be unable to accomplish any instruction. They also must be able to identify and prioritize long- and short-term learning goals (HLP 11), if they are to focus their explicit instruction, and be able to promote active student engagement (HLP 18), if they are to create highly interactive instruction that helps students learn. Because all 22 HLPs reinforce each other but cannot be learned simultaneously, we recommend that educators looking for a logical entry point to adopt the HLPs begin with explicit instruction and feedback. These key practices serve as a strong foundation for other HLPs and are essential elements of many content-focused, research-based practices, such as teaching decoding in a systematic manner and encouraging positive behaviors.
Mary T. Brownell is a distinguished professor of special education at the University of Florida and director of the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center. Stephen Ciullo is an associate professor of special education at Texas State University. Michael J. Kennedy is an associate professor of education in the Curry School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia and head of the STORMED (Supporting Teachers through cOaching, obseRvations, and Multimedia to Educate students with Disabilities) Lab. The content of this manuscript was produced under US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Award No. H325A170003. David Guardino serves as the project officer. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the US Department of Education. No official endorsement by the US Department of Education is intended or should be inferred.
*For more on the importance of modeling in schooling, see "'Cognitive Apprenticeship' Revisited" in the Fall 2020 issue of American Educator. ( return to article)

Endnotes

1. R. Gersten et al., Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools, NCEE 2009-4060 (Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, 2009). See also S. Graham et al., "Reading for Writing: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Reading Interventions on Writing," Review of Educational Research 88 (2018): 243-284.
2. J. McLeskey et al., High-Leverage Practices in Special Education (Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children and CEEDAR Center, January 2017).
3. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).
4. A. L. Archer and C. A. Hughes, Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching (New York: Guilford Press, 2010); and S. De La Paz et al., "A Historical Writing Apprenticeship for Adolescents: Integrating Disciplinary Learning with Cognitive Strategies," Reading Research Quarterly 52, no. 1 (2017): 31-52.
5. Archer and Hughes, Explicit Instruction; and C. A. Hughes et al., "Explicit Instruction: Historical and Contemporary Contexts," Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 32, no. 3 (2017): 140-148.
6. D. L. Coker Jr. et al., "Writing Instruction in First Grade: An Observational Study," Reading and Writing 29, no. 5 (2016): 793-832.
7. Hughes et al., "Explicit Instruction."
8. J. Hattie and H. Timperley, "The Power of Feedback," Review of Educational Research 77 (2007): 81-112.
9. M. Kennedy et al., "High-Leverage Practices #8 & #22: Provide Positive and Constructive Feedback to Guide Students' Learning and Behavior," 2018, highleveragepractices.org/701-2-3; and McLeskey et al., High-Leverage Practices.

[illustrated by Rachel Sender]

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J acqueline is a sixth-grade special education teacher whose school district recently decided to implement an inclusive approach to teaching and learning. Now special and general educators collaborate to provide a stronger system of instructional supports based on their analysis of students' data.

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Structured Choice fosters learner independence within teacher assignments. Structured choice benefits both teachers and students by building a culture where learners are routinely responsible for their own learning. Structured choice provides teachers with a tool for managing differentiated instruction because supports and extensions are visible. Students benefit from greater autonomy and motivation achieved through decision making and self-monitoring of learning progress. (Danielson 3a, 3c, 3e)
Download a booklet of all examples displayed below. Download a step by step guide to making a structured choce assignment for a project Click on the images below for a pdf version of each example or on the highlighted link for a Word document.

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Structured Choice fosters learner independence within teacher assignments. Structured choice benefits both teachers and students by building a culture where learners are routinely responsible for their own learning. Structured choice provides teachers with a tool for managing differentiated instruction because supports and extensions are visible.