Successful Learning Conference 2013 Making Adjustments for Students with Special Education Needs, Years 7-12 24 June, 2013
Dec 22, 2015
Successful Learning Conference 2013Making Adjustments for Students with
Special Education Needs, Years 7-12
24 June, 2013
Sources
Assessment Certification Examination (ACE)Board of Studies NSW
Assessment Resource CentreBoard of Studies NSW
Board of Studies NSWSpecial Education Needs
NSW SYLLABUSES for the Australian Curriculum
All students with special education needs should choose the most appropriate courses, and options within courses,
in keeping with their learning needs, strengths, goals and interests. (ACE Website 3004)
All students with special education needs participate fully in learning experiences and assessment activities provided by the Years 7–10 curriculum but may require adjustments to teaching and learning activities and/or assessment.
For a small percentage of students with special education needs, particularly those with an intellectual disability, it may be appropriate to select Life Skills outcomes and content in one or more Years 7–10 syllabuses. (ACE Website 3001)
Curriculum planning
• The decision-making process will identify the courses that the student with special education needs should study.
• Planning should take into consideration:– the student’s learning needs, strengths, goals and
interests– the adjustments and/or support required for the student
to access course work and demonstrate achievement of outcomes
– the transition needs of the student.(ACE Website 3005)
Collaborative curriculum planning
Disability Standards for Education, 2005
‘The education provider must take reasonable steps to ensure that the course or program is designed in such a way that the student is, or any student with a disability is, able to participate in the learning experiences (including the assessment and certification requirements) of the course or program … on the same basis as a student without a disability …
6.2 Standards for curriculum development and accreditation and delivery
Adjustments
Adjustments are measures or actions taken in relation to teaching, learning and assessment that enable a student with special education needs to access syllabus outcomes and content on the same basis as their peers.
The types of adjustments made will vary according to the needs of the individual student.
(NSW Syllabuses for the Australian Curriculum)
Assessment vs Reporting
• Assessment – measuring student achievement
• Reporting – communicating student achievement
Reporting
• Students in K–11 are reported using the A–E grade scale or equivalent:
Common Grade Scale for K–8
Course Performance Descriptors for Stage 5
Common Grade Scale for Preliminary Courses
ReportingSchools award students with a grade for each course completed in Stage 5. The grade should:• indicate the student’s overall achievement in relation to the course
performance descriptors• involve the teacher’s judgement on the basis of available assessment
information.
Students may require adjustments in order to demonstrate achievement in both informal and formal assessment experiences.
Students undertaking a course based on Life Skills outcomes and content are not allocated a grade in that course.
(ACE Website 4021)
Assessment
Providing adjustments for assessment should assist students to:
• access the task.
• demonstrate what they know and can do.
• adjustments to the assessment process (eg the use of a reader and/or scribe, provision of scaffolds, additional instructions / prompting)
• adjustments to the assessment activities (eg reduced number or different outcomes, rephrasing questions, simplified language)
• alternative formats for responses (eg oral responses to exam instead of written)
Assessment – applying adjustments
(NSW Syllabuses for the Australian Curriculum)
Mathematics sample assessment activity
Class interval Frequency
155–<160 3
160–<165 2
165–<170 9
170–<175 7
175–<180 10
180–<185 5
185–<190 5
190–<195 1
Height (cm)
Mathematics sample assessment activity
Title Headings Data values Frequency
Title is appropriate and describes the purpose of the table
All column headings are appropriate
All data values included and in ascending order
All frequencies are correct
Title may not fully describe the purpose of the table
Some column headings are appropriate
All data values included but in incorrect orderORSome data values missing
Some frequencies incorrect or missing
No title No column headings
No data values No frequencies
Marking guidelines
Sample Assessment TaskApplying Adjustments
1. Will the adjustments enable the student to demonstrate achievement of an outcome?
2. Can the criteria for assessing learning and the marking guidelines still be applied if adjustments are in place?
3. Can a grade be applied to the student’s overall performance in the course if adjustments to the assessment task are applied?
Sample adjustments
1. Provide a template or scaffold2. Support the student to establish
data values, eg‘What is the most number of songs a student has on their portable music player?’‘What can you count by to get up to that number?’ eg, 10s, 20s, 50s – each of these becomes a data value.3. Support the student to present the
data values, egprovide the data values on individual cards for the student to put into the correct order.4. Support the student to count the
frequencies, eginclude an additional column in the table for tallies
group the data collected into the correct data values for students to count.
1. Will the adjustments enable the student to demonstrate achievement of an outcome?
2. Can the criteria for assessing learning and the marking guidelines still be applied if adjustments are in place?
3. Can a grade be applied to the student’s overall performance in the course if adjustments to the assessment task are applied?
0–<20 20–<4010 15 12 10 8 5 20 32 36 20 25
Number of songs
Tally Number of people
0-<20 III 3
Mathematics sample assessment activity – marking guidelinesTitle Headings Data values Frequency
Title is appropriate and describes the purpose of the table
All column headings are appropriate
All data values included and in ascending order
All frequencies are correct
Title may not fully describe the purpose of the table
Some column headings are appropriate
All data values included but in incorrect orderORSome data values missing
Some frequencies incorrect or missing
No title No column headings
No data values No frequencies
Adjustments: Adjustments:Adjustments:Adjustments:
Mathematics sample assessment activity – marking guidelines
Achieved Partially achieved Achieved with support
TitleTitle appropriately describes the table
Column headingsHeadings are appropriate for each column
Data valuesAll data values are correctData values are listed in ascending order
FrequencyFrequency for each data value is correct
Assigning a grade
A
The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.
B
The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.
C
The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.
DThe student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.
EThe student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein
Marina LaingSenior Curriculum Officer, Special Education
Ph: (02) 9367 8148Fax: (02) 9367 [email protected]