What makes schools work for ALL learners Pat Folland Betty Hendrickson Illinois State Board of Education and Ruth Henning Project CHOICES.

What makes schools work for ALL learners

Pat Folland Betty Hendrickson

Illinois State Board of Education and

Ruth HenningProject CHOICES

What makes schoolswork for students?

• Instruction that is aligned with and provides access to the age/grade appropriate general education curriculum.

• Intervention techniques used regularly to assist all students in the general education environment.

• The same high expectations for all students.

• Appropriate modifications/accommodations/ supports in the classroom for all students.

• Tasks that are related to real world problems connected to purposes that students can explain.

What makes schools work for teachers?

• Specialized personnel supporting all students in the general education classroom with limited pull-out service.

• Shared responsibility/collaboration between general and special education staff, including administrative support for; differentiating instruction assessment IEPs

• Adequate training for staff including follow-up

Here’s the challenge

• A child with a disability should not be removed from education in an age-appropriate general education classroom solely because of needed modifications in the general curriculum.

• Illinois rated 60th of 60 states and territories in a ranking on education of students with disabilities in general education classrooms.

Improving our outcomes in Improving our outcomes in Illinois is about building Illinois is about building capacity for students with capacity for students with disabilities through disabilities through changing/unifying changing/unifying our systemsour systems

www.projectchoices.org

• Support for training and technical Support for training and technical assistance from the ISBE collaborates assistance from the ISBE collaborates within ISTACwithin ISTAC

• The District is the entity of focusThe District is the entity of focus

• Identified district level and building level Identified district level and building level coaches are supported to build capacity coaches are supported to build capacity within the district and schoolswithin the district and schools

What do we know about change?

• It happens… faster all the time

• Top down and bottom up can workTeachers are critical to the processAdministrative support is critical if

change is to sustain

• Efforts must be continuous It is a journey, not a destination….Change will not sustain, only

continuous learning will…

School Improvement occurred when:

• Teachers engaged in frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete talk about teaching practice

• Teachers and administrators frequently observed and provided feedback to each other, developing a “shared language” for teaching strategies and needs

• Teachers and administrators planned, designed, and evaluated teaching materials and practices together.

From: Norms of collegiality and experimentation: workplace conditions of school success (1982). American Educational Research journal

Initiative can come from different sources, but when it comes to implementation “power sharing” is crucial.

Leaders in successful schools support and stimulate initiative taking by others, set up steering committees, and delegate authority to the committees.

Louis and Miles (1990)

Leadership matters, it correlates positively with student achievement.

The average effect size/correlation betweenprincipal leadership behavior and

school achievement is.25

which means….

a one standard deviation improvement inprincipal leadership practices is associated with

a 10 percentile increase in average studentachievement.

Marzano& McNulty (2003) Balanced Leadership: What 30 Years of Research Tells Us About the Effect of Leadership on Student Achievement

http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/LeadershipOrganizationDevelopment/5031RR_BalancedLeadership.pdf

Classroom Instruction that works

Identifying similarities and differences

Summarizing and note taking

Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

Homework and practice

Nonlinguistic Representations

Cooperative Learning

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

Generating and Testing Hypotheses

Cues, Questions, and Advance OrganizersMarzano, R. (2004). Classroom instruction that works: Research based instructional strategies.

Baltimore: ASCD.

What does it look like in the classroom?

Planning Pyramid/ Differentiation/ Layered Curriculum

Most Important Concepts to Lesson/Unit

Next Most Important Info.

Incidental to Concepts

More complex, abstract, & detailed

Additional facts, extensions of base concepts, more complex concepts and vocabulary

Broad concepts, relevant applications, key vocabulary

What some students will learn/ Layer A (Critically analyze a real world issue)

What most students will learn/ Layer B (Demonstrate application of knowledge and skills)

What ALL studentsshould learn/ Layer C (Basic facts, skills, vocabulary)Adapted from: Schumm, J . S., Vaughn, S. & Harris J .,

“Pyramid Power for Collaborative Planning”

What does it look like in the classroom?

• Students with disabilities are using the same curriculum as their non-disabled peers.

• Students with disabilities are not “clustered” within the classroom – a class within a class.

• Students with disabilities receive supplemental instruction in a resource room not supplanting general education instruction.

• Students with disabilities receive the appropriate modifications/ accommodations/supports necessary to achieve.

What equitable access is not…

• Students with disabilities are all in one row.

• Students with disabilities are taught in the same classroom but in the back by a special education teacher using an alternate curriculum.

• Students with disabilities are “clustered” within the classroom – a class within a class.

• A student with an individual aide receives instruction primarily from the aide – seldom the teacher.

• Students with disabilities receive accommodations/ modifications/supports only in the special education room.

• Students are placed in a classroom based on their eligibility category.

What MakesWhat MakesSchools Work for Schools Work for

ALL LearnersALL Learners

FamilyFamilyInvolvementInvolvement

Effective Effective InstructionalInstructional

StrategiesStrategies

Teaming &Teaming &RelationshipRelationship

Building Building

Vision Vision AndAnd

AttitudeAttitude

AdministrativeAdministrativeSupportSupport

AccommodationsAccommodations& Support & Support SystemsSystems

Common Common Planning TimePlanning Time

ProfessionalProfessionalDevelopmentDevelopment

Defined Goals of the LRE Monitoring Process

• Systematic changes within each school that will result in consistent LRE practices which comply with federal and state LRE requirements

• Systemic changes will result in improved student outcomes

Methods of Collecting LRE Data

• Examine practices being undertaken in the schools and probe the knowledge of the persons responsible for putting these practices into effect.

• Quantitative and Qualitative measures

OBSERVE

INTERVIEW

REVIEW

Vision & Attitude Begin with the end in mind – What do you want

your school to look like?

Celebrate all types of diversity

There's no SUCCESS without U!!!!

Hmmm…What do I want my school to look

like???

Professional Development

Professional Development should support your school vision

Whole building trainingand follow-through

Needs Assessments

Administrative observations

and walk-through

Administrative Support

Principal philosophy and action must support LRE

Principal understanding and follow-through on implementation

Master schedule supports: common planning time instruction in high school

Staff assignments support co-teaching models

Paraprofessional assignments support increased LRE

Effective Instructional Strategies

Functional Analysis/BIPs are in place

Appropriate interventions are utilized

Scientifically based instruction

Materials are age appropriate

Goals are aligned withthe appropriate ILS

Accommodations and Support Systems

Accommodations and modifications are SUFFICIENT to access the general education curriculum

Accommodations and modifications are age appropriate

Access to all program options (curricular and extracurricular) with necessary supports

Access to assistive technology

Teaming and Relationship Building

Attitudinal changes have been addressed

General and special education teachers plan curriculum in collaborative teams

School teams include special education staff

Co-Teaching

Common Planning Time

Regularly scheduled time

Maintain meeting minutes

Addresses special education involvement for EACH grade level serviced

Family Involvement

Equal opportunity for participation

Communication occurs regularly

Procedural Safeguards