1. Co-Teaching in High School
Enhancing Achievement for Students with Disabilities
Intro by Supervisor

2. Essential Questions:
At the district level, the GHSGT scores went down for Students With Disabilities (SWD). What can we do to improve scores?
What are some critical components that we can implement in the
co-taught setting?

3. Georgia High School Graduation Test District Results for SWD
2009 to 2010
ELA: from 76% to 71%
Math: from 84% to 73%
Science: from 71% to 71%
Social Studies: from 71% to 57%
Every school contributes to the rating– even if your overall status is “meets AYP”

4. Creating a committee to study the issues - Guiding statement:
Involving students with disabilities in engaging instruction with the necessary services and supports within the general education setting promotes higher levels of achievement.
A committee was formed to study the issues and develop a plan,

5. What needs to be done?
How can the co-teaching model maximize instruction to improve student achievement?
The Special Educator’s role needs to be defined and strengthened in the co-taught setting
What are some critical components that I can do as a Special Ed.
Co-Teacher to improve my students’ achievement?
What are some “Non-negotiables”?

6. Based upon extensive research, Marzano has identified 3 critical elements for dramatic school improvement:
Instruction
Assessment
Vocabulary
We agree! Our plan is to build these critical elements into our co-teaching practices!

7. 3 Critical Elements for Co-Teaching
Vocabulary – building background knowledge
Attaining Concepts – enhancing the processing of information
Assessment / Demonstrating Learning – using assessments to plan for instruction
Our critical elements correspond to Marzano’s research. We also chose vocabulary since SWD often lack the essential background vocabulary that is needed as a new unit of study is started and then to acquire it before the end of unit assessment. For instruction, we chose “Attaining Concepts” representing instruction that helps students to process new information – especially the most critical information to be successful in each unit of study. For Assessment, we wanted to emphasize the student’s ability to demonstrate what they have learned. We provide options to help students demonstrate what they have learned as well as strategies to provide feedback and commentary.

8. CO-TEACHING IN HIGH SCHOOL: What should it look like in the classroom?
Learning the Content: Specialized Instruction
Special Education Co-Teachers will provide specialized instruction in the areas of vocabulary, attaining concepts and assessment :
Preparation:
Know your students – focused IEP/Individual Learning Plans
Co-planning – lesson plans address specialized instruction
Co-Teachers establish roles and responsibilities
Vocabulary: Building background word knowledge
-Pre-assessment
-Previewing
-Marzano’s Six Step Process
-Frayer Model
-Compare/Contrast Chart
Supports:
Job embedded professional learning for co-teachers
Coaching, consultation, mentoring
Data collection and analysis
Schedule that supports co-planning
Overview for leadership
Attaining Concepts: Enhance processing of information
- Purposeful grouping of students
-Think-Alouds
-Graffiti Strategy
-Placemat Strategy
-Word Questioning
For each critical element, we have included 5 strategies. Step by step information on how to implement each strategy will be provided in files that will be posted on your school share drive and in Blackboard (we will provide more information on how to access in Blackboard soon.) Please take a moment to look at the three categories – vocabulary, attaining concepts, and assessment. We will go over each of these in more detail in a few minutes.
Now let’s look at the right hand column. Expectations still include learning about your SWD during the first month of school (ILP, IEP, special ed. Records), bringing that knowledge to the co-planning situation, and sitting down with your co-teacher to establish roles & responsibilities, share ILPs, and plan for instruction using this template.
Review Supports (mention Sups, EPS, SI Consultants), Review tools, teachers should review the files on the share drive.
Assessment / Demonstrating Learning:
Using assessments to plan for instruction
-Check for Understanding
-Formatting Assessments
-Commentary & Feedback
-Common Formative Assessments
-Performance Tasks
Tools:
Lesson planning form/checklist
Observation form
Co-Teaching resources

9. Building background word knowledge
Vocabulary:
Building background word knowledge
Why teach Academic Vocabulary?
According to Marzano (2005) the strongest action a teacher can take to ensure that students have the academic background knowledge to understand the content they will encounter is providing them with direct instruction in these terms.
When students understand these terms, it is easier for them to understand the information they will read and hear in class.
We will now walk you through the three critical elements: The first is vocabulary.

10. Strategies That Most Impact Achievement
Rank
Strategy
Percentile
Gain 1
Extending
Thinking Skills
(compare/contrast; cause/effect; classifying; analogies/metaphors 45 2
Summarizing 34 3
Vocabulary In Context 33 4
Advance
Organizers 28 5
Non-Verbal
Representations 25
33% gain is huge! Some of the activities to build vocabulary involve compare/contrast, classifying, etc.! Even more to gain!
(US Department of Education: 2002)

11. “If students experience words before they read them in context, they have a greater chance of learning the words and understanding them in context…” Robert Marzano (2001)
Previewing
How do students acquire new vocabulary?
Students learn new words in stages
Exposure
Recognition
Deep meaning
Beck & McKeown, 1991
80 – 90% of what is tested
on State Tests that
measure student
achievement of State
Standards is based on…
VOCABULARY AND CONCEPTS
…of the State Standards
Kendall & Marzano, 1999
Make a connection to previewing with the index card quote, a connection to student achievement with the state testing quote, and multiple opportunities to work with the new vocab for the yellow sticky quote

12. Pre-assess vocabulary
Vocabulary Strategies for High School
Building background word knowledge
Strategy
Purpose
Process
Template
Pre-assess vocabulary
Pre-assessment:
To find out what students already know about the vocabulary in the new unit before it is taught
To plan for instruction that addresses varying levels of knowledge
To form flexible groups
One to two weeks before a new unit is introduced, students are pre-assessed to determine readiness. Pre-assessments are quick tools that help teachers find out what students know.
Examples include:
Self-assessment of words (see Marzano’s template)
Short quiz or teacher made pretest
Graffiti Walk + teacher observation to identify students with limited knowledge
For the three critical elements, we provide handouts that provide step by step instructions according to purpose, process and a template when needed. For vocabulary, we start with a pre-assessment. Summarize main points for pre-assessment.

13. Preview vocabulary based on results
Vocabulary Strategies for High School
Building background word knowledge
Strategy
Purpose
Process
Template
Preview vocabulary based on results
Preview vocabulary:
To build background knowledge for SWD and others with limited knowledge of the new terms
Previewing refers to activities that start students thinking about the content they will encounter. Research indicates that previewing has a significant effect on learning – especially for students with limited background knowledge on a topic.
Based on assessment results, co-teachers plan for previewing. Previewing activities may be for the group of students having the lowest scores on the pre-assessment or could be done with the whole class if most scores are low. In some cases, a smaller group of high scoring students may receive extension activities while the rest of the class receives previewing (the Alternative Model works well here).
Previewing strategies can include:
-use of the Frayer Model
-Word Questioning Strategy
-Read-aloud passages, articles or trade books & provide graphic organizer
-websites with tutorials, demonstration or other video clips
Summarize main points for previewing vocabulary

14. Marzano’s Six Step Process for Learning Vocabulary
Vocabulary Strategies for High School
Building background word knowledge
Strategy
Process
Marzano’s Six Step Process for Learning Vocabulary
1.The teacher provides a description, explanation, or example of the new term
2.Students restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words using the Vocabulary Template.
3.Students construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term
4.Teacher engages students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their wordlist (vocabulary section of their notebook)
5.Opportunities for students to discuss the terms with one another are provided periodically
6.Opportunities are provided for students to use games that allow them to reinforce/maintain the terms
Marzano developed this process after reviewing years of research on vocabulary. Step by step procedures for each of the vocabulary strategies are on the file for your school share drive and Blackboard. Resources also include vocabulary games and other strategies.

15. Template for Marzano’s 6 Step Process
Template for Marzano’s 6 Step Process. Steps 4, 5 & 6 are not on the template and involve activities that are essential for maintenance and generalization of vocabulary words. It is helpful for students to have a “Vocabulary” section in their notebook to keep these templates.
*Steps 4, 5 & 6 are crucial to the maintenance and generalization of the vocabulary words.

17. Six Step Process for Building Academic Vocabulary
The focus of steps one through three is on introducing new terms and steps four through six offer ways to review the terms providing students with a deeper insights.
Before beginning step one, students should rate their knowledge of the vocabulary word.
To understand words at a deeper level, students require repeated and varied exposure to words, during which they revise their initial understandings.
Summarizing the Six Steps for building vocabulary and improving student achievement
Dr. Robert Marzano

18. FRAYER MODEL COMPARE/CONTRAST
Here are the remaining two vocabulary strategies. There are two versions of the Frayer Model. Step by step procedures are provided. The templates are also provided as word documents. A list of vocabulary games is also included.

19. Example of compare and contrast for biology.

20. 10 Questions to ask yourself:
How does a teacher determine which vocabulary words and phrases are essential? They should examine:
GPS
PICASSO
Reading material – textbooks, etc
High-frequency word lists
10 Questions to ask yourself:
Which words are most important to understanding the text?
How much prior knowledge will students have about this word or its related concept?
Is the concept significant and does it therefore require pre-teaching?
Is the word encountered frequently?
Does the word have multiple meanings?
Which words can be figured out from the context?
Are there words that could be grouped together to enhance understanding a concept?
What strategies could I employ to help students’ integrate the concept (and related words) into their lives?
How can I make repeated exposures to the word/concept productive and enjoyable?
How can I help students use the word/concept in meaningful ways in multiple contexts?
The strategies require that teachers carefully select vocabulary. Here are some suggestions for determining the most important vocabulary words. These suggestions are also listed in the files on your share drive/Blackboard.

21. Enhance processing of information
Attaining Concepts:
Enhance processing of information
Purposeful grouping of students
Placemat Strategy
Graffiti
Strategy
To enhance processing of new information, 5 strategies are listed.
Word Questioning
Think-Alouds

22. Strategy Purpose Process Template
Strategies for Attaining Concepts – High School
Specialized Instruction for SWD that involves enhancing the processing of new information while interacting with the content, teachers and students
Strategy
Purpose
Process
Template
Purposeful Grouping of Students
To enhance the processing of new information through interactions in groups which allow for multiple perspectives, engaging discussion, reduced student to teacher ratios, and opportunities to provide specialized instruction
When co-planning for a unit or lesson, plan for how students will acquire concepts and vocabulary, consider how you may group students to enhance learning and provide specialized instruction.
Consider student needs identified through the ILP and assessment of prior knowledge to develop grouping strategies.
Co-Teachers should be able to identify the purpose of grouping and how it will enhance learning for SWD and others. Here are some examples:
Cooperative Groups of 3 to 4
Paired Groups of 2
Stations
Alternative Groups
Parallel Teaching
Team Teaching
Double Dip
Summarize info. More resources for grouping students are included in the files.

23. Purpose
To model the process of comprehension and problem solving for students
To provide scaffolding
Think-Alouds
I was thinking…, but now I predict……
This is how I think when I solve this problem…..
Talk about steps – 1. use a reading passage or problem 2. Teacher verbalizes thinking “From the title and cover of the book, I predict….” 3. students can practice Think-Alouds with partners, 4. student practice independently 5. integrate with other lessons and demonstrate how, why and when to use Think-Alouds.
What I am seeing in my mind is…….
That is interesting because….

24. Graffiti Strategy Enhance processing of information for: -review
-activating prior knowledge
-a variety of content areas
Graffiti
Strategy
1. List one concept per piece of chart paper
2. Group students under a concept (# of students per group depends on # of concepts)
3. Students have 2 minutes to write everything about a concept
4. Students rotate to next concept, students have 2 minutes to read what others wrote and add to it
5. Continue moving groups until each group has rotated through each concept
6. Have groups move to their 1st concept and summarize to whole group

25. To deepen understanding, provide guided practice or extend learning on a concept
To provide students with an opportunity to share ideas and learn from each other in a cooperative small-group discussion
Placemat Strategy
Divide class in up to groups of 4
Use chart or other paper and provide a large piece for each group. Each group draws the placemat diagram. Provide tasks that involve vocabulary words, solving problems or topic concepts to the whole class
Each student shows his/her work for every concept, group consensus is listed in middle box
See files for the rest of the instructions

26. Example of a Placemat strategy from Math 2

27. To teach students how to analyze major concepts very deeply, going through all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Word Questioning

28. Example of Word Questioning – from World History.

29. Assessment / Demonstrating Learning: Using assessments to plan for instruction
Check for Understanding
Common Formative Assessments
Commentary and Feedback
Here are the 5 strategies for assessment.
Performance Tasks
Formatting Assessments

30. Check for Understanding
Checking for understanding is a systematic approach to formative assessment.
It involves ongoing assessments, reviews, and observations in a classroom.
Unless you check for understanding, it is difficult to know how students are progressing on standards.
Research indicates that checking for understanding corrects misperceptions and can also improve learning.
Summarize

31. To encourage students to monitor their own understanding
Purpose:
To check students’ level of understanding on information presented in a lesson or unit
To make adjustments to instruction if student does not understand key information
To encourage students to monitor their own understanding
The following are quick and easy strategies to check for understanding:
See Appendix for details and step by step instructions for implementation.
1. Minute Paper
2. World Connections
3. Draw It
4. Share One, Get One
5. Quality Questioning
These can easily be implemented in any classroom!

32. Formatting Assessments
What does it mean to format assessments/tests?
Teacher-Made tests can be created so that the format addresses diverse learners. An effective Teacher-Made test can reveal the following:
The student’s strengths and needs
The skills or concepts the learner needs to learn next
Misconceptions that require re-teaching or more background
How the student is processing information
Growth in learning through the use of varied formats
Accommodations in the IEP must be followed. Less formal formatting adaptations can be made in a flexible manner “as needed”.
This section provides strategies that co-teachers can use when developing teacher-made tests.

33. Here are some formatting ideas for
Co-Teachers to consider when developing tests:
1. Limit number of items per page (crowding or cluttering test may make it difficult for some students)
2. Different font size and spacing on page may help some students answer the same test items correctly
3. Consider the number of questions needed to show learning
4. Colored fonts may help students with reading and comprehension
5. Phrasing of directions and questions could be revised without lowering standards
6. Vocabulary definitions and cues may be provided when you are not assessing vocabulary (i.e., assessing reasoning, problem solving or other application skills)
7. Consider alternative ways for students to show what they have learned: oral exams, oral presentations, written papers, tasks, etc.
8. Use visual demonstrations for some test items
9. Go from concrete to abstract in each section of questions to help students build confidence
10.Use some take home tests to provide students with more time and relaxed atmosphere
11.Include visuals such as graphic organizers, charts, graphs, or pictures
12. Allow students to use an index card with key formulas, terms, or people/dates for history so that students are not always penalized for poor memory or spelling.
Just mention a few and remind them that these will be available to them on the file!

34. Commentary and Feedback
What is effective feedback?
Research indicates the following characteristics:
uses the language of the standards
descriptive feedback works best – not evaluative or judgmental
points out strengths
offers specific information to guide improvement & helps students to see the next step
occurs during learning, while there is still time to act on it
limits corrective information to focused targets
encourages students to see mistakes as leading to further learning
it does not do the thinking for the student
is given as often as is practical
Purpose:
To help students identify where they are now with their learning in respect to the standard
To identify steps for improvement
To prompt further learning

35. Feedback on success – Options: Identify what is done correctly
Describe a feature of quality present in the work
Point out effective use of strategy or process
Specific steps for improvement – Options:
Identify a correction
Make a specific suggestion or describe a feature of quality needing work
Point out a problem with strategy or process
Offer a reminder
Ask a question
Consider mode – is it better to use oral, written, or visual/demonstration?
3. Timing – Feedback occurs during learning and is given as often as possible – Considerations:
Feedback should be immediate for knowledge and facts
Can delay feedback slightly for more comprehensive review of
student thinking and processing
Build in time for students to act on the feedback
Summarize – 3 important things about feedback

36. Examples of Effective Feedback: Success:
“The table you drew really helped solve the problem.”
“You got all of the questions on parallel and perpendicular lines right.”
Specific to guiding improvement:
“You had some trouble with the differences between isosceles and scalene triangles. Reread page 102 and try these again.”
“Try putting your arguments into the graphic organizer for persuasive writing and look for holes
Two examples of templates that can be used:
Star – describe one thing that the student did well
Steps – give a couple specific steps for improvement
Feedback Ticket – That’s good…. Now this…….

37. Common Formative Assessments
Performance Tasks
Common formative assessments are created collaboratively by a team of teachers responsible for the same grade level or course with alignment to standards and pacing guide. They are usually given throughout the year to all students in a grade level.
Performance tasks involve the application of knowledge and skills rather than recall and result in tangible products or observable performances. They involve meaningful connections, encourage self-evaluation and revision, require judgment to score and are evaluated using predetermined criteria (rubrics).
If your school/content area has developed common formative assessments – these are great to use when co-planning for instruction and identifying needs for SWD.
When Performance Tasks are assigned, they also provide multiple ways for SWD to demonstrate their learning.

38. The 3 critical elements should be present in the co-taught classroom
Non-negotiables:
The 3 critical elements should be present in the co-taught classroom
Co-planning to use the elements is best!
The special ed. teacher can use the 3 elements in any class and should put in lesson plans
This is a framework to improve student achievement
Other strategies for vocabulary, attaining concepts or assessment can also be used
An observation form has been developed to provide feedback to teachers
Supervisors, Ed Prog Specialists, Spec Instruction Consultants are available for additional support and training
Open up discussion