Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN: © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. T CHAPTER FIVE ADAPTING INSTRUCTION

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 ACADEMIC PROBLEMS IN THE CLASSROOM Elementary teachers often describe students with academic problems as “achieving below grade level” in one or more subjects. Secondary teachers, however, take note of students who receive poor or failing grades in specific courses, such as English, biology, U.S. history, art, or woodworking.

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Academic Problems in the Classroom (cont’d) School learning involves the acquisition of both knowledge and skills. Problems can occur in any one of 3 stages of learning: Acquisition (initial learning) Maintenance (recall of previously learned material) Generalization (application or transfer of learned material to similar situations and problems)

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Academic Problems in the Classroom (cont’d) Because academic instruction is one of the major goals of U.S. education, academic problems are a concern to classroom teachers at all levels. However, as Montgomery (1978) points out, not all variations in student performance are learning problems. (See next slide.)

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Johnny reads with his book turned sideways, or kneels instead of sitting on his chair, or wears his jacket in class. Do we “fix” him or let him be? Before we can answer the question realistically, we must ask, “Is it a problem for Johnny – or for us?” Does it hamper Johnny’s learning, or do we see it as a problem because of our own perception with things being normal, with Johnny acting like everyone else? (Montogomery, p. 112)

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESS Students with disabilities and other types of special needs have the necessary skills to participate in many classroom activities. They may take part in all instructional aspects of the general education program, or they may be included only for selected subjects. (See next slide.)

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 The decision is made on 3 factors: Student’s skills in the subject area Amount of instructional support needed to ensure the student’s active participation Usefulness or functionality of the academic subject for the student

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Effective Instruction for Students with Disabilities and Other Special Needs According to Hardman, Drew, and Egan (2005): Individualization: A student-centered approach to instructional decision-making Intensive instruction: Frequent instructional experiences of significant duration The explicit teaching of academic, adaptive, and/or functional life skills

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Effective Instruction for Students with Disabilities and Other Special Needs (cont’d) Heward (2006) agreed, but added 3 other characteristics: Specialized instruction Research-based methods Instruction guided by student performance

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Differentiated Instruction 4 aspects of classroom instruction that teachers can differentiate: (Tomlinson, 2000) Content Process Products Learning environment

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Universal Design Universal design is “an approach to the design of all products and environments to be usable by everyone, to the greatest extent possible, regardless of age, ability, or situation.” (Center for Universal Design, 2004) An early example familiar to most is the curb cut.

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Universal Design (cont’d) When the principles of universal design are incorporated into the development of the curriculum and learning materials, the flexibility needed to accommodate diverse learners is built in.

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION Select appropriate learning tasks Break the learning task into teachable subcomponents Use systematic instructional procedures Demonstration Guided practice Independent practice

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Principles of Instruction (cont’d) Consider both speed and accuracy Maximize engaged time Give clear task directions Provide consequences for successful task performance Check for maintenance and generalization If change is needed, try the least intrusive intervention first

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 METHODS FOR GATHERING DATA ABOUT INSTRUCTION Determine the student’s current levels of performance Evaluate progress Analyze reasons for task failure

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Modify materials and activities Change teaching procedures Alter task requirements Select an alternate task

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 MAKING TEST ACCOMMODATIONS Federal law requires that IEP teams address how students with disabilities will participate in state-wide or district- wide measures of academic achievement. 3 options: Take same test as grade-level peers Same test, one or more changes or accommodations Alternate assessment procedure

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Strategies for Making Assessment Accommodations Types of accommodations: Directions/instructions Demonstrations Time limits Presentation mode Response mode Aids Prompts and cues Feedback Positive reinforcement Physical location

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 THINGS TO REMEMBER Students may experience academic problems during any of the three stages of learning acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. Effective instruction is individualized, and explicit. Differentiated instruction is a technique used in general education to individualize the learning process for all students within the classroom.

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 THINGS TO REMEMBER (cont’d) In systematic instruction, teachers select the learning task based on students’ needs, present the content and skills needed for task performance, and provide practice until tasks are mastered. Classroom assessment data provide information about current levels of functioning, rates of progress, and reasons for task failure. When students are not making adequate progress, teachers introduce the least intrusive instructional modification first.

Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms, 8e Lewis/Doorlag ISBN # © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 THINGS TO REMEMBER (cont’d) Adapt instruction by first changing materials and activities, then altering teaching procedures, and finally modifying task requirements. Use substitution of an alternate learning task, the most drastic instructional change, only as a last resort. Students with special needs may benefit not only from adaptations in instruction but also from accommodations in assessment procedures