Presentation (Transcript) Curricular Design

Transcript for Lesson 5 Presentation: Differentiation for Diverse Students

	Activities-Oriented Instruction Science is a content area that contains multiple opportunities for students to experiment, conjecture, and validate topics they are studying. Successful students need to acquire and be able to use the new vocabulary, and they need to know how to think like a scientist in order to implement experiments, test hypotheses, and use the scientific process. Some teachers consider the hands-on nature of science an excellent subject in which students who have diverse learning needs can succeed. Mastropieri, Scruggs, and Magnusen (1999) posit that activities-oriented science instruction benefits learners with mild disabilities for several reasons: Use of concrete experiences promote higher levels of understanding. Minimized reliance on reading the text enables some students to comprehend the information more readily. More motivation and active learning experiences can occur. However, it is not enough to provide the hands-on experiences; students must be well prepared to participate in both the academic and social activities involved in group work and scientific exploration. Palincsar, Magnusson, Collins, and Cutter (2001) found that teacher preparation for discovery learning in science that includes three types of practices resulted in improved and more independent learning for all students in a fourth-grade class, including students with learning disabilities and emotional disturbance. First, the teachers designed the learning environment so that when small group work occurred, the students were clear about their roles, ensured each student had a turn, and shared resources so that each student could participate. The teachers found that monitoring the group work was essential to provide feedback, redirection, and clarify content. Second, when students had opportunities within their small groups, with a partner or with the teacher, to dialogue about their thinking and learning, they were more likely to clarify their thinking and share their thoughts openly during large-group discussions. The procedure of mini-conferences between students, or between students and the teacher, was helpful for some students and essential for others. Finally, students’ notetaking and studying/learning skills improved when a structure for vocabulary development was initiated and a process for responding to experimental questions and activities were made explicit. Palincsar et al found that posttest scores for students whose teachers focused on using these three types of instruction improved for all students in the class, not just students with mild disabilities. Moreover, the integrity of the content matter was maintained, all students learned more content, and the change in how the teachers represented content, engaged students, and facilitated students’ expression of what they were learning resulted in improved grades for all students. The results from this study also point to a parsimonious principle: A teacher does not need to use all types of effective instruction in order to effect desirable gains with students; concentrating on a critical few techniques may be enough for teachers’ efforts to pay off with all students. Differentiated techniques are a must in today’s classrooms if teachers are going to be responsive to diverse learning needs. Tomlinson (1995) describes nine techniques that can be used for differentiated instruction for all students. Teachers who use a few of these techniques (presuming that they will select among techniques and not use all of them all of the time) will find that accommodating or adapting for students with mild disabilities is not an issue. In reality, a teacher who is using some of the following techniques is already providing individualized and challenging instruction in the classroom. Note also that individualized does not mean one-to-one instruction, which is impossible for a general education teacher to do all the time. Individualized instruction means that students are beginning at, learning from, and progressing to appropriately challenging and relevant information. In fact, Vaughn, Schumm, Niarhos, and Daugherty (1993) found that many middle and high school students prefer not to receive any changes in the material and content other than what other peers are receiving. To address this concern, it may be perceived as more natural for a student with mild disabilities to receive accommodations or adaptations if differentiated techniques are regularly used in the classroom. The differentiation techniques presented throughout this module can enable teachers to plan and deliver accommodations and adaptations for all students. The nine differentiation techniques Tomlinson describes, along with an example that highlights how students with mild disabilities could benefit from them, are in Handout #1.
	Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning techniques have also been used by middle and high school teachers to promote student learning. For some students, the focus of specialized instruction (e.g., when working with the special educator or reading specialist in a separate setting) should be on improving their reading level. One type of cooperative learning is peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS), in which students with serious reading problems participate in literacy activities to improve their vocabulary and comprehension levels. In one PALS study (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Kazdan, 1999), high school students in reading and special education settings were involved as paired partners for a portion of the school period in which they switched roles as the tutor and student. Intensive focus for PALS sessions was on partners reading to each other with brief re-tellings and summarizing of the content (e.g., paraphrasing), and forecasting events within the reading selection (e.g., prediction). However, the authors caution that low and/or nonreaders at the secondary level will need more intensive reading instruction, perhaps as a separate period during the school day (e.g., specialized reading instruction delivered by a special educator), to address those learning needs. Indeed, even within the PALS study, finding ways to motivate high school students who perceived themselves as failures as readers was difficult, and although the program impacted elementary students’ reading fluency, similar results were not attained for high school students. Although this module’s focus is on methods that maximize the communication of the general education curriculum content to students who, for example, cannot read well, these methods are not replacements for students who require more intensive instruction in a critical area (e.g., reading, written language). Concurrent with general educators’ use of accommodations and adaptations for students with mild disabilities, some students will still need, and should be receiving, specialized instruction from special educators that is more intensive and focused on their areas of need. Collaborative strategic reading (CSR) is a method designed for teachers working with diverse learners, focusing on practice activities that enhance text comprehension and procedures that facilitate peer-mediated interventions (Bryant, Vaughn, Linan-Thompson, Ugel, Hamff, & Hougen, 2000; Vaughn, Klingner, & Bryant, 2001). CSR’s appeal to content teachers is enhanced when they realize that CSR can initially be taught in a whole-class format, and then small groups of students work together on the text assignments The focus is on four critical reading comprehension strategies that correspond directly to students’ proficiency with content material Improved reading performance for middle school students when CSR was used resulted in larger percentages of students passing their school system’s high-stakes assessment. The four reading strategies used in CSR are: Preview: activate prior knowledge and make predictions prior to reading. Click and clunk: monitor reading and enhance vocabulary development during reading. Get the gist: identify main ideas while reading. Wrap up: summarize key ideas following reading. Although the researchers found academic gains for most students in heterogeneous settings when CSR was used, they acknowledge that some students with mild disabilities also need more intensive reading instruction to enhance their content performance. Again, researchers are finding that more students with mild disabilities are responding well to general education instruction when strategies such as PALS and CSR are built into the instruction for all students, and that other students in general education classes also find these methods beneficial. However, some students with mild disabilities will still need specialized instruction from special educators in reading. (Refer to the Learning Strategies Curriculum at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning for more information on intensive and extensive instruction for paraphrasing, word identification, test-taking strategies, etc.) One accommodation that may be used in conjunction with CSR for learners who have difficulty reading the text independently is to use books on tape, technological devices or software that provide audio output (e.g., Kurzweil readers), or have a group member read the passages orally. Consequently, learners who are capable of previewing, self-monitoring, identifying the main ideas, and summarizing but are not capable of reading the text can still perform the outcome with accommodations in place for their low reading level.
	Mnemonic Techniques Students who are taught to use memory-enhancement strategies, like mnemonics, can improve their short and long-term memory, achieve higher grades on assignments where recall of information is required, and spend more of their time applying information to higher-level thinking tasks (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1998). Mnemonics are particularly useful for remembering new terms and definitions, lists of information, and the sequence of information. Some readers may recall a popular mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes: HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Readers with a musical background may recall they learned EGBDF (Every Good Boy Does Fine Always) and FACE for the notes on a music sheet. These are examples of mnemonics, and when teachers explicitly teach such techniques related to the content, they are conspicuously teaching a strategy. Consider that some learners’ memories already work well enough to grasp new terms, specific sequences, and long lists. Other learners’ memories benefit from being exposed to and learning how to use mnemonic techniques. Some typical learners may learn the mnemonic techniques and be able to use them independently rather quickly. However, some learners need more intensive exposure and practice before they are able to select and independently use the mnemonic technique that works for a particular set of information. Three types of mnemonics are described next with examples: keyword, pegword, and letter. Keyword mnemonics. Used to link unfamiliar terms to their definitions by finding a more familiar term within the unfamiliar term and imagining a picture of the familiar and new information. Example: Alveoli is the air sac in the lungs. Link eye to alveoli to a mental or visual image of an eye as an air sac in the lungs. Pegword mnemonics. Used to remember a sequence of information related to numbers, such as relating the new information to one-bun, two-shoe, three-tree, etc. Example: To remember hardness levels of minerals, think of a word that rhymes with the number and connect that picture to the mineral name; such as one-bun-talc is a 1 hardness level, so think of a bun talking (i.e., talcing). Letter strategies. Used to remember listings of information or steps for solving a problem, such as developing a word or sentence that guides the learner through a process. Example: HOMES to remember the names of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior).
	Conclusion In summary, Lesson 5 provides information on a variety of techniques that teachers can use with all learners in their classroom. When differentiated activities and formats are used, it is more natural to make accommodations and adaptations for learners with mild disabilities. A major issue that can arise when differentiated techniques are used is how to score and assess students. In the next lesson, assessment and grading issues are addressed.