Effective Instruction for All

The Dyslexic Speller. In an earlier post, Beginning Spelling Instruction (Mar.10.2008), we discussed the importance of spelling instruction and the complementary relationship between reading and spelling instruction. For students at-risk of academic failure, the achievement of reading success may not be accompanied by success in spelling and the associated competence in written expression. In a February, 2006, article in Medical News Today the following conclusion was stated:

“Our research is telling us good spellers are taught, not born, as is often assumed,” she said. “Unfortunately, what happens in most schools is dyslexic children learn how to read and then get dismissed from special education classes even though they still need specialized instruction until they learn to spell. Moreover, spelling is not systematically and explicitly taught in many classrooms in the United States.”

Link to the full article at  Medical News Today 15 Feb 2006. For teachers, this observation provides some good and bad news. The good news is that many dyslexic students are learning to read. The bad news is that both reading and spelling instruction are important and both must be addressed systematically and explicitly, particularly in the upper grades. One of the instructional problems lies in the achievement test trends. There has been a move from separate spelling achievement tests to more inclusive language arts tests that may reduce the emphasis on a separate spelling test score. Moats, (2005/06) noted the difficulties faced by teachers in monitoring and refining spelling instruction and stated:

“Many children have trouble spelling, but we do not know how many, or in relation to what standard, because state accountability assessments seldom include a direct measure of spelling competence. Few state standards specify what, exactly, a student at each grade level should be able to spell, and most subsume spelling under broad topics such as written composition and language proficiency. State writing tests may not even score children on spelling accuracy, as they prefer to lump it in with other “mechanical” skills in the scoring rubrics.”

For students and their concerned teachers, the problems are compounded by the reality     that other student assessments, such as GED tests, will score spelling errors. These spelling errors will adversely impact student scores. Spelling competence has practical implications for the workplace. A recent survey of employers in Oregon concluded:

“Spelling mistakes on a job applicants curriculum vitae are one of employers’ top gripes. A recent survey showed that 54 per cent of employers found misspelled words on a curriculum vitae to be their biggest irritation.”

Effective spelling instruction for all students. Research on a wide and diverse range of learners concludes that effective spelling instruction for this wide range of learners makes use of phonological, orthographic and morphological instructional methods. In the above-listed Medical News Today article the following observation was made:

Researchers have found that humans code words in three forms while learning how to read and spell. These codes draw on common and unique brain circuits. The brain codes words by their sound (or phonology), by the parts of words that signal meaning and grammar (morphology), and by their visual and written form (orthography).

If the wide range of learners require similar instruction addressing phonological, orthographic, and morphological methods, why the variability in student outcomes. The answer lies in the range of instructional quality, i.e., the extent to which students are systematically and explicitly taught. The at-risk learners require instruction that is precise, e.g., are the individual students pretested and diagnostically placed at their functioning level? Too often fifth grade students are placed in front of fifth grade spelling lists when their performance levels are below grade level. The at-risk learner requires explicit, mastery-based instruction. Students should receive reteaching to master the spelling words before moving on. The at-risk learner needs additional time. Student who are two grade levels below their peers can never close the gap with the same number of minutes of instruction as their higher performing peers.

Phonological, orthographic, and morphological spelling instruction. An example of phonological spelling instruction would be the use of spelling words selected to exemplify common phonological elements, e.g., mat, sat, rat.   Phonological spelling instruction is emphasized in the early grades. Orthographic spelling instruction places the emphasis on the visual form of the word, particularly the sequence of the letters. For example, students prepare  flash cards of difficult words, look at the word, turn the flash card over, write the word on a blank sheet, then compare their written word letter by letter with the word on the flash card. Orthographic instruction is usually a part of spelling instruction at all grade levels. Morphological instruction emphasizes the meaningful parts of a word. For example: group a root word and different prefixes and suffixes together, e.g., fill, refill, filling. Morphological spelling instruction increases in importance with each grade level.

A recommended overview of spelling instruction. One of the best and most concise summaries of effective spelling instruction was done by Louisa Moats in the Winter 2005/06 issue of the American Educator. Moats directly addresses some common misconceptions about spelling instruction in the article How Spelling Supports Reading.

Al :: Apr.24.2009 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Proven Practices.

During the late 1960’s a team lead by Carl Bereiter and Sigfried Engelmann conducted a major program of research and development to teach language and communication skills to preschoolers very much at risk of school failure. The instructional programs generated by this line of research from the University of Illinois, and later from the University of Oregon, have been extensively validated in a range of settings. The interventions developed by the research apply to a wide range of students from second language students living in poverty impacted neighborhoods to students with significant disabilities, including students with autism. The program ( Language Instruction Program) listed in the Links is a small program with a wealth of practical directions for teachers, aides, and family members.

In the listing of the Links the entry, Language Instruction Program provides examples of specific interventions and a summary of the instructional strategies that consistently worked.
Six strategies are listed:
1. Work with small groups as much as possible. For the more severely language deprived student, the small group of four or five is preferable to larger groups or whole class activities.
2. Employ unison responses most of the time.
3. Require all children to participate.
4. Study your lines. A great deal of success of a language activity depends on the precise wording and phrasing of the statements presented during teaching sessions.
5. Move fast . Save casual commentary and discussion for other periods of the day. Use examples prepared in advance.
6. Provide plenty of praise and recognition of correct responses while activities are going on.

The 34 page document can be down loaded and shared with all members of the instructional team.

More to come.

Al :: Mar.08.2009 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

What does the research require?

This post follows the earlier post ( 2007/Dec/01) “Teaching Phonemic Awareness.” The research summary that provides the basis for state and federal reading instruction policies on teaching phonemic awareness was Chapter 2 of the Congressional National Reading Panel Report. For a summary of this chapter see Chapter 2 – Summary.

Teaching Phonemic Awareness to Struggling Students.

For students who struggle, initial success is important. Initial success requires student mastery of the prerequisites to the phonemic awareness skills typically taught in most kindergarten classrooms. In previous posts, addressing the teaching of the role of words in spoken and written language, we stressed an important often neglected prerequisite skill. We now address three other prerequisites.

Prerequisite Skill: Matching Sizes shapes and Colors.

The student needs to know if graphic symbols of different sizes, shapes and colors are the “same” or “not the same.” Note that we gave a preference to the descriptor “not the same,” rather than the descriptor “different.” This is a simplification of language and may be important for students struggling with the spoken language. By all means use the terms “same” and “different” if students understand the terms. Do not assume this understanding. After the student understands “not the same,” Teach the word “different.” For a student to attach sounds or “phonemes” to different letter symbols, the student needs to discriminate among the different letter symbols and determine that they are “same” or “different.” See the Links for the scripted program “Matching, Sizes, Shapes and Colors.”

Prerequisite Skill: One-to-one Correspondence.

Many kindergarten students lack one-to-one correspondence. The students often have the spoken language “one, two, three, four etc.” and lack the understanding of these words. When presented with five objects the student will often do a rote count to ten. See the Links for the scripted program “Teaching One-to-one Correspondence.”

Prerequisite Skill: Phoneme Discrimination.

The First Big Idea in Teaching Beginning Reading states: “Written and spoken language must work together.” The gateway to reading requires students to determine if the sounds, or phonemes, they hear are the same or different without reference to the written letter symbol. One of the most effective ways to teach this phoneme discrimination is to give the student a reference sound e.g. “sssssss” and then listen to the sounds “aaaaaa,” “mmmm,” and “ssssssss,” and identify which sounds are they same or different. To do this  students must retain the reference sound in their memory and compare the reference sound with the other sounds without the visual cues provided by the letter symbol.

A video: “Teaching Beginning Reading: The Second Big Idea.”

The Key: Its what you hear not what you see.
Are you teaching and assessing phonemic awareness or visual awareness. If you are teaching the student to decide if two sounds are the “same” or “not the same” do not present both the visual and sound forms for comparison. If the students are comparing the visual forms, we will not know if they matched by sight or sound. In the following video demonstration the teacher introduces the “th” phoneme in visual and sound forms and then places the visual example down and presents the choices.

A video: Teaching the “th” phoneme. Video from “ReadingisCool.”

Al :: Jan.21.2009 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Questions and Answers from Post “What is a word?”

The earlier post, “What is a Word?” (2009/01/10), generated a number of questions and some interesting discussion, particularly from teachers and parents concerned with students with significant disabilities. While I do not have all the answers, I do have some explanations, or excuses, for what I discussed on the blog and demonstrated on the video.

The Teaching of Concepts.
Most of language instruction involves the teaching of two types of knowledge, facts and concepts. The statement, “The sun is bright,” is a fact. The term, “dog,” is a concept because it refers to a class or group of animals. If we use enough examples and non-examples of dogs, a child will learn to recognize (or generalize to) a new animal as a dog, and not a cat or a goat. While we can write rules to define a concept, most effective teaching uses examples and non-examples to teach a child to recognize, or generalize to, examples of the concept they have never seen before.
Our most effective teachers are very aware of the examples they use to teach a concept, and ensure they use the needed range of examples to prevent the teaching of a misconcept. Formally, or informally, these effective teachers have done a “concept analysis” of the term, e.g., “word” to guide their selection of teaching examples. See the resource document Concept Analysis,by Libby Street. Then, see the concept-analysis of “word,” done for the examples used in the video in the post, “What is a Word?”

Resources: Pictures of Mat and Sam. There were questions about the availability of pictures of the animals used in the video. The pictures came from the “Little Books” in the Reading for All Learners Program (RALP). We have provided some pictures for downloading in the form of pages from the RALP coloring book. See Coloring Book. For more information see the website www.iseesam.com.

Boarding the Academic Train.

The presentation procedures used in the video follow the teaching suggestions in the earlier post Boarding the Academic Train ( Nov. 18,2007). The discussion of prerequisites in the above-listed concept analysis is also addressed in this post. The post makes specific reference to the importance of “Matching Sizes, Shapes, and Colors” as a prerequisite. The post also makes reference to immediate correction procedures. In the video extensive teacher modeling was used, e.g., “My turn” and then “your turn.” This modeling allows for fast-paced and successful student involvement. If a correction is needed, it is immediate and usually involves Model ( “My turn,” teacher models), Lead (“Our turn,” teacher and students together, and Test (“Your turn,” student’s turn ). In small-group teaching a peer or teacher may serve as a model.

Facts and Concepts and the Reading Wars.

The teaching of both facts and concepts are important. There was a time during the “Reading Wars” that the teaching of facts was belittled by the descriptor, “Drill and kill.” See the 2006 article from the New York Times.  For the teacher, the question is not, “Do I teach facts or concepts?” The question is, “If I am teaching a concept, do I have the range of examples and non-examples to allow the student to recognize (or generalize to) a new example of the concept.

The following video provides a demonstration of how misconcepts develop if the range of examples of the concept “word” is too narrow.

Al :: Jan.16.2009 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

For more information this highly effective program see READ at <www.readnyc.org>.

Al :: Jan.13.2009 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Teaching the Role of Words: A Priority Left at the Station.
In April 2000 the National Reading Panel Report was approved and released by Congress. Much of the research content summarized earlier reports by the federal ERIC Clearinghouse network. Clearly the role of phonemic awareness as the gateway skill to reading competence was of major practical importance. See earlier post on Phonemic Awareness (Dec. 1, 2007). This earlier post Teaching Phonemic Awareness includes an excellent video summary  by Reid Lyon one of the leading researchers on this issue.

The 1996  ERIC Research Report on Phonemic Awareness began with the observation:
With little or no direct instruction, almost all young children develop the ability to understand spoken language. While most kindergarten children have mastered the complexities of speech, they do not know that spoken language is made up of discrete words, which are made up of syllables, which themselves are made up of the smallest units of sound called “phonemes.” Page 2.
Given that “most kindergarten children…..do not know that spoken language is made up of discrete words…” there appears to be an absence of of instruction targeted at this need. For students at risk of reading failure the role of words in spoken and written language is a rather obvious starting place, before we address the syllables and phonemes that make up words.
The following video Video: Beginning Reading – Part 1 addresses this need for the explicit and direct teaching of the role of words in spoken and written language. The “print awareness” activities included in most reading programs often lack the explicitness and directness needed by students at risk of reading failure. Activities such as a print awareness experience at a grocery store may lacks alignment with spoken and written language encountered in the initial reading instruction vocabulary. Such alignment will be essential for the struggling reader. In this video the teaching of the concept of a word is directly aligned with the vocabulary in the reading lessons.

Al :: Jan.10.2009 :: Uncategorized :: 3 Comments »

RtI and students with significant disabilities. The concept of RtI, or Response to Intervention, first appeared on the national special education radar as a part of the IDEA 2004 legislation. For most special educators, the emphasis has been placed on students with a specific learning disability. The IDEA 2004 legislation stated: “In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local education agency may use a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention as a part of the evaluation procedures…” This legislation provided an alternative to the use a discrepancy between achievement measures and intellectual disability measures to determine the presence of a specific learning disability. The bigger the discrepancy, the higher the probability that the student would be designated “learning disabled.” The RtI option is often linked to another part of the IDEA 2004 legislation allowing educators to use up to 15% of federal special education funding for students not identified as needing special education services, but needing support in the general education environment. One of the outcomes of this legislation was an emphasis on struggling readers in the k-3 grades. Many have assumed that the RtI concept has little instructional relevance for students with significant disabilities. An overview of RtI and the associated legislation is provided  in a summary document on RtI.

What is RtI. The core principles of RtI, as discussed in the above-listed summary document, are:

1. We can effectively teach all children.
2. Intervene early.
3. Use a multi-tier model of service delivery.
4. Use a problem-solving method to make decisions within a multi-tier model.
5. Use research-based, scientifically validated interventions/instruction to the extent
available.
6. Monitor student progress to inform instruction.
7. Use data to make decisions.
8. Use assessments for three different purposes: (a.) screening applied to all
children to identify those who are not making progress at expected rates; (b.)
diagnostics to determine what children can and cannot do in important academic
and behavioral domains; and (c.) progress monitoring to determine if academic or
behavioral interventions are producing desired effects.

Most of these core principles of RtI are just as relevant to the design and implementation of instruction for students with significant disabilities as they are to other students with disabilities.

Key Components of RtI. When we examine the three key components of RtI, the relevance of RtI for students with significant disabilities becomes  even more pronounced. These three key components, as noted in the above-listed summary document, are:

1. High-quality instruction/intervention, which is defined as instruction or
intervention matched to student need that has been demonstrated through
scientific research and practice to produce high learning rates for most students.
Individual response is assessed in RtI and modifications to instruction/
intervention or goals are made depending on results with individual students.

2. Learning rate and level of performance are the primary sources of information
used in ongoing decision making. Learning rate refers to a student’s growth in
achievement or behavior competencies over time compared to prior levels of
performance and peer growth rates. Level of performance refers to a student’s
relative standing on some dimension of achievement/performance compared to
expected performance (either criterion- or norm-referenced). Decisions about the
use of more or less intense interventions are made using information on learning
rate and level. More intense interventions may occur in general education
classrooms or pull-out programs supported by general, compensatory or special
education funding.

3. Important educational decisions about intensity and likely duration of
interventions are based on individual student response to instruction across
multiple tiers of intervention. Decisions about the necessity of more intense
interventions, including eligibility for special education, exit from special
education or other services, are informed by data on learning rate and level.

What Works. These three key components have one central theme. The individual student’ s response to instruction is the key factor driving changes in the quality and quantity of instruction. To the extent that students with significant disabilities have major gaps between with their peers on academic and behavioral measures, the concept of RtI may be most relevant for these clients, their families, and the educational teams serving these clients.

Al :: Oct.02.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Who is the older struggling reader? The primary focus of NCLB ( No Child Left Behind) and related resources was on students in K-3 grades. This was an admirable goal because of the preventive role of quality K-3 reading instruction. Unfortunately, approximately 75% of the students failing reading in third grade are also failing in ninth grade. In a Spring_2007_Report by the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) it was reported that the percentage of grade 12 students performing at “Basic Level” decreased from 80% in 1992 to 73% in 2005. Many observers feel that both the 80% and 73% estimates are too optimistic because these numbers refer to students still in school in grade 12 and do not include students who dropped out. The NAEP Report notes that the concept of a “Basic Level” is closely linked to vocational and economic survival in the workplace. On the NAEP assessment, retrieving information from a highly detailed document is an example of the knowledge and skills demonstrated by students performing at the Basic Level.

Two major challenges. The older struggling reader brings far greater instructional challenges than the younger reader performing below grade level. The first major challenge relates to limited resources. Struggling readers in secondary schools are often 5 to 8 years below grade level. Closing this gap requires a massive investment in instructional time and associated resources. An “Instructional Guide for Building Reading Proficiency at the Secondary Level” by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) stated, “By the secondary grades, students are presumed to have acquired basic reading skills. Over the past decade, researchers and policy makers have all but abandoned attention to secondary-level remediation…..Unfortunately the need remains.” Deep and growing concern by educators prompted SEDL to invest in this instructional guide. Clearly, many educators are expressing growing concern at the lack of resources to address this issue. In most high schools a review of staffing, budgets, and courses will not reflect the seriousness of this instructional need. The second major challenge lies in the the lack of reading skills and the associated “emotional baggage.” While we have extensive research to suggest that much of the reading failure could have been prevented by timely, intensive, direct instruction, the student often views the failure differently. The SEDL Guide (listed above) states: “Years of failing at what is deemed a hallmark of intelligence and worth can also leave struggling readers with emotional consequences, such as anxiety and low self-esteem, that affect personality and interpersonal relationships. These effects within and beyond the classroom walls show that by the secondary grades, educators can no longer defer solutions to future development or instruction.”  This last challenge requires the secondary educator to be the best and last hope for the older struggling reader. The first instructional sessions must be substantive and successful. The student will start instruction with the expectation of failure. This expectation must be replaced by a successful experience. An effective instructional program must be selected, and effectively implemented. In the initial instructional experiences in high school, the student must receive consistent demonstrations of success if we are to counter the years of failure experiences.

Decoding skills and the secondary struggling reader. The initial instructional experiences must address decoding skills. There are two distinct groups of struggling readers. The first group lacks beginning reading skills and performs below the second grade level. The second and larger group of students performs from 2.5 to 5.0 grade level. This second group can decode single-syllable words and recognize some high-frequency words. The first group will require instruction that addresses letter-sound associations and the blending and segmenting of these letter sounds. The second group will have difficulty decoding multisyllable words. These students lack the confidence and word attack skills needed to read unknown words. Typically struggling readers will guess based on the initial sound or guess based on the context. Both of these bad habits, sometimes taught by previous teachers, add to confusion and lack of confidence. These students are skilled in disguising their problems and avoiding  formal and informal assessment settings, particularly if assessments are done in the presence of peers.

Students avoid things that failed them. Because of assessment difficulties and the need for initial high success experiences, both groups should be taught beginning phonemic skills, namely, sounds and blending. The group two students can then move on a fast track to word attack skills for multisyllable and new unknown words.  Because of the emotional baggage associated with past failure experiences, the selected instructional program should not repeat previously failed instructional programs and associated instructional materials.  See  Decoding for All Ages . This program was designed to address the instructional needs of  older struggling reader and allows the teacher to systematically and successfully address  the needs of both groups of struggling older readers.

Al :: Aug.27.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Emphasize appropriate “on-task” behavior. The effective teacher knows that effective class management is not about reducing misbehavior but rather about replacing inappropriate behavior by increasing appropriate behavior. There is little in the research literature to suggest there is a positive correlation between the frequency of interventions to reduce misbehavior and student achievement. One researcher, Kounin, observing in 80 classrooms, noted that the least effective teacher they observed conducted 986 interventions to reduce misbehavior in one day and that teacher’s students were “on-task”approximately 25% of the school day. The most effective teachers made very few interventions for misbehavior and their students were “on-task” approximately 80% of the school day. In other words the least effective teacher took a week to teach what the most effective teachers taught in one day. In the following research summary we suggest a range of management practices, and include a teacher self-evaluation checklist.

More to come.

Al :: May.20.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) What is “important non-aligned” reading content? A reading instruction program should systematically and effectively increase a student’s ability to successfully read more advanced content with each passing year. Unfortunately, a student is often asked to read and comprehend content that is too difficult. That is, the reading assignment is not aligned with a student’s reading skills. Sometimes this occurs at a system-wide level when district fourth graders are required to read math textbooks which often require eighth grade reading skills. Even more unfortunate is non-alignment due to a student’s lack of annual progress. The reading research has consistently reported that most students who lack the necessary prerequisite phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension strategies at age nine face a life of illiteracy. It is not unusual to find that these students progress less than one grade level of reading achievement for the last eight years in school. For many years educators often thought that increasing the interest level of reading content, alone, would address reading failure. This assumption has yet to be validated by the research. While many of these non-alignment issues require extensive system-wide interventions over time, there are non-alignment issues that can and should be addressed by individual teachers. If the reading content is important and modest in size, e.g. a few pages, then a teacher can make the difference. Important content can take different forms, from content that has life-saving implications to content that addresses and prevents important threats to a students self esteem. One of the greatest threats to life for children world-wide comes from water borne diseases. In many cases, preventive information reaches an individual or family as a two-page health brochure. Text content on after-school safety and similar information is often very important. Content that addresses the cultural priorities of a community has important implications for the individual and the community. The following procedures are suggested if the content is important and limited to a few pages.

(Para 2.) First, analyze the reading task. Given that text content is limited to a page or two, a vocabulary analysis will help define many of the instructional challenges. For an example of important text, see the bullying brochure. This brochure will have maximum value if the individual can read the document privately, when needed. A typical vocabulary analysis lists the words in the text in alphabetical order or in order of frequency. If you have a good grasp of a student’s present reading vocabulary, the vocabulary analysis can be limited to the words that would be difficult or new for the student. One of the quickest and most effective ways to do a vocabulary analysis is to use an online text analysis tool. For example, see online text analysis tool. This tool will give you an unfiltered word count. Try it. Link to the online text analysis tool, paste in text from the bullying brochure and press the “process text” button. You could type in the text if you do not have the text in electronic form.

(Para 3.) Second, simplify the reading task. If possible, use the vocabulary analysis to modify and simplify the reading task. Sometimes this is not possible. If you can replace more complex text with less difficult text, the challenges facing the teacher and the student will be reduced.

(Para 4.) Third, diagnose student vocabulary needs. Give the student a copy of the vocabulary analysis. Make notes on a teacher copy and do not place stress on the student. Ask the student to read each word and move on if the word is too difficult. The teacher notes should identify errors and possible bad habits that need to be addressed, e.g., guessing the word based on the first sound. If there is any indication that the student lacks basic decoding skills, i.e. lacks knowledge of basic sounds and blending skills, this should be noted. At this time, do not use the target document for diagnostic testing, e.g., the bully brochure. If the content of the document is important, the document should not be associated with embarrassment or failure in any form. The teacher’s role is to diagnose student needs, teach needed vocabulary and associated decoding skills, and then present the target document when the probability of student success is at least 80%. Even if the affective impact on the content was not the important issue it is, the diagnosis and teaching of the specific needed words as the first step, is based on a wealth of research including the research by Joseph Jenkins in 1978.

(Para 5.) Fourth, preparing a prescription: basic phonics skills. If there is a concern that the student lacks basic letter sounds, use a pronunciation guide to test sound skills. For an example of a pronunciation guide see page 14 of the Teachers Resource Manual. When you point to a sound, the student should pronounce the sound. If the student does not achieve at least 80%, or correctly identify 32 of the 40 sounds, the intervention should start with the teaching of these basic sounds to at least the 80% success level. Suggestions for teaching the sounds can be found on page 6 of the resource manual. If there is a concern about the students blending skills, use the “slow way – fast way” procedure to teach blending as demonstrated on page 7 of the resource manual. See previous posting on phonemic awareness for more information on blending and related skills.

(Para 6.) Fifth, preparing a prescription: vocabulary skills. To ensure student success, the intervention should successfully teach the needed vocabulary and the associated phonic word-attack skills discussed in the previous paragraph. Use the following four steps to teach each of the needed vocabulary words.

Step 1. Instructor points to each letter as it is sounded, and says: “My turn. Listen to
me say this word the slow way. ‘SSSaaammm’.”

Step 2. Instructor points to the same word, and says: “My turn. Listen to me say this
word the fast way. ‘Sam’.”

Step 3. Instructor asks learner to sound out the word slowly. Example: “Your turn.
Say the word the slow way.” Learner sounds out word slowly.
Example: “SSSaaammm.”

Step 4. Instructor asks learner to say the word fast. Example: “Your turn. Say the
word the fast way.”
Learner says the word. Example: “Sam.”

If the the vocabulary word is an irregular word such as the word “was”, use the following step to replace the Step 4 above.

Step 4. “Well done. You said the word the slowway. But when we say it fast, we say it differently. We say “wos.” Your turn. Say the word the fast way.” Learner says the word. Example: “wos.”

Remember: Use the model, guide, and test correction procedure to correct mistakes.

If there is any concern about student comprehension of the new vocabulary, discuss the meaning with the student. Return to the word at a later time and ask the student to use the word in a sentence.

(Para 7.) Sixth, provide prompted practice and then independent practice. Given that the needed vocabulary and word attack skills have been diagnosed, taught and mastered, the student is ready for a successful experience with the target text, e.g., the bullying brochure. To increase the probability of success, the initial reading of the target text should be supported and prompted by the teacher. If the student struggles with any of the text, use the “slow way – fast way” vocabulary teaching procedures listed above. Fade the prompting procedures as the student acquires the needed competency and confidence. As a part of the independent practice, discuss and apply content to student experiences. In the case of the bullying document we used as an example, the implications for the individual are massive, given that students who are “different” are more often victims of bullying. See Research Summary:Bullying for more information on bullying.

Al :: May.01.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Inclusion: Implications for peers. With the “deinstitutionalization movement” of the mid seventies came a policy priority on inclusion, placement in the neighborhood school, placement in the regular classroom, and more recently, access to the general curriculum. A common assumption underlying many federal and state policies suggests that such physical proximity will increase the quality and quantity of social interactions for students with disabilities. Recent IDEA policy requirements emphasize the importance of intensive, explicit, targeted instruction, a very different emphasis from the less explicit “meeting social needs via proximity.” In the recent posting on Social Stories, reference was made to the explicit teaching of social skills and the use of peer modeling as an instructional tool. In peer modeling and the Social Stories intervention, the persons targeted are students with disabilities, not their typically developing peers. Recent research asks: Should these typically developing peers also be the instructional targets and should these peers be systematically and explicitly taught behaviors such as peer initiation, and peer response in social communications with students with disabilities?

(Para 2.) The proximity assumption. In a 2006 research report, it was noted than students with “high functioning autism” in regular classrooms “experienced lower centrality, acceptance, companionship, and reciprocity.” Researchers note that we have well validated methods to train peers to respond to and increase the quality and quantity of social interactions with students with disabilities. A December 2007 research summary states:

“Despite successful research outcomes of peer tutoring approaches, the use of peer mediated interventions appears to be rare in schools. In practice, educators are not likely to be aware of the positive and negative functions of peers in the quality of life of children with Autism…. One impediment is concern about interference in the academic learning of peers…… group lessons with students with disabilities including autism do not produce decreased gain scores for typically developing students —- effective instruction and teaching strategies appear to be more important for group lessons than the presence or absence of students with disabilities.” Kathleen Whitbread’s research summary documents the positive impact on peers and the importance of peer training to achieve the promise and requirement for inclusive settings.

(Para 3.) Curriculum for the peers. A 2005 research report documented substantive improvements in the social interactions of students with autism when their typically developing peers were trained in specific social interaction skills. The curriculum for these typically developing peers included modeling and teaching:

1. Getting attention by touching and speaking.

2. Allowing children with autism to choose play materials.

3. Paying attention and waiting.

4. Demonstrating play activities.

5. Including verbal statements.

6. suggesting activities.

7. Turn-taking.

8. Narration of play activities.

9. Providing help.

10. Sharing activities.

11. Explaining.

12. Reinforcing attempts to extend play activities.

13. Using eye contact to communicate.

14. Using gestures to communicate.

15. Respecting personal space.

A review of this curriculum suggests that many students with disabilities would benefit from peer interactions targeting needed social and communication skills. Extending this curriculum to siblings of students with disabilities would substantively extend the instructional day and increase alignment between home and school. The 15 peer skills listed above were based on a peer curriculum developed in the late 1980’s by Bob Koegel who trained under Ivar Lovaas at UCLA. The intervention was known as Pivotal Response Training ( PRT) because the training emphasized teaching skills “pivotal” to functioning in a wide range of settings. For example, teaching turn-taking has wide and life-long implications. Kogel also emphasized the use of “natural consequences” such as teaching the language command to open a glass jar with a visible candy in the jar. He also suggested that social interaction instruction should first use a play activity the student already likes, rather than compound the social skill difficulty by using a new or disliked activity as well as a social interaction. See the Pivotal Response Training Manual for use in a range of school, peer and home settings.

(Para 4.) Implications for school and beyond. The peer training curriculum suggested above can substantively expand the instructional day because peer social interactions occur in class, during breaks and on school transport vehicles. Some of the goals of inclusive instruction are long term and societal. Students without disabilities serving in a peer tutoring role, improve their own general curriculum skills and social skills. The social and communication instructional skills will generalize to their home and community settings as siblings, to their adult life as parents of young children, and to their adult community life as they interact with adults with disabilities. For those students with disabilities needing extensive and intensive instruction in social and communication skills, the training of their peers as members of the instructional team is not an option — it is a requirement.

Al :: Mar.29.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Definition and goals. The term “Social Stories,” a trade mark term, applies to an intervention developed by Carol Gray in 1991. This intervention, in a range of forms, clarifies social expectations for students with autism. The term “Social Scripts” has also been used for this intervention. Originally, the intervention was designed to clarify social expectations, and provide a guide for conduct in a specific social situation. The stories or scripts were often specific to the individual and targeted situations, problematic to that individual. The Autism Society of America has listed the intervention as one of six major interventions, along with other interventions such as “Lovass” and “TEACCH.” A social story specific to the individual, exemplifies the behavior of the individual and others, and can be read “to” or “by” the individual. The story is presented far enough in advance to allow multiple readings. A presentation should be given just before an example of the targeted social situation occurs. For examples of social stories see “Asking for Help,” “Bossing Others,” and “Asking to play at Recess” by Alyson Willey.

(Para 2.) Intervention Priorities. A recent research summary noted that, “There is strong evidence that the capacity to share attention and emotion with others is specifically and universally impaired in autism.” Given this finding, social stories that target and model social interactions address an important need. This need is often shared by other students with disabilities. The need to model and prompt social interactions has also generated a range of mediated prompting to help define some of the complexities of social interaction. Video support has generated supportive research findings. Peer modeling of the story content serves to define the complexities of the target social interaction. Peer modeling provides an opportunity for the student to observe and practice the targeted social behavior. The following description from a research report describes an instructional progression involving peer modeling and structured and generalization settings.

“Following the (social story) intervention, which consisted reading individualized stories, answering comprehension questions, and participation in a 10 minute play session, the duration of social engagement increased for all three students with both a training peer and a novel peer….. two students demonstrated generalization to a classroom setting.”

The researchers stressed the importance of generalization of social skills across setting and other peers.

(Para 3.) Writing and assessing social stories. The typical social story is short, approximately 20-150 words. In behavioral terms, the social story provides a prompting tool to give a student specific direction in problematic social interactions. All the normal considerations of effective instruction must be met, including assessing the changes in student behavior, progressively refining the social story and its implementation based on student outcomes, and recognizing and rewarding the changes in student behavior. In progressively refining student behavior some researchers have used a student’s self-evaluation of video of the interaction. In one successful study researchers used two screens for feedback and student self-evaluation. One screen had story text and other screen presented the video of the interaction. Generalization of the student’s social behavior across settings and individuals will be a demanding and important outcome. Generalization across school and community settings will require extensive and ongoing coordination. A high priority must be placed on social interactions that will increase access to the total curriculum such as the ability to take turns, to share, and to ask for help. For the student with autism, social interactions on the bus and playground can enhance or cloud the total school day. We now have considerable practical information on the preparation of quality social stories and their effective implementation. The Social Stories Handout is an excellent 16 page staff development tool that includes a multiple choice comprehension check in the appendix. It is highly recommended for teachers and paraprofessionals serving all students needing systemic, explicit instruction in social interactions.

Al :: Mar.19.2008 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

(Para 1.) Spelling and reading instruction. Spelling and reading share many skills, particularly sound-symbol relationships. There is a high correlation between beginning reading and beginning spelling achievement. The National Reading Panel reports that success in beginning spelling and beginning reading both depend on competency in phonemic awareness. See the posting “Teaching Phonemic Awareness” for more information on phonemic awareness instruction. Spelling and reading skills are very interdependent in the k-2 grades. Typically, the more formal assessments of spelling achievement begin in grade 2 and finish at the end of grade 7. Mastery of grade 7 spelling often meets high school graduation requirements. Spelling, like handwriting, is a “window” skill, in that teachers and families often make other judgments based on spelling because it is very visible. A teacher may assign higher creative writing scores to students with better spelling skills, even if spelling is not the focus of the assessment.

(Para 2.) Spelling and handwriting instruction. The link between spelling and handwriting is strong and rather obvious. As a communication tool, handwritten spelling has major social, vocational, and even life and death implications, particularly when used to transmit medical prescriptions. Most formal spelling instruction requires handwriting skills as a prerequisite. For more information on handwriting instruction see the posting “Handwriting Suggestions.” Handwriting resource materials can be found at the “Handwriting Resources” page. Some of the handwriting worksheets on this resource page provide beginning spelling instruction. Worksheets that use animal characters at the top of the page instead of words provide both spelling and handwriting practice.

(Para 3.) Invented spelling: a caution. The National Right to Read Foundation (NRRF) stated: “When students are puzzled, when writing, as to how to spell a word, they have several options. For example, they can substitute a word for the one they cannot spell. Two, they can stop and seek help from classmates, the teacher, dictionaries, etc. Three, they can leave a blank space, continue writing, and fill in the word later. Four, they can spell the word phonetically, i.e.,can apply their knowledge of speech sound-letter relationships to its spelling. Five, they can “invent” an idiosyncratic spelling for the word. …. In schools where phonics information is taught in a direct and systematic fashion, it is common for teachers to direct children to use the fourth option.”

The fifth option, “invented spelling,” has generated considerable concern in the parent community. Any teacher considering this option should review the research. A summary of these concerns can be found in a related NRRF policy document. For many parents, a major concern with “invented spelling” rests in a perceived lack of teacher commitment to directly teach needed reading and spelling skills.

(Para 4.) Writing and spelling: Lifelong implications. The acts of writing and spelling pervade many aspects of personal, social and vocational life. To the extent that we reduce the emotional baggage associated with the acts of writing and spelling, we make a positive life-long contribution for the student. Given that more formal spelling assessment often begins in grade 2, we must ensure a competent, confident start in formal spelling instruction. First, we must build a supportive interaction between reading and spelling. Too often, the spelling curriculum and the reading curriculum are not highly aligned, and the spelling list may contain many words the student cannot decode with the reading skills taught to date. If the student is failing spelling, and the spelling and reading vocabulary are not well aligned, it may be preferable to use the reading vocabulary the student has mastered to increase success in spelling and student attitude to spelling. Leaving a student to continue spelling failure experiences only increases the emotional baggage the student will bring to future writing experiences.

(Para 5.) A beginning spelling list. We recommend a minimum of irregular words in the beginning grade 2 spelling list. The listing for the first half of grade 2 should be very decodable and closely aligned with a research-based reading program.  The spelling word list  for the second half of grade 2 can add more irregular words. Practice each lesson until the list is mastered without errors. At least 20% of the spelling instruction time should be used for reviewing words previously mastered. Student success should be consistently recognized by teachers and parents.

(Para 6.) Teach spelling in context. Spelling words should always be taught in a context that exemplifies the meaning in written and oral use. To ensure a valid measure of student spelling skills students should practice and master the test-taking skills required for formal spelling tests. Formal spelling tests usually present the word in context, and require additional time management and correction skills. See the following example.

“You should have a pen ready and paper numbered from 1 to ?. I will say the number and the spelling word, a sentence using the word, then I’ll repeat the word again. Write the spelling word as quickly as you can , next to the number. If you want to change a word, cross it out and write the word again. If you cannot spell a word, move along with me to the next word. Let’s get started. One: WEB —- the spider made a WEB. Spell WEB.” ( allow a set time to answer e.g., 10 seconds.)

For an excellent list of practical suggestions for spelling instruction for failing students, see suggestions by Susan Jones.

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Al :: Mar.10.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Potty training, Mayo Clinic overview. In November, 2007 the Mayo Clinic published an overview, Potty training: How to get the job done . This short overview provides an excellent, practical summary of the research. The initial question concerns readiness. Is it time? For students with no evidence of developmental delays, toilet training is usually initiated before age 3. Regardless of the age toilet training is initiated, the student or family should not be going through a major change such as a move or the arrival of a new sibling. For some students with disabilities, the readiness questions in the Mayo Clinic overview, become training objectives. Such questions include:

1. Can your child follow basic directions?

2. Can your child ask specific questions?

3. Can your child pull down his or her pants and pull them up again?

(Para 2.) Introduction to three instructional programs. For those serving students with developmental delays, this posting provides three research-based instructional programs. The first program Toilet Training – Short Term, was designed and tested as a tool for students with less severe needs. The child is ready for this program if there is:

1. a regular pattern of urination and bowel movement.

2. an ability to walk without help.

3. the skill to grasp small objects.

4. the ability to follow simple directions.

(Para 3.) Toilet Training Part I. This toilet training program was designed an tested for students with multiple and severe disabilities. Download Toilet Training Part I , examine the table of contents. Before beginning this program ask yourself: Is the child ready? Page 4 of the program leads you through this question.

(Para 4.) Toilet Training Part II. This toilet training program is a continuation of Toilet Training Part I. Download Toilet Training Part II and review the contents to determine the sections that match the needs of the student.

(Para 5.) Coordinating home and school. All three of the above listed programs were designed and tested to support home-school coordination. One major vehicle for facilitating coordination is the record keeping system included with each program. Toilet Training Parts I and II have served as a national staff development resource for teachers, aides, volunteers and families serving students with severe disabilities. Because some parts of the documents will not apply to all families, relevant parts may be copied and shared as needed with families. One common element from all the above listed programs is the avoidance of criticism and punishment. Home and school coordination on this issue is important. At school the responses of aides and volunteers must be coordinated. At home the behavior of siblings and baby sitters must also be coordinated. The role of medications requires coordination. Some seizure medications can cause diarrhea. With all these interacting variables, the importance of daily record keeping increases. Changes in toileting behavior may be closely linked to changes at home and school.

Al :: Feb.25.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Eating and drinking, linking motor and social skills. Achieving independence in eating and drinking skills opens doors to improved social skills, motor skills, and health enhancing skills, as well as an improved self-concept. For students who look forward to meal time, the natural consequences reduce the instructional challenges. The one caution will be competency in the first-aid responses to choking. Such competency is required if the the student is eating dependently or independently. The student eating independently still requires competent, constant supervision. A copy of the training program on eating and drinking skills can be viewed and downloaded from the links. All persons involved in supervising or instructing students should be competent in the first aid responses on page 30 of the program.

(Para 2.) Program goals and objectives. Page 1 of the program lists the program goal or purpose and four objectives:

1. Eating with fingers.

2. Drinking from a cup.

3. Eating with a spoon.

4. Drinking with a straw.

(Para 3.) Task analysis and backward chaining, an instructional requirement. Pages 3 and 4 of the program describe the general stages for teaching the eating and drinking skills. Earlier postings reported on the importance of a task analysis. In task analysis we break the major task into steps or sub-tasks. In some cases we use forward chaining and teach the first step first. When it is mastered we teach the second step and continue until all steps have been mastered. In other cases, we use backward chaining and teach mastery of the last step first. In the matrix on page 4 of the program, you will note that the first stage in teaching requires prompting and supporting the student through all the steps, and teaching mastery of the last step in the task analysis. This is backward chaining. The choice of forward or backward chaining depends on the nature of the task and the skills of the student. In this situation the nature of the task and humane ethics of instruction suggest backward chaining. If we place a student in front of food and insist on mastering the first step of lifting up the spoon, when will the student receive food? The backward chaining requirement to master the last step first appears to be the logical and most humane alternative.

(Para 4.) Backward chaining, an effective intervention in a range of settings. A review of the research provides evidence that backward chaining teaching procedures have proved effective in a wide range of settings, from the computer programming of U.S. Air Force rockets to students with severe disabilities refusing fluids. In a research study involving a 12-year-old boy with autism, who refused to drink, backward chaining was used successfully. In a recent research study involving adults with developmental disabilities, investigators used backward chaining to teach internet skills.

(Para 5.) Backward chaining: A summary. In a journal article in 2003, Bill Brandon provided an excellent overview of backward chaining in a range of contexts. Bill identified four specific situations in which backward chaining is preferable. The four situations are:

1. When completion of the task provides natural reinforcement for the learner.

2. When “escaping” from instruction would motivate the learner.

3. When the learner has mastered less than of half the steps in the task chain OR when the learner is close to already having acquired the steps near the end of the chain.

4. When the learners are less patient or less inclined to be cooperative.

This listing of specific situations aligns with learners with a history of curriculum failure, and the needs of teachers and parents serving these students.

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Al :: Feb.17.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) It is a motor, communication, and social curriculum. The motor curriculum exemplifies the importance of an instructional team linking different disciplines and the home and school settings. The term “motor” clearly focuses on a physical behavior. In an instructional setting the motor, communication and social skills are indivisible and all benefit and support each other. In this posting we introduce two beginning motor development programs. These programs can be downloaded from the links. In Motor Development I, the emphasis is on the preskills for sitting and moving about. In Motor Development II, the emphasis is on sitting and moving about. When the student has mastered the skills in these two motor development programs, the student has the preskills for the Play Skills Program. See the Jan. 15. 2008 posting for a discussion of the Play Skills program.

(Para 2.) A Caution. Many students with severe and multiple disabilities will have increased needs in sensory and motor curriculum areas. Instructional planning will require caution. The teacher must plan with medical advice if the student is physically disabled by conditions such as cerebral palsy, paralysis, congenital hip problems and other, arm, back, or leg disabilities. This caution, while important, should not be viewed as a reason to reduce emphasis on these important student needs.

Effective teaching practices still apply. The multidisciplinary nature of the student needs does not decrease the importance of the teachers role. Indeed, many of the research-based effective teaching practices will increase in importance. In the instructions for the above-listed motor development programs, extensive reference is made to:

a. Specific verbal praise,

b. Immediate correction procedures,

c. Physical and verbal prompting and the fading of prompts,

d. Time management, and,

e. Curriculum-embedded assessment.

(Para 3.) Record keeping across settings. Instruction in motor, communication and social skills requires a 24/7 instructional investment. The above listed motor development programs were field tested to bridge the home and school settings. While many parts of the academic curriculum do not require multiple small instructional sessions each day, the motor curriculum will be physically demanding for many students with severe and multiple disabilities. Four 10-minute sessions spread across home and school settings may be typical for many of these students. The teacher’s instructional team management responsibilities will need a recordkeeping system that ensures that teachers, aides, therapists, parents and siblings are all cooperatively addressing student needs. The above listed motor development programs include recordkeeping tools and monitoring practices for instructional cooperation across home and school.

(Para 5.) Formal and informal instructional settings. The combination of home and school settings and the use of explicit, research-based programs to teach the motor, communication and social skills used in the above-listed programs provide an important additional outcome. All members of the instructional team are learning a range of effective teaching practices that will apply in other curricula areas and in formal and informal settings. The systematic use of these instructional programs increases both the range, quality and quantity of instruction.

(Para 6.) Selecting IEP motor skills goals. For students with a diverse needs, the selection and sequencing of motor skills goals provides a challenge to teachers, students and parents. The following three criteria are recommended in selecting motor skills as IEP goals.

First. Consider the benefit to student health. Health related issues would include growth, cardiac function and respiratory function.

Second. Consider skills that would increase immediate social participation. Such participation should address affective and communication outcomes.

Third. Consider skills that would increase future instructional, social and vocational integration.

Selecting priorities for motor skills using these three criteria will require a task analysis of projected goals. A proven source of task analysis information is the chapter on motor skills by Rainforth, Giangreco and Dennis. This chapter is also recommended for teachers searching for a “transdisciplinary” overview of teaching motor skills to students with multiple disabilities.

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Al :: Feb.03.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Teacher Self-Evaluation of Classroom Management. The first posting, Oct. 30. 2007, reported that the average student spends less than 20% of the school day successfully engaged in instructional tasks. The Nov. 25. 2007 posting reported the interdependence between student classroom behavior and the teacher’s classroom time management skills. Preventing student misbehavior is often best addressed by the removal of classroom instructional vacuums and the replacement of student misbehavior with successful student on-task behavior. This Nov. 25. 2007 posting introduced the concept of “The Teacher As Executive,” and the Time Management Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist. We will build on these earlier posts with information on teacher self-evaluation of classroom management skills.

(Para 2.) The Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist for Classroom Management. The Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist for Classroom Management provides a tool to systematically and progressively increase the quality of classroom management. The application of these self-evaluation skills address the needs of the client, the student, and reduces teacher stress by taking preventive actions to improve classroom management. The primary goal of effective classroom management is the promotion of learning for low and high achievers.

Classroom Management Skills. In the above listed classroom management checklist, the teacher can monitor the following five research-based management skills:

Skill 1. Instructional Strengths. The teacher use well-planned, research-based, instructional procedures to teach curriculum content.

Skill 2. Setting and Implementing Rules. The teacher uses rules and related procedures to prevent problems and manage the classroom in a business like manner.

Skill 3. Prevention. The teacher uses effective and timely interventions to prevent and reduce misbehavior.

Skill 4. Appropriate Behavior Recognized. The teacher clearly identifies and recognizes appropriate academic and social behavior.

Skill 5. Limited Reprimands. The teacher rarely uses reprimands.

(Para 3.) The teacher as executive. In managing the instructional team, the teacher must be very explicit with instructional aides and volunteers working with students. Many very well-meaning persons assisting in classroom instruction and playground supervision bring their own reference points to student interactions. Perhaps, nowhere is this more visible than with unnecessary and excessive use of reprimands. Even a mild reprimand can be psychologically devastating for some very sensitive students and absolutely meaningless to other students. As an executive managing instructional staff, the teacher should share the checklist with members of the instructional team. Such a preventive action by the teacher protects the dignity of staff and addresses the needs of students. Vulnerable students will have the most to gain from these preventive executive actions by the teacher.

(Para 4.) Effective teachers manage well. We have a wealth of research on the characteristics of our most effective teachers. We know these teachers manage well. We know that coping is rarely a major issue. We also know that we lose many teachers in the first years of teaching because they feel they cannot cope with classroom challenges. One research observer noted that, “Through management skills, superior teachers achieve what has been labeled ‘preventive discipline’ in the professional literature. They are not automatically superior teachers. They plan, worry, and work hard. . I have never known superior teachers who ‘took it easy.’ But the secret to their success – what sets them above the good teachers who also work, plan, and worry – is their process of management.” For more information on classroom management and the related research, see the chapter, “Classroom Management.” Teachers serving students with disabilities can refer to a series of more clinical classroom checklists at the link to Management Checklists.

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Al :: Jan.26.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) What are social skills? Social skills involve some type of interaction with another person or persons. Even the most elemental social skills, such as playing with another child, requires a complex set of sub-skills, including communication, attention, and motor skills. School-based instructional programs for children with severe disabilities require goals to be set, progress monitored objectively, and instruction systematically adjusted based on curriculum-embedded monitoring of student progress.

(Para 2.) Planning a task sequence to reach a social goal. One common goal for a student with severe disabilities might be to have the student play cooperatively with a peer by the end of the school year. In reality, this is a complex set of interacting social, communication and motor skills. To plan an instructional task sequence, start with a “master task” that allows for objective assessment of the subskills or variables that make up the master task. The following master task for Jack includes three variables that can be progressively changed to increase task difficulty.

(Para 3.) Master task example. Jack will (a.) play in a three foot proximity with (b.) one school peer (c.) for at least two minutes.

Variable (a.) could range in steps from playing “in proximity” to the more complex playing “with” a teacher or aide, to playing with another child, with only an initiating prompt from an adult.

Variable (b.) could range from a school peer to siblings, to a non-relative in a non-school setting. This variable has important implications for the student and the instructional team because it requires the play behavior to generalize to school, home and community settings. Teaching for generalization across settings demands considerable planning and cooperation between home and school.

Variable (c.) is the time variable and could typically range from a minute to 20 minutes. Students with very limited attention spans require intensive, explicit prompting and recognition for increasing on-task time.

An example of a more advanced form of the master task would be: Jack will play with a sibling for at least five minutes. Five versions of the master task, listed in order of difficulty, would be sufficient to guide instruction on this goal for the school year.

(Para 4.) Supervised play as important instructional time. A review of recent and past research makes reference to the long-term benefits of increased time in supervised play settings. A 2005 research report stated, “Among rapid learners, the number of hours of structured home-based peer play was significantly related to teachers ratings of social skills at 4 years.” Essentially, this structured home-based activity adds substantively to the instructional day. This said, it must be noted that systematic and intensive school-based instruction in play skills must be done first. The school must target the specific social, communication, and motor skills needed, and then provide support for the transfer to the home setting.

(Para 5.) Scripted play-skills training program. The Program: Teaching Play Skills listed in the links can be downloaded at no charge. The program can be used in home and school settings. The curriculum and instructional skills align with the research-based findings listed in the October 30 posting describing effective, early, intensive, instructional interventions.

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Al :: Jan.15.2008 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

(Para 1.) Research from 1970. In the early seventies before federal legislation required the public schools to accept all students with disabilities, teachers and researchers sought interventions for those students with severe emotional disabilities. A number of these pioneers discovered that the goal of reducing inappropriate social behavior and the goal of success in the general curriculum were not competitive, but complementary goals. In one research report the changes made by the teacher in the classroom environment generated both a reduction in student behavior problems and an increase in success in the general curriculum. One finding from this research report noted that 6 of 14 children were moved from a separate program to a regular classroom.

(Para 2) Research from 2007. In a recent multi-year research project in 23, mostly poverty impacted, elementary schools, many of the above listed findings from the 1970 study were replicated. The lead researcher reported that the majority of previous research on reducing problem behavior has been “child-directed” and assumed that the child is always the problem. The researcher further noted that “the environment may be part of the issue.” The research findings place an initial emphasis on increasing success and active engagement in the general curriculum. It was reported that, “students can’t be actively engaged and behaving inappropriately at the same time.”

(Para 3.) Teacher self-evaluations of the classroom environment. One very interesting similar finding from the 1970 and 2007 research lies in the emphasis on teacher self-evaluation of the classroom environment. In the 2007 research, one part of the teacher self-evaluations included daily 15 minute audio samples of teacher interactions with students. Teachers monitored the frequency of positive interactions and opportunities they give the problem students. The increase in the opportunities for active and successful involvement, indicated a highly preventive environment. In the 1970 research report it was noted that the self-evaluation of teacher behavior emphasized “objective definition and quantification of behavior relevant to academic performance in the classroom.” These behaviors would now be described as “effective teaching behaviors” and be exemplified by the Teacher as Executive self evaluation checklists. See Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist for Time management, Nov.25, 2007, posting, and, Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist for Teaching Functions, Dec. 30 2007, posting.

(PARA 4.) Creating opportunities and recognizing success. The above research stresses the importance of the teachers role in creating opportunities for success in classroom activities. With this success comes immediate recognition in a range of forms. How do we know when the recognition works? The classroom behavior we have targeted will increase or at least be maintained. When the recognition works, we call the recognition a “positive reinforcer.” For many students the most practical reinforcer will be effective praise. Praise is most effective when given immediately, frequently, and enthusiastically. Praise needs to be given with eye contact and with a specific description of the target behavior. The value of praise is also related to the importance of the person praising. For most students, parents and teachers are the most important adults in the student’s life. Praise from these adults increases the effectiveness of the praise. The teacher who follows up a praise statement during a lesson with follow up recognition of the during lesson behavior as the student comes in from break increases the effectiveness of the recognition. Following up on in-class praise with a note, e-mail, or phone call to parents, when the student reaches a major goal, will often positively impact student efforts in a major way.

(Para 5.) Least restrictive interventions. Effective praise has considerable value because it does not restrict the ongoing instructional program, and may increase student time on the curriculum tasks. Some other ways of recognizing success may be needed, if praise is not effective. These other approaches, such as the use of rewards, should be used in a “least restrictive” manner. Please consult the checklist on positive reinforcement practices for suggestions for using a range of different rewards.

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Al :: Jan.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) The research on effective teaching practices. The research of the past 30 years has consistently identified a set of teaching practices or functions used by the most successful teachers. These teachers effectively instruct high and low achievers of all ages. Essentially, these teachers:
Practice a. Start lessons with a check of the prerequisite skills needed for the new content and review these skills to ensure a high success and an interestingly paced beginning to the lesson;
Practice b. The teacher presents new content in small steps checking carefully and adjusts presentations based on student responses;
Practice c. The teacher then provides carefully supported and guided practice in the new content;
Practice d. When students have demonstrated competence in the new skills, they are given more independent practice and are carefully monitored to ensure at least 80%-100% success in the new skills. Some behaviors such as street crossing must be taught to 100% mastery;
Practice e. After mastery has been demonstrated, the teacher provides weekly and monthly reviews of the new skill to ensure long-term mastery.
These major teaching practices of effective teachers are summarized in a diagram.

(Para 2.) An executive management responsibility. Instructional programs for students with severe disabilities requires coordination of the instructional team serving students across resource rooms, regular classrooms, and home and transport settings. The management of these teaching functions, listed above, requires the teacher to be explicit in identifying and monitoring the teaching functions. Management challenges are increased when the acquisition of new skills require extensive practice and extensive time.

(Para 3.) A self-evaluation checklist for the instructional team. The checklist provides a vehicle for increasing the explicitness of the research-based teaching functions. The checklist highlights the need to adjust guided practice, independent practice, and reviews by curriculum-embedded measures of individual student progress. A synthesis of the research supporting the checklist items documents 30 years of consistent findings. Federal and state legislation requires the use of research-based effective teaching strategies as an important method for ensuring that students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. The federal legislation lists the need to, “provide for appropriate and effective strategies and methods to ensure that students who are children with disabilities have maximum opportunities to achieve those standards and goals” ( IDEA, 1997, Sec 651 (a)(6) (A), p.12470).

(Para 4.) Weekly and monthly reviewing. The research has consistently emphasized the importance of systematically reviewing content previously taught. Such reviewing requires monitoring of student progress and documenting, not only the achievement of student mastery, but subsequent reviewing to ensure these gains in learning are systematically consolidated. This management responsibility increases as more curriculum is covered over time. Generally, this reviewing is a comparatively high success experience for the student. The teacher should be prepared to reteach immediately if student success rate is less than 80%. There are times when reviewing of previously mastered content provides a needed and very positive experience for student and teacher. Sometimes teaching is not going well and a teacher needs a safety net to finish on a positive note. The teacher quickly moves to a review of previously mastered content, provides an opportunity for student success, praises the student, and concludes the instructional unit on a positive note.

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Al :: Dec.30.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Teaching handwriting: A lost science? Observers report that most teachers’ colleges looked at the information-age trends and decided that computer keyboard skills would replace handwriting skills. This did not happen. Indeed, the Tablet PC often requires the computer to convert handwriting into print. Poor handwriting decreases the effectiveness of these computer handwriting translation programs. The need for handwriting skills ranges from personal communications to the the life and death issues associated with medical prescriptions. For students with disabilities this lack of teacher training is very bad news. Many students will benefit from incidental learning while watching adults and peers. Students will disabilities will be far more dependent on competent, direct and intensive instruction by teachers. For many of these students, their problems will compounded by a range of motor and vision problems. For the students with effectively trained and supported teachers, there is some very good news. When the student with disabilities achieves competence and confidence in handwriting, the student has a new communication channel for self-expression and contact with peers and adults. These newly acquired handwriting skills will also support a range of academic instructional activities. In the following paragraphs we will discuss teaching practices and and writing materials. For the complete handwriting program with a resource manual and worksheets use the link Handwriting Resources.
(Para 2.) Effective and ineffective practices. Some researchers have suggested that the quality of student handwriting can make a major difference in student grades. Researchers have also stated that combining handwriting and literacy instruction improves both for students with and without disabilities. These same researchers have provided a checklist to guide teachers providing handwriting instruction for students with and without disabilities. Using this checklist will prevent most of the following instructional errors.
It is about quality, not quantity. The research has identified five common instructional errors in teaching handwriting.
1. Massed practice without supervision. There is no evidence to suggest that practice alone will cause handwriting to improve. Just the opposite is a real possibility.
2. No immediate feedback is given. A delay in feedback results in students practicing bad habits, makes correction even more difficult for teacher and student.
3. Emphasis on rote practice rather than discrimination. It is most important that students look at the model, then compare the model with their own efforts and make the needed changes.
4. Failure to provide good models. A teachers poor blackboard handwriting models will limit the child’s own efforts to improve. Very often the student’s handwriting at the bottom of the worksheet is worse than the student’s handwriting at the top of the worksheet.
5. No differentiation between good and poor work. If the student is required to complete a worksheet, regardless of quality, then improvement will not occur and instructional time is wasted.

(Para 3.) The progressive approximation approach to handwriting. This approach uses correction procedures that systematically and progressively improve student handwriting. See article “Let’s Get It Write.” This document provides specific procedures for preventing the common instructional errors listed above. The approach uses four instructional steps:
First, the students complete the first line under the model and inform the teacher.
Second, the teacher corrects the students’ efforts by over-marking with a highlighter pen.
Third, the students erase incorrect efforts and trace over the teachers over-marking.
Fourth, the students move to the next line; the same procedure is followed, but the student repeats only the letters or words that the teacher corrected.
The teacher encourages the students to compare their own efforts with the model at the top of the page. The goal is to have students look at the model, compare it with their own efforts and do their own corrections. When this happens the teacher should give students extensive and immediate recognition and praise. This ability to look at a model, examine their own effort, and revise their own effort to look more like the model, is a skill with lifelong value. This skill will apply to all written work including drawing and writing.

(Para 4.) A model manuscript alphabet and worksheets. Students with motor and visual discrimination problems should use a model alphabet with a minimum of visual and motor discriminations. The model alphabet provides such an alphabet. All letters in the model alphabet start or finish on a line. Many alphabets use letters that stop or start between lines and increase the motor and visual discrimination problems for some students. The following worksheets list the names of several animal characters. The worksheets use the model alphabet, and provide for practice using the “Progressive Approximation method” listed above: Worksheet “Sam;” worksheet “Ann;” worksheet “Mat;” and the worksheet “Dash.” The following worksheets allow teachers to place their own words and sentences on the worksheets: Worksheet for words and worksheet for sentences. A model cursive alphabet is supplied for use with the word and sentence worksheets. A number of practical suggestions for prewriting, posture and pencil holding positions can be downloaded from the resource document. Initial handwriting begins with manuscript (printing) rather than cursive. There are good reasons to learn both forms. Manuscript is certainly necessary because of the alignment between manuscript and the text in beginning reading instruction. Unfortunately one cannot assume that reading manuscript will allow a student to read cursive communications. This problem is of considerable concern to researchers who have questioned the lack of cursive handwriting instruction.

(Para 5.) The left-handed student. Given that handwriting is a motor activity and that modeling is a major teaching activity, the impact of right-handed teachers and students as models poses major problems for the left-handed student. Teachers must take an assertive role in providing help for the left-handed student. This resource document on teaching the left-handed student can be down loaded at no charge and copies shared with all members of the in instructional team. It is suggested that parents be included . The link “Handwriting Resources” includes a handwriting resource book for teachers and parents. A model letter to parents of left-handed students can be found in the appendix of this book.

Comprehension Check- What was the author thinking?

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Al :: Dec.23.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

(Para 1.) It starts with understanding. Receptive language competency provides one of the highest priorities we can set for students with severe disabilities, or for any student who needs successful access to instruction. By receptive language we mean the ability to understand words, signs, written language or other means of communication. Without some form of receptive language the student will have difficulty developing extensive and useful expressive language. A free, downloadable, research-based program is available in the “Links” in the right-hand column. See the link, “Functional Words.”The program is entitled Understanding Functional Words and Phrases. The program provides scripted instructions for teaching understanding of a range of words and phrases from “Come here,” to more complex requests, such as “Put the ball under the table.” The latter requires understanding of more complex language concepts such as the role of the prepositions “on, under, next to, and between.”

(Para 2.) It takes two to talk. In the 11/18/07 post, the importance of instructor modeling was stressed. Modeling of the correct response provides the “show” step in a correction procedure. For teaching receptive language we have a problem with one-to-one instruction. How do we model an interaction that requires two people? How does the teacher model “Come here?” One of the best ways to provide models for teaching receptive language concepts is to use a peer model. One common misconcept in instruction is the assumption that one-to-one instruction is always preferable, and we use small-group instruction just to reduce costs. The research reports that small-group instruction can be more effective, particularly if language instruction is involved. See the example of peer modeling of the “Come here” request. In this example the peer model,”Sam,” not only provided the example, the peer, “Sam,” also provided a physical prompt by holding John’s hand.

(Para 3.) Teach for conceptual learning. Concepts are best taught by examples and nonexamples of the concept, not by learning rules and definitions. This is good news for students with severe disabilities because complex language is usually not a strength. Pictures, actions and objects can often provide the needed examples of a concept. The listing of words and phrases in the program listed above includes the prepositions “on” and “under.” By placing different objects “on” or “under” tables, chairs, and pillows, we provide a range of examples and nonexamples with associated questions that only require “yes” and “no” responses. With these responses given orally or by sign language, students can substantively expand their receptive language vocabulary.

(Para 4.) Teach for generalization to other settings. Teachers and parents often experience frustration when they think they have taught an academic or social skill and find that what worked in the classroom does not work in the home, on the bus, or on the playground. We need learning to generalize to a range of settings. One low-cost way to initiate teaching for different settings is to use picture examples and nonexamples. In the Understanding Functional Words and Phrases Program listed above, the program provides some pictures with examples of cats and dogs “on,” “under” and “next to” objects such as tables and chairs. When parents are a part of the instructional team, teaching for generalization can be far more effective. The above-listed program has been field tested with parents. It is suggested that, once mastery has been demonstrated in the classroom, parents and siblings should be provided the materials and training to increase generalization across home and school settings and increase opportunities for student success and recognition.

Comprehension Check. – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Dec.16.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) What is one-to-one correspondence? A quick and practical test for one-to-one correspondence is to lay out eight(8) large coins in a row and ask the student to count the coins. The student with one-to-one correspondence will count to eight correctly, often pointing at each one and saying the number. Typically, the student lacking one-to-one correspondence will chant out the correct oral sequence, but count to “ten.” The student lacks a one-to-one correspondence between the oral names and the objects. Do not use ten(10) objects because the student without one-to-one correspondence may count to “ten” for 3, or 30 objects. This skill is a prerequisite to literacy and numeracy. For literacy, and for phonemic awareness in particular, students must develop a one-to-one correspondence between letter symbols and their sounds. Students with severe disabilities, particularly students with intellectual disabilities and with associated motor and coordination problems, require intensive direct instruction in one-to-one correspondence. Without this mastery of one-to-one correspondence, instructional time in other numeracy activities will often be wasted. The research reports on the frequency and importance of this problem area, particularly for students with severe disabilities. This research makes specific reference to Down Syndrome students and offers practical teaching practices.

(Para 2.) A Scripted Program for teaching one-to-one correspondence. A scripted program for teaching one-to-one correspondence can be downloaded at no charge. See the “Counting Program” link in the right column of this page. This is a research-based program for teaching one-to-one correspondence and several other important counting skills. Unit 1 (the first four lessons of the program) provides the scripted instruction for teaching one-to-one correspondence. The program has been field-tested with teachers and parents as instructors.

(Para 3.) Essential elements of effective instruction: Correction procedures. In the Nov 18, 2007, posting, I gave some examples and non-examples of effective instructional practices. One of the most common and most serious examples of ineffective instruction is the failure to do reteaching based on monitoring of student errors. General and specific correction procedures exemplify important reteaching practices. In the Counting Program listed above, you will find a description of correction procedures on introductory pages 5-8.

(Para 4.) Essential elements of effective instruction: Prerequisite checks. In the Nov 12, 2007, posting reference was made to the importance of checking for needed prerequisite skills. In the Counting Program introductory pages, the question is posed: “Is the learner ready?” This is the prerequisite check. For students with more severe disabilities, prerequisites will be of two types. First, gateway curriculum skills which must be mastered before the new skills are taught and, second, social participation skills such as responding to commands and taking directions. It is important that student experiences in a new skill area be associated with consistent demonstrations of success. Both skill mastery and student attitude depends on these consistent demonstrations of success.
(Para 5.) Essential elements of effective instruction: High success experiences. Student errors must be kept low. The Counting Program uses several techniques to provide consistent demonstrations of student success. The one-to-one correspondence skill involves mastering a range of visual, motor and language skills. The extensive use of visual, motor and language prompting, and the systematic fading of these prompts, is very important in keeping student success high. An example of systematic prompting can be seen in two pages from the counting program. In the examples on these pages you will notice visual prompting in addition to the physical (motor) and verbal prompts. The two blank sheets of paper serve as visual prompts to define the group of objects. The instructor’s fading of the prompts can ensure student success rates of 80% or better. Before moving on in the skill hierarchy the student must be able to complete the task consistently without an error. This is mastery.

(Para 6.) Achievement, attitude, and misbehavior. The use of effective instructional practices, such as correction procedures and the fading of prompts, generate much more than student success in the specific task, such as one-to-one correspondence. With this student success comes a concurrent reduction in student misbehavior and an increased student attitude to the specific curriculum area as well as school in general. If students receive consistent demonstrations of success, and if this success is recognized by praise from persons they value, such as teachers and parents, then student’s positive perceptions of their own competence will boost future instructional engagement. This interaction among achievement, attitude, and behavior has been well documented in recent research. The practice of educators setting lower expectations, e.g., success rates of 50%, is not supported by the research. The use of effective instructional practices, such as prompting and the teaching of prerequisites, allows students to experience higher success rates along with the concurrent improvement in attitude and the reduction in misbehavior.

Comprehension Check – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Dec.09.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) Phonemic Awareness: Modest investment, important returns. It is not unusual to find high school students failing reading because they lack the phonemic awareness skills that could, and should, have been taught in the first three months of kindergarten. Indeed, this instructional time investment, for the average student, requires approximately 15-18 hours. This modest investment of instructional time has major life-long implications. While all good readers have phonemic awareness skills, not all are explicitly taught. Some fortunate students work out the phoneme code themselves. Some students, left to their own devices, develop damaging bad habits. Many of these students, with the bad habits, show up at the end of grade two dependent on frantic whole word guessing and poorly prepared to master the explosive growth in written vocabulary that occurs in grade 3.

(Para 2.) What are the phonemic awareness skills? The research findings list at least twelve skills sometimes discussed as phonemic awareness skills. Of these, only four skills, are significantly predictive of success in later research-based reading instruction. By limiting the emphasis to four skills we make the instructional intervention more focused and more manageable for both assessment and instruction. The four skills are:

1. Combining or blending the separate sounds in a word to say the word, e.g., blending the sounds /m/, /a/, /t/, to say “mat.”

2. Segmenting a word into its separate sounds, e.g., saying the word “Sam” slowly so that each sound can be heard, e.g., “Ssssaaaammmm.” It is best if there are no pauses between the sounds.

3. Isolating and saying the first or last sound in a word, e.g., the beginning sound in “man” is “mmmmm”. It is easiest for the student if, initially, continuous sounds are used, such as /m/, /s/, /a/, and /e/, rather than non-continuous sounds such as /p/, /t/, and /d/. Non-continuous or “plosive” sounds are more difficult to blend, and blending sounds is the most important phonemic awareness skill. When the non-continuous sounds are first introduced, the sounds should be used at the end of a word. This makes the sound blending much easier.
4. Recognizing which words begin with a given sound, e.g., when shown pictures of a mat, a rat, and a cat pointing to the picture that begins with the sound, “rrrrr.”

(Para 3.) Assessing phonemic awareness skills. The four skills listed above should form the diagnostic test of phonemic awareness. The most valid and predictive measure of phonemic awareness is the ability to blend the sounds in nonsense or unfamiliar words. Blending nonsense words is more predictive of later reading achievement because these are words that have not been rote memorized. The most important word attack skill is the ability to decode and blend the sounds in a new word. Students cannot become successful readers if they can only read words they previously rote memorized.

(Para 4,) A practical phonemic awareness diagnostic test. One of the best ways to assess phonemic awareness is to combine the assessment with a series of teaching activities. Assessment should generate information to systematically and successfully teach the specific skills the student needs. Too often assessment only serves to classify the student as successful or unsuccessful. Effective teaching is all about helping students, not classifying them. The Phonemic Awareness Assessment and Teaching Package can be downloaded at no charge, reproduced, and used for both assessment and teaching. The teaching materials address the phonemic awareness skills discussed above. Phonemic awareness instruction requires extensive oral modeling by the teacher and oral responding by the students. The teaching materials listed above include some “worksheets.” These are teacher worksheets for recording student responses. The research recommends intensive, small group instruction for teaching phonemic awareness. Small group instruction with 3-5 students reduces instructional costs and allows for the extensive use of peer modeling of oral student responses. For diagnostic purposes, teach until students are achieving at least 80% correct. The above-listed teaching package can be reproduced for nonprofit purposes by teacher and parents. The package is a part of a larger program by the author, Alan Hofmeister. For information on the larger package on phonemic awareness see .

(Para 5.) Who can benefit from phonemic awareness Instruction? The above-listed Phonemic Awareness Assessment and Teaching Package has been successfully used by high school students failing in reading and lacking phonemic awareness skills. Typically, these students remained at second and third-grade achievement levels since elementary school. The program has also been used successfully to instruct students with Autism in k-3 grades. For students with severe learning problems early, intensive phonemic awareness instruction will increase in importance. Every instructional minute will be important. Perhaps the biggest, instructional error, will be teaching the names of letters at the expense of learning the sounds of letters. Phonemic awareness requires understanding the role of letter sounds, not letter names.

Comprehension Check – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Dec.01.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 3 Comments »

(Para 1.) Classroom behavior management or time management? Yes. The research on effectively addressing student misbehavior set the first priorities on the removal of instructional vacuums and the replacement of inappropriate behavior with student on-task behavior. Replacement of inappropriate behavior with appropriate behavior requires students to be actively engaged in a learning task that meets their needs and is generating at least 80% success. These consistent demonstrations of success dramatically reduce opportunities for misbehavior and increase student success experiences. Increases in student success experiences generates a concurrent increase in positive attitudes to school in general and the content area in particular. The research examining the academic success of students and student behavior problems in later grades has consistently reports that early effective academic instruction is an important method of preventing significant behavior problems as students move from elementary to junior high and high school. A 2006 synthesis of the research clearly concluded that systematically increasing the quality and quantity of instructional time significantly increases student academic success and significantly decreases teacher classroom management problems.

(Para 2.) The teacher as executive. For the teacher who must manage the instruction of students with a range of disabilities, the coordination of the instruction team is a major challenge. The team for each student often includes, instructional aides, volunteers, parents, therapists, and regular class teachers. The teacher has an important management responsibility ensuring that every available instructional minute is used to systematically and effectively address individual student needs. With these management responsibilities, the teacher is, indeed, an executive.

(Para 3.) Classroom time management: good and bad news. The decade, 1980 to 1990, saw a massive research investment in the role of classroom time. The findings of that decade remain unchanged in terms of conclusions and importance to this day. The researchers examined four types of time:
(1.) First, was Available Time, the amount of time available for all school activities. Available Time was approximately 6 hours per school day.
(2.) Second, was Allocated Time, the amount of time allocated for content area instruction. Allocated Time was approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes of the Available Time.
(3.) Third, was Engaged Time, the amount of time the student is actively engaged in learning tasks. Engaged Time was approximately 2 hours of Available Time.
(4.) Fourth, was Academic Learning Time ( ALT), the amount of time the student is successfully engaged in a needed learning task. ALT was approximately 48 minutes of the Available Time of 6 hours per day.
The bad news from the research was the massive variability among teachers. One group of researchers reported a range from 4 minutes to 52 minutes of ALT in reading instruction per day among teachers with similar students. The number of classrooms with very modest levels of ALT delivered bad news, because the research consistently concluded a strong, positive and predictive relationship between ALT and both student achievement, and student attitudes. The good news in this research data lies in the increased importance of the individual teacher. The teacher who chooses to manage time effectively can make major differences in the lives of students. The research also reports that the more the student is at risk of failure, the more important the teacher’s time management skills become in helping the student close the gap with peers.

(Para 4.) An executive time management tool for teachers. A review of the Time Management Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist will show examples of the previously listed research findings in practical classroom contexts. The four types of instructional time are listed. For teachers interested in applying the research, this checklist should be used monthly until problems are identified and successfully addressed. All members of the instructional team should be aware of the areas monitored by the checklist. Even when problems have been addressed successfully, the checklist should be used quarterly. For a more detailed list of suggestions for using the Time Management Teacher Self-Evaluation Checklist, the reader is referred to a chapter on Time Management in a book, “Research Into Practice“, by Hofmeister and Lubke.
Comprehension Check – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Nov.25.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

(Para 1.) What are prerequisite skills? The research on instructional interventions such as programs for students with Autism stresses the importance of early, intensive, instructional intervention. Some highly respected university research clinics, such as the UCLA medical school, have used intensive programs for preschoolers involving at least 30 hours per week. The curriculum in these research clinics stresses prerequisite skills in social participation skills and early academic skills. The social participation skills are the skills needed to effectively participate in the instructional process and include language skills, learning from a peer model, taking turns, and attending to an instructor. The early academic skills are skills needed to master higher-level skills. For example, a student needs the skill to identify similarities and differences in letters of the alphabet before the student can attach names or sounds to specific letters of the alphabet.

(Para 2.) A program for teaching a student visual discrimination skills. The program, Matching Sizes, Shapes and Colors, is a research-based program, field tested with both teachers and parents. Two of the most important prerequisite skills needed for social and instructional participation are the concepts “same” and “different.” These concepts are specifically mentioned in the research. This matching program teaches these skills to students with limited oral-language skills. Too often, preschool programs require students to have “age appropriate,” expressive and receptive oral language skills as a prerequisite for instruction . For many students with more severe disabilities this requirement essentially denies the student meaningful access to instruction.

(Para 3.) A case study with students with severe disabilities. In a recent dissertion report students with severe disabilities received intensive instruction in receptive language. Specifically, the students were being taught to relate an oral instruction to a set of pictures, e.g., “Which one is crying?” The students had to have the receptive language sklls to pick the picture showing a person crying. The instruction failed because the students lacked prerequisite concepts. The researchers concluded: “Neither Allen or Dino reached criterion….The study was terminated…..Upon review of assessment data none of the students were reported to have mastered the difference between ’same’ and ‘different’.” The above listed Matching Program serves to teach these important prerequisite concepts.

(Para 4.) What is a scripted program? A review of the above-listed “Matching Sizes, Shapes and Colors Program,” which can be downloaded at no charge, will reveal a number of characteristics of many research-based instructional programs. One important characteristic is scripting. This scripting, like a movie or theater script, details the language and actions of participating instructors and students. The scripting allows the program to be used as designed and field tested. The scripting also allows all members of the instructional team, including aides, volunteers and parents, meaningful and effective participation roles. A program that is not implemented as the program designers and researchers required, may not generate the student outcomes the researchers reported. One of the most common errors made by program users is a failure to do the reteaching or correction procedures required by the program script.

(Para 5.) What are general and specific correction procedures? One of the most important practices in a quality program for at-risk learners is the systematic use of “Correction Procedures.” In the above-listed program the owl graphic is used to denote the presence of a correction procedure. If the student makes an error, the general correction procedure is : “Tell, Show, Help.” “Tell” requires a repeat of the command without any aversive tone in the instructor’s voice. “Show” requires the instructor to model e.g., “watch me do it.” “Help” requires the instructor to help the child complete the task with a physical or verbal prompting. As the child learns, the instructor “fades” the prompting help until the student can do it without instructor help. See page 4 of the program for this general correction procedure. Very often, a program will have specific as well as general correction procedures. In the above-listed program the owl graphic denotes a specific correction procedure. The specific correction procedure is more specific for the context. See page 7 for an example of a specific correction procedure next to the owl at the bottom of the page. Remember, correction is a normal part of learning for all students, and corrections should be made without negative or condescending tones. Also, please, no condescending facial or body gestures, and certainly no hands on hips. A successful repetition of a previous error should be immediately recognized by specific praise. See page 4 for praise suggestions.

(Para 6.) Giving clear commands. The research on effective interventions for many students at-risk of school failure places an increased emphasis on the correction procedures listed above. For students with Autism the findings of researchers stresses the use of very clear instructions. Effective correction procedures require very clear instructions at a very important time. Namely, the teacher response to a student error. The research on effective instruction for students with ADHD arrives at a similar conclusion. The Precision Command Checklist is an excellent classroom tool for prompting all members of the instructional team, including parents and siblings. Teachers of students with severe disabilities will find the checklist invaluable. The checklist provides examples and non-examples of giving appropriate instructions to students.
(Para 7.) Monitoring progress using curriculum-embedded assessment. Effective instructional programs provide support for curriculum-embedded assessment. In this matching program the curriculum-embedded assessment instrument can be found on page 5. Typically, an instructional program is taught in small steps and the instructor moves on to each new step after the student has mastered the previous step. The series of small steps, the task analysis of the larger task, makes learning easier for the student and provides the consistent demonstrations of success the student needs for a growing positive attitude to the curriculum area. In the progress recording chart on page 5, the most important information will be the record of mastery of each small step. The presence of these assessment records allows all members of the instructional team to work cooperatively in the student’s long-term interest.

Comrehension Check – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Nov.18.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

(Para 1.) The school or the community? In the 1960s educators went through a depressing time as social scientists suggested that even in very effective schools, local community variables, such as poverty, were more important than education variables. This finding countered the vision of public education and the neighborhood public school as a vehicle for equality of opportunity for all children. The Coleman Report, released in July 1966, delivered this bad news with congressional authority. What mattered more in determining children’s academic success, concluded authors of the Coleman Report, was their family background. This assumption was later refuted. Recent research findings document the nature of quality education that allows students to crash though the ceilings set by poverty-related variables. Effective instructional practices use highly aligned systems of instruction. Ongoing student assessment, the curriculum, and instruction work together to systematically and progressively improve outcomes for all students.
(Para 2.) Research and the role of prerequisite skills. When we examine educational interventions that allow low-performing students to close the gap with peers, we encounter a very important variable: the diagnosis and explicit teaching of critical prerequisite skills. This important variable was exemplified by the role of phonemic awareness as the gateway skill to reading. During the past 10 years many failing students from kindergarten to 12th grade have learned to read because caring, competent teachers tested for a students mastery of phonemic awareness, and, where necessary, provided immediate and intensive instruction in phonemic awareness before providing beginning reading instruction. The research demonstrated, rather dramatically, that virtually no one becomes a fluent, competent reader without mastering phonemic awareness.

(Para 3,) A research-based approach with broad applications. With the increasing recognition of the role of prerequisite, skills instruction, came increased recognition of the role of educators guided by the research. One of the best analogies from medicine would be the discovery of penicillin. The investment in timely, targeted, and intensive, phonemic awareness instruction is a comparatively modest one. Approximately 15 hours of phonemic awareness instruction gives the student access, with success, to beginning reading instruction and the positive lifelong consequences literacy brings to the individual. Given that instruction in critical prerequisites is one of the major tools used in closing the gap with peers, the research concludes that the importance of instruction in prerequisite skills increases with a student’s increased risk of school failure. The penicillin analogy has two major implications. In medicine, penicillin addressed the major concern of death from infection, and it emphasized new variables to address in the problem-solving processes in medicine. In education, the prerequisite role of phonemic awareness addresses a major problem in education: the failure of reading instruction. Educational Researchers have suggested this finding is the most important finding of the past 20 years. Also, we have changed our problem-solving focus in many curricula, including literacy and math instruction. Additionally, and importantly, we have have brought more hope and instructional competency to those students once considered “non-educable” by some educational observers.

(Para 4.) Bumps in the road. The increased recognition of the importance of effective instruction did not come without some bumps in the road. Too often, student failure was attributed to the student alone. Twenty years ago it was not uncommon for teachers and their teacher educators to attribute student failure to a “development lag” or a lack of readiness in the student’s cognitive and physiological maturational processes. There certainly are student problems that will increase the instructional challenges. Explaining instructional failure as a “developmental lag” in the student suggests a lack of instructional accountability and the lack of a need to progressively improve instruction. The research of the past 10 years strongly indicates that most academic failure is best explained by a lack of specific prerequisite skills, a skill deficit, rather than a “developmental lag” in the student. A skill deficit presents an opportunity for instruction. A “development lag” suggests a physiological or neurological cause that may not be addressed by instruction. For educators the presence of a medical basis for a problem only increases the need for instructional interventions. Regardless of the success of the medical treatment, a student who is three years below grade level will require an extensive instructional intervention to close the gap, because peers continue to move ahead. Recent neurological research findings on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) only increases the need for educational and medical interventions to work concurrently.
Comprehension Check- What was I thinking?

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Al :: Nov.12.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

(Para 1.) A pediatrician posed the question: In medicine we have specific medical treatments for specific medical problems; educator’s interventions or treatments seem to vary, even when the student and the problem are similar; why is there so much variability for among teachers for the same problem? This frustration is shared by many, including educators and parents. The research documents massive variability in the effectiveness of educational interventions. The research recommends that educators use the same rules all scientists use in defining and implementing treatments or interventions. The research has stressed that the teacher is, by far, the most important element in the instructional enterprise. The research is very clear. It is the specific interventions the individual teacher uses that makes the difference in determining student outcomes. An effective instructional intervention must address the following questions positively. These three questions follow scientific practices and define the essence of an effective instructional intervention.

Question 1. Is the intervention replicable and exportable? Is the intervention supported by tools that allow different instructors to consistently and effectively implement the intervention or instructional program? This requirement increases in importance with the severity of the student’s disability. The more severe and complex the student’s needs, the more the instructional interventions must be delivered across the different school and home settings, seven days a week. The instructional tools must allow all members of the instructional team, including aides, siblings, and parents, to be informed, effective, and cooperative members of the instructional team.

Question 2. What scientific evidence exists to support claims of effectiveness? Does the evidence involve objective measures of student outcomes? Are the student outcomes aligned with district and state-mandated curriculum outcomes and the associated testing and measurement instruments? Student outcomes can include academic outcomes, affective and attitudinal outcomes, and physical skills. While some would suggest hat an emphasis on academic skills comes at the expense of attitudinal outcomes, the research suggests otherwise.

Question 3. Is an accountability process built into the instructional intervention? In medicine, a specific treatment has a monitoring process allowing for ongoing decisions that support changes in the treatment based on patient reactions. The monitoring should also allow for decisions to replace the treatment. Most federal and state legislative mandates require education programs to have “curriculum-embedded” assessments that would support daily and weekly monitoring of the impact of the intervention on the student. Decisions on the effectiveness of educational treatments should not be left to annual standardized tests, alone. These accountability practices should provide ongoing information on both the effectiveness of the intervention, and the quality of local implementation. An intervention can fail because of the original design of the intervention or because of the failure to implement the intervention as designed. The latter will require changes in staff development as well as changes in the technical assistance provided to teachers and aides.

Comprehension Check – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Nov.02.2007 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

• (Para 1.) Autism – A Challenge for Instructor Skills.

As parents and teachers struggle to address the needs of a growing population of students with Autism, a number of guiding principles are emerging, mostly from recent medical research findings. The following questions address these recent research findings.

Question 1. Medical or instructional expertise?

While the diagnostic and identification practices are clearly a medical domain, most treatment practices, at present, require instructional interventions.

Question 2. One intervention for all?

While students with Autism display some common diagnostic attributes, there is extensive variability in the range and severity of the different behaviors needing to be addressed and prevented. This range and severity of student behaviors requires a range of interventions. Many of the instructional interventions will have value for other students with and without disabilities.

Question 3. Widely applicable effective practices?

There are widely applicable instructional practices that have proven effective over time. A research summary from 1999 has documented a number of general considerations that are consistent with the recent research. The research summary conclusions stated: “Students with Autism are, first and foremost, students. They have many more similarities to other students than they do differences. Although some students with Autism present genuine instructional challenges, they learn with appropriate, systematic, and individualized practices.” A major addition to this summary, based on the recent research, stresses the increased importance of early, intensive, instructional intervention.

Question 4. What is the first priority in planning instruction?

The effectiveness of instruction depends on both the quality and quantity of instruction. Will the planned program provide extensive time (the quantity) in interventions that successfully address specific student needs (the quality)? In a typical school calendar, approximately six hours are spent at school each school day. Researchers reported that, for the average student, less than 20% of the school time, or approximately 60 minutes per day, are spent successfully engaged in curriculum tasks. A well-planned and well-implemented instructional program can ensure that at least 80% of the available school day is spent successfully engaged in curriculum tasks that address specific student needs. Making best use of available instructional time must be the first priority in planning.

Comprehension Check. – What was I thinking?

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Al :: Oct.30.2007 :: Uncategorized :: 4 Comments »