Effective Instruction for All

(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.

Comprehension Check – What was the author thinking.

Answers – Comprehension Check.

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