wk 1A

ESE668: EVIDENCE-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS FOR STUDENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE DISABILITIES

Instructor Guidance

Week 1

Welcome! It is time to begin our next course in the MASE sequence, ESE 668: Evidence-Based Instructional Methods for Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities.   Please be sure to review the Week One homepage for this course to see:

· The specific learning outcomes for the week.

· The schedule overview.

· The required and recommended resources.

· The introduction to the week.

· A listing of the assessments.

Next, be sure to read this entire Instructor Guidance page.

Overview

This guidance begins with a few words about the importance of reading the weekly Instructor Guidance pages. Next, this overview provides a section about the course learning outcomes and their relationship to the weekly outcomes and program outcomes. The document concludes with helpful information about active reading strategies and academic writing, which will be useful to you for excelling in this course, applying previous learning in a practical manner, and in future classes. About the Instructor Guidance Pages The guidance pages provide an overview of the week, a section with intellectual elaboration written by professors at Ashford University about the course topics explored during the current week, and additional specific guidance for the assessments (i.e., assignments and discussions). Here you will find information written by the course designers to supplement the instructions provided with the assessments and in the grading rubrics that are located on the weekly unit homepages. Supplemental resources are also included in the Instructor Guidance. You are encouraged to consider using these resources to support your completion of the weekly assessments beyond using the required and recommended resources provided on the weekly unit homepages and in the consolidated list of resources on the Course Materials page.  Thus, you are strongly encouraged to review the Instructor Guidance each week as part of your study plan. Not only does the Instructor Guidance offer your insight and assistance with the weekly topics and activities, it models effective academic writing, which is expected of you in all of your coursework in this graduate-level course. The Scope and Outcomes of ESE 668 Through the learning activities in ESE 668, you will have opportunities to examine and create original resources you can use as a professional educator. Upon successful completion of this course, you will have demonstrated your mastery of the four course learning outcomes, which are listed on the Syllabus. Review the Course Map on the Syllabus to learn how each assessment in the course aligns to the four course learning outcomes.    The course and weekly outcomes are aligned to the Master of Arts in Special Education (MASE) Program Learning Outcomes, which can be viewed from the MASE Program Details page (Links to an external site.) on the Ashford University website. If you have questions about the scope and outcomes of ESE 668, please contact the instructor in the Ask Your Instructor discussion. Next, please continue reading to learn about active reading strategies and the importance of academic writing in this graduate-level course. Active Reading and Academic Writing in ESE 668 Each week in ESE668, you will complete readings from the Henley, Ramsey, & Algozzine (2009) textbook and other required resources related to Evidence-Based Instructional Methods for Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities. It is strongly recommended that you start using strategies for active reading now if you do not already as part of your study routine. Review the  Tips for Active Reading (Links to an external site.)  tutorial to learn more about active reading. The tutorial is approximately ten-minutes long and explains the concept of active reading and practical strategies for active reading. This tutorial will be especially useful for you as you read the textbook. Additionally, remember that ESE 668 is a graduate-level course. As such, your writing and speaking in the discussion and assignment assessments each week is expected to demonstrate your best academic ability, including the area of academic writing and speaking. For a review of what academic writing entails, view the  What is Academic Writing? (Links to an external site.)  tutorial. Approximately fourteen-minutes in length, this video tutorial explains the fundamental components of academic writing and will provide helpful reminders about academic writing to support your writing in all assignments and discussions throughout the course.

Intellectual Elaboration

What Do We Mean, Culture? We hear the term all around us: Culture. Cultural background. Cultural influence. Cultural conversations are intertwined in our conversations in the courses of this program, including the effect on collaboration and communication with team members and families. What do we mean by culture? Defined, culture is:  “The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought characteristic of a community or a population” (Cushner, McClelland, & Safford, 2012, pg. 467). Culture is learned behavior. It defines the lens through which individuals perceive their world. Take a moment to watch this video (Links to an external site.) about what makes up culture. Culture can also be narrowed down to each environment. Families have culture that might include traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. Groups and communities also have culture. This can be the culture of a school campus, religious community, friend group, city, club, state, nation, etc.   As educators, it is important to be culturally competent to address the multi-cultural classrooms and communities in which we work. This week, you will read ways in which educators can assess their own cultural competence. You will have a chance to take the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI) (Links to an external site.) and apply it to the classroom environment (Koyama, Plash & Davis, 2011). For a collection of definitions on cultural competence, explore the recommended website from Cultural Connections (Links to an external site.). Culturally-Inclusive & Culturally-Responsive Classrooms Beyond identifying what culture is and assessing our own cultural competence, it is essential to the success and understanding of our students to incorporate standards and principles to create culturally-responsive classrooms (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 1995). When managing the culturally-responsive classroom, it is important to (Weinstein, Curran, & Tomlinson-Clark, 2003):

· Organize the physical environment.

· Establish expectations of behavior.

· Communicate with students in culturally consistent ways.

· Create caring, inclusive classrooms.

· Work with families.

· Monitor and manage problem behaviors.

Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) have been discussed throughout your coursework. Determining PLAAFP is an important step in the assessment that drives instruction in the special education setting. This goes beyond initial evaluation and assessment for eligibility for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This week we will discuss the importance of using assessment data collected to determine progress for past and current Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals to identify PLAAFP which in turn drives instruction and the development of the next IEP goals and objectives. Review the articles and readings required this week. Take some time to review some recommended examples and guides for how PLAAFPs are developed, as well as reviewing your link library for our prior discussions on the importance of establishing PLAAFP:

· PLAAFP Example 1 (Links to an external site.)

· PLAAFP Example 2 (Links to an external site.)

· PLAAFP Example 3 (Links to an external site.)

· PLAAFP Example 4 (Links to an external site.)

Individual student needs, family culture and community experiences, language differences, and cultural norms need to be taken into consideration when developing an educational plan for students with disabilities. These characteristics are combined with what we know about assessing student performance and identifying priorities in PLAAFP. Mr. Franklin’s Classroom Throughout your coursework, we have been discussing students in Mr. Franklin’s classroom and on his campus.  His students Henry (ESE 601), Destini Marlow (ESE 603), Manuel (ESE 610 & ESE 634), and Bianca (ESE 645); as well as other students on campus, Jared, Dave, Amanda, Juanita, Keisha, and Raul (ESE 656). It is time to meet Huang Le. Huang is a student that Mr. Franklin has been working with for some time now. Huang has been making great progress this year.  It is almost time for the IEP team to hold his annual meeting to assess progress and develop a new IEP.  Mr. Franklin has been monitoring Huang’s progress with your assistance as the over the last year. It is time to review that data to begin considering his present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFPs). Over the next few weeks, you will be working with Mr. Franklin to assess and develop an IEP for Huang. Huang has been working on goals and objectives in the areas of language/communication, social/behavioral skills, classroom management skills, mathematics, literacy, and self-help skills. This week, you will be reviewing Huang’s previous assessment and the data collected by Mr. Franklin on these goals and objectives to develop Huang’s PLAAFPs for Assignment 1. Closing Remarks The concept of culture encompasses the environments a student comes from as well as the environments within their school and community. All these factors need to be considered, along with background when determining how to select goals, objectives, and instructional strategies for students in special education settings.

Assessment Guidance

This section includes additional specific assistance for excelling in the assessments for Week One as a supplement to the instructions and grading rubrics. If you have questions about what is expected on any assessment for Week One, or any other week, contact your instructor using the “Ask Your Instructor” discussion before the due date. Discussion 1: Post Your Introduction The Post Your Introduction Video Presentation is your first opportunity to make a positive professional impression on classmates and the instructor.  You will discuss who you are and consider now your role as a special educator in incorporating data- and assessment-driven instruction and planning. As well, you will discuss your prior experience with components of IEP development. Remember it is highly recommended that you read the final assignment for this course, before selecting a topic. Be sure to follow the Guided Response prompt for all discussions. Doing so helps to create a more robust discourse, which will lead to increased learning opportunities for everyone. Discussion 2: Culturally-Inclusive Instruction For this discussion you will be familiarizing yourself with the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI) and applying it by a) creating a plan to incorporate one of the CDAI categories into the classroom and b) determining the ways in which cultural awareness, interactions with culturally diverse families, cross-cultural commu¬nication, assessment, and creating a multicultural environment affect communication, classroom environments, IEP development, and lesson planning. Remember to read the final assignment for this course, as all work in this course lead up to the final Assignment. Assignment: Strategies for Incorporating Present Levels of Performance in Lesson Design The Week One assignment is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability with the course learning outcome: Integrate knowledge of behavioral characteristics, cognitive functions, and physical attributes associated with varying disabilities to align curriculum, standards, and individualized education program goals. In this assignment you will analyze assessment information and create PLAAFPs based on the information you have been provided. More specifically, you will review the assessment report for a student in Mr. Franklin’s class, Huang Le, as well as all data collected on his previous goals. You will interpret this information and create a summary of PLAAFP using the template provided.

References

Bourgault, D. (2008). Prsent levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP/PLEP) development (Links to an external site.). ACES. Retrieved from http://www.autismcenterforeducationalservices.com/documents/PLAAPF.pdf Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (2011).  What is Culture? (Links to an external site.)  [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=57KW6RO8Rcs Culture Collections (2012). What is cultural competence? (Links to an external site.) Retrieved from http://cultureconnectionsnj.org/what-is-cultural-competence/ Cushner, K., McClelland, A., & Safford, P. (2009). Human diversity in education: An intercultural approach (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Henley, M., Ramsey, R. S., & Algozzine, R. (2009). Characteristics of and strategies for teaching students with mild disabilities. 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Publication. Howard, G. (2011).  The 7 principles of culturally-responsive teaching and learning (Links to an external site.)  [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/IptefRjN4DY Koyama, C., Plash, S., & Davis, K. (Winter 2011-2012). Comparing cross-cultural multicultural self-awareness among K-12 in-service school teachers (Links to an external site.). SRATE Journal, 21(1), pp. 29-37.  Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ959534.pdf Moloney, R., & Saltmarsh, D. (2016). 'Knowing your students' in the culturally and linguistically diverse classroom (Links to an external site.). Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(4). Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1098117.pdf Weinstein, C., Curran, M., & Tomlinson-Clarke, S. (2003). Culturally responsive classroom management: Awareness in action (Links to an external site.). Theory Into Practice, (4). 269. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/ Wlodkowski, R.J. & Ginsberg, M.B. (1995). A framework for culturally-responsive teaching (Links to an external site.). Educational Leadership, 53(1), 17-21. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ511715

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