Closing the Gap:

Raising Special Education Achievement through Differentiation

Adam Zunic

Something to think about…

We Learn...

10% of what we Read

20% of what we Hear

30% of what we See

50% of what we See and Hear

95% of what we Teach Others

80% of what we Experience Personally

-William Glasser

70% of what we Discuss With Others

Our Goal

10% increase in the number of students in our IEP population scoring Proficient or Advanced on PSSA Math

How?

Differentiated Instruction

Understanding by Design - Backwards Design

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and Higher-Order Thinking

Our Vision

Aide in the development of our students’ intellectual abilities.

Focus on all aspects of human development necessary for mature adult living

Educate and inspire a community of life long learners

Students are academically proficiency and have the ability to succeed in either higher education or productive employment.

Our Mission

To insure that all of our graduates achieve their full potential as persons competent to participate and interact intelligently in the complex and dynamic society of the 21st century.

It Fits

Higher-Order Thinking Students become problem solvers, not problem

do-ers

Backwards Design All students will gain the same core set of

knowledge and skills, meeting state standards

Differentiation All students will be successful!

Research

Cognitive Development Higher-order thinking engages frontal lobe of the brain.

This engagement helps learners make connections between past and new learning, create new pathways, strengthens existing pathways, and increases the likelihood that the new learning will be consolidated and stored for future retrieval.

Asking students for explanatory responses to higher-level questions prior to instruction activates prior knowledge and focuses attention, resulting in better learning.

Sousa, David. How the Brain Learns. Chapter 7: Thinking and Learning Skills. p. 245-274.

Pressley, M., (1984). Synthesis of research on teacher questioning. Educational Leadership, 42(3), 40–46.

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Research

TIMMS

High achieving countries had similarities

Rather than “covering” many discrete skills, primary aim is to develop conceptual understanding in their students.

Emphasize depth vs. superficial coverage

Emphasize problem-based learning, in which rules and theorems are derived and explained by the students, thus leading to deeper understanding

Martin, M., Mullis, I., Gregory, K., Hoyle, C., Shen, C. (2000). Effective schools in science and mathematics: IEA’s Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Boston: International Study Center, Lynch School of Education, Boston College.

Student Performance Data

2007-2008 11th Grade Demographics

General Information

Enrollment 399

Special Education Population 15%

11th Grade Math PSSA Performance

Total Number Assessed

Percentage* of Students in each Performance Level

Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced

All Students

399 12 16 32 40

IEP 59 42 39 19 0

*percentages are rounded.

Our Concerns

Only 21% of our Special Education population scoring proficient or above.

32% drop in the number of IEP students scoring proficient or above between middle and high school.

DI: What is It?

A way of teaching in which:

The teacher proactively modifies the curriculum, instructional strategies, and student products

Lessons are designed around student readiness, interest, and learning styles

The teacher and students collaborate in learning

Teacher and students work together flexibly

Maximum growth and individual success are the ultimate goal

DI: What is It?

Handout #1

Three General Principals of DI

Respectful Tasks: Know your Students

Learning Profile: How a student learns

Learning Styles – www.howtolearn.com

Readiness: What does the student know already?

Interest: Students’ affinity, curiosity, or passion for a topic or skill

Flexible Grouping: Options

Three General Principals of DI

Flexible Grouping

Heterogeneous grouping

Individual, Small group, or Whole Group instruction

Three General Principals of DI

Ongoing Assessment and Adjustment

Instruction and assessment are inseparable

Content, process, and product are adjusted based on the needs of the student

Three General Principals of DI

What does DI look like?

Video: A Visit to a Differentiated Classroom

Small Group Discussion: What evidence of DI did you see in the video?

What questions do you have about DI after watching this video?

Whole Group Discussion: Share your observations and questions

The DI Continuum

Where are you on the continuum?

Place an ‘x’ on the line where you feel your classroom practices fall.

Are your practices more traditional or more differentiated?

Handout #2

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Six levels of thinking provide a framework for planning units that incorporate low to high-level thinking activities

When used as a planning framework we can plan for student thinking at all levels.

Teach Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)

BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY

CreatingGenerating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing thingsDesigning, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.

EvaluatingJustifying a decision or course of action

Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging

AnalyzingBreaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships

Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding

ApplyingUsing information in another familiar situationImplementing, carrying out, using, executing

UnderstandingExplaining ideas or concepts

Interpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining

RememberingRecalling information

Recognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding

Handout #3

How to use it

Higher order thinking occurs at the top three levels of the taxonomy: creating, evaluating, and analyzing

We must teach students how to think, providing opportunities for:

Problem-solving

Open-ended responses

Teaching HOTS

Help students understand the thinking process

Incite discovery, invention, and creativity

Make learning meaningful to the student

Engage students in real life problem solving

Encourage questions and discussion

Make cross-curricular connections

Provide models, graphic organizers

The Top Three Levels

Analyzing:

Breaking information into parts to explore understanding and relationships

Analyzing Verbs:

Comparing

Organizing

Deconstructing

Attributing

Outlining

Finding

Structuring

Integrating

The Top Three Levels

Evaluating:

Justifying a decision or course of action

Evaluating Verbs

Checking

Hypothesizing

Critiquing

Experimenting

Judging

Testing

Detecting

Monitoring

The Top Three Levels

Creating:

Generating new products, ideas, ways of thinking, or ways of viewing things

Creating Verbs:

Designing

Constructing

Planning

Producing

Inventing

Devising

Making

Put your HOTS to the test

Take a Concept Up the Taxonomy Split your small group into pairs

Choose a concept that you teach in class

Using the handout, create a question or activity related to your concept for each level of the taxonomy.

Handout #4

Understanding By Design -Backwards Design

BEGIN

with the END

in mind

What is Backwards Design?

An approach to designing curriculum or unit that begins with the end in mind and designs toward that end.

Viewed as backward because many teachers begin their unit with the means - textbooks, favored lessons, and time-honored activities - rather than deriving those from the end - the targeted results, as content standards or understandings.

(Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design, 2005, page 338)

How to use it

Identify desired results Goals, knowledge and skills, essential questions,

enduring understanding

Determine acceptable evidence Tests or quizzes, academic prompts, formative

assessment, performance tasks, observations or dialogue

Plan learning experiences and instruction Based on desired results and acceptable evidence

Backwards Framework

This framework can be used to plan your lessons utilizing backwards design Stage 1 – Utilize the Standards

Stage 2 – Products and Assessments

Stage 3 – Implement DI

Video: Connecting Differentiated Instruction, Understanding by Design and What Works in Schools: An Exploration of Research-Based Strategies

Handout #5

Culminating Activity

Lets put it all together

You will need: Handout #2 – DI Continuum

Handout #4 – Take a Concept up the Taxonomy

Handout #5 – Backwards Design Framework

Culminating Activity

Your Task: Choose a concept you teach in class

Create a lesson using the Backwards Design Framework

Include differentiated instruction strategies

Include questions/activities related to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Questions for Discussion

How can you implement DI in your classroom? Using HOTS

Using Backwards Design

How can we support you in this process?

What resources/support systems will you need to be successful?

Closure

Set a goal.

Choose an area from the DI continuum that you rated yourself more traditional

Brainstorm ways to make this are more differentiated

Create a Plan of Action describing how you will implement this change in your classroom

Share this with your principal for informal observations and feedback

See Handout #6 “Look-Fors”

Remember:

Our goal is to increase the success of our students on the Math PSSA’s.

Take what you learned today and use it to help our students reach their maximum potential!