Simulations to Experience Learning, Attention, and Low Incidence Disabilities

From the MisUnderstood Minds website.  Activities and simulations that help one understand how these disabilities and challenges impact students.

• Attention Problems
• Reading Problems
• Writing Problems
• Math Problems

From National Center for Learning Disabilities

• Two Minutes in your Child's Shoes

Low Incidence

• Simulation of Visual Impairment
• Deafblindness Simulation
• Hearing Impairment

Other Resources

• Learning Disabilites and Challenging Behaviors: A Guide to Intervention & Classroom Management, Second Edition
• Essentials of Specific Learning Disability Identification 
• Creating Inclusive Learning Environments for Young Children: What to Do on Monday Morning
• How Difficult Can This Be? The F.A.T. City Workshop: Understanding Learning Disabilities

Math Teaching Technique

Math Teaching Technique
A teaching technique used to help students understand math by examining mistakes in a way that is confidential and engaging.

Link to Video on Teaching Channel.

Good old fashioned teaching; using assessment and feedback on errors.

Other Resources:
Curriculum-Based Assessment for Instructional Design: Using Data to Individualize Instruction (The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools)

Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction: A Direct Instruction Approach (4th Edition)

Focus on Outcomes

As reported from the US Department of Education:

"To improve the educational outcomes of America’s 6.5 million children and youth with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Education today announced a major shift in the way it oversees the effectiveness of states’ special education programs."

"Until now, the Department’s primary focus was to determine whether states were meeting procedural requirements such as timelines for evaluations, due process hearings and transitioning children into preschool services."  

Results-Driven Accountability (RDA) will focus on outcomes for students with disabilities.  As indicated in the article this is long overdue.  Through my experience, so much effort is placed on compliance and paperwork we don't focus on C&I efforts to improve student achievement for special education students.  I was hoping to see something related to other outcomes for student's with disabilities such as completing vocational programs that lead to employment rather than just reading and math test scores.  We are way off when it come to this.

The article also shows data related to states readiness for RDA and how students with disabilities fared on high stakes tests.


  Link to Article

Assessment of Adaptive Functioning/Behavior

What is adaptive behavior?
Adaptive behavior refers to the conceptual, social, and practical skills that people need to function independently at home, at school, and in the community.  

Examples of adaptive behavior?

• Communication and social skills (interacting and communicating with other people)
• Independent living skills (shopping, budgeting, and cleaning)
• Personal care skills (eating, dressing, and grooming)
• Employment/work skills (following directions, completing tasks, and getting to work on time)
• Practical academics (reading, computation, and telling time)

How do we assess adaptive behavior?
Information is gathered through interviews, observations, and reports completed by parents/guardians, teachers and the individual being assessed.

Why do we assess adaptive behavior?
Assessment information is used to identify needs and interventions for individuals with adaptive weaknesses and to capitalize on adaptive strengths.

Commonly used measures to assess adaptive behavior?
The following measures are normed instruments that measure adaptive skills.  Each measure has its own specific areas of adaptive areas assessed. Click on the links to review each measure's characteristics.

• ABAS-2
• ABI
• ABES Adolescent
• ABES Child
• ABS-S:2
• SIB-R
• Vineland-2

Other Resources

• The Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (AAIDD, 2013): This test measures adaptive behavioral skills. There are three main categories of these skills. This includes conceptual, social, and practical life skills. This test is very helpful for determining the intensity and types of supports needed to maximize independent functioning and quality of life. (As of March 2014, this measure does not appear to be available for use yet) Link to AAIDD 
• The SIS® evaluates practical support requirements of a person with an intellectual disability through a positive and thorough interview process.  Link to Review SIS

• Employability/Life Skills Assessment (ELSA) Criterion referenced checklist available at this link 

What other adaptive measures and resources have people found helpful?  Please share.

The Future of School Assessment: Who is Ready?

In this interesting article from District Administration, a school district in Indiana is preparing for future online assessments related to the common core standards.  Major issues for schools are proper bandwith and hardware.  "Preparing for the new online assessments is a high priority for school districts across the nation and “becoming assessment ready” is a complex and challenging task."

Raising the Bar:  Becoming Assessment Ready  Link to pdf report

• FCC calling for U.S. students to have e-textbooks by 2017
• e-books outselling print books
• States requiring an online course for graduation 
• States requiring digital instructional materials
• Exponential growth of tablets and other mobile devices
• Growth in enrollment in online schools 

Concerns:

1. Poorer Districts Keeping Pace
2. Students taking assessments in isolation - Where will the evaluator's observations go?  The BIG question of WHY did the student have trouble on the assessment is lost when students take tests online with no observation.

What other issues are people seeing or concerned about?

Link to Article

Evaluating Executive Functioning

This is a review of a new measure in my repertoire to aide in the evaluation of Executive Functioning (EF) skills in children and adolescents ages 6 - 17 from a parental perspective. Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale - Children and Adolescents (BDEFS-CA). Published by Guilford Press.  

Dr. Barkley argues that many EF skills are goal directed and occur across time so many cannot be evaluated on a test in a single point in time therefore many EF skills are best evaluated by rating scales from the people who spend the most time with the student.  

Assesses these EF Domains

• Self Management of Time
• Self Organization/Problem Solving
• Self Restraint or Inhibition
• Self Motivation
• Self Regulation of Emotion
• EF Summary
• ADHD - EF Index   (Indicator of Risk for ADHD)
• EF Symptom Count

Features:

• Developed by a legend in the field
• Good norm sample, validity and reliability
• No protocols to buy
• Easy to administer and score
• Released 2012
• Based on parent reports only
• Scores are reported in percentiles only

Sample BDEFS-CA Report  

This report was developed by me using filemaker pro 12.  It helps one score the BDEFS-CA to get raw scores.  Using the BDEFS-CA norms from the manual you enter the %ile scores and the report is created for you.    Contact me if you are interested in learning more about this tool.

Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale--Children and Adolescents (BDEFS-CA)
Handbook of Executive Functioning

Intervention for Struggling Readers

Little Susie and Little Johnnie are struggling to learn to read.  We know what works for many struggling students but we just can't seem to get it done.  "Not enough time, not enough money, programs are too complicated".  These are complaints I have heard over and over again in my career when it comes to finding or using a reading intervention that meets the proven, systematic, explicit criteria for successful reading interventions.

Again borrowing from the K.I.S.S. concept Phonic Reading Lessons is one intervention that meets all these criteria.  This program is designed to improve decoding skills for struggling readers. "Students using this program start in Phonic Reading Lessons: Skills with simple sounds, learn by multisensory methods, have frequent assessments, and in Phonic Reading Lessons: Practice learn sight words and read passages carefully calibrated to the phoneme-grapheme relationships they have learned in the program."  This part of the program is critical. Many reading "interventions" teach skills in isolation and never practice them in connected text.  A critical flaw.  30 minutes of work each day learning new decoding skill and sight words with reading practice can benefit many struggling readers.

One publisher that sells this program is Academic Therapy Publications  There is a sample lesson on this site as well.  This blogger has no financial interest or gain from this review.  I have found this program simple to use for teachers and parents alike with good results and I hope it can help others.

Program:  Phonic Reading Lessons:  Skills and Practice
Purpose:  Improve reading decoding and sight word recognition

Anyone else have experience with this program?