Strategies Needed to Teach All Children
Daniel W. Close, Ph.D.
University of Oregon
Student Assessment and
Creating an inclusive learning environment for all learners begins with the laws and policies of the government.
In Laos, this policy is the Inclusive Education Policy. This policy creates the momentum for inclusion of children with disabilities into the school setting.
Need for Standards
The Inclusive Education Policy creates the need for standards of how teachers will serve children with disabilities in the public schools.
The University of Oregon College of Education believes these standards should be developed on the basis of “best practices” and “evidence–based” strategies.
These principles were shared in the initial presentations of the workshop.
Inclusive Education Policy
The major policy work was done by the Laos Office of Inclusive Education.
The U of Oregon College of Education curriculum modification approach is strongly related to the 17 Indicators, and Five Star model presented by Dr. Peter Grimes and Save the Children.
Main Elements of the Model
Assessing Student Ability
Developing strategies to make the Laos curriculum accessible to children with disabilities.
Assessing Student Ability
Assessing Student Ability
Assessing Student Ability is accomplished by educational assessment activities related to the educational policy offered within the Inclusive Education Program.
Curricula for children with disabilities is based on the standard kindergarten and primary school curricula.
Children with disabilities are expected to take part in all normal school activities with the least amount of change or extra help possible.
Initial Assessment
An Initial Assessment for eligibility is a careful look at a child's abilities, strengths, interests and weaknesses.
The Initial Assessment is based on information from parents, observations by teachers, and an interview with the child.
The Initial Assessment is to determine whether a child has a disability and requires special instruction and related services.
Small Group Activity
Get into your small groups
Design a brief assessment to use with parents to find out the interests, strengths, and difficulties for a 5 year-old child who is not talking.
Curriculum-based Assessment
Teachers use Instructional Assessments of student ability to help determine “how and what to teach”
In this form of assessment, the teacher uses information from the Initial Assessment of the child’s strengths, abilities and interests, and attempts to find ways children with disabilities may take part in an instructional activity that would otherwise not be possible.
Curriculum-based Assessment
(continued)
Curriculum-based assessment is done by making small changes in activities that will enable a child to participate in a learning activity or some other instructional activity.
This assessment process is ongoing and is utilized to constantly adjust and adapt the learning and physical environment to enhance student performance.
Testing
The final form of assessment is Standardized Achievement Testing.
Formal Standardized Achievement Tests are used to compare populations as well as evaluate individual children.
There are two forms of Standardized Achievement Tests:
tests to evaluate large groups, such as schools or entire school districts, including annual state exams
individualized tests, to assess individual students.
Strategies for Accessible Curriculum
Adapt curriculum to beaccessible to a range of learners
Insure that all teachers are competent to adapt curriculum to make it accessible to a range of learners.
Curriculum content will remain the same, but readability and complexity of requirements will vary depending on the individual student.
Teachers must be trained in strategies to assess student skills and then modify.
Making the Laos Curriculum Accessible for All Children
Madame Yangxia shared the Standard Laos Education Curriculum with us
Each of these curriculum modules is written in a standard format and provides the basis for teaching children in Laos’s schools.
We believe teachers will need to learn strategies to adapt the standard curriculum to meet the needs of children with disabilities who will attend school.
Role of Ministry of Education and Teacher Training Colleges
We suggest that strategies for modifying these curriculum materials will need to be taught to both teachers-in-training in the Teacher’s Colleges and Universities and to existing teachers through a rigorous program of in-service training.
It is important that all teachers learn these strategies for modifying existing curriculum to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
Teachers Learn to Adapt Curriculum
Simplify the reading materials,
Use alternative presentation strategies,
Organize student groups of differing sizes and ability levels,
Use local materials and “real life” situations in the lessons plans,
Use questioning strategies to encourage verbal responding for students in small group arrangements.
Simplify Reading Level
The curriculum modification process is highly individual, based on the needs of each student
Teachers will need to learn this process of adapting curriculum to meet individual student’s needs
By developing strategies for modifying curriculum materials, which includes simplifying the reading requirements, teachers in the field will have a tool available to them as they increasingly are called to teach students who are slow learners.
Use Alternate Presentation Strategies
We suggest that teachers will need to be taught to use a broader range of presentation strategies to make learning accessible to children with disabilities.
A broader range of alternative presentation strategies will need to include the following techniques: Visual cuing devices such as picture cards, activities that give children experiential or “hands on” learning, etc.
Organize Teaching Groups of Varying Sizes
We suggest that teachers organize a variety of student groups to allow for small group instructions and work between students of mixed abilities.
By organizing students into smaller groups, the teacher will at times be able to focus directly on those students who need additional assistance to learn and perform the task or assignment.
In addition, by organizing small groups of mixed abilities, the value of student’s social interaction and communication is increased.
Emphasize “Real Life” Examples in Teaching
We suggest that teachers bring additional outside materials into the classroom.
These materials should be from the local community, and recognizable by all students in the classroom.
For example, teachers can develop lesson plans for slow learning students that directly tap into the students’ own experience.
Small Group Activity
Get into small groups.
Put together a list of local materials that can be used to teach the following subjects to a classroom with high, medium, and low skilled learners.
Foods used for dinner
Transportation vehicles
Types of residences
Use Real Life Materials
Examples of using “real life” experiences could include instructional materials and lesson plans on local agricultural practices, home life, shopping for food and household items, sports, cultural activities, etc.
Use Real Life Examples
Using “real life” examples in the development of lesson plans and teaching examples helps the student
The child is able to learn the math, reading, writing and problem solving skills of the standard curriculum in a context that makes the information practical and relevant to daily life.
Use “Questioning Styles”
We suggest that teachers learn to adopt a strategy of having students “pair-up” to work on tasks and assignments
Students can report back to the teacher what they have learned or what they have worked on during an instructional activity.
Using the small group format encourages students to “report out” the results of their activities.
In both cases, students who would typically not verbally respond in a large group are able to talk in the small group or “pair-up” arrangement.