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Seven Deadly Sins in Professional Learning

If engaging, collaborative, relevant-to-classroom-needs learning opportunities represent the best of what professional learning can do for teacher growth, there’s also a flip side. Everyone decries those stay-for-two-hours-after-school-and-sit-in-a-large-room-and-passively-listen workshops.

Still, most teachers are quite familiar with well-intentioned learning experiences that fail to address their needs.

What’s the solution? That’s a question no single post can hope to cover adequately. But for starters, here are seven deadly sins in professional learning to steer clear of.

1. Ignoring your teachers.

Teachers are the “boots on the ground” in your school district. More than anyone, they have their finger on the pulse of the student body, they look at the data and know the student needs in their particular building, and they know the areas where they need to grow as educators.

Teachers benefit from being able to propose topics and learning approaches for their own professional growth. When they have a say in what and how they learn, they’ll respond with greater engagement than they will to a top-down approach that mandates topics and specific classes for everyone throughout the district.

Professional development is often more about connecting resources and enabling teacher-driven professional growth than about telling people what their PD should look like. And not only each teacher, but each building likely has different needs as well. The larger the district, the more important it is to take a targeted approach to professional learning.

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How teacher-driven, competency-based learning is gaining ground at one school in Utah.

2. Overlooking in-house expertise.

Encouraging educators to lead and facilitate professional learning opportunities will naturally draw teachers into the process. While some may not initially love the idea of standing in front of a room full of their peers, it can be an empowering experience — even for those who are hesitant at first.

Most educators are already skilled at teaching. That’s a skill that can be put to use in professional learning and is often much more effective than bringing in an outside person.

For districts that are trying to stretch budgets — and who isn’t? — using in-house talent just makes sense. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience already under your roof. As long as you’re modeling good teaching and learning practices, that’s going to lead to effective professional learning.

3. Anemic support.

Figures from the National Center for Education Statistics are striking. The 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) found that people who received active support (think release time from teaching, receiving education credits, being reimbursed for fees, travel or tuition, receiving stipends, etc.) from their organization were far more likely to voluntarily participate in professional learning than those who received no support.

The 2018 TALIS findings were related to these. In that survey, among the biggest barriers to participation in professional development were:

    • Conflicts with the teacher’s work schedule
    • No incentives for participation
    • Lack of employer support
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4. Not setting quantitative goals for each building.

Consider asking every school to provide a certain number of hours of professional learning per month. This can take the form of faculty meetings, PLCs, after-school professional development and full faculty in-service days, as well as instructional coaching.

Let’s say you set a goal for each school to offer 20 hours of professional learning per month. That’s a high bar to reach, and not every school may meet it. But you will likely still see a dramatic increase in the amount of learning opportunities offered. Simply making an intentional effort to increase and measure the amount of professional learning time for teachers will have an effect.

Giving schools this responsibility can also contribute to each building’s autonomy, especially if instructional leadership teams that are comprised of teachers are tasked with planning learning opportunities that teachers want, need and request.

5. Working without a map.

“If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” – Zig Ziglar

Backward design isn’t a new concept for you. What are your desired outcomes? Student achievement is probably at the top of your list. And while teacher quality correlates to student outcomes and sets the stage for students to thrive, in professional learning it’s better to focus your outcomes on teachers developing specific qualities or capabilities that have been shown to be supportive of student achievement.

Additionally, your district probably already has specific initiatives and desired outcomes. So how do you support these goals as well as offer learning that teachers need and want? One way is to slice up the pie of a teacher’s professional development to give time to each of these. If teachers are responsible for participating in 30 hours of PD each year, you might consider setting guidelines like this:

6. Disregarding short-term needs.

Anyone who is close to a teacher has seen the demands of the job. Educators are already working long hours, grading papers at night and planning lessons for the next day. Even when teachers are fully invested in professional learning opportunities, it’s critical to offer valuable learning that is applicable to their classroom immediately.

Professional learning that’s not relevant to what teachers face here/now/tomorrow/this week? That can simply be overwhelming.

7. Neglecting to track impact.

It’s vital to make it simple for teachers to craft their own professional learning plans to help them meet their defined goals and address their needs. Online professional learning management systems can provide catalogs of filtered professional learning opportunities, allow teachers to give feedback on what they’ve learned, and reflect on their learning and craft action plans. Districts can use all of this information to help determine what professional learning opportunities to offer in the future, and tailor already in-progress learning experiences to maximize learning.

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Professional learning is an ongoing process.

To be sure, there is no “we’ve arrived!” moment with professional learning. Avoiding these seven “deadly sins” isn’t a guarantee of success. But approaching the work as a community of learners — not a top-down power structure — is a crucial step toward greater engagement, greater effectiveness and greater impact.

4 Resources to Build General Educators’ Understanding of Special Education

Updated July 2025

Special education leaders are in a unique position to accomplish good for their students, given their specialized training, talents and well-earned knowledge. They also have the unique ability to improve students’ experiences in general education. The complex and ever-changing world of special education can seem unfamiliar to general educators. Special education leaders have the opportunity to shed light on some of the mystery for them. And the less mystery, the better outcomes for students.

So how can you help general educators navigate individualized education programs (IEPs), deliver accommodations from an IEP and generally support students in general education settings — without adding hours of work to your already packed day?

The following resources can easily be shared with general education colleagues to build or deepen knowledge of special education and the IEP process. Click on the links below to explore each resource.

Blog post: How Does the Student’s Disability Affect Involvement and Progress in the General Education Curriculum?

How can it help build general educators’ understanding of special education?

Former special education director and author Carol Kosnitsky breaks down the concept of present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) and the importance of considering how a disability affects a child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. This straightforward explanation is an excellent tool to help general educators learn more about the PLAAFP Statement section of an IEP and how a student’s progress and involvement in the general education setting contributes to ensuring a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) is provided.

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eBook: IEP Goals — Core Concepts and Best Practices

How can it help build general educators’ understanding of special education?

This is a great, in-depth (and relatively short!) “getting to know you” eBook about IEPs and their function. The eBook lists and explains best practices and frequently asked questions about goals and objectives for IEPs. It also describes how annual IEP goals should be linked to state standards. Consider sending this eBook to a new general education teacher who may have a somewhat limited experience with IEPs.

Share the eBook  

Quiz: IEPs and State Standards

How can it help build general educators’ understanding of special education?

With this quiz, general educators can test their knowledge of how IEPs should align to state standards. It could be part of an informal on-boarding practice or be used as an IEP refresher before each school year.

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Video: 5 Strategies to Improve the IEP Process with Parent Participation

How can it help build general educators’ understanding of special education?

As you know, the IEP process can be somewhat daunting for parents, especially those who haven’t been through it before. Though educators may be patient and have the best intentions, it can sometimes be difficult to answer on-the-spot questions from parents. Consider forwarding this blog post and video to a general educator who has come to you with questions about how to work with the parents of students in special education.

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Keep the learning alive!

Special education is complex. And changing regulations and expectations mean the complexity is always growing. However, with the right resources at your fingertips, your efforts to help general educators are bound to trickle down to the students you serve. And after all, that’s why you’re in this field together in the first place.

Give all the educators in your district easy access to the learning they need, when they need it, with the Course Library in Frontline Special Ed & Interventions. Request a demo to learn more

Poll: What Does Social-Emotional Learning Look Like in Your District?

I was in high school when Columbine happened. I have vivid memories of that day, as I’m sure many people do. One memory is of seeing my mom rushing into my school in the middle of the day. On my way to class, I caught a glimpse of her walking toward the guidance counselor’s office – and I remember thinking, “What’s my mom doing here?”

As it turned out, she was there because she was a family therapist and she was donating her time to the school to help counsel students and staff affected by the tragedy.

Schools have made leaps and bounds in supporting students’ social-emotional and behavioral needs since the tragedy at Columbine High School. However, implementing a framework for social-emotional learning (SEL) can still be extremely challenging for educators. What does SEL look like in your school or district? Have you run into any obstacles? Take the poll to share your thoughts.

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Explain It Like I’m 9: Low Substitute Fill Rates? Your Substitute Teachers Might Not Be Accepting Jobs.

In this series from Frontline Education, learn from our elementary and middle school-aged experts who will take a quick look at a data point that impacts school leaders. See how they examine the data to find out what it can tell us and what takeaways or questions we might reflect on. All in 2 minutes or less!

A Closer Look at the Substitute Shortage

Can’t find enough substitute teachers to cover teacher absences? Seems like a simple case of not enough substitutes, right?

While you might need a larger pool of substitutes, it’s also possible that you have plenty — and that they just aren’t taking jobs in your district. The Frontline Research & Learning Institute found that on any given month or school year, half of all substitute teachers did not work. And on average, substitutes only work about four days a month. All that adds up — nationally, only 80 percent of teacher absences are covered by a qualified substitute.

Try talking to the substitute teachers in your district:

For kids, it could mean the difference between a class covered by a skilled substitute teacher and a silent “study hall.”

Gell All The Videos

Change You Can Count On: Change Management in K-12

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…”

In 1971 (when David Bowie released “Changes”), the internet was in its infancy. Nearly fifty years later, we hold the internet—and all its power—in our hands. Of course, with information’s accessibility at an all-time high, the world has become more dynamic and turbulent than ever before.

As British journalist Oliver Burkeman pointed out: “[W]hen you’re dealing with exponential growth, the distance from A to B looks huge until you get to point C, whereupon the distance between A and B looks like almost nothing; when you get to point D, the distance between B and C looks similarly tiny. One day, presumably, everything that has happened in the last 40 years will look like early throat-clearings.”

Burkeman was referencing the internet, but the same applies to education. Challenges ranging from teacher shortages to student safety and privacy change so rapidly that even major shifts start to feel (in hindsight) like “early throat-clearings.” And of course, in 2020, the world turned upside down as we all battled COVID-19. These high-stakes challenges place more pressure and demands on educators and administrators, sometimes turning strategy and innovation from “have-to-haves” into “nice-to-haves.”

But some changes are for the better.

As referenced above, information accessibility is at an all-time high. Greater access to data creates opportunities to enhance understanding and transparency throughout your district. And with a plethora of digital solutions to automate administrative work, you can spend less time buried in paperwork, and more time thinking strategically about challenges facing your district.

Another positive change involves learning — both for students and educators — which has moved purposefully toward greater personalization and interactivity. We’ve seen a positive shift from “sit and get” lectures to collaborative learning.

Education has become more collaborative, with greater cooperation between departments and more emphasis on working together to grow and succeed. There’s a strong shift toward viewing evaluations as a source of meaningful feedback and growth, and targeting professional learning for each educator’s unique needs.

And even during a pandemic, you found a way to keep your district running.

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TIMELINE: Education, Technology and Professional Learning  See how the fields of technology, education and technology have interwoven and evolved throughout history in the United States.

Is it time to “turn and face the strange?”

You might be facing pressure from your district or community to make an acute change, or perhaps you’re making changes out of necessity in order to manage COVID-19’s impact. While you know that change management can be difficult, it’s also worth it. When you create more time and space to innovate for the challenges you’re confronting today (and the ones you’ll face tomorrow), you and your district become more competitive.

But you’ll need to arm yourself with the information and support you’ll need to be successful in implementing change in your organization. Our Change Management resource hub can help. You’ll find resources like downloadable workbooks, buying guides and information about the right change management model for your district.

Change Management in K-12: What You Need to Know  

In fifty years, you’ll look back and surprise yourself at how far you, and your district, have come.

FAQs About Medicaid in Special Education

Medicaid has been linked to special education for decades and is a valuable resource, through reimbursement, to public schools. However, there is plenty of confusion about the correct way to seek Medicaid reimbursement, how to properly document IEPs as they relate to it, and the viability of Medicaid’s role in special education as a whole.

So, what’s causing all this confusion and doubt? First, Medicaid rules and regulations are always changing. It’s also a state-administered program, meaning that while it is federally mandated, there are many differences in how states administer it; what is allowable in one state may not be allowable in another. Additionally, there have been highly publicized accounts in the past decade of excessive and improper billing in numerous states.

These frequently asked questions and the information their answers provide will help you gain a better understanding of how Medicaid works within public education, why it’s an important special education funding component and what can be done to keep the program viable well into the future. This information will also help your district maximize its Medicaid reimbursement while ensuring efficiency and compliance with every claim.

How does Medicaid relate to public education?

As you’re probably aware, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that free and appropriate public education (including special education and related services) is available to eligible children with disabilities throughout the United States. Subsequent legislation mandates that Medicaid funds be used to help provide special education and related services to these individuals with disabilities. This primarily comes in the form of Medicaid reimbursement.

How do school districts get reimbursed for services they’re providing under this program?

  • The student must be under 21 years old
  • The services must be medically necessary
  • In most cases, the services must be included in the student’s IEP
  • The student must be Medicaid-eligible
  • The services must be provided by a properly credentialed professional
  • The Local Education Agency (LEA) or school district must be registered as a Medicaid provider
  • The LEA or school district must follow state guidance as to how claims are to be submitted for reimbursement

What types of expenditures can be reimbursed through Medicaid? 

Direct Medical Services

School districts can seek reimbursement for direct, health-related services provided to Medicaid-eligible students. Depending on the state, nursing services, speech-language pathology, audiology, occupational and physical therapy, personal care services, counseling and psychological services, specialized transportation, among others may qualify for reimbursement. These services must be provided by school employees or contracted staff in a school-based setting.

States have some flexibility regarding the limits, requirements and restrictions on billing by school districts. Limits on service frequency, duration and type, group size limitations, supervision requirements and reimbursement rates vary from state to state. As with all rules regarding Medicaid, it’s important to understand the rules in your state.

Administrative Claiming

School districts can also seek reimbursement for certain administrative costs associated with special education. This mainly pertains to outreach services, which can be wide-ranging. These services are often performed by many of the same people providing direct medical services.

Outreach is a crucial role of school districts when it comes to Medicaid and special education. There is often misinformation regarding these benefits, misinterpretation of rules or misunderstanding of how Medicaid in education differs from Medicaid for individuals. More and more schools are engaged in Medicaid outreach activities to inform students and their families about the availability of Medicaid and state CHIP programs, and to assist them with applying for those programs.

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Common misconceptions about Medicaid in education

1. The school district is profiting from Medicaid reimbursement.

This often comes from the notion that the services are already funded by other sources and the Medicaid reimbursement is just “money in the bank.” While it’s true Medicaid reimbursement increases the amount of funds a district has to spend, we can all agree there is no shortage of funding needs for school districts as a whole. The reimbursement provides much-needed relief to districts that must spend a lot of their funding caring for students with special needs. That money can then go to other important areas.

To get slightly more technical about how a district does not profit, we should mention state and local vs. federal funding. Medicaid reimbursement comes from federal funds. So, if you used federal dollars to pay for special education services and then sought reimbursement from Medicaid, you would be double-dipping. This is why it is so important for districts to ensure the money used for Medicaid-qualifying services, salaries and equipment is spent out of state and local funding – so the district isn’t seen as dipping twice into that “federal funds” bucket.

[ctt template=”9″ link=”uA15y” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]More and more schools are engaged in Medicaid outreach activities to inform students and families about the availability of Medicaid and state CHIP programs, and to assist them with applying. @FrontlineEdu [/ctt]

2.  If the school district bills Medicaid for these services, it will affect the child’s individual Medicaid or other insurance coverage.

This issue often comes up during the IEP/ARD process when it comes time to complete a parental consent form. Parents worry that giving Medicaid billing consent to the district might affect their child’s personal Medicaid benefits.

Recently, this issue was further complicated in some states by an interpretation of the Social Security Act that said a state must seek reimbursement from third parties before the school can bill for Medicaid.  This has been disproven, thankfully, because it would go against the provision in IDEA that requires free and appropriate public education.

3.  The burden of the cost report makes participating in Medicaid too hard for your district.

If you’ve dealt with school-based Medicaid, you have no doubt heard of the cost reporting requirement. Each year, school districts that seek Medicaid reimbursement must file a cost report, which is a reconciliation of what they spent on direct and indirect medical services for students in special education. This includes staff salaries, equipment costs, depreciations and various ratio calculations related to Medicaid eligibility. Much like when our personal income tax filings were a vast adventure of paper records and receipt collection, this cost report can fill district personnel with tremendous dread.

While the cost reporting process is rarely considered enjoyable, it provides an opportunity to reconcile what a district actually spent providing these crucial services to their special education students, and often provides additional reimbursement beyond what they received throughout the year. As with taxes, new technology has made the process of data collection and entry far easier than it was in the past.

[ctt template=”9″ link=”7Q6mf” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Medicaid spending on school-based health accounts for about $4.5 billion of the of the entire Medicaid budget of approximately $400 billion. @FrontlineEdu [/ctt]

Medicaid program integrity and viability

In the latest data available, Medicaid spending on school-based health accounts for about $4.5 billion1 of the of the entire Medicaid budget of approximately $400 billion2.

While this seems like a minimal expenditure when related to Medicaid as a whole, we must understand that the 2019 IDEA funding outlook is $13.5 billion3. In this context we can see what a valuable program Medicaid is for the overall funding of special education in our public education system.

There has been news coverage over the past few years about Medicaid fraud and abuse in various states. There is no doubt fraud can be extremely harmful to government assistance programs. However, it’s even more important that the improper reimbursements were caught, erroneously paid funds have been recouped and new measures are now in place to ensure it doesn’t happen going forward. Updated rules and regulations, innovations in technology, proper oversight and an emphasis on compliance will hopefully keep this program viable for many years to come.

Understand your district’s allowable reimbursement potential and see where you’re missing reimbursement opportunities. Learn how

References

1Medicaid.gov. (n.d.) Expenditure Reports From MBES/CBES. Retrieved from: https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/finance/state-expenditure-reporting/expenditure-reports/index.html

2Congress of the United States Congressional Budget Office. (2019.) The Budget and Economic Outlook 2019 – 2029. Retrieved from: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2019-01/54918-Outlook.pdf

3United State Department of Education. (2018.) Department of Education Fiscal Year 2019 Congressional Action. Retrieved from: https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget19/19action.pdf

From Staff Development to Professional Development to Professional Learning

My daughters are attending new schools this year, so I’ve been a nervous dad the past few weeks. How will they do? Will they make friends quickly? Will they learn and grow like we hope?

In the whirlwind of back-to-school ice cream nights and coupon book fundraisers, our family still manages to carve out time to talk. My favorite question: “Tell me one thing about your day at school that I didn’t already know.” It leads to some great conversations.

Every year I’m struck by what my kids are learning, the projects they’re working on, how chock-full their brains are becoming. It’s a lesson in humility: they know things now that I don’t. My kids are impressive. ← (dad brag, sorry) And it’s increasingly clear: their teachers are impressive.

That’s partly because teaching attracts skilled people who care about kids. It’s also because great teachers never stop learning themselves — and because schools pour time and resources into supporting them as they do.

When it comes to educator growth, “professional learning” is the forward-thinking term used today, but that wasn’t always the case. Let’s take a look in the rearview at how the language around professional learning has evolved over time.

“Staff Development” — Late 1960’s / Early 1970’s

In December, Learning Forward (the National Staff Development Council, when it began) will mark its 50th anniversary. Somewhere around the late 60’s the term “staff development” began to be used. Although people had already understood that teachers were important, around this time it became clearer that teachers are vital to student success, and that investing in teachers could lead to better student outcomes.

Staff development tended to focus on short-term needs. A school might determine that teachers needed to learn more about a certain topic, and then hold a workshop on that topic. The term “development” is important, since it indicates something that happens to teachers, rather than teachers being active agents in the process.

Kirsten Mattson, Ed.D. puts it well: “Developing is not a word typically used to describe consciously made actions. Often, development happens to people or objects. Policies, property, film, and expectations are developed by people for their purposes. The objects of this ‘development’ often have very little to say in the process.”

“Professional Development” – Late 1990’s / Early 2000’s

The shift in terminology to “professional development” reflected an increased focus on training individuals for a professional career, and an elevated view of teaching as a profession. This eye toward people and their careers — versus a focus on the needs of a particular position — enabled learning that was aligned with long-term goals, not just immediate needs. One example: professional judgment. Teachers make thousands of quick decisions every day, so how can schools equip them to make the best decisions possible?

At this point, more sustained forms of learning such as coaching and professional learning communities, gained footing. Yet the word “development” still pointed to top-down initiatives such as large group workshops, in-service days and after school seminars that were often determined and led by people other than the teachers themselves.

TIMELINE: Education, Technology and Professional Learning

— see how the fields of technology, education and technology have interwoven and evolved throughout history in the United States.

“Professional Learning” – Early 2010’s

In 2010, the National Staff Development Council changed its name to Learning Forward to reflect a greater focus on educator growth to impact student outcomes. At the same time, “professional learning” became the preferred term for ongoing educator learning. This term emphasized the need for teachers to drive their learning based on their own needs and goals and reflecting the needs of the communities and students they serve.

Time and money are always at a premium for schools, and it’s costly to take teachers out of the classroom for professional learning. At the same time, studies have begun to show that traditional forms of professional development weren’t having the classroom impact that was needed. These led, at least in part, to a trend toward more collaborative and job-embedded learning formats.

Of course, technology has also had a huge impact on what professional learning looks like. An article for Western Governors University notes that technology has taken interactivity and collaboration to new levels:

The Internet has made collaboration possible among educators on a global level, and therefore, teachers can interact across borders to better improve the education of their students. These professional learning communities found online have drastically shifted and changed the way teachers learn and improve.

The effectiveness of collaborative and job-embedded professional learning was forcefully stated in the Every Student Succeeds Act as well. The law listed those criteria alongside “sustained,” “intensive,” “data-driven,” and “classroom-focused” as hallmarks of effective professional learning.

A Trend Toward Impact

The changes in what we call professional learning reflect an increasingly individualized, targeted, goal-aligned and results-driven approach to educator growth. While it’s unlikely the educational world will ever reach the place where it can plant a flag and say, “We’ve arrived,” it’s always wise to learn from those who are leading the way in providing relevant and impactful professional learning.

Below are stories of several schools and districts that are striving to embody the vision for what professional learning can be.

  • Gresham-Barlow School District, Portland, Oregon. Through practices like collaboration walks, inquiry teams and reflective conversations, this professional learning is all about teachers learning from and with other teachers. Read their story. 
  • Kutztown Area School District, Kutztown, Pennsylvania. What began as a strategy to fill teaching positions by training college students turned out to be tremendous professional learning for teachers. Here’s how KASD thrives as a Professional Development School. 
  • Jenks Public Schools, Jenks, Oklahoma. How can you promote positive risk-taking and explore new ideas in professional learning? Jenks Public Schools is leading the way. 

 

Effective Professional Learning Strategies (That Actually Work)

Get the Guide

 

5 Ways to Support Gifted Learners at the Start of the School Year

Excitement is in the air as a new school year begins! Students find out who their teachers will be, discover which friends are in their classes, and of course, shop for new school supplies! But there is a particular group of students who might not be quite as excited as some of the others to start school, and that group might surprise you — I am talking about students identified as gifted.

Academics often come easy to gifted students, so why are some of our nation’s brightest minds less than thrilled with school?

Many educators rely on their gifted students to set examples for other students, to perform at the top of the class in all that they do, and at times, to peer tutor students in need of assistance. These expectations can put a lot of pressure on young people who are likely struggling to be and do all that is expected of them, be it by their parents, teachers and/or themselves.

Here are five important things to keep in mind this fall that can help set your gifted students up for success throughout the year — and for years to come.

1. More work is NOT a differentiation strategy

It is not uncommon for classes to be full of students with drastically varying abilities, therefore teachers must be selective in how they spend their time. Because educator time is so limited, gifted learners who complete regular assignments at a faster pace than their peers are sometimes given MORE of the same work to complete. More of the same does not provide opportunities for high-ability learners to work at an appropriate level of difficulty. For growth to occur in gifted students, educators must differentiate content, process and product options to ensure that critical thinking and problem-solving are required for completion.

It is critical that teachers offer respectful tasks for gifted learners, rather than using the “more of the same” method. All students have the right to grow in their academic intellect.

Administrators can support teachers in providing more creative and open-ended tasks by encouraging their staff to assume more of a “guide on the side” role with students who are able to work more independently. Work to develop a campus culture where teachers feel they can take risks and try innovative strategies that aim to help ALL students succeed.

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2. Caution: No one knows it all!

Gifted does not mean gifted in every subject! Teachers and parents sometimes have unrealistic expectations of gifted students and that can put a lot of pressure on those kids. One student recently expressed to me that, when he doesn’t know something, he feels like he has let everyone (even his peers) down, because he is told they “expect more from him.” We see this scenario all too often. Our high-ability students are capable learners, but they don’t know it all.

In most instances, gifted learners do require instruction, albeit less repetitions than regular students. Pre-assessment prior to each unit of study is one strategy that teachers should utilize to determine what students know. The results should be used to guide instruction.

Pre-assessment materials are most useful when they are developed by teachers, the true content experts. Administrators can show support for teachers by offering them extended team-planning time to develop these instruments. Once pre-assessment occurs, encourage teachers to adjust instruction based on what students already know.

Tip:

You might be able to build pre-assessments off of existing materials like quizzes or ancillary materials. Learn more about quality pre-assessments here.

3. Be on the lookout for imposter syndrome

Teachers and parents are not the only ones who impose unrealistic expectations on gifted students.  Research states that about 20% of gifted youth have perfectionistic tendencies to the extent that negative consequences surface.

While we can all agree that we want students to strive to do their best, people who never feel “good enough” are often afflicted with anxiety, stress and depression.1 Gifted individuals who continually feel that they could have/should have done better sometimes suffer from a psychological phenomenon known as the imposter syndrome, a belief that one is inadequate despite evidence that indicates otherwise.

A growth mindset can help these students by taking some of the focus off the end result, rather emphasizing the work itself — the journey to get to the final product.

School staff can encourage a growth mindset among students by providing positive feedback relative to the approaches a child takes to tackle a problem. Avoid praising intelligence (“You’re so smart!”) or even using the phrase “Just keep trying.” While effort is directly aligned with growth mindset, some students tend to feel incompetent when their efforts do not yield the results they are seeking. Therefore, promoting a growth mindset among students will increase self-efficacy and reduce feelings that lead to the belief that one is a fraud, an imposter.

About 20% of #gifted youth have perfectionistic tendencies to the extent that negative consequences surface.

4. Decisions, decisions… guide students to make choices (or say no)

Earlier, we discussed that gifted students do not know it all. While that is true, many gifted students are both blessed and cursed by being good at many things. Multipotentiality is the term used to describe this concept.

On the surface, you might think “How can being good at so many things be bad?” The answer is, because being good at many things can overwhelm students by presenting them with too many choices. Kids who are talented in many different areas struggle with wanting to do it all and not knowing how to choose to spend their time. Students facing decisions with so many possible outcomes often feel stress and exhaustion.2

Adults who work with gifted students should reassure them that it is okay to say no to some talents.  However, you can also guide students who have diverse talents to find ways to combine their options to create new paths. In this age of innovation, it is possible that today’s youth will one day apply their advanced skill set to craft a unique career showcasing the many gifts possessed by those blessed to be cursed by multipotentiality!

5. Exercise forethought when assigning group work

Today’s classrooms are often arranged with collaboration in mind. Desks are sometimes arranged in pods and students are encouraged to work together. Some teachers even award participation grades based on the frequency that students share out answers/responses.

This is great news for many of our students ― because networking is an important part of business and we are preparing students for the future, right? While that is true, it’s important to recognize that some students are more contemplative in nature and need opportunities for introspection.

One study that found that around 60% of gifted children and 75% of highly gifted children are introverts.3 While these statistics might not exactly reflect what you observe in your district, you may have noticed that some students require more time for reflection.

So how can you give gifted students who tend to be introverted more time to reflect? When creating instructional activities, consider planning moderate amounts of small-group work. Offering choice to students is another way to ensure that different learning preferences are being honored.

Did you know that around 60% of #gifted children and 75% of highly gifted children are introverts?

In summary

Gifted students often carry burdens that other students do not. Contrary to popular belief, this unique group of learners will not “be okay” sitting in classrooms with teachers who do not strive to meet their specific needs. For gifted students to grow academically, differentiated lessons must be offered at levels appropriate to student abilities.

Equally important is the consideration of the social/emotional needs of advanced learners. To maximize the potential of our brightest minds, we must all work to ensure gifted students learn how to develop healthy habits and perspectives, so they can become the next generation of critical thinkers and problem-solvers.

In the meantime, let’s strive to make our classrooms engaging so that ALL students look forward to going to school each day!

Easily identify gifted and talented students and create individualized plans to help them thrive with Frontline. Learn how it works  

1 Dalla-Camina, M. (2018). The Reality of Imposter Syndrome. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/real-women/201809/the-reality-imposter-syndrome.

2 Dalla-Camina, M. (2018). The Reality of Imposter Syndrome. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/real-women/201809/the-reality-imposter-syndrome.

3 Hassel, David. Are Introverts Smarter Than Extroverts? n.p., n.d., Web. 25 February 2016. http://www.15five.com/blog/are-introverts-smarter-than-extroverts/

5 Strategies to Improve the IEP Process with Parent Participation

 

*Key points from Carol Kosnitsky’s blog post, presented by Laura Materi, Frontline Education.

Guest post by author and former Special Education Director Carol Kosnitsky

Nowhere is the value for parental involvement in education more evident than in the special education process. IDEA provides safeguards to ensure that parents assume a key decision-making role in their child’s IEP. To further emphasize its importance, the Office of Special Education Programs annually assesses the “percent of parents… who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.” (20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(A))

While the positive impact of parental involvement is well documented, so are the challenges parents and school personnel may experience as they work as teams. Consider some of the dynamics that can influence the development of a healthy team:

  • Educators can be empathetic yet may not fully understand the emotional impact an IEP meeting has on parents.
  • School team members have multiple opportunities to become fluent in the special education process. This is not the case for the parent who engages in the process less frequently and with few opportunities for practice over time.
  • Day-to-day contact among school personnel allows for informal communication, brainstorming and team building. Not a part of this informal network, parents come into a meeting in a decidedly different position.

5 Ways to Increase Parent Participation in the IEP Process

Here are some strategies teams can use to increase parental participation in the IEP process.

  1. Make it personal!
    Probably more than anything else, a parent wants evidence that team members know their child as an individual. Have staff introduce themselves to parents and share an anecdote that demonstrates their positive relationship with their child. For example: “Jasmine did a terrific job on her last science lab report. What did you think about that B+ she received?”
  2. Help parents prepare for IEP meetings.
    We all agree nobody knows a child as well as their parents. It’s important to demystify the IEP process and help parents know ahead of time what you’re looking for. Send a simple questionnaire to parents with sentence starters (e.g., “My child is good at _________. My child has difficulty with __________. My child’s behaviors include _________.”). Send the questionnaire with the meeting notice and ask parents to complete it and bring it to the meeting to share with the rest of the team. If you know a parent will have difficulty completing the form, give them a call. Let him/her know you’re taking notes so you can embed his/her ideas into the IEP draft. As with all of us, parents appreciate being asked and feel validated when their input is included! And don’t let the concern that all parents may not respond get in the way of you reaching out to those who will![ctt template=”9″ link=”1P95X” via=”yes” ]Educators can be empathetic yet may not fully understand the emotional impact an IEP meeting has on parents.[/ctt]
  3. Level the playing field through shared information.
    Make every effort to provide evaluation information to the parent prior to the annual review meeting. If a draft IEP is prepared, providing a copy in advance promotes the ability for the parent to fully engage in a discussion during the meeting. Make sure it is clearly noted as a “draft” document and populated with only those sections that can be constructed without pre-determining placement. In addition, make it clear in the transmittal that the draft IEP includes preliminary recommendations for review and discussion with the parents during the meeting. Sharing information in advance eliminates any parental concerns that some team members know things they don’t. Further, it reduces the need for parents to digest a lot of new information “on the spot.” Prior access allows them to compose their thoughts and prepare any questions or concerns they may have.
  4. Seek to understand the parent’s “interest,” not “position.”
    We’ve all experienced situations when we lay out a position that in fact may not accurately reflect our true concern. Once we stake out a position, it can be very difficult to get beyond it. When a parent states a position or demand, it’s critical the conversation focus on what problem is the parent really trying to solve. For example: During the IEP meeting, a parent requests their child be assigned a 1-to-1 paraprofessional. Rather than initially respond to this request (yes or no), ask the parent to describe what it would look like if the paraprofessional was helping their child. If the parent responds by saying the para will ensure their child is safe during recess and lunch, the team may now have insight into the parent’s true concern. A paraprofessional may or may not be the appropriate (or only) solution. However, now everyone is on the same page about what concerns need to be addressed. How you address that interest might lead the team to a whole range of supports never considered when responding to the initial position.
  5. Provide meaningful progress reports.
    Many educators find it difficult to communicate with parents when the child is not making appropriate progress toward a goal. The best way to address this is to ensure IEP goals are measurable, and a structured process is in place to frequently monitor the student’s progress. This data objectively quantifies the degree of progress the student is (or isn’t) making. By collecting objective data, the team can address the lack of progress proactively. Most parents know their children experience challenges in reaching school-based goals, as they have experienced similar challenges with them at home. What is more difficult for a parent is to find out their child did not make adequate progress at the end of the IEP cycle, when a mid-course correction is no longer available.

Final Thoughts on Facilitating School/Parent Collaboration in the IEP Process

There are no guarantees that parents and school team members will always agree on decisions to be made. However, there are things schools can do to increase parent confidence and engagement in the process. Not only will this make the team process more rewarding for all involved, it will strengthen the foundation on which the team can work through conflicts without destroying relationships.

Does your special education staff feel empowered to give detailed answers to unexpected parent questions about their child’s IEP or progress? As you train staff on parent outreach, consider how ready access to live, reliable student data can make their lives easier. Learn more about IEP & Special Education Management with Frontline.

8 Steps to Monitor Progress on Tier 2/3 Reading Interventions

Whenever I can, I like to visit the American southwest and hike in rocky desert terrain. I often find small piles of stones (cairns) placed at intervals as trail markers. Hikers are always on the lookout to spot the next cairn, moving from signpost to signpost to successfully navigate the trail. Trekkers who ignore the progress-monitoring information of these trail markers can quickly wander off the track and become lost.

Like hikers in a rugged landscape, RTI/MTSS interventionists rely on signposts — in this case, academic performance data — to judge in real time whether their intervention efforts are successful. And Tier 2/3 academic interventions come with high stakes. If struggling students fail to respond to these targeted interventions, they can face negative outcomes like grade or course failure or school disengagement. They may even be referred for special education services. Therefore, interventionists must regularly collect academic progress-monitoring data on Tier 2/3 students to judge with confidence whether their current attempts at intervention are effective and — if necessary — to self-correct by trying different interventions.1

However, the diversity in student need and assessment tools at Tier 2/3 makes the topic of monitoring progress for interventions complex ― Tier 2/3 students present with diverse academic deficits across the grade levels; interventionists employ a variety of reading assessments; schools use a range of different school-wide RTI/MTSS screeners.

By following this general 8-step process, any interventionist can bring order and simplicity to the process of accurately monitoring Tier 2/3 reading interventions.

Step 1: Who qualifies for Tier 2/3 intervention services?

A necessary first step to establishing and progress-monitoring Tier 2/3 groups is identifying which students would benefit from these intervention services. It is the job of the school-wide academic screener to accurately predict students’ current risk for academic failure.

You may enjoy this hand-picked content:

Listing of MTSS academic screening tools from the National Center on Intensive Intervention.

This screener is administered at least 3 times per year, typically in the fall, winter and spring. Once the screener has been administered to all students, the school consults the screener’s ‘benchmark’ (performance) norms and applies pre-selected cut-points (e.g., 11th-20th percentile for Tier 2; 10th percentile or below for Tier 3) to identify those students eligible for intervention services.2  At the same time, any current Tier 2/3 students with improved screening results who now fall within the ‘low-risk’ range can be exited from these services.

Step 2: What are the appropriate groupings of Tier 2/3 students based on profile of academic need?

Once you identify students eligible for Tier 2/3 services, you need to organize them into small intervention groups (i.e., Tier 2: up to 7 students; Tier 3: up to 3 students) based on a shared profile of academic need.3

The uniform sorting of students into groups based on academic skill level is a crucial step in preparation for high-quality Tier 2/3 progress-monitoring. After all, if a single intervention group is created with too wide a range of academic deficits, the interventionist will find it difficult or impossible to match all learners to one effective intervention program — or to find a common measure capable of tracking progress across such a heterogeneous population.

There are school-wide screening instruments that provide at least some diagnostic information about students’ reading skills, allowing interventionists to group students uniformly based on shared academic deficits. More often, the screener efficiently identifies a student as being at risk for academic failure but provides little additional data on the nature of that learner’s specific academic gaps. In such cases, you will need to administer supplemental formal or informal diagnostic assessments to more fully map out the profile of deficient academic skills.

Step 3: What assessment method(s) will you use to monitor Tier 2/3 progress?

After you place students in Tier 2/3 groups based on academic need and match them to appropriate intervention programs, you need to select at least one reading-assessment method (e.g., phonological skills; print awareness; letter knowledge; phonics/decoding; vocabulary; fluency; comprehension) to track student progress across the span of time the intervention will be in effect.4 You can review a listing of MTSS academic progress-monitoring tools at the National Center on Intensive Intervention website.

Progress-monitoring tools that you select should5:

  • Be reliable and valid measures of the academic skill(s) that the intervention group is working on (e.g., letter knowledge; reading comprehension)
  • Accurately measure short-term growth in academic skills, and
  • Include sufficient alternate forms (versions) of the assessment to allow monitoring across all weeks of the intervention period.

Schools may look to several possible sources to locate an appropriate academic monitoring tool to track Tier 2/3 progress:

  • Intervention program: Progress-monitoring component. Commercial academic-intervention programs used at Tiers 2 and 3 sometimes include their own progress-monitoring tools: e.g., Fundations from Wilson Language Training.
  • School-wide screener: Progress-monitoring component. Some building-wide academic screeners used to identify students for Tier 2/3 services (e.g., iReady) also have the capacity to monitor those students’ progress.

Important note: Interventionists will need to research these measures to ensure that they adequately assess the specific skills being taught in the intervention group.

  • Curriculum-based measures. Intervention groups working on foundational academic skills may want to investigate curriculum-based measures (CBMs) to track progress. CBMs are brief, timed measures of basic academic skills (e.g., letter identification; reading fluency; math-fact fluency) that are administered and scored using standardized procedures.
You may enjoy this hand-picked content:

Example of CBM materials: Free DIBELS assessments for schools to assess reading-related skills from the University of Oregon.

Step 4: How long will the Tier 2/3 intervention last?

The length of Tier 2/3 interventions should strike a balance. On the one hand, they should be in place long enough to collect sufficient progress-monitoring data to reliably evaluate whether the intervention is effective. On the other hand, they should not run so long without being evaluated that students run the risk of being stranded for extended periods in interventions that are not working. Generally, 6-10 instructional weeks is an appropriate span of time to run a Tier 2/3 intervention before checking up on its impact.

Step 5: What is the Tier 2/3 group’s baseline performance?

Before the start of Tier 2/3 group sessions, the interventionist collects baseline data on each student. The importance of this baseline data is to reflect students’ current reading performance, allowing you to clearly track each student’s progress during the intervention. Students receiving Tier 2/3 services often display variable assessment data, so — when possible — the you should attempt to collect at least three data points on each student before the intervention start date and identify the median value from the series as the best estimate of baseline performance.

Real-word example of collecting baseline data:

A reading teacher places a fourth-grade student in a Tier 2 group to work on reading fluency. That teacher administers curriculum-based measurement (CBM) oral reading fluency probes to the student on three separate days for baseline and gets these results: 68 words per minute (WPM), 56 WPM, 72 WPM. So, the teacher uses the median value from this series, 68 WPM, as an estimate of the student’s baseline performance.

Step 6: What is each student’s outcome goal?

Before beginning the Tier 2/3 intervention group, the interventionist sets an academic outcome goal for each student. Establishing and then working toward a specified goal can motivate both teacher and learner. Even more important, an outcome goal establishes a definitive threshold for success: if at the end of the intervention, the student has met or exceeded the goal, the intervention is judged as effective.

The type and magnitude of the goal you select for any student will depend on both the reading-assessment method used (see Step 3) and that student’s initial (baseline) reading ability (see Step 5).

By definition however, the student receiving Tier 2/3 reading services has substantial gaps in reading skills and must accelerate learning to catch up with grade-level peers. So, the Tier 2/3 interventionist should set an outcome goal for that student that is ‘ambitious but realistic’6: the selected goal has a reasonable likelihood of success (‘realistic’) but also falls within the high range of achievement (‘ambitious’) for learners with a profile similar to that of the target student.

You may enjoy this hand-picked content:

7 Steps to Monitor Progress on Tier 1/Classroom Interventions.

Step 7: How often should you collect data?

The progress-monitoring data collected during any RTI/MTSS intervention should be ‘formative’ — that is, it should be collected with sufficient frequency to allow the interventionist to judge in real time the effectiveness of the intervention. For Tier 2, you should collect data at least 2 times per month. For Tier 3, data collection should take place at least weekly.

Recent research also suggests that inconsistencies in how student data is collected can result in a worrying amount of variability (‘error’) creeping into progress-monitoring data. Therefore, schools should attempt as much as possible to standardize key elements of data collection, including student directions; administration procedures; time of day; and assignment of a single, familiar staff member to perform the assessments.7

[ctt template=”9″ link=”ACG6Z” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Research suggests that inconsistencies in how student data is collected can result in a worrying amount of variability (‘error’) creeping into progress-monitoring data. #RTI #MTSS[/ctt]

Step 8: Is the intervention plan working? How does each student’s actual performance compare with the outcome goal?

Once the intervention begins, the Tier 2/3 interventionist provides academic services to students until the check-up date (see Step 4) arrives 6-10 instructional weeks later. At that point, the interventionist reviews progress-monitoring data for each student and compares it to the goal.

There are 2 potential outcome decisions to make at this point:

  1. Should the student continue in the current intervention?
  2. Does the student still need Tier 2/3 services in general?

The most straightforward question is whether the student should remain enrolled in the current reading intervention. These decision rules can help you find the answer:

  • Outcome goal met. If a student meets the outcome goal, the intervention is successful. However, if the interventionist judges that the current intervention is still helping the student, it should continue. If instead you decide that the intervention is no longer needed, it should be discontinued.
  • Clear progress – but outcome goal not met. If the progress-monitoring data shows that the student has made meaningful progress but still falls short of the outcome goal, you may elect to keep the current program but make adjustments to strengthen it — like shrinking the group size, increasing frequency and/or length of sessions, etc.
  • Little or no progress observed. If the student fails to make significant progress in the group, the interventionist should consider switching the student to a different intervention program or referring that student for more intensive intervention services (e.g., to move from Tier 2 to Tier 3).

If a student is found to meet or exceed the outcome goal, a second question to consider is whether that learner should now transition to a lower level of RTI/MTSS support. For example, is a successful Tier 3 student ready to drop down to Tier 2 services? Or is it time for a proficient Tier 2 learner to exit from supplemental services altogether?

When the intervention check-up date coincides with the next round of school-wide reading screening, this is typically a simple decision to make. Students in Tiers 2 and 3 would first be expected to show through current screening results that they now fall within the low-risk range before they are allowed to transition to a lower Tier of RTI/MTSS service.

Sometimes the Tier 2/3 intervention check-up date falls to coincide with the next pending school-wide screening. In those cases, the school must make the judgment call about whether to give the Tier 2/3 interventionist latitude to judge — based on the progress-monitoring data — whether the student has made sufficient growth to justify stepping down to a lower intervention Tier.

Key Takeaway: Screening is the Foundation for a Progress-Monitoring Plan

Like trail markers on a hiking path, progress-monitoring data helps you set and then evaluate whether students are achieving an accelerated ‘catch-up’ rate of learning in Tier 2/3 interventions. A consistent stream of progress-monitoring can also:

  • Provide real-time evidence of intervention impact that prevents students from languishing in ineffective services.
  • Make the case in combination with updated screening data for stepping down or exiting from intervention a successful Tier 2/3 student.
  • Yield clear documentation to be archived in the school’s RTI/MTSS content-management system indicating whether students have benefited from particular Tier 2/3 intervention groups.

It is worth repeating that a progress-monitoring plan for a Tier 2 or 3 reading group is feasible only when students are first grouped uniformly according to area(s) of reading deficit. To accomplish these homogeneous groupings, the school typically depends on information from the fall/winter/spring school-wide screenings — and perhaps additional diagnostic testing. So, at Tiers 2 and 3, plans to monitor progress of intervention groups are built on the foundation of screening data.

Are your struggling learners receiving the right level of support? Collect the screening data you need alongside other data sources to find your answer with Frontline’s RTI/MTSS Program Management software.

Hixson, M. D., Christ, T. J., & Bruni, T. (2014).  Best practices in the analysis of progress monitoring data and decision making in A. Thomas & Patti Harris (Eds.), Best Practices in School Psychology VI (pp. 343-354). Silver Springs, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Glover, T.A. & Albers, C. A. (2007). Considerations for evaluating universal screening assessments. Journal of School Psychology, 42, 117-135.

Wright, J. (2007). The RTI toolkit: A practical guide for schools. Port Chester, NY: National Professional Resources, Inc.

Johnson, E. S., Pool, J., & Carter, D. R. (n.d.). Screening for reading problems in grades 1 through 3: An overview of selected measures. Retrieved from http://www.rtinetwork.org/essential/assessment/screening/screening-for-reading-problems-in-grades-1-through-3.

Hixson, M. D., Christ, T. J., & Bruni, T. (2014). Best practices in the analysis of progress monitoring data and decision making in A. Thomas & Patti Harris (Eds.), Best Practices in School Psychology VI (pp. 343-354). Silver Springs, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Shapiro, E. S. (2008). Best practices in setting progress-monitoring monitoring goals for academic skill improvement. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology V (pp. 141-157). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Hixson, M. D., Christ, T. J., & Bruni, T. (2014). Best practices in the analysis of progress monitoring data and decision making in A. Thomas & P. Harris (Eds.), Best Practices in School Psychology VI (pp. 343-354). Silver Springs, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

4 Simple Ways to Boost Educator Growth Every Day

With the start of a new school year almost upon us (or maybe already here), educators everywhere are gearing up — making preparations for students, polishing up lesson plans, training new hires and laying plans for the year.

As C&I departments publish professional learning catalogs and plan PD initiatives, many are asking, “How do we engage our teachers in professional learning? How can we make sure PL in our district is as effective as possible?”

Those are great questions, and for educators who know all too well just how busy autumn can be, the answers might seem unattainable.

We asked leaders at several different school districts to weigh in. They had some compelling ideas for effective professional learning that can be implemented right away, even if you don’t have the resources — or the time — to start a massive program.

(Transcripts have been lightly edited for readability.)

  Listen to individual stories

“One of the things that we definitely need to always be mindful of is making sure that we’re not just tracking big data and impact change at the system level, but making sure we’re finding out those individual stories,” said Rowena Mak, then the Director of Student Learning Programs at Adlai E. Stevenson High School District #125 in Lincolnshire, IL. It’s equally important to connect with individual students, look at cases of student success and work with teachers to identify what has been effective in encouraging student growth. Such stories will help connect the data in your systems to the names and faces in your classrooms.

“One of the things that we definitely need to be mindful of is making sure that we are not just tracking big data and impact change at the system level, but making sure we are finding out those individual stories, knowing the names of students and the case studies of students where those success stories are. I know that in my program in particular, I make sure that I know names of students and their stories, and how it is that their story might be different or the same.

“I work with a lot of teachers, and finding out specific names of students, and then saying, ‘How did Bob grow this year? What connections are we making between Bob’s growth and the intervention efforts that we’re putting into place?’ So, helping everyone understand that when we talk about RTI, when we talk about changes, we’re not talking about some nameless or faceless student, but actual people in our school.”

  Spread success around

Gretchen Polivka, Math Specialist at Fairfax County Public Schools in Falls Church, VA, recommended identifying key practices in each school that you’d like to see adopted by everyone. “What are some things you would like to see common in your entire school building? What are some things that you think everyone in your school should be implementing?” Then, encourage your teachers to observe those practices in action.

“In order to get something started in your own school, start small and really think about what are some things that you would like to see common in your entire school building? What are some things that you think everyone in your school should be implementing so that all students, regardless of which classroom they’re in, have access to the same level of instruction?

“All students should be able to have high quality, high leverage teaching, regardless of whose classroom they’re in. So, picking out some of those key things that each school thinks is important, and then starting to look at what components of those should be in place, and what does it look like in each classroom. Then teachers can have the ability to go around and see those things in action.”

  Look for “Aha!” moments

Heather Peterson, the Coordinator of Organization Effectiveness, and now the Coordinator of Culture and Climate, at Hampton City Schools in Hampton, VA. She stressed the benefits of teachers self-identifying what their needs really are — and the increased engagement that accompanies such discoveries. “A lot of times we tell teachers what they need vs. letting them discover that ‘Aha!’ of how something’s going to make a difference.”

“One way that I was able to help get a teacher engaged in professional learning was helping them to identify what their true needs were. A lot of times we tell teachers what they need versus letting them discover that ‘Aha’ of how something is going to make a difference. Sitting down and talking about, ‘What challenges are you facing, or what is something you would like to overcome to make your students more successful?’ — providing the opportunity for the teacher to have that ‘Aha’ moment really made a difference for her. And she was completely engaged and wanted to know, ‘What else can I do? And where can I get more of it?’”

  Make the most of hallway conversations

Great learning doesn’t need to be formal or lengthy, said Claudine Scuccato, a principal at the Peel District School Board in Ontario. “Do we need to sit in a boardroom to learn? Of course not. Can we have a learning conversation in the hallways that’s just as meaningful in two minutes as two hours of PD? Absolutely.” Time may be in short supply, but you can still create a culture of learning and collaboration in your organization — even if it’s in the hallways, at lunch or in the parking lot.

“Teachers say there’s such limited time to do so much for kids. We need to talk about what professional learning actually looks like. Do we need to sit in a boardroom to learn? Of course not. Can we have a learning conversation in the hallway that’s just as meaningful in two minutes as two hours of PD? Absolutely.

“We have to take the learning that other people have done and share that. Those conversations that happen at lunchtime, or that happen in the hallway, are just as meaningful and powerful. Time can’t be a factor all the time, so we have to make those conversations meaningful to what we need and to what we need to do to meet the needs of students.”

How do you know if your professional learning program is effective? Check out “Professional Development Program Evaluation for the Win!” This free resource (plus podcast!) is jam-packed with strategies to systematically review your professional learning program, collect and analyze data around its effectiveness, and then create useful and compelling reports.

10 Sources of Data to Build a Comprehensive IEP

 

*Key points from Carol Kosnitsky’s blog post, presented by Laura Materi, Frontline Education.

The IEP has the potential to “tell the right story” for each student with a disability — to describe the student’s strengths and assets, identify areas of need and chart a pathway for a successful school year.  But to be relevant and meaningful, the IEP must be based on current, reliable and valid information. Let’s take a look at 10 sources of information to consider.

  1. Special Education Assessments — Initially, these assessments help to determine if a student is eligible. Is there a disability, and does the student require specially designed instruction? These assessments also provide instructional information including student strengths, needs and recommendations for instruction and accommodations.
  1. IEP Progress Monitoring Data — Upon implementation of the initial IEP, progress monitoring data is collected to demonstrate status of goal achievement, effective instructional approaches and the student’s growth rate. This data should inform subsequent present level statements, goal selection, performance criteria and selection of appropriate supports and service.
  1. Other Assessments — Teams should update information that accurately reflects student’s present levels of performance. Districts use “benchmark assessments” to assess all students at their grade level throughout the school year (e.g. DIBELS, AIMSweb, and STAR). However, for students performing substantially below grade level, these assessments may be too challenging to accurately reflect what the student can do! If it’s established that the student did not meet his or her grade level benchmark (let’s say 4th grade), the proper action would be to assess the student at 3rd grade, then 2nd grade and so on until student meets the benchmark for that grade. Utilize this process and you will certainly have a lot of current and empirical data on what the student CAN do!
  1. Observations — Observations can help assess students’ functional performance in school settings, including how students generalize skills between the special and general education setting, follow classroom routines, engage in social interactions and manage themselves in the complex general education environment.
  1. Student Input — Set aside time to discuss with students their strengths, interests, preferences and personal accomplishments prior to the meeting.  Help students identify their needs, how to access help and their goals for the upcoming year. This strategy does double duty — IEPs will be informed by student input while students become increasingly more self-aware.  Give students the opportunity to present their input in their own words during the meeting. This is both very powerful and empowering!
  1. Parent Input — No one knows a child better than his or her parents. Contact parents prior to the IEP meeting to discuss input on their child’s strengths, needs, interests and any other information that they want to share. Having the opportunity to think about their input prior to the meeting may increase their participation at the meeting. At the very least, consider the useful information you obtain by simply asking the following question: “This will be a successful year for my child if________.”
  1. Teacher Input — Classroom teachers have vital information about their students, yet may not know what they should contribute to the IEP. Ask teachers a few targeted questions such as:
  • What are the demands for this grade (level of independence; degree of writing, etc.)?
  • How does the student perform in these areas compared to classmates?
  • How do you address these discrepancies?
  • What do you want next year’s teacher to know about this student?
  1. Grade Level Expectations — The team should be knowledgeable about grade level expectations in order to support a student’s involvement and progress in the curriculum. With this knowledge, the team can prioritize student needs and align the student’s goals, supports and services. Remember, the IEP must describe expected performance versus actual performance and make meaning of the gap!
  1. Behavioral Data — From basic information such as attendance to more sophisticated data from behavioral intervention plans, behavioral data should be reviewed by teams. Rule of thumb: if concerning patterns emerge from behavioral data, the team should ask additional questions to determine if it is disability-related. Consider if a functional behavioral assessment could shed light on behavioral issues to be addressed in the IEP.
  1. State Assessments — Increasingly, states are committed to focusing on growth models, allowing teams to determine if students are making progress over time. Regardless of the challenges inherent with state assessments, the team can examine this data to determine if the student is receiving the appropriate accommodations allowable during instruction and assessments.
Tips to Collect and Manage Data

Schools have a wealth of information on students; yet teams may find it difficult to organize and synthesize it all. Here are some tips:

  1. Share the collection of data.  Create a plan as to who will do what and when. This avoids gaps and redundancies.
  2. Use technology to support collaboration. Many IEP software systems have the capacity for team members to share input. Or your district may use other platforms that allow teams to store and share information throughout the year (progress monitoring data, stakeholder input, etc.). Be sure to follow your district’s policies and procedures on protecting student privacy.
  3. Develop sets of questions to obtain important information from students, parents and teachers. While everyone will have the opportunity to discuss input at the IEP meeting, providing questions before hand will help everyone to be better prepared.
  4. Create ways to provide coverage so team members can do observations and collaborate around the IEP process.

Remember, the IEP is only as strong as the foundation on which it is built. Make sure teams collect and use multiple sources of data in order to “tell the right story”!

Developing IEP Goals? Check out core concepts and best practices

Read the Guide Now