On The Same Page

How do we plan?

Curriculum Planning using the Essential Learnings

and Standards

Module Overview

• Indicators of inclusive practices in schools and classrooms

• Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR)

• Spotlight on educational approaches

• Guided template - unit planning

• Action research process – Where to from here?

Standards Based Curriculum

Values and Beliefs

Educational Approaches

Teaching and Learning

“Begin with the assumption that every student will be given the opportunity to

engage with their same age cohort, in the Essential Learnings.”

Did you know?

• A student’s disability tells you something about a student but not much about his or her educational needs

• A student’s disability may impact on learning - but it may have little impact at all

• Students with the same diagnosis experience their disability in unique ways

• Disability is only one of the many possible sources of individual need in classrooms

Shaddock, Giorcelli and Smith 2007

Teachers enacting inclusive practices

• Demonstrate awareness of relevant legislation and policy

• Provide multiple opportunities for all students to engage and progress in the mandated curriculum

• Work predominantly from student strengths

• Operate flexibly and responsively for all students

• Modify the pace of work, building knowledge and skills gradually and in clear stages

• Use and exploit well-honed techniques

• Value a TEAM APPROACH

Teachers enacting inclusive practices

Collaboration

• Voluntary

• Joint decision making

• Mutual goals

• Shared responsibility

• Sharing of resources

• Shared accountability of outcomes

Video Friend and Cook 2007

• Collaborative partnerships

• Co-teaching

School-based collaborative approaches

• have confidence in partner's skills• design learning environments that require

active involvement• create learning and teaching environments

where each person's contributions are valued

• develop effective routines to facilitate in-depth planning, and

• increase productivity, creativity, and collaboration over time

Walther-Thomas 1996

Effective co-planners

“School-based collaboration is an interactive team process that focuses student, family, education, and related services partners on enhancing the academic achievement and functional performance of all students in school.”

Hanft & Shepherd 2008

School-based collaboration

Curriculum Alignment

Aligning teaching, assessment and reporting with curriculum intent

Alignment refers to the match between curriculum intent, pedagogy, assessment and reporting and how well they work together to improve student learning

How do we align?

What do we want from our planning?

• Focused teaching

• Engaged learning

• High expectations

How do we meet the needs of diverse learners?

Use educational approaches such as:

• Integrated units

• Multi-sensory teaching

• Multiple intelligences

• Universal Design for Learning

• Differentiated Instruction

• Curriculum overlap

Universal Design for Learning

UDL provides a blueprint for :

• creating flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments that accommodate learner differences

• multiple approaches to meet diverse needs of learners

• designing learning environments that from the beginning do not contain barriers

http://www.cast.org

http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/

• Multiple means of representation– Providing learners with various ways to

acquire knowledge and information• Multiple means of expression

– Providing learners with alternatives to demonstrate what they know and what they think

• Multiple means of engagement– Providing learners with appropriate means

of engaging and interacting with the learning environment

Universal Design for Learning

Differentiated Instruction

• Differentiation is a teaching concept in which the classroom teacher plans for the diverse needs of students

• The key to a differentiated classroom is that all students are regularly offered CHOICES and students are matched with tasks compatible with their individual learner profiles

Differentiated Instruction

Curriculum should be differentiated in three areas:

1. Content: Multiple options for taking in information

2. Process: Multiple options for making sense of the ideas

3. Product: Multiple options for expressing what they know

Curriculum overlap

• An approach for teachers who have students who are not working towards same age cohort curriculum standards

• Provides the learning context for students to focus on individual goals that are relevant to their needs such as communication and social skills within the class and the unit of work

• Essential Learnings

• Standards

• Assessment for Learning

• Guidelines for Reporting

QCAR

What is the intended curriculum?

Guided template

Identify Curriculum

Unit Overview/ Task Outline

What is the general description of unit/task?

Ways of Working Essential Learnings

Select the focus of Ways of Working statements appropriate for the unit. Are the Ways of Working accessible but challenging for all students?Do some Essential Learnings for some students need to be selected from other key junctures (see Scope and Sequence)?

Knowledge and Understanding Essential Learnings

Select the focus of Knowledge and Understanding appropriate for the unit.Is the Knowledge and Understanding accessible but challenging for all students?

Context for Learning What is the purpose and focus of the unit? Why is this unit important to all students?Is the context selected by the teacher, or are there opportunities to negotiate the context with students?Is there anything happening in the school, local community, nationally or internationally that may provide a suitable context?Is pre-teaching required for individual learners?Is the learning relevant, important and interesting for all students?

This will lead to deep understanding of……….

What is the deeper meaning we want students to understand? e.g. Why is water important to life?”

Assess and make judgments

Assess and Make Judgments

What will be assessed?

Type of Assessment

When? Purpose Assessable Elements

Adjustments for individual learners

What evidence will be observed in student work including adjustments for a diverse range of learners?

What type of assessment will be used to gather evidence of identified Essential Learnings including adjustments for a diverse range of learners?What are the variety of ways to assess demonstrations of student learning (e.g. is one type of test used exclusively)?

What time within the unit will this assessment occur?How does the timing and duration of assessment reflect that learning can occur before, during and after learning?

What is the genuine and valued purpose (e.g. diagnostic, formative, assessment for learning, summative) of the assessment? How will the context and structure of assessments reflect the varied needs, abilities, interests and experiences of students?

Which assessable elements will be the focus for assessment? (These are located in the Learning and Assessment focus of the Essential Learnings and the Assessable Elements and descriptors table.)

Do some students need additional time to complete tasks, rest breaks, split sessions, separate assessment venues? Do some students need a scribe, reader, personal computer, oral to audiotape, audio taped questions, graphic presentations, heavy lined paper?

Sequence of learning

Sequence of Learning

Learning Experiences and Teaching Strategies

Adjustments for needs of individual learners? Resources

Orientating, Enhancing, SynthesisingList learning experiences that directly relate to the identified Ways of Working and Knowledge and Understanding.Are the teaching strategies selected to ensure that the Essential Learnings are explicitly taught?Do the learning experiences cater to the varied needs, abilities, interests and experiences of students?If appropriate, identify a framework (eg: 5Es, inquiry approaches) that would help sequence the unit.Do the learning experiences engage a variety of learners in the use of digital media?Is the learning provided in a variety of contexts e.g. small group, independent, large groups, peer mentoring?Are a variety of formats used e.g. small group, 1-1 instruction, hands on?

Orientating, Enhancing, Synthesising What prior learning is required?How will the learning experiences be adjusted to cater for a diverse range of students?

Resources:QSA – Special Needs: Professional Development Packagehttp://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning/691.html

DSSU – DSSU Learning Communityhttp://www.learningplace.com.au/en/dssulc

EQ – General Information on Disabilitieshttp://education.qld.gov.au/studentservices/learning/disbility/generalinfo

What resources will be required to support learning in this unit? What resources will be required for specific learners to access the learning process?What specialist support staff will assist in the delivery of teaching and learning activities?

Embedding of ICTs

Embedding Of ICTS Citizenship Framework

What range of tools and media will be used for teaching e.g. interactive whiteboard, Web Quests, learning objects, websites, concept mapping, assistive technology? What types of technologies can be used for learning and assessment e.g. Reading Tools – text-to-speech, OCR, talking books, software that converts text files to audio; Writing Tools - organisational software, on-screen word banks, word prediction, voice recognition, portable word processors or note takers?

Which of the 5 Citizen roles relate to the Unit: Healthy, Informed, Creative, Democratic, Bio?Which OLO (Overarching Learning Organisers) are relevant, for example Understands stewardship for the natural environment and can take collaborative action to protect the earth for present and future generations?

Feedback

USE FEEDBACK

Monitoring Learning and Assessment

Strategies Adjustments for needs of individual learners?

Which strategies will be used to provide feedback to students e.g. formal report cards and informal; annotated work; one – on one conferencing; feedback from others; peer evaluation and self-reflection?

What adjustments are needed for completion of assessment tasks?What adjustments are required for providing feedback to individual students e.g. audio report, Braille, video, text-to-speech?Do all student feedback strategies enable all students to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their work?When is the best time to provide feedback?

Where to from here?

The Action Research process is an approach for understanding and acting on issues in schools

Action research is a simple, effective tool for schools wanting to constantly improve their work on issues of their own choicehttp://education.qld.gov.au/students/advocacy/equity/gender-sch/action/action.html