Supporting Students in the Secondary Content Areas

Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network

Supporting Students in the Secondary Content Areas

Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3

Adapted from, PaTTAN Harrisburg

Pam Kastner Allen Muir

Teresa Stoudt

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PaTTAN’s Mission

The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance

Network is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of

Education working in partnership with families and local education agencies to

support programs and services to improve student learning and achievement.

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District, IU, Preschool, Agency Policy

Your local district’s policies regarding paraprofessional job descriptions, duties, and responsibilities provide the final word!

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Agenda

• Introduction and Learner Outcomes• Overview of Effective Instruction• Effective Instruction Within

Secondary-Level Reading & Math– Principles of Effective Instruction– Strategies for Implementing Effective

Instruction

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Learner Outcomes

Participants will:– Identify key principles of effective

instruction– Identify strategies for incorporating the

key principles in a secondary setting– Clarify the role of a paraprofessional

supporting the teacher in implementing secondary-level reading and math instruction

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Two Engagement Strategies

• Think-Pair-Share• Give 1/Get1

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Definition of a Strategy

• Individual’s approach to a task• Systematic “plans” that one uses

to accomplish a learning task• Cognitive Strategies are the

“Tools”• Metacognitive Strategies are the

“Process”

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Ten Principles of Effective Instruction

Principle 1: Engagement Time

Students learn more when they are actively engaged in instructional

tasks.

Ellis & Worthington (1994),Coyne, Kame’enui and Carnine (2007), Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001)

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Engagement Time-Definition

• Academic Engaged Time

• The amount of allocated time a student spends actively engaged in appropriate tasks that s/he can perform with a high rate of success.

This is learning!!!

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Engagement Time

• Students learn more when they are actively engaged in instructional tasks

• Three aspects of time that directly impact student learning:

1. Time allocated for the activity 2. Degree to which students are

engaged 3. Rates of Success that students

experience

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#1: Time AllocatedHow much time do we allocate to

content areas?Based on:• State Recommendations/Standards• District/School Goals and Objectives• Characteristics of students

“We don’t have control over many of these decisions!”

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#2: Degree of EngagementIncrease Intrinsic Motivation - Gain attention for 10-90 min.• CHOICES

• RELEVANT

• ENGAGING

Increase apathy and resentment Gain attention for 10 min or <• REQUIRED

• IRRELEVANT

• PASSIVEWe do have control of this aspect of time!

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• The rates of success the students experience while engaged in the activity directly impacts student learning.

• Success rate is a critical variable: when students are provided with high rates of success during instructional activities, student learning is increased.

• They say that practice makes perfect, but only

perfect practices makes perfect, therefore it is important to aim for 90% engagement.

#3: Rates of Success

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Engagement Time: Selected Strategies

• Response Cards (yes, no, why)• Choral Responding• Think-Pair-Share

• Think-write-pair-discuss• Reciprocal Teaching

Ellis & Worthington (1994), Coyne, Kame’enui and Carnine (2007), Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001)

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Principle 2: Incorporate High Rates of Success

Students who experience high and moderate success rates are

correlated positively with student learning outcomes.


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Incorporate High Rates of Success

• High student success rates (and to a less extent, moderate success rates) correlate positively with student learning outcomes.

• Low success rates correlate negatively with student learning outcomes.

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Incorporate High Rates of Success

• Selected Strategies:– “Errorless” Learning– Constructive Feedback– Skill Sequencing– Pacing


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Incorporate High Rates of Success • Selected Strategies: Constructive Feedback Is… Is Not…Highly Specific Non-Specific

adviseblame or praise

Compares current performance Assuming that theto a standard process (instruction,

hard work, advice) is enough to reach the

goalFrequent, on-going, timely Delayed or

erratic

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High Rates of Success Activity

• Given a list of potential feedback, identify examples and non-examples of constructive feedback.

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Incorporate High Rates of Success Selected Strategies:Formative Assessment• Formative assessment is assessment for

learning.• Using formative assessment provides

students with feedback that helps students take control of their own learning and become successful self-regulated learners.

• paraprofessionals should provide feedback which includes opportunities to improve and guidance on how to improve.

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Principle 3: Content Coverage/Opportunities to Learn

Increased opportunities to learn content is correlated positively with increased

student achievement.


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Content Coverage/Opportunities to Learn

Selected Strategies:• Identify Essential Content• Reduce Transition Time• Begin and End Lessons on Time

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Principle 4: Grouping for Instruction

Students achieve more in classes where they spend the most of their

time being directly taught by a teacher. The manner in which a

paraprofessional delivers instruction is an important instructional principle

that directly impacts student achievement.


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Selected Strategies:• Small Group Instruction• Individual Instruction• Whole Group Instruction• Flexible Grouping

Grouping for Instruction

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Principle 5: Scaffolded Instruction

Students become independent, self-regulated learners through

instruction that is deliberately and carefully scaffolded.


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Scaffolded Instruction

• Skillfully structuring the environment to make it easier for students to achieve more than they can on their own.

• Scaffolded instruction serves as a temporary and adjustable support for students to develop new skills and abilities.

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Teacherassumes mostof the control

Independentself-regulated

learning

Initial instruction Ultimate goal

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Scaffolded Instruction: the Process

Explicit

Modeling

Prompts

StudentEfforts

IndependentPractice

StudentMastery

StudentParticipation

Corrective Feedback

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Examples:• Guided Notes• Think Alouds• Verbal Prompting• Physical Prompting

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Principle 6: Addressing Forms of Knowledge

The critical forms of knowledge must be addressed in order for students to become independent, self-regulated

learners.


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Addressing Forms of Knowledge

• Declarative (the what) – factual information

• Procedural (the how) – how to use the knowledge in specific ways

• Conditional (the when and where) – knowing when and where to apply the knowledge

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Principle #7- Activating and Organizing Knowledge

Learning is increased when teaching is presented in a manner that assists students in organizing, storing, and

retrieving information.

– Organizing– Storing – Retrieving

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Activating and Organizing KnowledgeWhy the inability to access prior

knowledge?• Students lack sufficient knowledge

base.• Students have poorly organized

knowledge so have difficulty retrieving it.

• Students are unaware of the conditions under which the knowledge they possess is relevant.

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Activating and Organizing Knowledge• Selected Strategies• Mnemonics• Note taking• Content Organizers• Study Guides• Instructional Organizers/Graphic Organizers

– Advance Organizers– Lesson Organizers– Post-Organizers

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Activating and Organizing Knowledge

Guided Practice Activity:

• Complete Frayer Diagram 1 to illustrate the term “Constructive Feedback”.

• Share your results with the Group.

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Chinese Graphic Organizer

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Activating and Organizing KnowledgeIndependent Practice Activity:At each Table:• Set of sample content organizers:

– Timeline– Compare/Contrast with Summary– KWLS

• Select one that you would use to support a student with an instructional task

• Share your work with the group

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Principle #8: Teaching Strategically

Strategic instruction is designed to teach students how to apply

techniques, principles, or rules in order to solve problems and

complete tasks successfully and independently and will help students to become more independent, self-

regulated learners.

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Goal of Teaching Strategically

To teach students how to learn effectively

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Teaching Strategically: What the Research Says• Expert learners

– Know how and when to use specific cognitive strategies

– Access particular strategies with flexibility

– Develop a repertoire of cognitive and metacognitive strategies spontaneously

• Novice Learners (ineffective) – Do not have a

repertoire of problem solving strategies

– Do not exhibit strategy flexibility

– Have difficulty integrating subskillsJones, et al (1987)

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Definition of a Strategy

• Individual’s approach to a task• Systematic “plans” that one uses to

accomplish a learning task• Cognitive Strategies are the “Tools”• Metacognitive Strategies are the

“Process”

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Teaching Strategically

Steps:• Discuss thinking process associated with

strategy steps.• Determine opportunities for transfer.• Highlight empowerment that accompanies

use of strategy.• Model reflection - allow students to think

through the solutions to their academic problems.

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Teaching Strategically

Examples:• Ten-Two• Card Sort• KWLS (Know/Want to

Know/Learned/Still want to know)

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Instructional Principles: Paraprofessionals

Scaffolded

InstructionMaintain Active

Engagement

Activate/Organize

Knowledge

Incor

pora

te High

Rates o

f Suc

cess

Teach Strategically

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Principle #9: Making Instruction Explicit

Teachers and paraprofessionals can increase their students’ achievement

through instruction that is explicit.

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Making Instruction Explicit

Selected Strategies:• Controlled Instruction and Practice• Demonstrate/Model/I do• Guided Practice• Independent Practice• Instructional level match• Opportunities for maintenance and

generalization

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Principle #10: Teaching Sameness in the Curriculum

Teaching sameness is linking a single concept with many ideas and

providing students with numerous examples to promote generalization.

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Teaching Sameness in the Curriculum

Selected Strategies:• Thematic units across subject areas.• Teach to generalization and/or transfer.• Scavenger hunts.• Inspirations software – concept webs,

graphic organizers.

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Learner Outcomes

• Participants Will:– Identify key principles of effective

instruction– Identify strategies for incorporating the

key principles in a secondary setting– Clarify the role of a paraprofessional

supporting the teacher in implementing secondary-level reading and math instruction

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References

• Ellis, E. and Worthington, L. (1994). Research Synthesis on Effective Teaching Principles and the Design of Quality Tools for Educators. National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators, University of Oregon

• Keller, C., Bucholz, J. & Brady, M.,(2006). Yes, I Can! Empowering Paraprofessionals to Teach Learning Strategies. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 39(3)18-23

• Marzano, R.(2003) What Works in Schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

• Thompson, M. (2006) Leadership, Achievement, and Accountability: Benchmarking to Exemplary Practice. Boone, NC: Learning Focused Solutions

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Please check the PaTTAN website: www.pattan.net

for upcoming trainings

Upcoming paraprofessional Training

http://www.pattan.net/

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Contact Information www.pattan.net

PaTTAN Harrisburg717-541-4960800-360-7282

PaTTAN King of Prussia610-265-7321800-441-3215

PaTTAN Pittsburgh412-826-2336800-446-5607

Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaEdward G. Rendell, Governor

Pennsylvania Department of EducationGerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed., Secretary

Diane Castelbuono, Deputy SecretaryOffice of Elementary and Secondary

Education

John J. Tommasini, DirectorBureau of Special Education

Patricia Hozella, Assistant DirectorBureau of Special Education

Documents

Supporting Students in the Secondary Content Areas