Safety Nets

I wanted to share some information that I read during my NISL class this week.  I felt that it was great information about supports we need to have in place to meet the needs of ALL our students. Please take some time to read this and highlight some of the key points that you find powerful.  We will refer to this Monday Morning Message at our next staff meeting.  

In the United States in the past, students who fell behind their peers were often placed in a lower track, and expectations regarding what they achieved were reduced accordingly.  Students who fell behind were often regarded as lacking the ability to perform at a high standard and it was not thought feasible within the constraints of the regular school day to devise arrangements that would catch them up.

More recently, there has been scientific evidence that confirms that all students can achieve high standards, given sufficient time and support.  The issue becomes one of identifying those students needing extra time and support and ensuring that they are provided with it.  What is more, the concept of a multi-tier system of targeted supports is no longer a theoretically attractive but practically impossible idea.  A range of ways of providing extra time and support within the context of the regular school day have been devised and shown to work.

What held us back in the past was often a motivation to invest in these systems of supports (or “safety nets”).  The consequences for students of falling behind were not necessarily severe since they could always find a well-paid job even if they did not get high grades.  There were virtually no negative consequences for teachers or for the school.  Since the early part of this century, this has all changed.  Current accountability systems hold very real consequences and sanctions for schools and school systems that do not support all students meeting proficiency.  Most importantly, the consequences for students of not getting a good education in the modern knowledge economy are severe.

As a result, providing a system of supports for students who need additional, targeted support is no longer optional for schools; such systems are an integral component of any modern, standards-aligned instructional system.  Such a system needs to be embedded into the operation of classes and of the school as a whole.  This means a change of thinking on the behalf of many staff in schools.  These “safety nets” make assumptions about people’s beliefs and understandings and may call for a change in thinking on the part of staff who have not really embraced “all means all” or who may not believe that such a system of supports is either necessary or feasible.

The purpose of a system of targeted supports is to catch students up with their peers as quickly as possible.

We have been so accustomed to responding to students who have fallen behind their peers by withdrawing them from the regular classroom and from the regular curriculum, that it is necessary to emphasize that the aim of such “safety nets” is to catch students up so that they can remain and experience success in the regular classroom.  The success of any system of supports is best judged by the extent to which the lowest achieving students are nevertheless reaching high standards in regular classrooms.

The very first “safety net” is the system for ensuring that students attend school and that they are ready to learn

Absence from school is a major cause of student failure to learn.  For this reason, every effort needs to be made to ensure high levels of attendance.   When students are absent the school needs to give them opportunities to catch up on missed work.  Another cause of student failure to learn is an inability to focus on schoolwork because of health issues (e.g., the student needs eyeglasses or breakfast) or because students are preoccupied worrying about things happening at home or within the school (e.g., domestic violence, bullying).  With the right training, teachers can learn how to recognize and respond to many such situations and with the right programs; schools can mobilize community support to assist in addressing them in a positive fashion.

Decisions regarding student entry to and exit from targeted supports should always be made on the basis of data

A key feature of any effective system of supports is the use of data to guide decisions about:

• who needs access to extra time and support and for what aspect of their learning;

•the kind of time and support needed; and

•when the additional time and support is no longer needed.

This implies ongoing monitoring of student progress by classroom teachers using commonly agreed and parallel processes in all safety net programs.  Targeted supports by definition involve time and effort and so it is important that limited resources are used to the greatest effect.

Early intervention is essential

The time to take action is the moment the student begins to fall behind because intervention always works better the earlier one intervenes.  If one delays, errors and misconceptions remain uncorrected and they become entrenched.  In addition, repeated failure generates a lack of confidence and low academic self-concept in the learner, which also impede further learning. It is also the case that intervening with young children is likely to be more successful than with older children.  Teachers should be wary of adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach in the hope that failure to make progress is simply a question of developmental readiness that will be solved through the passage of time.

The best-qualified and most experienced teachers are required to implement “safety net” programs.

This goes against a lot of past practice, which has invariably rewarded the most experienced teachers by assigning them the most able students, whereas those students who are the hardest to teach often are assigned teachers straight from college. This is not the norm in every country.  In Singapore, for example, it is a great honor to be assigned the students who are most behind, since it is an indication that you have been recognized as one of the best teachers.  Teachers vie to teach these students.  This is as it should be.  Imagine a hospital in which the eminent brain surgeon opted to treat patients with headaches, while those with brain tumors were assigned to nurses.  Schools need to establish a culture and reward structure in which the best teachers want to be assigned to the most challenging students.  It is an anomaly that we are all too prepared to tolerate support programs and interventions that make use of volunteers and unqualified staff when we would not dream of tolerating medical interventions using under-qualified staff.

The standards in any system of targeted supports are identical to those in the regular classroom.

This is a consequence of the first consideration, which was that the purpose of any system of supports should be to catch students up with their peers as quickly as possible.  For this reason, the standards remain constant.  What changes is the amount of time and support provided to cover the curriculum and reach the same high standards.  Furthermore, the aim of all out-of-class programs should be to support learning within the regular classroom. This is not to deny the importance of modifying the teaching approaches and the pace of learning to suit the learners but it is to deny those who advocate lowering expectations.

The most important targeted supports are those built into the structure of the regular classroom

It is useful to think of several layers of targeted supports, including: ‘in-class’, ‘in-school’, ‘beyond the bells’ and ‘special referral’.  By far the most important layer is the ‘in class’ layer.  In-class supports comprise the set of practices and strategies that the regular classroom teacher adopts to ensure that all students continue to make progress.  Above all it requires a mind-set in which the teacher sees his or her mission as ensuring that all students experience success as learners and that all meet high standards.  It requires on-going monitoring of progress and prompt action to follow-up those students who have fallen behind.  It also requires the use of classroom strategies that enable students to be taught at their instructional level and receive additional time and assistance.  These include individual conferencing, one-on-one coaching, peer coaching, cooperative learning and small group instructional methods (e.g., guided reading).

A comprehensive system of supports involves a graduated set of interventions.

Beyond the regular classroom, there needs to be a graduated set of further interventions that become increasingly more intensive and involve fewer but more needy students.  The most important are ‘in-school’ programs built into the regular school day and that complement and support regular classroom teaching.  One important kind of adaptation of existing programs is simply to provide more time for low performing students, for example allowing a double period for literacy rather than one each day.  In-school programs can include school-designed programs to catch up students or externally developed intervention programs (e.g., Reading Recovery for grade 1 students who are not yet underway as readers).  The latter are labor intensive and possibly expensive but effective interventions that serve the most needy and hard-to-move students. These programs typically demand highly trained staff and other support and require long-term commitment to their implementation within the school.  For such programs to be cost effective, it is necessary to ensure that the first layer of supports—in regular classrooms—are working effectively.

Next, there are ‘beyond-the-bells’ programs that involve establishing programs beyond the normal school hours to enable students to receive additional time and support before or after school or during the summer vacation.  There are a number of difficult issues to confront in mounting such programs, in addition to their high cost, including issues of:

•Who gets access to these programs? (as these programs are typically voluntary)

•Who teaches in these programs? (are they fully qualified and knowledgeable about the regular classroom program?)

•Do these programs fully support regular classroom teaching?

•Is participation in such programs regarded by students as a bonus or a punishment?

Finally, there is ‘special referral’ for students who have disabilities or learning difficulties that place them beyond the capacity of regular classroom instruction to address adequately.  This includes special education classes and referrals to specialists for expert diagnosis.  Special referral must never be used as a means of passing off problem learners to someone else or making excuses for failure to learn.  Far too many students are classified as special education students who are quite capable of learning to high standards within regular classrooms given good teaching.  Again, far too many students are placed on medication by physicians for symptoms such as an inability to concentrate on schoolwork who would be highly attentive in classrooms in which they experienced success.  Having said that, there will always be a small percentage of students who do need special referral for expert help.

The bottom line in operating a system of supports for students who need additional, targeted assistance is evidence that the system is working.  If it is not, it should be modified so that it does.  Success breeds success.  Schools with good regular classroom teaching enhanced by a powerful system of supports for students who need the additional help can and do ensure that all students meet high standards.  We need many more such schools.

Words are more important than anything else...

Vocabulary is all around us-it’s the core of everything! Vocabulary impacts every part of our student’s school experience. They are surrounded with vocabulary in all academic areas which leads itself to standardized tests. As we noticed, on our recent assessments, vocabulary was a struggle across the board.

Every second, minute, or hour we enrich our students vocabulary knowledge it will create a lasting effect! Across the nations studies show that there is a wide vocabulary gap between our at-risk readers and our strongest readers. Students are struggling, they lack the background knowledge, the exposure, or the capability of how to retain the words because the way it was presented. As times passes how do we meet the challenge of improving our student’s vocabulary? With vocabulary being an important part of a child’s education we must to our part to expose them to these words. Research states that when a child makes a connection and has a chance to be exposed to the word numerous times then the word will become part of their permanent memory. Below are a few strategies that researchers have found work to strengthen student’s vocabulary knowledge.

 

Post-it Vocabulary
Give students a post-it note to put on the cover of the books they are reading during independent reading time. Have them write down words from the book that they don’t know or they feel are important. During conferences with students, you can discuss these words.
Also, you can appoint a word expert. Students enjoy leadership roles, so once a week, assign someone to be the word expert. He or she sits at a special table with a dictionary and students come to the expert to ask about the words they don’t know. Students can share these words with the class during sharing time, add the words to the word wall, or put them in their vocabulary journal.

Vocabulary Journal
Give each student a spiral steno book to record words they gather from independent reading, content area reading, read-alouds, or videos watched in class. On one side of the page, they write the word. On the other side, they put a representation of the word or tell something about the word. This could be a picture, sentence, student-friendly definition, synonym, or antonym. Students take ownership of the words like they’re small treasures. The words they put in the journal become a permanent record and celebration of the words they are learning.

Vocabulary Stories
Do you remember having to write a story with all your spelling words? Well this strategy takes that activity to an all new level—it improves students’ vocabulary and encompasses multiple learning styles.

First identify five to ten key words from a story or chapter that you plan to read with the class. Give students a copy of the words and have them cut them apart or have them write the words on index cards. Give students a few minutes to work with a partner to sort the words into categories that make sense to them. Sorting the words is important because students discuss their prior knowledge of the words, make connections between the words, look at word parts, and talk about the words. Allowing students to work with a partner helps generate thinking. Students may use dictionaries or thesauruses, but it is not necessary. 

Then, lead the students in a discussion of their thinking about how the words are connected and help them develop kid-friendly definitions.
Next, give the title and genre of the story they are about to read, but do not read the text yet. Guide the class in writing a group story in that genre using the title and vocabulary words. At first students will be afraid of saying something wrong, so remind them that this is a shared writing exercise and that everyone’s input is welcome. Encourage students to be creative with their story and use all the words. Finally, read the actual story and have students compare their vocabulary stories with the actual story. You’ll be amazed at the level of thinking and laughing this strategy encourages.

Word Webs
This activity helps students teach one another new words. When you introduce new vocabulary words, put each word on an index card. Have each group (or each partner) select a word and put their word in the center of a large sheet of paper. Working together the students research their word using dictionaries or the computer and create a graphic organizer to teach the word to the other students. Students love using poster board or large sheets of paper for this project. In each corner of the paper students “illustrate” the word, by drawing a picture depicting the word, writing a sentence using the word, listing synonyms or antonyms of the word, and writing a student-friendly definition. The power of this activity lies in the collaboration of students who want to find the best way to teach their word to their peers.

Showcase for Abstract Terms
To teach abstract concepts like independence, conservation, or friendship, introduce the word in context and discuss it with students. Ask the class to think of pictorial representations of the word. Encourage them to bring pictures, photographs, and artifacts to represent the word and have them create a bulletin board to showcase each word. Give students time to explain how the object or picture they bring in relates to the essential concept.

Vocabulary Parade
At our school, kids love having a vocabulary parade. Students choose a word to depict through costume and they stage an actual parade to showcase their words. You can set parameters for the words by using, for example, only words with multiple meanings or words dealing with a certain period in history. Each child wears a costume depicting his or her word and poster board sign with definitions, part of speech, or other ways to describe the word. Our school has done this parade for several years and it has made learning new words a memorable experience.

These activities can stretch our student’s vocabulary knowledge. All of these are fun and engaging, which help students of all learning styles and level. When we build students vocabulary knowledge, it improves their reading comprehension and broadens their conceptual and background knowledge. If we focus on students having a strong vocabulary development it can level the playing field for students, regardless of their background. It’s our job to devote the time and effort in helping students learn new words so they are successful in and out of school!


 http://www.nea.org/tools/52083.htm

Differentiation is...

Dear Myakka River School Family, 

I ran across this a few weeks ago and it instantly hit home, so I thought I would share. I know we are all trying our hardest to meet our students needs through differentiated instruction, so it's important we evaluate our own practice and dig deeper to realize what is and is not classified under differentiation. If we continue down the IS path we are on our way of meeting ALL of our students needs. I know as a team, family, and school, we are capable of making this happen and showing success.

If you are interested in learning more there is a great book called- The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition by: Carol Tomlinson. 

For teacher’s and administrators, a useful definition of differentiated instruction is “adapting content, process, or product” according to a specific student’s “readiness, interest, and learning profile.”

“The goal of a differentiated classroom is maximum student growth and individual success. As schools now exist, our goal is often to bring everyone to “grade level” or to ensure that everyone masters a prescribed set of skills in a specified length of time. We then measure everyone’s progress only against a predetermined standard. Such a goal is sometimes appropriate, and understanding where a child’s learning is relative to a benchmark can be useful. However, when an entire class moves forward to study new skills and concepts without any individual adjustments in time or support, some students are doomed to fail. Similarly, classrooms typically contain some students who can demonstrate mastery of grade-level skills and material to be understood before the school year begins—or who could do so in a fraction of the time we would spend “teaching” them. These learners often receive an A, but that mark is more an acknowledgment of their advanced starting point relative to grade-level expectations than a reflection of serious personal growth. In a differentiated classroom, the teacher uses grade-level benchmarks as one tool for charting a child’s learning path. However, the teacher also carefully charts individual growth. Personal success is measured, at least in part, on individual growth from the learner’s starting point—whatever that might be.”

http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/the-definition-of-differentiated-instruction/