Special Education Strategy Notebook Essay Example for Free

Special Education Strategy Notebook Essay Self monitoring is a strategy that is often used in classrooms with children who have trouble staying on task and focusing. It is a method that involves a student taking responsibility of themselves academically and behaviorally and recording when they find themselves not on task. In essence, a sheet of paper is given to a child and a noise is made at certain intervals during the class day. This noise could be something that only the specific child hears (such as in an ear piece) or it could be something that is heard by the entire class. Either way, the student who is participating in self monitoring simply puts a tally mark in a column for â€Å"on task† or â€Å"off task† on their sheet of paper every time the noise sounds off and at the end of the day both student and teacher can see how many times the student found him or herself off task. This helps put into perspective for the student how much he or she pays attention in a regular day and typically causes them to try harder to remain on task even more the following day. It is important that a teacher lets the student know exactly what is meant by â€Å"on task† and â€Å"off task† so that the student understands 100% what is expected of him or her, and it is also important that the sound itself not be distracting from the lesson. Eventually, a student can be weaned off the external cues of the sound, and will begin self monitoring without it, which is ideal. B. How do we know that self monitoring works? Put simply, we know that self monitoring works because it has been studied over and over by numerous researchers and has been proven effective at least the majority of those times. These studies confirm that this strategy helps manage students who are off task in the classroom due to various disruptive, learning related and social behaviors. Children of many ages were tested, ranging from ages as young as 4 to kids who are in high school, and the findings were consistent. In nearly all of the tests described in the article I researched, self-monitoring was said to have â€Å"decreased off task behaviors dramatically† or â€Å"decreased inappropriate behaviors† or â€Å"decrease talking out behavior,† etc (Hallahan, D. P. Husdon, K. ). C. When should a teacher use self monitoring? As a strategy in a school setting, self monitoring typically works best for students who have problems primarily in attention. This is not a strategy that actually helps a student learn anything in particular, so the skills for learning material has to be already within a students capability but who cannot focus or remain on task long enough to apply these said skills. In laments terms, self monitoring works best when used for applying skills not when being introduced to new ones. Self monitoring can be used successfully for students with attentional tasks in really any classroom setting. It works great for â€Å"seat work†, when a child is assigned independent work that they must take sole responsibility for finishing but can also work in a group. Group work often has other students who keep the self monitor on task, but if this were not the case self monitoring would still be helpful. D. What does a teacher need to do to implement self monitoring? It is important that a teacher use each part of the procedure of self monitoring, including tones, recording sheets and training. Before implementing all of these procedures, a student needs to be introduced to the idea. It is imperative that a student have a good explanation of why they are required to keep record of their behavior when other students are not. A child needs to be given explicit instructions as to what he or she needs to do; this includes a description of what on task and off task are in the teacher’s terms, what the tone or sound will be, and how often the sound will go off, etc. Once the directions have been given to the child it is also important to go over the recording sheet with him or her and give examples of what will happen during class when he or she is to be recording their behavior. Once a child seemingly understands what is expected, feedback becomes very important. If he or she gets off task, the teacher needs to correct the behavior and then move on. At the same time, if a student has very good behavior it is also important to praise that. After the student gets used to this procedure, a teacher can begin to wean him or her off having to hear the tone to monitor their behavior. This is the ideal situation because then a student simply checks himself without a reminder and will continue to do so. E. How does a teacher know if self monitoring is working? Evaluating whether this strategy is working for a particular student is very important because if it is not, then there could actually be harm coming from trying to use it. Evaluating also leaves room for modifications that could help different students at different times. The basic way to see if self monitoring is working is to simply gather data on the student’s attention to a task before using the strategy and then compare that data with what you find after the student has begun to self monitor. To collect data before introducing self monitoring, a teacher can simply do the monitoring herself; use a tone and record the attentiveness of that child at each sound. A good practice to collect the original data would be to compare the target student and a student with average attentiveness. If the comparison shows that the level of attention seems to have improved after the strategy is implemented, it has probably worked and vice versa. F. Where can a teacher find more information on self monitoring? There are numerous ways to find out more information on self monitoring from articles, websites, books, etc. Here is a list of multiple sources where more information can be found (Hallahan, D. P. Hudson, K. ) Blick, D. W. , Test, D. W. (1987). Effects of self-recording on high-school students’ on-task behavior. Hallahan, D. P. , Lloyd, J. W. , Stoller, L. (1982). Improving attention with self-monitoring: A manual for teachers. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Learning Disabilities Research Institute. Hallahan, D. P. , Marshall, K. J. , Lloyd, J. W. (1981). Self-recording during group instruction: Effects on attention to task. Learning Disability Quarterly, 4, 407-413. G. Self Monitoring Bibliography. Hallahan, D. P. , Hudson, K. G. (2002). Teaching tutorial 2: Self monitoring of attention. Retrieved from www. teachingLD. org Shimabukuro, S. M. , Prater, M. A. , Jenkins, A. , Edelen-Smith, P. (1999). The effects of self-monitoring of academic performance on students with learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. Education and Treatment of Children, 22, 397- 414. Webber, J. , Scheuermann, B. , McCall, C. , Coleman, M. (1993). Research on self-monitoring as a behavior management technique in special education classrooms: A descriptive review. Remedial and Special Education, 14, 38-56. Workman, E. A., Helton, G. B. , Watson, P. J. (1982). Self-monitoring effects in a four-year-old child:An ecological behavior analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 20, 57-64. II. Time Delay A. What is time delay? Time delay is a strategy that focuses on weaning the use of prompts during teaching and educational practices and is most often used with students who have Autism Spectrum disorders. When instructing someone who has a particular learning disability, sometimes he or she needs additional prompting right after the material has been presented; this could include least-to-most prompting, simultaneous prompting, etc. There are two types of time delay; progressive and constant. Progressive time delay takes the immediate additional help given to particular students and lessens it each time material is taught. The time in between the original presentation and the additional help is lengthened as a child gets more comfortable learning and proficient. Constant time delay occurs when a teacher gives no time between the original instruction and the added prompt, then continually lengthens that amount of time when proficiency strengthens (Neitzel, J). B. How do we know that Time Delay is effective? In order to be used in schools for students with Autism Spectrum disorders, time delay had to be researched numerous times and found to be an evidence based practice. The National Professional Development Center on ASD has defined what they mean by â€Å"evidence based practice† to mean that it includes â€Å"randomized design studies, single-subject design studies, and combination of evidence. † Randomized design studies must include two experimental group design studies and they must be conducted by highly qualified researchers. Three separate investigators must have also conducted five high quality single-subject design studies. Once this is all done, the evidence from both must be combined to see allow researchers to see if time delay works in real life settings with ASD (Time Delay). C. When should a teacher use time delay? Time delay is a great strategy for a teacher to use when a student in her class has an Autism Spectrum disorder. It has been found that it is most effective when used with children and youth rather than older students, regardless of cognitive level and expressive abilities. According to the evidence listed above, time delay is very effective during the specific ages of 6-11. Teachers can instruct these specific students effectively on a variety of material using time delay such as academics, play/leisure, language/communication, and also social skills. It is important that all of this teaching be done in clinical environments, though, because that was where the studies were done and showed improvement (Neitzel, J) . D. What does a teacher need to do to implement Time Delay? There are multiple steps that a teacher must work his or way through in order to implement the time delay strategy. Both progressive and constant time delay procedures involve the same three steps of implementation; a cue and target stimulus, learner response, and feedback or consequence. Without all three of these components, time delay cannot be an effective strategy to use in the classroom while teaching students with Autism Spectrum disorders. The target stimulus, also called the antecedent, is what a teacher wants the student to respond by doing when posed with the cue. The cue is a signal that helps the student figure out what behaviors he or she should be exhibiting. When trying out the time delay strategy, it is important to keep the cues consistent so that the student knows what is expected of him or her during every activity. Learner response, the second necessary component of time delay, is the behavior that teachers want the student to pick up on. The feedback is the reinforcement of a behavior. Positive feedback when a student does something correctly is essential for that behavior to become consistent. On the opposite end, negative feedback when something is done incorrectly is just as important so a student knows to try to behave a different way. This â€Å"negative feedback† is known as a correction procedure and involves a constant repetition of the cue and prompts necessary for the student to exhibit the correct behavior (Neitzel, J Worley, M). Knowing the broad steps for implementing time delay, a teacher must also know the specifics. There are multiple steps that one must go through in order to effectively use the strategy. Step one is identifying the skill or behavior and define them in an observable measure and identify it as wither a discrete task or a chained task. A teacher must also then define learner response behaviors so that they can easily be identified as either correct or incorrect. Next, a teacher needs to determine a students current skills. After this is determined and recorded, an educator must select the target stimulus and cue and clearly explain this to the child, and then do the same with the controlling prompt. Next, reinforces must be identified and the response interval should be decided upon (Neitzel, J. Worley, M). E. How does a teacher know if Time Delay is working? Just as with any teaching strategy, the way to tell if Time Delay is working is to compare student ability before and after the delay is implemented. Before a student is introduced to this strategy a teacher can instruct a student on anything in particular and record the amount of correct and incorrect responses. After this data is recorded, it would be important to introduce time delay and instruct the child on the correct responses, stimuli, etc. Once that is all introduced, the teacher could teach material and again keep track of correct and incorrect responses. If the amount of incorrect responses decreases and the amount of correct responses increases, there is a very good chance this change is due to the implementation of time delay. F. Where can a teacher find more information on Time Delay? Odom, S. L. , Brantlinger, E. , Gersten, R. , Horner, R. D. , Thompson, B. , Harris, K. (2004). Quality indicators for research in special education and guidelines for evidence-based practices: Executive summary. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children Division for Research. Rogers, S. J. , Vismara, L. A. (2008). Evidence based comprehensive treatments for early autism. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37(1), 8-38. Ledford, J. R. , Gast, D. L. , Luscre, D. , Ayres, K. M. (2008). Observational and incidental learning by children with autism during small group instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 86-103. Liber, D. B. , Frea, W. D. , Symon, J. B. G. (2008). Using time delay to improve social play skills with peers for children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 312-323. G. Time Delay Bibliography. Neitzel, J. (2009). Overview of time delay. Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, The University of North Carolina. Neitzel, J. , Wolery, M. (2009). Steps for implementation: Time delay. Chapel Hill, NC: The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, The University of North Carolina. Time delay. (2010). National Professional Development Center on ASD, Retrieved from http://autismpdc.fpg. unc. edu/sites/autismpdc. fpg. unc. edu/files/TimeDelay_Steps_0. pdf Mnemonics A. What is Mnemonics? Mnemonics are devices used to help people remember and recall things that are somewhat hard to remember on their own. Put simply, the job of a mnemonic is to make the difficult task of memorization a little bit simpler. Using mnemonics helps to combine a presentation a person is comfortable with information that needs to be remembered; the association between the presentation and the information makes recall easier (Bringham, R Bringham, M). There is a link between new information and prior knowledge in the presentation of a mnemonic, and often they employ both visual and acoustic cues. There are many different types of mnemonics. The keyword method works very well with new information, and is directly tied to something that a student already knows. For example, if there is a vocabulary word that a student is trying to learn that sounds like a word they are already familiar with, they can associate the two words together to remember the one they do not know. This association can be made with a picture, or just by memory. Another mnemonic method is the peg-word method. Peg words are similar to keywords but they are known for their rhyming proxies for numbers to help students remember numbered or ordered information. A third mnemonic is known as letter strategies, including acronyms and acrostics. An acronym is a words whose individual letters can represent elements in lists of information. Acrostics are sentences whose first letters represent the information that needs to be remembered (Scruggs Mastropieri, 2002). There are also mnemonics for remembered how to spell, such as pictures with specific letters decorated. B. How do we know that Mnemonics are effective? There have been numerous evidence based research studies done to prove the effectiveness of mnemonics. These studies have shown that students taught material mnemonically have had a significant amount of more success than those students who were not taught in tis way. A specific study was done by Forness, Kavale, Blum and Lloyd in 1997 that concluded that for special education students, instruction using mnemonics showed the most positive results (Forness, S. R. , Kavale, K. A. , Blum, I. M. , Lloyd, J. W. 1997). Building off of these findings, other studies on special education have been compiled and summarized to show that the average child with a learning disability scored 43% correct, while the average mnemonically taught student scored 75% correct (Mastropieri Scruggs, 1989). Also, classroom teacher applications of mnemonic techniques have suggested that these strategies are very effective in inclusive classrooms, in some cases raising the performance of students with learning disabilities to that of the normally achieving students (Mastropieri, Sweda, Scruggs; 2000; Uberti, Scruggs, Mastropieri, in press). C. When should Mnemonics be used? The fantastic thing about mnemonics is that they can virtually be used whenever, with any student in any subject. This strategy has been experimentally validated in english vocabulary, foreign language vocabulary, earth science, physical science, U. S. history, world history, letter recognition, math facts, and spelling. Moreover, it has been experimentally validated that mnemonics not only works in all of these subject areas for average students buy for students with learning disabilities as well. Mnemonics are also appropriate to use with students of any age, ranging from Kindergarten to college. Younger students typically do not have to recall the same amount of facts that are required of those older than them, but they are still useful in learning things such as the alphabet (Levin, 1993). Thus, this strategy is a great one for teachers to use frequently whenever large amounts of information are presented that must be remembered or recalled (Bringham, R. Bringham M. 2001). D. What does a teacher need to do to implement Mnemonics? Mnemonics should be used by all teachers when introducing information that must be remembered and there are certain ways to go about doing so. At first, the teacher should be the leader of mnemonics and should directly guide the students into coming up with specific ways to remember information. When a teacher is directly involved with every step of creating a mnemonic it is called maximum support. As students become more proficient in using mnemonics, though, it is important for the teacher to take a few steps back and let them go on their own. Once a certain level of proficiency is met, a teacher moves on to intermediate supports. Now, a teacher is still there if needed but most of the responsibility is turned over to the students and their peers to create and use mnemonics. After this step, a teacher can allow students to work on mnemonics independently. Following these steps help to not overwhelm students, and to help them to learn how to use the strategy on their own so that when they move to a different class or school they can take their knowledge of mnemonics with them and continue to use them. E. How does a teacher know if Mnemonics are working? The purpose of mnemonics is memorization so the best way to test if the strategy is working is to frequently question and test students on the information that they are supposed to be learning using the mnemonics. Some students might already know the information or might have guessed, so it is also important to ask them how they remembered the answer they gave. This way, a teacher can easily see if it is the mnemonic helping them recall the information or if it is something else entirely. Students, too, can alert a teacher as to whether or not the strategy is working by simply saying mnemonics are helpful to them specifically or not. F. Where can a teacher find more information about Mnemonics? Mastropieri, M. A. , Scruggs, T. E. (2000). The inclusive classroom: Strategies for effective instruction. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall/Merrill. (Chapter 8, Attention and Memory) Mastropieri, M. A. , Scruggs, T. E. (1991). Teaching students ways to remember: Strategies for learning mnemonically. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books. Brigham, F. J. , Scruggs, T. E. , Mastropieri, M. A. (1995). Elaborative maps for enhanced learning of historical information: Uniting spatial, verbal, and imaginal information. Journal of Special Education, 28, 440-460. Bulgren, J. A. , Schumaker, J. B. , Deshler, D. D. (1994). The effects of a recall enhancement routine on the test performance of secondary students with and without learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research Practice, 9, 2-11. G. Mnemonics Bibliography Bringham, R. , Bringham, M. (n. d. ). A focus on mnemonic instruction. (2001). Current Practice Alerts, (5), Retrieved from www. dldcec. org/alerts/ Scruggs, T. , Mastropieri, M. (n. d. ). Teaching tutorial: Mnemonic instruction. (2002). Division for Learning Disabilities , 1-26. Retrieved from www. teachingLD. org Mastropieri, M. A. , Scruggs, T. E. (1989a). Constructing more meaningful relationships: Mnemonic instruction for special populations. Educational Psychology Review, 1, 83-111. Forness, S. R. , Kavale, K. A. , Blum, I. M. , Lloyd, J. W. (1997). Mega-analysis of meta-analysis: What works in special education and related services. Teaching Exceptional Children, 29(6), 4-9. Mastropieri, M. A. , Sweda, J. , Scruggs, T. E. (2000). Teacher use of mnemonic strategy instruction. Learning Disabilities Research Practice, 15, 69-74. Levin, J. R. (1993). Mnemonic strategies and classroom learning: A twenty-year report card. The Elementary School Journal, 94(2), 235-244. Task Analysis A. What is task analysis? Task analysis is a learning strategy that involved breaking a learnable skill into smaller steps that are more manageable for students who need it (Franzone 2009). This strategy is something that is used by every single person at least once in their life, even if done so unconsciously. It is the only way to ever really learn complete processes, for example you have to walk before you can run. By breaking skills into smaller chunks, we all eventually learn specific tasks as if they are second nature and learn to not have to follow the original steps posed. It is necessary, though, to express the different parts that make up the whole (the skill being learned) until absolute mastery has been achieved (Grove 2012). B. How do we know that task analysis is effective? There are certain criterion that strategies have to meet before they can be used in schools, including in the special ed classroom. Task analysis meets these requirements and has been tested and proven in numerous evidence based practices. To be considered evidence based practice for people with Autism Spectrum disorder, efficacy must be established through peer-reviewed research in scientific journals using randomized or quasi-experimental design studies, single-subject design studies, and then a combination of evidence. High quality randomized design studies are categorized by the absence of critical design flaws that create confounds and the demonstration of experimental control at least three times in each study (Horner, Nathan, Odom, Rogers) . When should a teacher use task analysis? Task analysis is a strategy that can be used very effectively with children who have an autism spectrum disorder, no matter their cognitive level and expressive communicative skills. Children from preschool age to high school age have shown through studies that task analysis works and is an effective practice for older learners as well. It is also a good practice to use when teaching educators how to interact and teach their students with autism spectrum disorders. Task analysis has been proven to help all of these students in multiple areas. There are ways to use task analysis to teach in a school setting, in a classroom (inclusive or not). Also, there is evidence that it works in home and community settings. For instance, teaching a child with a significant disability how to complete regular everyday tasks such as brushing teeth, brushing hair, showering, etc becomes more easily possible if you employ task analysis (Franzone 2009). D. What does a teacher need to do to implement Task Analysis? In order to implement a task analysis in a particular classroom, a teacher must follow a set of steps. Step one is to identify the target skill. This step involves targeting a specific skill that is to be learned by the student with Autism Spectrum disorder. To do this, an educator must use the learner’s Individual Education Plan/Individual Family Service Plan goals. The skill should consist a series of discrete steps, so as to make learning it a bit easier. For example, washing dishes is an acceptable skill to target. Turning on a sink or preparing, serving and cleaning up dinner would be either too simple or too hard. Step two involves identifying the prerequisite skills of the learner and the materials needed to teach the task. Step three is breaking the skill into components. This is the step where true task analysis really begins; where the skills are actually broken up into steps. Next, a teacher needs to confirm that the task is completely analyzed in order to sure no step is left out because it would compromise the entire activity. Step five involves determining how the teacher will actually teach the skill. Last, intervention must be implemented and progress must be monitored so that changes can be made if need be. E. How does a teacher know if Task Analysis is working? Before task analysis is implemented, it is important for teachers to closely monitor the student in question to see the skills they have the most trouble with. Keeping record of this will help to see if any bounds in learning have been made once the strategy has been put in place. Observation is key, before and after implementation, and if it is done carefully and cautiously enough a teacher can directly see the impact of the strategy after a student has learned the skill he or she was asked to learn. F. Where can a teacher find more information on task analysis? Alcantara, P. R. (1994). Effects of videotape instructional package on purchasing skills of children with autism. Exceptional Children, 61(1), 40-55. Browder, D. , Trela, K. , Jimenez, B. (2007). Training teachers to follow a task analysis to engage middle school students with moderate and severe developmental disabilities in grade appropriate literacy. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 22(4), 206-219. Hagopian, L. , Farrell, D. , Amari, A. (1996). Treating total liquid refusal with backward chaining and fading. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29(4), 573-575. Liber, D. , Frea, W. , Symon, J. (2008). Using time-delay to improve social play skills with peers for children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 312-323. Luscre, D. , Center, D. (1996). Procedures for reducing dental fear in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26(5), 547-556. G. Task Analysis Bibliography Franzone, E. (2009). Overview of task analysis. Madison, WI: National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin. Grove, A. (2013, August 08). Bright hub: Task analysis in special education. Retrieved from http://www. brighthubeducation. com/special-ed-learning-disorders/25800-how-task-analysis- Horner, R. , Carr, E. , Halle, J. , McGee, G. , Odom, S. , Wolery, M. (2005). The use of single subject research to identify evidence-based practice in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 165-180. Nathan, P. , Gorman, J. M. (2002). A guide to treatments that work. NY: Oxford University Press. Odom, S. L. , Brantlinger, E. , Gersten, R. , Horner, R. D. , Thompson, B. , Harris, K. (2004). Quality indicators for research in special education and guidelines for evidence-based practices: Executive summary. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children Division for Research. Rogers, S. J. , Vismara, L. A. (2008). Evidence based comprehensive treatments for early autism. Journal of Clinical Child Adolescent Psychology, 37(1), 8-38. Szidon, K. , Franzone, E. (2009). Task Analysis. Madison, WI: National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin. Functional Behavior Analysis What is functional behavior analysis? A functional behavior analysis is a variety of methods to identify and define behaviors that need to be changed. It is the process of gathering and analyzing information about a specific student’s behavior and accompanying circumstances in order to determine reasons behind certain behaviors. These strategies help teachers identify interventions that will help to reduce these behaviors and help develop appropriate ones to fill the place of the ones being reduced. Functional behavior analysis relies on a number of techniques and strategies to identify the reasons behind each behavior and to help IEP teams select the interventions that are to be used. It should be integrated throughout the process of developing, reviewing, and revising a student’s Individualized Education Plan (McIntyre, 2001). How do we know that Functional Behavior Analysis is effective? Functional behavior analysis has been researched multiple times by different qualified researchers and has been found to show promising results in student achievement the vast majority of the time. Studies have been conducted multiple times to rule out any researcher error and students have shown drastic differences from before the strategy was implemented to after it was done. It is also important to note that Functional Behavior Assessment has obviously been proven effected in that it has become a part of national legislature, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. As stated in the act, it is mandatory that a student with known behavior problems be supported with this strategy (Jordan, 2006). When should a teacher use Functional Behavior Analysis Often times Functional Behavior Analysis is implemented on students with severe cognitive or communication disabilities such as autism (McIntyre, 2001). Even though this is so, ff ever there is a time that teachers become concerned about particular student with a disability, it is required by law (IDEA) to implement the functional behavior assessment process so that they can determine why the child in question is acting in such a way. This strategy helps to identify why a particular behavior occurred, and in determining this, a teacher can then begin to create interventions that will help the student avert from that negative behavior and replace it with a good behavior. It is important that teachers intervene with positive behavioral actions before the problem behaviors occur if at all possible. What does a teacher need to do to implement Functional Behavior Analysis? IDEA does not ever specifically define how a functional behavior analysis should be implemented, and often it depends on the needs of every specific child. There are, though, very specific steps that must occur in order for the strategy to work. First, a teacher must identify the behaviors that need to be changed, or at least the most serious of multiple strategies. In identifying the behaviors it is imperative to determine when and where they occur and when and where they do not. This will allow a teacher to try to determine the triggers for that specific student. After the behavior(s) are identified, a teacher must collect data on the specific child’s performance in many different ways, and have as many sources possible. After all of this data is collected and recorded a hypothesis needs to be developed as to what could be the cause of these specific behaviors based on the data collected. This helps predict where the teacher needs to target the change that will be made. Next, as with any other experiment, the hypothesis must be tested. Using positive interventions, the child’s specific team makes changes as needed to there Individualized Education Plan or Behavior Intervention Plan. After all of this is done the interventions need to be evalua.