Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with Visual Impairment

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Access to the General Education Curriculum for
Students with Visual Impairment

• Presented by
• Ann Adkins , VI Outreach Consultant
• annadkins_at_tsbvi.edu
• Debra Sewell, Curriculum Coordinator
• debrasewell_at_tsbvi.edu
• Texas School for the Blind Visually Impaired

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Issues facing TVIs and COMS

• Greater emphasis on state testing
• TAKS, TAKS-A, TAKS-M, TAKS-Alt
• Greater emphasis on academics
• More time spent in materials preparation which
  leaves less time for instruction

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Issues - continued

• Less time for collaboration with general
  education teachers
• Less time to emphasis the Expanded Core
  Curriculum
• Less time to emphasize functional skills

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Why is this happening?

• IDEA Requirements of access to the general
  education curriculum
• NCLB Requirements of grade-level proficiency for
  ALL students

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Why - continued

• UDSE adoptions of two exceptions to the statutory
  language of NCLB
• Modified achievement standards (TAKS-M)
• Alternate achievement standards (TAKS-Alt)
• Texas Education Code (39.023) mandates that
  criterion-referenced assessments be developed and
  administered to students enrolled in grades 3-11
  and contains provisions for assessing students
  served by special education.

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IDEA

• Stipulates that students with disabilities are
  entitled to
• Access to,
• Participation in,
• Progress within
• the general education curriculum

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Also from IDEA (Sec. 614)

• The federal definition of special education
  specially designed instruction to address the
  unique needs of a child with a disability in
  order to enable the child toprogress in the
  general curriculumand to meet the childs unique
  needs that result from the disability.

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Also from Sec. 614

• The purpose of special education to prepare the
  child for further education, employment and
  independent living

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NCLB is based on fourcommon-sense pillars

• Accountability
• An emphasis on doing whats best based on
  scientific research
• Expanded parental options
• Expanded local control

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• Use grade level as the basis
• Emphasize making progress toward
• Use Vertical Alignment

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Modified Curriculum - focus

• TEKS instruction using modifications and/or
  accommodations which allow access to the TEKS
• Student is provided with instruction and
  modifications that address the learning styles
  and needs of students with disabilities
• Student is responsible for all objectives for
  that subject

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Modified Curriculum - examples

• Providing opportunities for a student to show
  knowledge of information using methods that
  emphasize the students strengths
• Providing technology, manipulatives, and
  resources that compensate for the students
  disability
• Simplifying directions and reducing length of
  assignments and number of answer choices

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Modified Curriculum - examples

• Providing student with a smaller teacher-student
  ratio during critical aspects of instruction
• Simplifying the presentation of the task by
  reducing the complexity of vocabulary and
  sentence structure
• Deleting extraneous information on assignments

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Alternate Curriculum - focus

• TEKS instruction focusing on academic
  pre-requisite skills while addressing both the
  real-life application of skills and the students
  needs
• Student is provided a specialized program with
  supports and structures that maximize student
  success

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Alternate Curriculum - examples

• Finding areas of the TEKS curriculum for the
  student to access, focusing on the students
  strengths
• Providing adult support as needed to access
  environments and activities
• Finding real-life applications of assignments to
  maximize generalizations of skills

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Alternate Curriculum - examples

• Providing varying levels of prompting to ease
  students toward independence
• Using technology and communication devices that
  provide students with effective methods of
  response

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What does this mean for TVIs and COMS?

• Must be familiar with state standards at the
  students assigned grade levels
• TEKS
• Vertical Alignment

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And.

• Must be familiar with standardized assessments
  (TAKS tests)
• Formats
• Allowable accommodations
• Appropriate practice materials

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The Four Steps Making Assessment Decisions

• Step 1 Review the students current information
  to determine the students present level of
  performance
• Step 2 Determine how the student receives TEKS
  instruction and the students level of
  performance on the grade-level curriculum

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Four Steps - continued

• Step 3 Determine the appropriate assessment for
  the student TAKS, TAKS-A, TAKS-M or TAKS-Alt.
• Step 4 Document the appropriate assessment along
  with all allowable or approved accommodations
  that the student will need during testing.
• 2007-2008 Revised ARD Committee Decision-Making
  Process for the Texas Assessment Program, pg. 15

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Choosing the Appropriate Assessment

• TAKS

• Is the student receiving instruction in the
  grade-level TEKS curriculum with or without
  allowable accommodations for this subject?

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Choosing - continued

• Is the student accessing the grade-level TEKS
  curriculum by using expanded accommodations (some
  of which that may require an Accommodations
  Request form) for this subject?

• TAKS (Accommodated)

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Choosing - continued

• Is the student accessing the grade-level TEKS
  curriculum through extensive modifications and/or
  accommodations for this subject?

• TAKS-M

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Choosing - continued

• Is the student accessing the grade-level TEKS
  curriculum through pre-requisite skills?

• TAKS-Alt for all subjects

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And

• Must align instruction to the state standards

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Strategies and Suggestions

• Guidelines for making instruction accessible
• Guidelines for making instruction meaningful
• Creating access to state standards
• TAKS resources
• How ECC fits into instruction

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Guidelines for Accessibility - Questions to ask

• a. What concepts and skills does the student
  need in order to successfully participate in
  home, school, and community activities? What
  skills does he currently have? Has he had the
  necessary experiences in order to understand the
  concepts?

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Guidelines for accessibility - continued

• b. What materials will the student need in order
  to participate in activities? Does he have
  access to appropriate materials? Are they the
  same as for other students or do they need
  adapting?

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Guidelines for accessibility - continued

• c. Does the student have appropriate and
  sufficient opportunities for application of
  skills?

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How can the TVI determine if the student has
these?

• Evaluation (assessment)
• Observation
• Collaboration

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Guidelines for making it meaningful

• Become familiar with state academic standards
• Become familiar with state assessments, including
  alternate achievement standards
• Become familiar with requirements and
  expectations of general education teachers

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Continued

• Keep planning student-centered, taking into
  consideration both needs and interests
• Consider student access to both academic and
  functional goals
• Know if there is a link between the goals written
  and an academic standard

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Continued

• Make sure all goals are student-centered, but
  also remember that ALL goals do not have to have
  a direct link to an academic standard
• Result student-centered instruction that is
  standards-based and that provides access to the
  general education curriculum
• Adapted from Courtade-Little, Ginerva and
  Browder, Diane (2005). Aligning IEPs to Academic
  Standards for Students with Moderate and Severe
  Disabilities

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Suggestions for Creating Access to State Standards

• Select skills that promote overall literacy and
  numeracy
• Increase us of assistive technology in order to
  promote more active participation in school and
  community activities
• Focus on self-determination skills
• Use functional activities to give meaning to
  academic concepts.
• Adapted from Courtade-Little, Ginerva and
  Browder, Diane (2005). Aligning IEPs to Academic
  Standards for Students with Moderate and Severe
  Disabilities

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Criteria for Linking to Grade-Level Academic
Content

• The content is judged to be academic
• The students assigned grade level serves as
  the initial point of reference
• The achievement expectation is linked to this
  grade-level reference but differs in depth and/or
  breadth
• There is some differentiation in achievement
  expectations across grade levels or bands
• U.S. Department of Education, 2005 from LIDS
  workshop, Accessing the General Curriculum for
  Students with the Most Significant Cognitive
  Disabilities July 30, 2007

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Linking to Grade-level Academic Content

• Academic Content - what all students should know
  and be able to do
• Achievement Standards - desired level of
  performance (not necessarily a grade level)
• Alternate Achievement Standards - should be
  related to grade level content, but may be
  restricted in scope or complexity

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Linking - continued

• Note that the intent of the grade-level standards
  should remain intact
• Academic content should include the major domains
  or strands of the content area (state or national
  standards
• Could be in the form of introductory or
  pre-requisite skills
• Can use the same materials as general education,
  or adapt them
• Consider using AT to help VI students gain
  greater access to general education content

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TAKS resources that will help us accomplish this

• Vertical alignment
• Curriculum Framework
• TEKS-based examples of Instruction

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How ECC fits into instruction

• Look at all areas of the Core Curriculum and the
  Expanded Core Curriculum and decide where you can
  infuse ECC into the students day

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