ADAPTING FOR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

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ADAPTING FOR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

• Chapter 5

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Individual Differences

• What are the types and sources of individual
  differences among children?

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Effective Teachers

• Understand typical and atypical child development
• Understand the importance of knowing each child
  as an individual
• Use this knowledge to plan and adapt curriculum
• To help each child meet important learning goals
  (NAEYC, 2009)

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Individual Differences

• NATURE

• NURTURE

• The hereditary or genetic contributions to human
  development
• Biological and neurological drivers of
  development
• Range of variation in timing, not sequence

• Environmental factors and experiences that
  influence human development and behavior
• Environmental influences quality of child care
  setting, family economic resources, safety,
  siblings, etc.

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Transactional Theory of Development

• Development is the result of both biology and
  experience and how they influence each other
• Biology and experience play critical,
  interrelated roles in childrens development
• Accumulation of certain kinds of experiences can
  enhance development or place children at risk

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Categories of Student Variance Contributors to the Category
Biology Gender Physical, Cognitive, Social Abilities Disabilities Cognitive, Emotional/Social, Physical Neurological wiring for learning Development
Degree of Privilege Economic status Race Culture Support system Language Experience
Positioning for learning Adult models Trust Self-concept Motivation Temperament Interpersonal skills
Preference/ Learning Styles Interests Learning preferences Preferences for individuals

• Categories of Student Variance with Contributors
  that have some Implications for Learning
• Know the Child, Family, Culture

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ACCOMODATING DIFFERENCES

• What do teachers need to know about individual
  variation among children and how to accommodate
  individual differences?

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MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

• What is Gardners Theory of Multiple
  Intelligences and what are its implications
  for practice?

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Multiple Intelligence - MI

• Howard Gardner MI Theory 1980s
• Splitter
• Eight Intelligences - Ability to
• Linguistic use language effectively
• Musical- compose, comprehend and appreciate music
• Logical-Mathematical reason logically,
  especially in math and science
• Spatial notice details of what one sees,
  imagine and manipulate visual objects in ones
  mind
• Kinesthetic use ones body skillfully
• Naturalistic recognize patterns in nature and
  differences among natural objects and life-forms
• Interpersonal awareness of ones won feelings,
  motives, and desires
• Intrapersonal recognize patterns in nature and
  differences among natural objects and life forms

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Key Points MI Theory

• An intelligence is the ability to solve problems,
  or to create products, that are valued within one
  or more cultural settings
• Each person possesses all eight intelligences --
  a theory of cognitive functioning and all seven
  function together in ways unique to each person
•  
• Most people can develop each intelligence to an
  adequate level of competency --if given
  appropriate encouragement enrichment and
  instruction
•  
• Intelligences usually work together in complex
  ways -- intelligences are always interacting with
  each other and must be thought of in their
  specific culturally valued contexts
• There are many ways to be intelligent within each
  category -- emphasizes the rich diversity of ways
  in which people show their gifts within
  intelligences as well as between intelligences
•  

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Development of MI

• FACTORS
• Biological endowment, including hereditary or
  genetic factors and insult or injuries to the
  brain before, during and after birth.
•  
• Personal life history, including experiences with
  parents, teachers, peers, friends, and others who
  either awaken intelligences or keep them from
  developing
• Cultural and historical background, including the
  time and place in which you were born and raised
  and the nature and state of cultural or
  historical developments in different domains.

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MI Activators and Deactivators of Intelligences

• Crystallizing experiences -- turning points in
  the development of a person's talents and
  abilities usually in early childhood -- Albert
  Einstein 4 years old his father showed him a
  magnetic compass filled him with a desire to
  ferret out the mysteries of the universe
•  
• Paralyzing experiences -- experiences which shut
  down intelligences often filled with shame,
  guilt, fear, anger and other negative emotions
  that prevent our intelligences from growing and
  thriving
•  

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MI Environmental Influences

• Promote or retard the development of
  intelligences
• Access to resources or mentors -- lack of
  resources
•  
• Historical-cultural factors -- the times
•  
• Geographic factors -- where you live
•  
• Familial factors -- parental wishes
•  
• Situational factors -- unable to develop due to
  situation

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Learning Cycle of Differentiated Instruction

• The creation of multiple paths so that children
  of different abilities, interests, and learning
  needs experience equally appropriate ways to
  achieve important learning goals
• Plan the Environment
• Differentiate Content
• Teaching Process
• Assess Learning

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RtI RtII RR

• What the Response to Intervention, Response to
  Intervention and Instruction, and Recognition and
  Response models and how do they address
  individual differences in young childrens
  learning?

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Responsive Education

• Response to Intervention (RtI)
• Prevent school failure, reading and math
• Bridge general and special education
• Tier 1 high quality instruction for ALL,
  comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum and
  intentional teaching
• Tier 2 DAP group interventions for children who
  need more focused learning experiences
• Tier 3 Intensive, individualized interventions

• Recognition and Response (RR)
• Recognition monitor learning progress
• Response Core curriculum intentional teaching
  for ALL children targeted interventions for SOME
  children
• Collaborative Problem solving A team makes
  informed decisions based on assessment results to
  plan and evaluate instruction and interventions
  at all tiers

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Pennsylvania Response to Intervention and
Instruction

• RtII in PA

• PA State Aligned System (SAS)

• The use of a standards-aligned, comprehensive
  school improvement and/or multi-tiered system of
  support for implementing PAs SAS.
• RtII rests on using a continuum of student
  performance data to continuously inform, monitor
  and improve student access and response to
  high-quality core and supplemental
  instruction/intervention.
• A road map for facilitating systems change within
  the context of data-based decision-making and
  instructional matching.
• The intent of RtII is to improve learning as
  efficiently, effectively and equitably as
  possible for ALL students, including students
  with disabilities.

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Its the LAW

• What practices are required by law for children
  with disabilities and special needs?

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The Language of Special Education

• LANGUAGE MATTERS
• Children with special needs broad term
• Children with disabilities specific
  identification
• First person language CHILD first, then
  identifier

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What do we need to KNOW?

• Children with disabilities are diverse and
  distinct from one another
• Various disorders do not necessarily occur in
  isolation
• A diagnosis rarely results in precise education
  interventions

• Types of Exceptionality
• Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
• Down syndrome (DS)
• Cerebral palsy (CP)
• Deafness and hearing impairment
• Visually impaired or blind
• Mental retardation
• Developmental delay
• Gifted

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Legal Requirements

• IDEA
• Individualized Education Program (IEP)
• IEP Team
• Early Intervention
• IFSPs vs IEPs

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INTENTIONAL EFFECTIVE

• What practices for teaching children with special
  needs are effective teaching all children?

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Effective Practices

• Inclusive Classrooms
• Natural Learning Environments
• Benefits
• Fostering Friendships Modeling, Play activities,
  Prompting, Rehearsal/practice
• Team mentality
• Assessments
• Curriculum-based
• Routines-based

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Plan Individualized Instructional Strategies

• Goals
• Generative skills can be used across setting,
  people, events, and objects
• PA Early Learning Standards
• Learning Opportunities during daily routines
• Use Helping Strategies Prompts
• Reinforce Childrens Learning
• Naturally occurring reinforcers
• Monitor Progress
• Observation, Checklist, Rating Scale