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Effective Classroom Practice Academic Success & Task Difficulty

Effective Classroom Practice Academic Success & Task Difficulty. MO SW-PBS. Center for PBS College of Education University of Missouri. ~15%. ~5%. ~80% of Students. CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT. Tier 3 = Tertiary Prevention:

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Effective Classroom Practice Academic Success & Task Difficulty

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  1. Effective Classroom PracticeAcademic Success & Task Difficulty MO SW-PBS Center for PBS College of Education University of Missouri

  2. ~15% ~5% ~80% of Students CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT Tier 3 = Tertiary Prevention: Specialized Individualized Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior Tier 2 = Secondary Prevention: Specialized Group Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior Goal: Reduce intensity and severity of chronic problem behavior and/or academic failure Goal: Reduce current cases of problem behavior and/or academic failure Tier 1 = Primary Prevention: School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for All Students, Staff, & Settings Goal: Reduce new cases of problem behavior and/or academic failure

  3. Social Competence & Academic Achievement SW Positive Behavior Support OUTCOMES Supporting Decision Making Supporting Staff Behavior DATA SYSTEMS PRACTICES Supporting Student Behavior

  4. Effective Classroom Practices Classroom: • Expectations & Rules • Procedures & Routines • Continuum of strategies to acknowledge appropriate behaviors • Continuum of strategies to respond to inappropriate behavior • Active supervision • Multiple opportunities to respond • Activity sequence & Offering choice • Academic success & Task difficulty

  5. Newcomer, 2008

  6. Newcomer, 2008

  7. Academic Success & Task Difficulty

  8. What is Modifying Task Difficulty? • Modifying instruction or providing accommodations to ensure the student experiences higher levels of academic success. (Kern & Clemens, 2007)

  9. Why Consider Task Difficulty? • Task difficulty is one of the primary curricular variables that can set the occasion for problem behaviors in the classroom. • Any mismatch between student ability and task difficulty is potentially problematic. (Gunter, Denny, Jack, Shores, & Nelson, 1993)

  10. Why Consider Task Difficulty? • Exposure to tasks that are too difficult result in lower rates of on-task behavior and increased rates of disruptive and other problem behaviors. (Gickling & Armstrong, 1978; Umbreit, Lane, & Dejud, 2004)

  11. Proper Instructional Level • Seatwork assignments that contain 70% - 85% known elements • Reading assignments 93% - 97% known elements (Gickling & Armstrong, 1978;Umbreit, Lane, & Dejud, 2004 )

  12. Why Consider Modifying Task Difficulty? Increases & promotes… • on-task behavior • task completion • task comprehension • appropriate class-wide behavior (Gickling & Armstrong, 1978; Kern & Clemens, 2007)

  13. Strategies for Modifying Task Difficulty • Change Amount of Work • Change Amount of Time • Change Student Output • Reduce Reading/Writing Demand • Peer Support • Scaffolding (Simmons & Kameenui, 1996; Vaughn, Duchnowski, Sheffield, & Kutash, 2005)

  14. 1. Change Amount of Work • Put fewer problems on a worksheet • Highlight, in a color, the problems for the student to complete • Have the student cover all tasks except the one she is working on at the time • Break up assignment into smaller parts.

  15. 2. Change Amount of Time • Have shorter work periods with other assignments in between. • Provide physical breaks between difficult tasks. • Provide alternative times for students to complete their work.

  16. 3. Change Student Output • Provide students with a choice between oral or written answers. • Allow students to dictate answers to a peer, teacher, or paraprofessional or tape record answers to tests or assignments. • Allow students to video or take pictures to produce journals or compose essays.

  17. 4. Reduce Reading/Writing Demand • Include illustrations on worksheets describing how to complete tasks • Highlight and underline important words in instructionsand texts • Create Guided Notes that highlight key points. • Permit students to use outlining software to facilitate planning

  18. 5. Peer Support • The academic tasks involved should be well-structured and the responses required should be simple rather than complex. • Different students should be involved in the tutoring so that the student with problems is not always the one being tutored. • Establish and teach the procedures for peer tutoring sessions. (Miller, 2005)

  19. 5. Peer Support • Classwide Peer Tutoring • http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu • Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) • http://www.cec.sped.org

  20. 6. Scaffolding • What is scaffolding? • Personal guidance, assistance, and support that a teacher, peer, materials, or task provides a learner until he or she can apply new skills and strategies independently. (Simmons & Kameenui, 1996)

  21. How Do We Scaffold Instruction? • First, the teacher models how to perform a new or difficult task. • Second, the teacher and students work together to perform the task. • Third, students work with a partner or a small cooperative group to complete the task. • Fourth, the student independently completes the task. (Ellis & Larkin, 1998)

  22. Practice Addressing Task Difficulty Read the classroom vignettes (Handout). Determine which strategy would be most effective and efficient for each vignette. (Use Addressing Task Difficulty Strategies.) Share your responses with a shoulder partner. Handouts: 2) Modifying Task Difficulty Vignettes, 3) Modifying Task Difficulty Strategies

  23. Addressing Task Difficulty in Your Classroom HO4: Modifying Task Difficulty in Your Classroom

  24. References • Ellis, E. S., & Larkin, M. J. (1998). Strategic instruction for adolescents with learning disabilities. In B. Y. L. Wong (Ed.), Learning about learning disabilities (2nd ed., pp. 585-656). San Diego, CA: Academic Press • Gickling, E. E., & Armstrong, D. L. (1978). Levels of instructional difficulty as related to on-task behavior, task completion, and comprehension. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 11, 559-566. • Gunter, P. L., Denny, R. K., Jack, S. L., Shores, R. E., & Nelson, C. M. (1993). Aversive stimuli in academic interactions between students with serious emotional disturbance and their teachers. Behavioral Disorders, 19, 265-274.

  25. References • Kern, L. and Clemens, N.H. (2007). Antecedent strategies to promote appropriate classroom behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 44(1), 65-75. • Miller, M. (2005). Using peer tutoring in the classroom: Applications for students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Beyond Behavior, 15(1), pp. 25-30. • Simmons, D. & Kameenui, E. J. (1996). A focus on curriculum design: When children fail. Focus on Exceptional Children, 28(7), pp. 1-16. • Umbreit, J. Lane, K. L., & Dejud, C. (2004). Improving classroom behavior by modifying task difficulty: Effects of increasing the difficulty of too-easy tasks. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 6(1): 13 - 20.

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