Diagnostic Tasks in the Special Education Classroom

1. Diagnostic Tasks in the Special Education Classroom WERA Conference March 2009

2. Introductions Who are we? Sasha Hammond Math Coordinator, ESD 105 Dee Dee Gaub Special Education Teacher, East Valley S.D. Shawn Morton Special Education Teacher, East Valley S.D. Who are you?

3. What was our dilemma? How do we implement the research from our trainings into our classrooms? How do we create goals and objectives that match the student data provided by the school psychologist? How do we measure progress towards these goals and objectives in an ongoing and efficient way? How do we align materials to the state standards, the goals and objectives, and individual student needs? How do we differentiate between reasoning and calculation in mathematics? How do we implement the research from our trainings into our classrooms? (Sasha) FSiM Standards training Curriculum Trainings Best Practices in Mathematics How do we create goals and objectives that match the student data provided by the school psychologist? (Shawn) Psych reports are broad and as sped teachers we have to prioritize the specific needs of the student to maximize learning. Three year goals vs. THIS years goal How do we measure progress towards these goals and objectives in an ongoing and efficient way? (Dee Dee) Diagnostic tasks matched to goals and objectives Rubrics that differentiate progress based on developmental levels and standards Quick Reach many developmental levels How do we align materials to the state standards, the goals and objectives, and individual student needs? We developed a process through trial and error that we will share throughout this presentation. How do we differentiate between reasoning and calculation in mathematics? Based on psych report Our district qualifies based on these two categories? We were having difficulties separating these two in order to have specific goals to fit specific needs More than just word problemsHow do we implement the research from our trainings into our classrooms? (Sasha) FSiM Standards training Curriculum Trainings Best Practices in Mathematics How do we create goals and objectives that match the student data provided by the school psychologist? (Shawn) Psych reports are broad and as sped teachers we have to prioritize the specific needs of the student to maximize learning. Three year goals vs. THIS years goal How do we measure progress towards these goals and objectives in an ongoing and efficient way? (Dee Dee) Diagnostic tasks matched to goals and objectives Rubrics that differentiate progress based on developmental levels and standards Quick Reach many developmental levels How do we align materials to the state standards, the goals and objectives, and individual student needs? We developed a process through trial and error that we will share throughout this presentation. How do we differentiate between reasoning and calculation in mathematics? Based on psych report Our district qualifies based on these two categories? We were having difficulties separating these two in order to have specific goals to fit specific needs More than just word problems

4. Our Process So far�..

5. Step 1: Examining the Current Assessments Why are they not working? Cumbersome Time Consuming Inconsistent What else could we use? Examined FSiM Diagnostic tasks Identified tasks that met our students� needs

6. Step 2:Aligning Diagnostic Tasks Alignment to the strands of math Sorting within the strands Aligned to student needs What were the goals and objectives needed to fulfill IEP�s? Alignment to Standards Created rubrics that crossed the grade levels.

7. Step 3:Examine Psychologists� Evaluation Note: We wish we would have done this first! What is being classified as calculation? What is classified as reasoning? What is the testing protocol? What is not tested? What input did the school psychologist have to help with our process? How can we work together better as a team?

8. Step 4:Separating Calculation from Reasoning Separation was based on WIAT-II evaluation. Determined we would start with calculation because our program, Connecting Math Concepts, had this focus. Identified other resources for reasoning.

9. Step 5:Calculation Examined program assessments for placement. Matched those skills to the skills identified in the psychologist�s report. Differentiated skills into levels. Determined the program covered all of the skills identified as calculation.

10. Step 6:Periodic Assessments for Calculation Identified where skills were assessed throughout math program. Determined what was taught in the program that could be de-emphasized. Allowed us to focus our intervention on the concepts identified as student objectives. The program placement aligned with psychologist�s evaluation. Discovered that other resources would need to be used for reasoning. Filled in gaps in the program�s assessments. Aligned calculation objectives to state standards.

11. Step 7:Tackling Reasoning What resources do we have access to? What resources might we need? How are the concepts broken down within the strands? How do the concepts grow through the developmental phases? How will we measure this growth?

12. Our Resources Groundworks, Creative Publications Think Tanks, Origo FSiM Math Whizz Teacher to Teacher

13. Breaking Down the Strands Reasoning with Numbers Representation Number Sense Ratio and Proportion Number Theory Computation

14. Cont. Measurement Units Measurement Sense Conversions Scale Formulas

15. Cont. Reasoning with Geometry Attributes of Shapes Composing and Decomposing Shapes Spatial Reasoning Transformations Relationships Among Shapes

16. Cont. Reasoning with Algebra Representations Proportional Reasoning Balance Function Inductive Reasoning

17. Cont. Reasoning with Probability and Statistics Ways to Count Probability Interpret Data Organize Data Describe Data

18. Developmental Progression of Concepts FSiM alignment of concepts as they progress through the resources. Alignment of diagnostic tasks to the progression of concepts. Alignment to psychologist�s evaluation and reporting. Creation of clear, consistent, measurable goals and objectives.

19. Examining the Diagnostics How we use diagnostic tasks to understand student thinking and measure student progress.

20. Where we are going with this� Finish the alignment work. Pilot the diagnostic tasks. Share the work throughout the district. Fill in the gaps. Figure out what else we�ve missed!

21. Questions and Suggestions