Translating Trees Into Improved Student Performance

1. Translating Trees Into Improved Student Performance By Linda Headley, Headley Pratt Consulting 2005 Fall MI-Access Conferences

2. Purpose • To explain how MI-Access results are reported and… • To share examples from the field that show how results are being used to improve instruction, curriculum, and, ultimately, student performance

3. Real Purpose • To help us all feel better about the thousands of trees that are now stored safely in our file cabinets! • Are the piles of paper worth it?

4. Thank You! • “Field” Contributors: • Stan Masters - Lenawee Intermediate School District • Michelle Proulx – Almont, Dryden, and Imlay City Schools • Marcia O’Brien – Heartwood School • Deborah Norton – Rochester Community School • Peg Steeh – Wing Lake Developmental Center • Marty Chapman – Porter Education Center • Kim Odett – Almont Elementary School • Margie Steinkamp – REO Elementary School • Penny Zago – MI-Access sub-contractor • Deb Rakas – MI-Access sub-contractor

5. Presentation Order • Start with Participation and Supported Independence (formerly referred to as Phase 1) • Then talk about Interim Phase 2 BRIGANCE (IP2B)

6. Participation and Supported Independence Reports

7. Individual Student Report: Participation and Supported Independence Observation Scores PR scores = The total number of 3s and 4s (down the column)

8. Individual Student Report: Participation and Supported Independence Meets Criterion = All 3s and 4s (across the row)

9. Individual Student Report: Participation and Supported Independence Each PE score has a corresponding Overall Performance Category PE score = The total number of yeses (or how many times the student met the criterion)

10. Using Results to Inform Instruction and Curriculum One way to interpret data is to look at results across PRs (in this case, initiate, carry out, and conduct) PR DATA

11. What That Might Look Like • Many students receive low scores for “initiation” What We’ve Seen & Heard

12. Why? • First lesson. With this population, teachers tend to give very specific directions • They give specific directions more often than they think • When students are directed, they don’t learn how to—or have an opportunity to—initiate • Will someone always be there in adulthood to direct them?

13. Resulting Instructional Changes • Do more general prompting and less specific directing • Build more “access time” into activities • Wait longer during interactions for student responses

14. How Might That Impact Future Scores? This student did very well on the other two PRs. It was only the initiation scores that were keeping him/her from scoring well on the PE.

15. What We’ve Seen & Heard What That Might Look Like Some students have low scores for communication, especially for PE 1 (leisure) and PE 3 (effective communication) What That Might Look Like Some students have low scores for conveying desires, feelings, and needs (PE 3)

16. Why? • Many picture boards and communication systems only allow answers to direct questions. • Students convey and advocate, but often in inappropriate ways • Instructional Changes: • Modify communication systems so students can make choices, indicate interests, and convey feelings and desires. • Understand the importance of prompts versus specific directions • Teach students how to communicate, advocate, and convey using appropriate channels

17. PRs as Focus for Instruction Initiate “For many of these students, what they do is less important than how they approach the task, whether they can plan for it, whether they can carry it out, and how they communicate while they’re doing it. These are skills we need to teach because they will transfer to every adult situation and task.” Carry Out Plan Conduct Communicate Persevere Complete Advocate Adapt

18. PRs as Focus for Instruction • How does that transfer to the classroom? • Build unstructured time into the school day • Ask students to help with planning (cooking day every Friday, trips in the school, projects) • Pose “What If” questions to encourage adapting • Continuously look for accommodations that encourage greater independence

19. PRs as Focus for Instruction • MI-Access results and PR language… • help focus discussions with parents (conduct as an example) • help in training new classroom assistants and teachers (common goals, clear principals, consistency in instruction) • help in sharing information with general educators (where differing content may be a barrier to understanding, the PRs are common across special and general education)

20. Still With Me?

21. Using Results to Inform Curriculum and Instruction • Another way to interpret results is to look for patterns in “Overall Performance Categories”

22. Patterns in Overall Performance Categories: Individual Students • As one teacher explained, if the student consistently… • Surpasses the Performance Standard - scaffold back the amount modeling or environmental cues • Attains the Performance Standard - continue using current accommodations, but consider when to begin scaffolding back cues • Emerging Toward the Performance Standard - chose another similar activity and use classroom assessments to get another picture of student performance • Use results as a starting point, not a stopping point.

23. Patterns in Overall Performance Categories: Classroom • All Participation students Surpass the Performance Expectation. • Questions to ask: Were the “as expecteds” (1) discussed by the IEP Team, (2) written well in advance of the assessment, and/or (3) “PR” specific instead of were “activity” specific? What That Might Look Like

24. “Determining As Expecteds for this Student Worksheet” Available at www.mi-access.info

25. Patterns in Overall Performance Categories: School • Most or all students have the same Overall Performance Category • Clue to examine whether they are taking the most appropriate assessment • Revisit the Draft Guidelines (www.mi.gov/mi-access) • When in doubt, go with the more challenging assessment What That Might Look Like

26. What We’ve Seen & Heard • Assessments have enabled districts to focus curriculum across schools and in specific expectation areas • Trend data allows tracking of progress toward curriculum implementation Trend Data

27. Using Results to Guide Curriculum • Four teachers at Porter Education Center (Lenawee ISD) are working together to electronically map curriculum • Four broad categories: • Career and Employability Skills • Health and Recreation • Communication (ELA) • Life Management • Goal: To develop consistency in the skills taught, strategies employed by teachers, assessment paths, and resources in the classroom. • For more information, contact Marty Chapman (517-265-2333)

28. Using Results to Guide Curriculum • Now under development: The Michigan Statewide Participation and Supported Independence Curriculum Project • Started by Supervisors of Low Incidence Populations (SLIP) • Goal: To pool collective wisdom and components of existing curricula into a user-friendly, voluntary curriculum that meets student needs and helps fulfill state and federal requirements • Includes clarification of PEs, PRs, contexts, and objectives cross-referenced to the AUEN For more information, contact Marcia O’Brien (mobrien@ingham.org) or Peg Steeh (psteeh@bloomfield.org)

29. Now we’re going to take a few minutes to talk about golf.

30. Interim Phase 2 BRIGANCE Reports

31. Individual Student Report: IP2B Word Recognition & Grade Placement: Not included in student score…for information only! • Grades 4 and 11 ELA and Mathematics • Grade 7 ELA only • Grade 8 Mathematics only

32. Individual Student Report: IP2B Comprehension Overall Performance Category and Raw Score Scores for each passage and indicators of whether the passage and/or questions were read by the assessment administrator

33. Individual Student Report: IP2B Mathematics Overall Performance Category and Raw Score

34. IP2B Individual Student Report A Grade 11 student Grade Placement for Word Recognition: Below Grade 1 Comprehension: 4 out of 25, Emerging Mathematics: 12 out of 43, Emerging

35. Interpreting Results: ISRs • Questions to ask about ELA: • Is this performance typical? • Would Aimee perform better if the passages and questions were read to her? • How does she access print during instruction? • Further probes: • Are there patterns with the passages (i.e, Aimee does well with prior knowledge)? • Are there patterns with the questions (i.e., Aimee does well with main ideas but not sequencing)? • Is this the most appropriate assessment for her? BRIGANCE Student Record Book Individual Student Report

36. Interpreting Results: ISRs • Questions to ask about mathematics: • Is this performance typical? • Are there areas of strength that can be reinforced? • Where does she need further instruction? • Is this the most appropriate assessment for her? Individual Student Report BRIGANCE Student Record Book Item Analysis Table: Grade 4

37. Compare ISR to Classroom How did Aimee do in comparison to her peers?

38. What We’ve Heard & Seen • Teachers—especially those who already use BRIGANCE in the classrooms—like IP2B because “it enables them to (1) test specific skills, (2) monitor progress, and (3) adjust curriculum accordingly.” You know which specific skills students have mastered and where they need additional work, which enables you to tailor instruction to each student’s specific needs. • In this way, IP2B has a direct and immediate effect on instruction

39. Interpreting Results Summary Reports provide a “snapshot” of student performance across a school or district • Overall, students scored better on ELA than mathematics • Is this content area emphasized more in the school’s/district’s curriculum? • Do these students, in general, tend to perform better in ELA? • Are there other implications that need to be explored? • Could some of these students have taken the MEAP ELA assessments with accommodations?

40. Interpreting Results District Item Analyses show how many students answer each question correctly and incorrectly Combine this with Item Analyses Tables to learn about specific skill areas where students do well and where more instruction is needed

41. Interpreting Results • Students did well with numbers, money, and time; • were average with respect to ordinal position; and • need to improve measurement skills

42. District Uses IP2B Assessments and Results to Align Curriculum • Almont, Dryden, and Imlay City Schools — IP2B helped them align their CI curriculum “quickly and easily.” • By using IP2B as a starting point, they have been able to… • align curriculum from one building to the next; • develop a consistent method of tracking the skills; • ensure that as students move from grade to grade their Student Record Books follow them; • write better PLEP statements; and • improve data collection for IEP goals. • For more information, contact Michelle Proulx (mproulx@imlay.k12.mi.us)

43. Using MI-Access Results to Improve Curriculum and Instruction • Most important lesson learned? Results have the greatest impact when people are given opportunities to come together to discuss them—teachers with teachers, coordinators with teachers, and coordinators with coordinators. You discover trends, identify anomalies, start asking questions, and together seek answers.

44. So what do you think? Are the trees worth it?