Teaching.IU

Context

EDU 30500: Teaching the Exceptional Learner in the Elementary School is the only required special education course for teacher candidates who will be general education teachers in K-6 schools. Faculty teaching EDU 30500 have a responsibility to ensure that future teachers master the basic knowledge needed to work with K-6 students with disabilities. The Lesson Plan Adaptation Project helps teacher candidates think critically and systematically about adaptations to meet the needs of K-6 students with various disabilities. The Systematic Approach of Adapting Learning Environment (SAALE) model provides a template for the project. In the SAALE model, students and contents interact in three major environments: the learning environment (socio-emotional, physical, and behavioral), the teaching environment, and the evaluation/grading environment. The SAALE model is a problem-solving approach based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and provides a framework for making decisions about how to teach students with disabilities (Wood, 2005). Teacher candidates create their own case scenarios involving three fictional students with disabilities and adapt classroom environments for these students. Through this project, teacher candidates understand that learning occurs when an instructor knows students’ strengths, weaknesses, and unique learning needs and adapts classroom environments systematically.   

Step-by-Step Implementation

Teacher candidates move through five steps of explicit instruction (warm-up, guided practice, independent practice, final report, and presentation) and demonstrate their proficiency in adapting classroom environments to meet the diverse needs of K-6 students with disabilities. There are five steps involved in supporting the development of the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project: 

Step 1: Warm up Activity Using a Real and Relevant Situation (Evaluation of Classroom Environment at Purdue University Fort Wayne, PFW)

By using teacher candidates’ gained knowledge about characteristics of elementary school students with disabilities, the SAALE Model, and UDL, during a synchronous whole-class discussion, teacher candidates:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of classroom environments (learning environment - socio-emotional, physical, and behavioral; teaching environment, and evaluation/grading environment) in our PFW classes;  
• Discuss the influences of these classroom environments on their own learning; 
• Review scholarly publications related to classroom environments; and  
• Propose adaptation ideas that can improve classroom environments for PFW students with diverse learning needs.

Step 2: Guided Practice: Small Group Activity  

Small groups participate in a guided practice to understand the hypothetical setting and project guidelines, develop one case scenario involving a K-6 student with a disability, and propose adaptation ideas. Teacher candidates are assigned to small groups depending on their interest (e.g., Autism group, Learning Disability group). The instructor closely monitors small group discussions and provide consistent feedback. 

A hypothetical setting is specified for all students in which they assume the role of an elementary school teacher who has at least 20 students in an inclusive general education class. Three of their elementary school students are eligible for special education services and need adaptations for individualized instruction due to their visual/hearing/physical, learning, and/or behavioral disabilities. One fictional case scenario is created collaboratively in small groups and two case scenarios are developed independently by each student.

Group members collaborate in the following activities: 

• Discuss the project guidelines by reviewing six different representations: 
  • written assignment description 
  • template
  • grading rubric
  • video recording about the project with visual effects 
  • video recording about the project with a student (Q & A format) 
  • verbal explanation about the assignment guideline during a synchronous meeting;
• Develop one hypothetical case scenario involving one student with a disability: name of the student, strengths, weaknesses, and unique needs;  
• Evaluate the overall quality of a scripted complete lesson plan (“Completing a Sentence”) using the principles of UDL and then evaluate the suitability of the lesson plan for their K-6 student with a disability.
  • Note: Using this scripted high-quality lesson plan, teacher candidates are exposed to an exemplary lesson plan and, most of all, understand that all lesson plans have room for improvement.  
• Propose adaptation recommendations for the lesson “Completing a Sentence” to meet the unique needs of their own fictional K-6 student with a disability. Using at least six scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, teacher candidates are required to provide a pedagogically sound rationale as to why the adaptations are needed for their own fictional student with a disability.

Step 3: Independent Practice and Peer Review (Drafting and Progress Monitoring Activity)  

Individually and independently, each teacher candidate:     

• Develops two case scenarios involving K-6 students with diverse disabilities and propose adaptation ideas that can support their students’ learning during the lesson, “Completing a Sentence;”  
• Submits a draft for peer review and instructor review and also provides reviews to peers; 
• Prepares a final revised version of the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project;  
  • Note. We call each other’s hypothetical students by their names to make the scenarios more real and personal so that teacher candidates can come to accept students with disabilities as “their” students. The instructor monitors teacher candidates’ progress and also provides feedback on their drafts.  

Step 4: Final Lesson Plan Adaptation Project Report  

The finalized version of the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project is submitted in the learning management system. Teacher candidates create three case scenarios: one in a small group and two independently. All three fictional case scenarios are included in the final submission.  

Step 5: Presentation (Role Play)  

Individual presentations on one student from the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project are made during a synchronous meeting.   

• Teacher candidates role-play as if they are elementary school teachers in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) case conference and it is their turn to briefly and clearly share their observation and adaptation recommendations for a student with a disability.  
• Classmates act as participants at an IEP case conference meeting, such as parents, teachers, a school representative (e.g., principal), a school psychologist, and other related professionals.  

• To make the short presentation accessible to all IEP members, each teacher candidate provides a one-page summary handout for classmates (IEP members) on characteristics of a selected student with a disability and appropriate adaptations in terms of socio-emotional, physical, behavioral, teaching, and evaluation/grading environments. 

Effectiveness

A pre- and post-evaluation were conducted in 2020. The post-test (N = 21) showed a substantial improvement in teacher candidates’ learning about classroom environments compared to the pre-test (N = 22) conducted at the beginning of the semester.  

In the pre-test, many teacher candidates displayed an unsatisfactory level of understanding of multiple classroom environments: 42% (n = 9) in socio-emotional environment, 64% (n = 14) in behavioral environment, 50% (n = 11) in physical environment, 55% (n = 12) in teaching environment, and 36% (n = 8) in evaluation and grading environment. These unsatisfactory outcomes indicated that many teacher candidates lack a basic understanding of classroom environments.  

In the post-test, a high percentage of teacher candidates demonstrated outstanding performance in each environment: socio-emotional (100%, n = 21), behavioral (100%, n = 21), physical (100%, n = 21), instructional material (76%, n = 16), instructional strategies (57%, n = 12), and evaluation and grading (57%, n = 12). One teacher candidate showed unsatisfactory performance in teaching environment and one other in evaluation and grading environment. Assessment data showed that teacher candidates improved their understanding of systematic and appropriate adaptations for their future students with disabilities.  

Inclusivity

The principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) are used throughout the development process of the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project. UDL provides a systematic framework to proactively create classroom environments for students with various needs (http://www.cast.org). The three aspects of UDL highlight the importance of providing learners with multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement. In the development process of the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project, teacher candidates learn about the project guidelines through multiple means of representation (e.g., videos, written description, template, verbal explanation), express their ideas through multiple means of action and expression (e.g., discussion, peer review, drafts, role play), and are actively engaged in multiple activities with their own case scenarios featuring disabilities categories of their interest as a group and also as individuals. 

Adaptability

The steps of explicit instruction used in the process of developing the Lesson Plan Adaptation Project can be implemented in projects of all sizes, in various disciplines, and in different modalities (face-to-face and online formats).  

• Providing explicit and systematic step-by-step scaffolding for an important and complicated class project will help college students succeed in demonstrating their understanding of important course objectives.  
• In order to implement explicit instruction steps and incorporate group and individual activities in one project, the instructor should have a clear guideline and timeline for each step and closely monitor student performance in order to offer timely feedback and redirection to address unforeseen challenges.    
• When a complicated procedure or concept needs to be followed or mastered before students experience the guided practice and independent practice, the instructor can model how to create a project or product as an extension of the instructions. 
• The role-play style presentation step can incorporate authentic learning experiences as students present their project or product to actual clients and/or experts to obtain feedback for further refinement of the project.