Challenging All Students to Meet High Expectations: Supporting Schools in Raising the Bar for Students with Disabilities Office of Special Education Programs Project Directors' Conference July 2014 Kristen Brown, Ph.D., Project READ Director, Common Core State Standards and Assessment Liaison, Special Education Division, California Department of Education Jodi Fortney, Special Education High School Teacher, Tulare County Office of Education Vision

Overview The Least Dangerous Assumption Essential Concepts  Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Common Core State Standards (CCSS)  Aligning Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) Activities and Resources National Center and State Collaborative--Aligning Instruction to the CCSS for the students with significant cognitive disabilities  Using Language Arts Activities with Scripted Systematic Instruction (LASSI) to Raise the Bar 2

The Least Dangerous Assumption We assume that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are competent and able to learn, and we support increased educational opportunities in a range of learning environments. Source: NCSC South Carolina Meeting Curriculum and Instructional Supports February 27th,

Essential Concepts MTSS Systematic Addresses the needs of ALL students Aligns the entire system of initiatives, supports, and resources Implements continuous improvement processes at all levels of the system RtI Individualized Universal screening Multiple tiers of intervention Data-driven decision making Problem solving teams Focus on CCSS Multi-tiered System of Supports: A Comprehensive Framework for Implementing the California Common Core State Standards professional learning module found at 4

Integration of MTSS, College, Career, and Community Ready The integration of MTSS incorporates preparing students to be college, career and community ready by relying on the CCSS to provide a framework and a set of critical tools to support teaching and learning at differing levels of intensity, depending on the academic needs of the students. (Gamm, Elliott, Halbert, et. al., 2012) 5

Common Core State Standards Rationale “The CCSS addresses the deep challenges of inequality of opportunity between different students exposed to radically unequal opportunities when it comes to the material they study and the quality of instruction they have received.” (Coleman, D. 2011) 6

California Common Core Special Education Web site Parent and student resources in English and Spanish 7

National Center and State Collaborative Consortium Project Led by 5 centers and 24 states Alternate assessment in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 To develop a system of assessments supported by curriculum, instruction, and professional development to ensure that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities achieve increasingly higher academic outcomes and leave high school ready for post-secondary options 8

College Career Community Curriculum Common Standards Learning Progressions Core Content Connectors Curriculum Common Standards Learning Progressions Core Content Connectors Instruction Grade-level Lessons Accommodations Systematic Instruction Instruction Grade-level Lessons Accommodations Systematic Instruction Assessment Formative Summative Assessment Formative Summative Communicative Competence 9

Commitment to Communicative Competence Communication at some level is possible and identifiable for all students regardless of functional “level,” and is the starting point for developing communicative competence. Communication competence is defined as the use of a communication system that allows students to gain and demonstrate knowledge. NCSC Parent Materials September Communicative-Competence pdf 10

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Element Cards 12

Math and Language Arts Activities with Scripted Systematic Instruction MASSI: The “Math Activities with Scripted Systematic Instruction” offer a model for teaching CCSS to students with significant cognitive disabilities. LASSI: The "Language Arts Activities with Scripted Systematic Instruction" offer a model for teaching CCSS to students with significant cognitive disabilities. 13

Introducing a Game Changer Jodi Fortney… Taught Special Education for 25 years, with the past 13 years being at the high school level Serves students with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities which includes students with autism, hearing, visual and physical impairments, and down’s syndrome Teaches a Special Day high school class at Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia, California Active participant on the NCSC LASSIs field test as well as the NCSC assessment writing study. 14

From Materials to Practice Using the LASSIs to guide instruction in a high school classroom (excerpt) Using the LASSIs to guide instruction in a high school classroom (full version) 15

Creating Effective Language Arts Instructional Materials Building a LASSI Video ZPCckay9_w&feature=youtu.be 16

Resources California Department of Education Special Education CCSS Website CCSS and related assessment consortia work Diving Deeper into aligning IEPs to the CCSS Symposium CCSSS archived sessions and training materials Aligning IEPs to the CCSS Administrator, teacher, parent and student handouts These one page handouts are translated into English and Spanish NCSC Wiki: Resource Materials Hosts the materials needed to deliver instruction aligned to the CCSS NCSC Presentations Content resources, model curricula, and other tools housed on the NCSC Wiki page 17

Questions? 18

Contact Information Kristen Brown, Ph.D. Project READ Project Director Common Core State Standards and Assessment Consultant Special Education Division California Department of Education Telephone: (916) Jodi Fortney Special Education High School Teacher Tulare County Office of Education 19