Current Perspectives, Support Services and Best Practices Dr. Edilberto I. Dizon Dr. Edilberto I. Dizon

Current Perspectives 1.Curricular Programs 2.Instructional Schemes 3.Psychosocial Training 4.Pupil Evaluation and Promotion

Curricular Programs As much as possible, the CSEN must be given the same lessons if he can perform comparably well.

If the child, however, encounters some difficulties, lessons need to be modified/simplified using appropriate and helpful instructional materials to facilitate comprehension.

If the child can neither perform at par nor respond positively to modifications, change the lessons into simpler ones. Provide parallel lessons in the same subject.

The curricular priorities for CSEN must be based on the psychoeducational and/or therapists’ assessment results/reports. This set of priorities consists of fallback/substitute curricular contents.

Curricular priorities must be in multi- developmental areas considering that many CSEN have global or pervasive developmental delays. Motor (Gross & Fine) Psychosocial -Behavioral Perceptuo- Cognitive Language- Communica- tion Self-Help/ Vocational

Curricular priorities must be developmentally - sequenced, relevant, performance-based and provide opportunities for practical-skills application.

Curricular contents must consider the child’s personal including his socio-cultural, economic and family backgrounds.

Curricular contents must utilize indigenous materials and actual day-to-day life situations to closely approximate realistic expectations.

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Instructional Schemes Instructional schemes are special learning plans/arrangements which permit structural flexibility, collaborative teaching, and resource sharing aimed at individualizing and maximizing intervention for a CSEN.

Inclusive education is not partial to pullout of the child in other venues during the class. The CSEN must, as much as possible, be in the regular room at all times.

Pullout within the room A child with special needs enrolled in a regular classroom may be individualized without removing him from his homeroom. One option is to deliver instruction by seating him in an area within the classroom where he can be monitored directly by the teacher while performing his assigned tasks.

He may be moved to this area because he may need closer supervision from the teacher.

This type of instructional scheme allows the child to be in his own classroom for the entire day even though he may be given differentiated activities to suit his particular needs. It reduces any stigma that may come with being pulled out from the class during class hours.

Assistantship plan This is a co-teaching option where one teacher has the primary teaching responsibility. Such lead teacher is assisted by another teacher without assuming direct teaching responsibility.

This assistant teacher assists learners with their work, monitors behavior, simplifies instructions, correct assignments, observes and records critical incidents, among others.

Team-teaching plan This instructional scheme employs the presence of two teachers in the class. They both present the lesson to the students and may devise a system on how they share responsibility in handling the class.

They may share lecturing on the same topic or divide which subjects will be taught by whom.

Shadow teaching plan The shadow teaching scheme may be considered to ensure the child’s success in the regular class. This scheme is an adaptation as many CSEN need a support person inside the classroom due to cognitive, psychosocial, language-communication, self-care and motoral deficits – causing verbal- behavioral difficulties.

The shadow teacher is task to manage behaviors, modify/ simplify/change lessons, facilitate social-skills training, individualize instruction (only when needed), and teamwork with regular teachers.

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Psychosocial Training This pertains to the social and behavioral targets planned by the teacher in the regular class.

Teachers must not only teach cognitive skills but also manage behaviors and increase social skills.

Many concerns in inclusive programs pertain to the difficulty in managing behaviors. Teachers, therefore, must equally focus on behavior management became all other learnings in the different areas are contingent on the child’s behavioral readiness.

Some proponents emphasize the importance of social rather than learning outcomes in the inclusionary program.

Teachers in inclusionary programs must be trained in behavior modification and behavior coaching as behavior issues in the classroom pose more as a concern than other deficits.

The buddy system yields encouraging findings in terms of addressing atypical behaviors. Here, a mature, sociable, and tactful peer serves as the CSEN’s “big brother,” and helps in behavior, language and cognitive concerns.

The teacher needs to provide plenty of constructive activities to increase the child’s psychosocial skills. Thus, much more opportunities for social training in varied situations/places are provided.

The child, therefore, participates in social events, programs, sports, recreation/leisure, outings as much as regular peers.

Opportunities for monitoring tasks like doing favors for teachers/peers, distributing/collecting papers, and doing simple chores are provided to ventilate excess energy, improve focus, and increase verbal and social reciprocity and propriety.

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Pupil Evaluation and Promotion The primary purpose of psychoeducational assessment is to determine/identify the child’s development condition including his/her achievement level and also possible exceptionality/disability. This purpose is pursued by trained clinicians and diagnosticians within an educational context.

After the clinician/diagnostician has identified the child’s possible exceptionality/disability, the trained teacher can assume the responsibility of determining what the child can and cannot do cognitively, affectively and psychomotorally for specific purposes.

Principles and guidelines in psychoeducational assessment are:

PA … is confidential. is comprehensive as it is holistic covering fine- and gross-motor, cognitive/academic, psychosocial, language-communication and self-help- vocational areas. a developmental process enabling the teacher to determine and record gains and progress within a given time duration.

believes in early assessment for early intervention/remediation. utilizes varied educational tools and strategies. adheres to transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary models of collaboration.

considers processes as important as results. considers the provision of recommendations (based on the results) vital to teaching. is a process of making scientific approximations; limitations, therefore are expected.

can only sample the child’s abilities, skills knowledge, qualities/attributes. Teachers, therefore, are excepted to use good assessment tools and strategies to ensure comprehensiveness of data. Good decision-making relies on the adequacy and thoroughness of data.

PA yields data needed in making decisions about/along: a)grade placement of each child; b)curricular differences to partially individualize/customize lessons/activities/ contents for specific cases such as disabilities, overage and giftedness/mental superiority;

c) promotion of children; d) interest and ability groupings as part of co-curricular activities;

e)needed collaboration with parents and other service providers; f)gauging of developmental/academic achievement of the child; and g)provision of needed appropriate materials, equipment and facilities.

The following slide presents alternative approaches to evaluation of CSEN (Salend, 1990). Take note that some of these are not recommended for evaluating gains/progress of a CSEN for promotion/pass-up purposes. Examples are given to illustrate each of the evaluation approach presented by the author.

ApproachExample 1.Traditional Grading: letter grades or percentages assigned. 2.Pass/Fail System: broad-based criteria are established for passing or failing 3.IEP Grading: competency levels on student’s IEP are translated into school performance standards 4.Mastery- or criterion-level grading: content is divided into subcomponents. Students earn credit when their mastery of a certain skill reaches an acceptable level (success criterion) 5.Multiple Grading: the student is assessed and graded in several areas such as ability, effort, achievement  Letters like A,B,C,D,F; percentage grades/scores  Students who complete assignments and pass tests or quizzes will receive a passing grade  Achievement of criteria levels specified in the IEP will be given an equivalent grade  Naming 10 out of 12 colors; Surpassing previous performance level (the child competes with the previous performance not with that of his peers)  Points for assignments, quizzes, for projects and actual- skills performance are accumulated.

ApproachExample 6. Shared Grading: two or more teachers determine a student’s grade 7.Point system: points are assigned to activities or assignments that add up to the term grade 8.Student self-comparison: students evaluate themselves on an individual basis 9.Contracting: the student and the teacher agree on specific activities required for a certain grade. 10. Portfolio evaluation: a cumulative portfolio is maintained of each student’s work  Regular teacher grading 50% and a SPED teacher grading the other 50%  Points are given for every project, quiz, attendance, homework, etc., the total of which will be the student’s grade  Completing assignments, working independently – student rates his work  Giving the student extra work to make up for quizzes or tests  Cumulative samples of artworks, compositions, projects, worksheets, etc.