1. Instructional Coaching
A Method to Maximizing Academic Access, Expectations, and Learning of the PA Core Standards for Students with Complex Instructional Needs
OSEP Project Director’s Conference
August 1-3, 2016
Orient to available materials:
Project MAX Overview Publication
Profession Development Example Packet (SAUPP, Application Activity Summary document and 1 month of PD including application activity form)
Coaching Tools Packet (Coaching Plan, Classroom Characteristics Self-Assessment, Instructional Observation Tool, Coaching Fidelity Checklist)
Project MAX Infographic
Handouts: Available on request from Project MAX contacts
The contents of the presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H323A However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Susan Weigert.

2. PaTTAN’s Mission
The mission of the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) is to support the efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of Special Education, and to build the capacity of local educational agencies to serve students who receive special education services.
In support of this mission, PaTTAN is implementing an evidence-based professional development effort funded by an OSEP State Personnel Development Grant. According to OSEP, Project MAX is the first SPDG grant focused entirely on building capacity of LEAs and IUs to provide students with complex instructional needs with access to, and learning of, grade-level academic standards, including PA Core Standards. This innovative project is built on the principles of implementation science and designed to impact LEAs and IUs across the Commonwealth over the five years of the project.

3. PDE’s Commitment to Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Our goal for each child is to ensure Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams begin with the general education setting with the use of Supplementary Aids and Services before considering a more restrictive environment.
PDE, BSE and PaTTAN’s commitment to LRE is articulated on this slide. The work of Project MAX supports IEP teams in this consideration by providing tools and structures to help IEP teams envision HOW access to the general curriculum can be provided to all students with disabilities, including those with complex instructional needs, raising expectations for access to and learning of the general education curriculum.

4. An Introduction to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Bureau of Special Education
PaTTAN Pittsburgh
9 IUs
PaTTAN Harrisburg
11 IUs
PaTTAN East
This information on this slide will help attendees to understand Pennsylvania’s process for building capacity across the state.
External coaches are existing Training Consultants employed by each intermediate unit with Component 2 IDEA funds. This helps PA sustain grant elements after the initiative is over.
29 Intermediate Units Across PA

5. MAXimizing Access and Learning: PA Core Standards
Purpose: Increase the capacity of Pennsylvania schools to provide all students, including those with complex instructional needs, with maximum access to the general education curriculum and PA Core Standards.

6. Students with Complex Instructional Needs
Often require significant adaptations and/or modifications to the general education curriculum in order to access and learn
Often have significant difficulty reading and accessing grade level texts
Often demonstrate a pattern of inconsistent progress on academic and functional skills
We know that our students with complex instructional needs require curricular modifications, have significant difficulty with (or even absence of) literacy skills, and inconsistent progress in most areas .
CLICK – bottom three appear
But this picture so often includes these communication barriers (which, taken together can even be seen as causal to the ones above)
Difficulty expressing what they know
Limited means of verbal and written communication (which is, after all how students show what they know academically)
And some – perhaps many- may require AAC and/ or AT in order to make progress

7. Students with Complex Instructional Needs
Often have difficulty expressing what they know and are able to do
May have a limited means of verbal and written communication
May require augmentative and alternative communication and/or assistive technology in order to access, participate and make progress in learning.
But this picture so often includes these communication barriers (which, taken together can even be seen as causal to the ones above)
Difficulty expressing what they know
Limited means of verbal and written communication (which is, after all how students show what they know academically)
And some – perhaps many- may require AAC and/ or AT in order to make progress

8. Team Members Parent Internal coach Curriculum leader
Special education leader
Building or program administrator
Special educator
General educator/content specialist
Related service provider
Engaging in systems change at the level of Project MAX requires the knowledge and perspectives of all of these stakeholders. Each person plays a critical role on the team.
Data Coordinator

9. Systems Change
For Project MAX:
Coaching
Practice Profile
Monthly Professional Development
Standards-Aligned Instruction
Data-Driven Decision Making
A specified set of activities designed to put into practice a program of known dimensions
This is what systems change looks like in year 1.
Implementing these 5 components will move the LEA or IU toward the previously stated purpose of Project MAX (Increase the capacity of Pennsylvania schools to provide all students, including those with complex instructional needs, with maximum access to the general education curriculum and PA Core Standards.)
I’m going to share with you a few more details about each of these items.

10. Building Capacity of Coaches
Initiate
Year 1
Scale-Up
Year 2
Replicate
Year 3
Lead: PaTTAN
Support: External & Internal Coaches
Lead: External & Internal Coaches
Fading Support: PaTTAN
Lead: External Coach
Support: New LEA Internal Coach

11. Support for Coaches
External coaches receive specialized professional development prior to the Project MAX Summer Institute
Internal and external coaches attend 5 coaching professional development/networking days during the 1st year
Coaching practices are modeled by PaTTAN implementors
After the 1st year, all coaches are invited to attend coaching professional development/networking days

12. Providing Coaching Coaching for Systems Coaching for Classrooms
Practice Profile
Customized Action Steps
Leaders and Teams
Examples:
Selecting curriculum
Building and staff schedules
Scaling up activities
Coaching for Classrooms
Tools to Identify Coaching Needs
PD Application Activities
Classroom Characteristics Self-Assessment
Instructional Observation Tool
Teachers, Paraprofessionals, Related Service Providers
Examples:
Instructional practices
Materials
Within the classroom, coaching is provided around the application activities. In addition, we have developed 2 additional tools to support coaching. The classroom characteristics self-assessment is used by the teacher to self-identify areas for further coaching and support. The instructional observation tool can be used by coaches as well as colleagues to identify areas of strength and potential areas for coaching support. Coaching is provided to teachers, paraprofessionals and related service providers. You can review the classroom characteristics self-assessment document at the end of the session in the packets placed around the room.
Within the larger system, coaching is provided to leaders and teams around the team’s self-identified customized action steps. Coaching for systems is happening primarily in the team meetings as the entire team is together to collaborate.

13. Project MAX Practice Profile
Project MAX will support teams in gaining skills and knowledge over time that move them toward optimized practice across six areas of practice.
Ineffective
Emerging
Developing
Optimized
The six areas of practice are:
Leadership
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Least Restrictive Environment
Individual Student Supports
Family and Community Involvement
Collaboration and Problem Solving
Teams rate their program’s current status for each Core Component based on a four-point rating scale:
4. Optimized Practice
3. Developing Practice
2. Emerging Practice
1. Ineffective Practice
As each section is completed, scores for each core component are recorded on the Project MAX Status and Implementation Plan form. This allows the team to visually examine patterns of school and classroom practices and to prioritize areas of need that can be incorporated as customized action steps within the Implementation Plan. The facilitator helps guide development of substantive action steps that will move the IU or LEA closer to optimized practice.

14. Professional Development Cycle: Year One Implementation
August: Intensive Summer institute
September: PA Core Standards & Unit Planning
October: Learning Targets
November: Key Vocabulary & Ideas
December: Instructional Materials
January: Effective Instructional Practices
February: Formative Assessment
March: Instructional Engagement
April: Individual Student Supports
May: Scaling Up
Professional development is provided monthly throughout the school year to build knowledge and skills that will support sustained implementation of standards-aligned instruction for learners with complex instructional needs.

15. Connections to Monthly PD
September: PA Core Standards & Unit Planning
Essentialization helps us reduce the depth, breadth & complexity
October: Learning Targets
November: Key Vocabulary & Ideas
Each topic of professional development connects to our Standards-Aligned Unit Planning Process.
Monthly professional development during the first year covers the critical elements of the SAUPP with time built in for the implementation of application activities during the next few weeks.
January: Effective Instructional Practices
December: Instructional Materials
February: Formative Assessment
March:
Instructional Engagement
April: Individual Student Supports

16. Application Activities
At the end of each monthly PD, there is an application activity that the team members complete prior to the next month’s PD. Application activities with coaching greatly increase the likelihood of the knowledge and skills that are acquired during PD being implemented in schools and classrooms. You can see an example of the application activities here. A four page document that summarizes each month’s PD and application activities is available in your PD Packet
For example, the November PD topic is Vocabulary and Ideas. The application activities are to 1) review a selected text for a lesson and determine the key vocabulary for all, select additional vocabulary that may be needed and identify language to define and describe the vocabulary or 2) Work with the SLP/AT consultant to identify expressive vocabulary for AAC for two key vocabulary words and ideas by identifying high frequency “core vocabulary” and specific “extended” vocabulary.

17. Application Activity Action Plan
This Application Activity Action Plan is used to plan the implementation of the application activity and reflect on the implementation of the application activity.

18. Project MAX Coaching Plan
The Project MAX Coaching Plan is used to plan and organize coaching sessions. This document is completed with the teacher prior to the coaching session to plan what coaching will look like and reviewed after to document next steps.
A Three-Step Coaching Model
The coaching process generally involves three phases---planning, observation, and analysis and reflection. Much like
the clinical supervision model the approach is designed to engage the teacher in reflection on their teaching, a formative
process (Williamson & Blackburn, 2009).
Step 1: Pre-Conference: (During this step the teacher and coach meet to discuss the coaching, identify a focus for data collection (from practice profile, classroom guide, PD application activities), and agree on when coaching in the classroom will occur.
Identify focus using these tools
Classroom Characteristics Tool
PD Application Activities
Practice Profile
Help teachers to identify goals
Agree on a plan
Coaching Guide
Agree on when coaching will occur
Step 2: Coaching in the Classroom (This step includes a visit to the classroom and collection of data that will inform a discussion about the focus area identified in the planning phase. This may also include modeling a technique, co-teaching, observing, providing feedback, collaboratively developing materials)
Review professional development content
Model
Provide examples
Collaboratively develop materials
Provide guided practice
Observation and feedback
Step 3: Post-Conference (This phase provides an opportunity to meet with the teacher to talk about the observation and the data that were collected. The emphasis is on engaging the teacher in a conversation to analyze and think about his or her teaching. Conclude with agreement on follow up and appropriate next steps.)
Coach asks open ended questions about meeting goals and integrity of implementation
Discuss observational data (if collected)
Identify strengths
Conclude with agreement on follow up and appropriate next steps

19. Classroom Characteristics Self-Assessment
This is the Classroom Characteristics Self-Assessment. Teachers rate their classroom in the following areas:
Classroom Environment and Organization
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Individual Student Supports
Adult Behavior
It is a 30 item self-assessment.
The ratings are:
1 – Not in place
2 – Minimally in place
3 – Mostly in place
4 – Fully in place
They can also self-rate the priority level:
L – Low priority for action/change at this time
S – Moderate priority
H – High Priority

20. Instructional Observation Tool
The instructional observation tool is designed to observe “on-stage” teaching. It looks at Instruction Design, Instructional Delivery, Student Engagement, and Assessment.

21. Coaching Fidelity Checklist
The Coaching Fidelity Checklist is used as our Program Measure indicator to evaluate the acquisition of coaching skills. These coaches are responsible for the replication and scale up of Project MAX elements in their LEAs/ regions after grant funds are expended.

22. Coaches’ Survey Results
Before Project MAX
After 2 Years of Implementation
Presumption of competence in all students
46%
100%
Supporting teams to apply Project MAX principles and practices
14%
86%
Coaching and Facilitation skills
40%
89%
Coaching instructional design and delivery 9%
77%
Professional development delivery skills
43%
Ability to leverage influence and resources in expanding Project MAX
34%
91%
Confidence in ability to scale up and/or replicate Project Max
Change in coaches’ skills and knowledge from before Project MAX to after 2 years of the project was assessed using a survey that asked them to rate their demonstration of the knowledge and skills on a 4-point likert scale where 1 is limited demonstration of skills and 4 is consistent demonstration of skills.
The data on this slide show the percentage of coaches reporting a score of 3 or 4 before Project MAX and then after 2 years of Implementation.

23. Project MAX Handout infographic
Across the commonwealth, Project MAX has…. (describe graphic)
To change practice in PA, Project MAX was developed to impact….
By the end of the Project MAX Grant our goals are…
29 IU teams and 142 LEA teams will have the needed skills and knowledge to maximize access to the general curriculum and PA Core Standards for all students
155 coaches who provide targeted assistance to teams as they implement Project MAX
300 administrators will demonstrate the competencies needed to lead schools that maximize access to the general curriculum and PA Core Standards for all students
One statewide parent network created in partnership with The Peal Center (Pennsylvania’s Parent Training and Information Center to build advocacy and leadership skills in parents of students with complex instructional needs, in order to foster high expectations of achievement for all students.
Twelve (12) Institutions of Higher Education will integrate core content related to students with complex instructional needs into pre-service and master’s level work for teacher candidates.
Kutztown University
Seton Hill University
Clarion University
East Stroudsburg University
Gwynedd Mercy University

24. Discussion Questions
Given what you have learned about the practices we use to build capacity how might you incorporate these ideas into your work?
What potential barriers do you foresee in the implementation of these capacity building practices in your work? How might you overcome these barriers?
How might implementation of these capacity building practices improve your outcomes?
Allow questions for the large group.
For first bullet provide examples - (e.g., a team of multiple stakeholders involved in systems-change efforts, external and internal coaches providing support, and the Project MAX coaching model that includes the use of a variety of tools),
If none, say – feel free to come up and ask individual questions and browse the documents in the room.
I will be sharing a video as you leave that highlights some of our teams mission and vision statements for Project MAX along with some photographs of our teams and students.
Thank you

25. Contact Information
Shatarupa Podder
Project Director
Ann Hinkson-Herrmann
Project Coordinator
Natalie Sokol
Project State Lead