1. An Overview of NCSC Curriculum and Instruction: Understanding the Schema
The National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) is a project led by state and organization partners that share a commitment to the development of a comprehensive system of resources to ensure that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities achieve increasingly higher academic outcomes and leave high school ready for college, career and community post-secondary options.

2. Theory of Action Long-term goal:
To ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities achieve increasingly higher academic outcomes and leave high school ready for post-secondary options.
A well-designed summative assessment alone is insufficient.
To achieve this goal, an AA-AAS system also requires:
Curricular & instructional frameworks
Teacher resources and professional development
Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities can achieve higher outcomes and engage as young adults in meaningful, post secondary options when we assume that they are competent and able to learn, when we provide increased educational opportunities to learn academic content utilizing evidence-based instructional practices, and when we intervene to build students’ communicative competence.

3. Communicative Competence
Career
College
Community
Curriculum
Common Core Standards
Learning Progressions
Core Content Connectors
Instruction
Grade-level Lessons
Accommodations
Systematic Instruction
Assessment
Formative, Interim
Summative
The NCSC partners share a common commitment to the development of a comprehensive system of supports that reflects a necessary shift in teaching and learning practices by teachers for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities participating in Alternate Assessment – Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS)
NCSC embraces a research-to-practice approach. It recognizes that to build academic competence of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, it must support teachers in building their understanding the Common Core States Standards and how to teach these standards using evidence-based instructional resources and systematic learning strategies and models, and following the pathways of the Learning Progression Framework. In addition, the project must address the learning characteristics of students who participate in AA-AAS and how students with significant cognitive disabilities build academic competence.
To be fair to students and teachers, the model of student learning and cognition that teachers use during instruction and in their classroom assessments must be the SAME model that assessment developers use in designing the NCSC summative assessment.
This knowledge and support must be delivered to teachers through a comprehensive approach of sustained, professional development.
To this end, the project partners are developing a range of research-to-practice, evidence-based resources and trainings to support teachers as they plan for and provide instruction (in collaboration with other teachers to support instruction in a variety of educational settings), that is based on the Common Core State Standards. These resources are illustrated in the schema on the next slide.
Communicative Competence

4. Many teachers of SSCD need guidance to know how to translate academic content standards into instruction and assessments. Teachers are challenged by the fact that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are a heterogeneous group with varying entry skills/points/levels into the academic content standards and may not know how to differentiate effectively instruction for this population (Karvonen, Wakeman, Flowers, & Browder, 2007).
Over the past several decades, powerful insights have been gained into how students represent knowledge and develop competence in specific domains, as well as how tasks and situations can be designed to provide evidence for inferences about what students know and can do for students across a full range of performance.
To provide evidence of student learning consistent with the increased expectations of the CCSS, the NCSC instructional resources schema defines the “what” and “how” when planning for and teaching academic content to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
In the schema, the purple band describes the “what to teach” containing the Common Core Sate Standards, the Core Content Connectors and the Learning Progressions.
The Learning Progressions Framework presents a broad description of the essential content and general sequencing for student learning and skill development – the pathway that typical peers may take grade by grade. (Hess, 2010).
In the past, we have struggled to understand how to choose content, grade by grade, to ensure inclusion of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grade AND age appropriate content even though they may not have acquired all of the skills in a previous grade.
The LPFs give the NCSC project the educational logic and pathway to help move students with the most significant cognitive disabilities (along with their peers) toward the CCSS.
The CCCs preserve the sequence of learning outlined in the Learning Progression Frameworks (LPF) while identifying the basic parts of the progress indicators into teachable and assessable segments of content. The CCCs are not “extended” - rather, they define more frequent checkpoints along the pathway of the learning progressions.
The CCCs identify the prioritized academic content designed to frame the instruction and assessment of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in kindergarten through high school while retaining the grade level content focus of the CCSS and the learning targets of the LPFs to promote success at the next grade level.
The Graduated Understandings overlap the purple and the orange bands; they include the “what” and the “how”:
Provide guidance on how to “unpack” the instructional and assessed content of the CCCs; and
Align challenging and attainable content that is observable and measurable for use in instruction and through a comprehensive system of assessments (within year, progress monitoring, classroom based as well as summative end of year)
In the schema, the orange band identifies instructional tools to support how to teach this content - based on over a decade of research on academic instruction, communication, and learner characteristics of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Today, we will visit each component of the schema. We will discuss the purpose for each component as well as view samples.

5. Common Core State Standards Core Content Connectors
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Instructional Families
Content
Modules
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
As we move through the schema, notice that one component has been emphasized and is larger than the others. In this case, it is the Common Core State Standards.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

6. Common Core State Standards
Define grade level content and achievement;
Define rigorous content and skills (application knowledge);
Align with expectations for college and career success; and
Do not tell teachers how to teach, but they do help teachers figure out the knowledge and skills their students should have so that teachers can build the best lessons and environments for their classrooms.
The project promotes an opportunity to ensure that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities benefit from the national movement toward Common Core State Standards designed to prepare all students for success in college and careers (and community).
NCSC supports educators as they plan for and provide appropriate instruction that is based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts (reading and writing) and mathematics in grades K – 8 and high school.
The Common Core State Standards intentionally leave room to determine how academic goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed.
The C & I resources provide evidenced-based strategies and tools to support how to teach this content that are based on over a decade of research on academic instruction, communication, and learner characteristics of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities (a link is provided to the CCSS if needed) .
Sped Teachers MUST receive PD in the area of CCSS, and should receive it along side their general education peers.

7. Learning Progressions Frameworks Core Content Connectors
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Learning Progressions Frameworks
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
WHAT TO TEACH
Instructional Families
Content
Modules
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
Learning progressions
Hypothesized sequence about how typically developing students learn concepts and big ideas
Developed using available research and evidence
This project uses a developed learning progression framework (Hess et al., 2010) in ELA and math to inform what content is taught as well as the stream of content that helps students reach the concept/big idea
Each step in Hess’s learning progression is called a progress indicator (PI)
Advantage of Dual Alignment CCSS-1. Promotes access to grade level content standards
2. Foster instruction of common core standards for students with SCD
LPF- 1. Promotes teaching towards defined learning outcomes
2. Promotes sequential instruction across grades and grade bands within big ideas or concepts (i.e., first teach this, and then this, and then this to develop mastery of big idea)
The CCCs have been validated by other math and special education content experts. These experts provided information about the degree to which the priorities identified for content at each grade level is represented in the CCCs. There are concepts within a connector that provide support and understanding for other connectors. For example, there are three number and operations learning progressions- one focusing on counting and cardinality, one on operations, and one on problem solving. Many of these concepts are also embedded or utilized in other learning progressions- operations and problem solving in measurement and geometry, etc. One support for teachers that will be developed is how CCC (and the linked CCSS) interact across strands/learning progressions. This support will provide special education teachers information toward an in-depth level of understanding of the relationship between standards that can be articulated in instruction.
Student understanding of core concepts and skills characteristically develops over time with effective instruction.
The CCCs pinpoint the primary content of the Common Core Standards and organize it in the conceptual model of the Learning Progressions Framework.
The CCCs are the prioritized academic content designed to frame the instruction and assessment of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in Kindergarten through high school while retaining the grade level content focus of the CCSS and the LPFs.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

8. Learning Progressions
Define research-based pathways for learning;
Developed and refined using available research and evidence;
Have clear binding threads that articulate the essential core concepts and processes of a discipline (sometimes called the ‘big ideas’ of the discipline); and
Articulate movement toward increased understanding (meaning deeper, broader, more sophisticated understanding).
The Learning Progressions Framework presents a broad description of the essential content and general sequencing for student learning and skill development (Hess, 2010).
The Learning Progression Frameworks (LPFs) is a hypothesized pathway that typical peers may take, and is meant to inform what typical peers will be working on grade by grade. In the past, we have struggled to understand how to choose content grade by grade to ensure inclusion of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grade AND age appropriate content even though they may not have built all the skills in a previous grade.
The LPFs give us the educational logic to help move these students along with their peers in a logical, educationally sound way.
The LPFs are broken into content strands. In math, six major LPF strands were established: Symbolic Expression (SE), Numbers and Operations (NO), Measurement (ME), Patterns, Relations, & Functions (PRF), Geometry (GM), and Data Analysis, Probability, & Statistics (DPS). In ELA seven reading and writing strands were established: Reading and Writing Habits & Dispositions (HD), Reading/Making Meaning at the Word Level (RWL), Reading Literature/Making Meaning at the Text Level (RL), Reading Informational Texts/ Making Meaning at the Text Level (RI), Writing Literary Text/Communicating Ideas and Experiences (WL), Writing to Inform/Communicating Ideas through Informative Texts (WI), and Writing Persuasively/Communicating Opinions, Critiques, & Arguments (WP).
The LPF contain learning targets and progress indicators that are referenced in C & I materials.
Learning targets(general/broad performance descriptors) are defined by grade spans, K-4, 5-8 an high school.
The related specific skills and concepts are called the progress indicators (PIs).
The Curriculum and Instructional materials were developed to help promote how students can engage in the CCSS while following the learning progressions.
Hess, Karin K., (December 2011). Learning Progressions Frameworks Designed for Use with the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts & Literacy K-12.

10. Core Content Connectors
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Instructional Families
Content
Modules
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
The Core Content Connectors or CCCs are the set of outcomes on which the instructional resources are based, with the exception of the UDL Units. The CCCs pinpoint the primary content of the Common Core Standards and organize it in the conceptual model of the Learning Progressions Framework (LPFs). The CCCs are organized by the strands within the LPFs. See slide 8 for a complete list of strands for Math and ELA.
One important purpose of the CCCs is to prioritize academic content that is designed to frame the instruction and assessment of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in Kindergarten through high school while retaining the grade level content focus of the CCSS and the LPFs.
The CCCs were developed by examining the progress indicators within the learning progressions to identify the big ideas and concepts within each progression. Once the targeted content was identified, it was necessary to work with a content expert to design the connectors. The connectors were then aligned to the closest common core standard and verified with additional content experts as part of the validation process.
Please have a CCC documents to view.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

11. Core Content Connectors: K
Progress Indicator: E.NO.1a showing mastery of the prerequisite core skills of cardinality, constancy, and 1:1 correspondence
Core Content Connectors: K
CCSS Domain/Cluster
Common Core State Standard
K.NO.1a1 Rote count up to 10
Counting and Cardinality
K CC Know number names and the count sequence.
K.CC.1 Count to 100 by ones and by tens.
K.NO.1a2 Rote count up to 31
K.NO.1a3 Rote count up to 100
K.NO.1a4 Count up to 10 objects in a line, rectangle, or array
K CC Count to tell the number of objects.
K.CC.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with tone and only one object.
K.CC.5 Count to answer “how many?” questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects.
Progress Indicator: E.NO.1b developing an understanding of number and principles of quantity (e.g., hold up 5 fingers at once to show 5, locate things in 2s without counting; using number words to indicate small exact numbers or relative change in quantity - more, small)
K.NO.1b1 Match the numeral to the number of objects in a set
K.NO.1b2 Identify the set that has more
Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.
Here is a sample page from the CCC document. Recall that the CCCs are organized by strands. I know by the code for both the PI and the CCC that this is from the number and Operations strand because of the “NO” within the code.
The first row with the red label is the progress indicator from the learning progression that helps us understand how the content moves from one learning expectation to the next. This CCC represents expectation in K. The CCCs are located in the far left column labeled in purple. This would be the content eligible for instruction and assessment. The middle column is the CCSS Domain or Cluster heading. In ELA the middle column will contain the Anchor standard. The far right column represents the closest match for the grade level Common Core State Standards.

12. Reading Standards for Literature
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
Key Ideas and Details
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting
details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Reading Standards for Literature
The CCC documents are all electronic. This gives the opportunity to organized the information contained in these documents into various views. The view on this slide provides the CCCs in a format that mimics the CCSS format. In other words, the specific grade level standard is given and then the specific CCCs linked to that particular CCSS are provided below. This “view” might be especially useful when working with general educators. It may also be preferable for teachers who are already familiar with the CCSS and find it easier to view the CCCs by the CCSS that they are linked to.

13. Content Modules SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Content
Modules
Instructional Families
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
The next component in the “What to teach” section of the schema are the Content Modules.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

14. Prototype Content Module
Coordinate Plane
Expressions
Fractions and Decimals
Linear Equations
Perimeter, Area, and Volume
Radicals and Exponents
Ratios and Proportions
Please build in adequate time (5-10 minutes) to open the link to the Content Module.
The Content Modules are an online multimedia resource that provides teachers with a deeper understanding of complex concepts. These make an excellent companion resource when viewing the CCCs. For example, if teacher is not sure what “nets” are in geometry, a content module can be used to see explanations and examples of nets.
The Content Modules are being developed and will be available as an on-line multi-media resource that provides teachers with critical information on more complex concepts contained within the CCSS. (Content Modules will be developed for ELA as well.)
Because it is necessary to understand the content before teaching the content, these modules are an excellent companion resource when planning for instruction.
Content Modules will be available on the topics listed on this slide.

15. Instructional Families Graduated Understandings
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Content
Modules
Instructional Families
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
Teachers will need to be prepared to teach the CCCs to a range of students with significant cognitive disabilities in a variety of educational settings. Graduated Understandings are made up of Instructional Families and Element Cards. Instructional Families group related CCCs into families (e.g., Counting and Representing Numbers). The Instructional Families allow teachers to view related content within and across grades. Element cards are written for select CCCs at each grade level. Each Element Card contains essential understandings. The essential understandings provide both the concrete and the symbolic (representational) understandings necessary for students to engage in the content described/identified by the CCC or a set of related CCCs. In addition, the Element Cards provide a range of instructional strategies intended to provide teachers with suggestions that will be applicable to a variety of students. Finally, each Element Card includes scaffolds and supports (e.g., use of a calculator or a raised grid) that may be necessary when teaching the content described/identified by the CCC(s).
Please have a set of Graduated Understandings available to view.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

16. Grade-span Learning Targets from the Learning Progression Frameworks
Distribution of Instructional Families and the number of related CCCs by grade
The GUs provide educators with an easily interpreted visual representation of the areas of curricular emphasis within and across grades using color-coded charts (illustrating the Instructional Families) and “drill down” to possible instructional strategies and supports and scaffolds, specific to the Core Content Connectors through Element Cards, which will be shared.
In mathematics, three views of the instructional families (color-coded charts) are organized by:
1) The Distribution of Instructional Families referenced to the LPF learning targets by grade and instructional families;
2) The Overview of the CCCs: Grade, instructional family, and Core Content Connectors (CCCs); and
3) Instructional families and CCCs (grades K – 12) and referenced back to the related CCSS Mathematics Domains. of Instructional Families by the LPF learning targets and grade.
This first view of the Instructional Families is a chart without text (specific CCCs), which illustrates the distribution of families and the number of CCCs in each family.
It provides teachers with an easily interpreted visual showing the areas of curricular emphasis in a domain of mathematics, by family, at each grade.
It illustrates the variation in distribution and changes in emphasis of the core content, knowledge and skills of the CCSS that students are expected to learn at each grade to promote success in the next grade and to reach the learning targets within the LPF across grades kindergarten through high school.
For example, in grades 7 – HS, all five of the instructional families are indicated where as in grade 5, two instructional families are included.
This sample view of Data Analysis I and II (DPS-1 and DPS-2 of the LPF) also connects the learning targets of the Learning Progressions Frameworks to the distribution of the Instructional Families and CCCs. Note that the Learning Targets become more sophisticated as you move up through the grades.
Students are expected to build their knowledge and be successful with more challenging concepts across the grade levels (for example, from representing and interpreting data toward drawing inferences about a distribution of data). Student mastery of skills at each grade level promotes student learning of more challenging concepts.
Given that students may receive instruction in multi-grade classrooms, a teacher can quickly see where there is an “overlap” of instructional families across grades. The teacher can then plan instruction that addresses related content within and across families at appropriate levels of instruction for different students within the same lesson.
Five Instructional families for Data Analysis I & II

17. Grade-span Learning Target from the Learning Progression Frameworks
Instructional Families for Data Analysis I (K-4)
Distribution of CCCs by Instructional Families and grade
This view of the instructional families (Overview of CCCs) illustrates the distribution of families and the specific CCCs in each family by grade-band (K-4). It also reflects the instructional families and the CCCs’ relationship to the learning target (big ideas) of the Learning Progression Framework.
The learning targets articulate the essential core concepts and processes of a discipline (sometimes called the ‘big ideas’ of the discipline) and articulate movement toward increased understanding (a deeper meaning - broader, more sophisticated understanding) of those concepts and processes. Additional charts illustrate this overview of the CCCs by grade-bands 5 – 8 and high school.
The intent of this view of the CCCs is to allow teachers to have an easily interpreted visual of the areas of curricular emphasis in a strand of mathematics, by family and CCC, at each grade within a grade band. In particular, it provides an organizing framework to help teachers make sense of the “overlap” of instructional families, CCCs and related CCSS across grades.
In this example of the CCCs chart, the specific CCCs are indicated by families in the Strand of Data Analysis I (DPS-1 of the LPF).
Three of the Instructional Families in Data Analysis, Formulate Questions/ Plan Research; Represent & Interpret Data and Draw Conclusions from Data Collection, are shown. Notice the relationship between the three families at the five grade levels (K-4).
Uses for educators:
Promotes collaboration with general education teachers to engage in multi-grade level instructional planning that addresses related content within and across families at appropriate levels of instruction for diverse students within the same lesson - within in the general education classroom throughout the school year; and
Provides a basis for identifying appropriate general education instructional lessons/units that can be modified or adapted for SWSCD that align to the same knowledge, skills and abilities.
Reference to related CCSS

18. Instructional Families/CCSS Domains View
Related CCSS Domains for Data Analysis I
Three Instructional Families in Data Analysis I
The intent of this arrangement of the CCCs is to provide teachers with a clear and defined set of CCCs for each Instructional Family across grades (presented vertically). All of the CCCs, grades K – 12 that are contained within an Instructional Family are included in this arrangement. In Data Analysis I & II, there are five instructional families - there are three families in Data Analysis I and two families in Data Analysis II. Here, we see the three families in Data Analysis I up to grade 7 in Draw Conclusion from Data Collection. CCCs that are included in these families through grade 12 would be found in additional charts.
Each Instructional Family is referenced back to the related CCSS Mathematics Domains.
A teacher can readily see how many and what specific CCCs are identified at each grade within a family.
This representation is intended to aid teachers in vertical planning across grades to support instruction in multi-grade classrooms as appropriate and in the general education setting - it promotes planning and development of instruction with curriculum specialists within instructional families, clearly reference to the CCSS domains, across the grades for all students.
Next, let’s look at the Element Cards.
Reference to related CCSS

19. Element Cards
Teachers can be challenged by the fact that SSCD are a heterogeneous group with varying entry skills and opportunities to learn the content standards; the purpose of the Element Cards is to provide teachers with an understanding of student movement towards the CCSS and provide guidance as to how to develop instructional lessons at varying levels of challenge that will include ALL students and will promote the use of Universal Design for Learning. Notice that we have now moved to the bottom half of the schema and are now focusing on materials that support special educators in “How to teach”.
This is a example of a math Element Card that details its structure and content.
The first component of the Element Card is the CCSS: This is the Common Core State Standard on which the CCC is based. For this particular card, we can see that the CCSS is the 1st grade, Measurement and Data standard #4 (Represent and Interpret Data);
The second component is the Core Content Connector: The nomenclature used to identify the CCC is followed by a statement of the grade-specific CCC.
The third row provides the related LPF strand (Data, Probability and Statistics) followed by the Instructional Family to that contains this CCC. In this example, the instructional family is Draws Conclusions from Data Collection.
The next row on this slide provides the related Progress Indicator of the LPF;
The next row indicates the Essential Understandings: a critical component of the Element Cards.
The Essential Understandings refer to the fundamental concepts and skills essential to entering the content and the specific symbols or referents related to the learning of these specific concepts and skills (e.g., mathematical operations of plus, minus, multiply, divide).
Teachers must use their knowledge of individual learners and assessment data to determine the entry point for students to access the domain-specific content.
This information is broken down into
Concrete Understanding: the fundamental concepts and skills essential to entering the content described in the CCC at grade level.
Representation: the application of mathematics concepts (skills) using specific (e.g., mathematical symbols and operations of plus, minus, multiply, divide used to solve a mathematics problem)
The final two rows include:
The Suggested Instructional Strategies: examples of evidenced-based strategies supporting instruction at varying levels of challenge; and
The suggested Supports and Scaffolds: suggestions of possible tools and materials that assist in the promotion of understanding and engagement with concepts.

20. Curriculum Resource Guides
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Content
Modules
Instructional Families
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
Curriculum Resource Guides
The Curriculum Resource (CR) Guides help teachers to better understand how to teach the CCCs.
Both the Content Modules and CR Guides were developed and validated by content experts and special educators with extensive experience in adapting general curriculum for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
The CR Guides describe how to teach the content to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities whereas the Content Modules describe the mathematics content (what is being taught) in general education.
Together, the Content Modules and the CR Guides provide teachers with the necessary background knowledge to prepare students for the NCSC alternate assessment and offer examples of how the content is taught in general education, ideas for real life use, examples of universal design for learning, and ways to promote college and career readiness.
CR Guides have been developed for the following math topics: Data Analysis, Equations, Fractions & Decimals, Ratios & Proportions, and Measurement.
Please have a CR Guide on hand to view.
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

21. Curriculum Resource Guides
The Curriculum Resource (CR) Guide is intended to be a support for teachers to understand how a concept (such as teaching area and surface area in the middle school grades) can be taught to students with different needs and understandings and how that concept changes (and therefore the instruction changes) across the grades within the grade span. Each guide covers a range of CCCs for grades 3 through high school. These guides focus on five topics that were derived from the priorities identified by the NCSC for the Assessment. These guides should support teachers in preparing students for the NCSC alternate assessment. Both the Content Modules and CR Guides were developed by special educators with extensive experience in adapting general curriculum for students with significant cognitive disabilities. These resources have been validated by mathematics content experts for accuracy and by special education teachers for clarity.

22. What is included in CR Guide?
Part 1- Content
Explanation of how prioritized CCCs under topic are taught in a general education setting
Also includes common misunderstandings in content area and prior knowledge/skills needed
Curriculum Resource (CR) Guides begin by explaining how the specific content is taught in the general education setting. Based on the idea of “No more different than necessary”, beginning with how content is taught in the general education setting may help teachers plan instruction that is close to the instruction occurring in general education classrooms.
This section also includes prerequisite knowledge and skills that can be taught concurrently with the grade level content.

23. What is included in CR Guide?
Part 2 – Tables with CCCs and Performance Examples
1st table includes CCCs aligned with the topic for Grades 3-High School
Topics include: Measurement/Geometry, Equations, Ratios and Proportions, Data Analysis, and Fractions*
2nd table includes sample summative assessment items related to topic
Essential Understandings expectations are included
Since lessons will generally address multiple standards, it may be helpful for teachers to see all of the CCCs linked to a content strand (e.g., geometry).
Performance examples can serve as an unpacking document for the CCCs. These will provide an example of what a specific CCC may look like in instruction. Also, they provide teachers with ideas of how a skill may look in an assessment format.

24. What is included in CR Guide?
Part 3 – General Education Activities
Sample activities from published general education resources
Links across content areas (ELA, science, social studies, etc.)
Part 4 – Real World Applications
Ideas for teachers to use to reinforce concepts in real world contexts
Promoting Career and College Readiness
Standards for Mathematical Practice
The Common Core emphasizes the need for content to be meaningful and applicable to real life. This is especially important to students with disabilities.
The Curriculum Resource (CR) Guides provides ideas about how specific content can be made applicable to real world contexts.
Promoting Career and College Readiness (CCR) is an important component of the CR Guides. Each CR Guide provides topic specific suggestions related to these five ideas for promoting CCR: Increasing communicative competence, Increasing fluency in reading, writing, and math, Increasing age appropriate skills, Increasing independent work behaviors, and Teaching skills to access support systems.
The following slide provides an example of the ideas that promote CCR.

25. What is included in CR Guide?
Part 5 – Ideas for Promoting Career and College Readiness
Specific to topic
Address College and Career Ready Outcomes:
Communicative competence
Fluency in reading, writing, and math
Age appropriate social skills
Independent work behaviors
Skills in accessing support systems
In this excerpt from a Curriculum Resource (CR) Guide, review the specific skills taught related to College and Career Readiness (CCR).

26. What is included in CR Guide?
Part 6 – Accessibility for All Learners
Basic numeracy skills and pre-requisite skills that can be taught concurrently for each topic
Topic specific UDL table with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement for learners with specific needs
Teachers of students with significant cognitive disabilities will have to plan to meet the needs of a range of students. The Curriculum Resource (CR) Guide provides a chart that gives suggestions when teaching students with sensory differences such as visual impairments or deafness, students with lack of movement or motor differences, students with extremely limited motivation or attention and finally, students who are limited in their use of speech. This chart is organized by the three considerations of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)-Representation, Expression, and Engagement.

27. Instructional Resource Guide
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Content
Modules
Instructional Families
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
Instructional Resource Guide
The next resource is the Instructional Resource (IR) Guide. Please have an IR Guide on hand.
Curriculum Resource Guides
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

28. Instructional Resource Guide
Teaching effectively to a heterogeneous group of students, possibly in multiple grade levels, is challenging. To do so effectively, teachers need to build on their knowledge of instructional strategies that efficiently promote student learning.
The Instructional Resource Guide helps educators to build knowledge of essential, evidence-based systematic instructional methods and defines the use of these strategies that are used in the Systematic Activities for Scripted Systematic Instruction (MASSIs) to teach students targeted skills.

29. What is included in IR Guide?
Overview of Systematic Instruction
Importance of Finding a Response Mode
Explanation of Instructional Strategies and “how to”
Provides sample script for math and ELA skill for each instructional strategy
Troubleshooting Q&A
Constant Time Delay (CTD)
System of Least Prompts (LIP)
Model, Lead, Test
Example/Non-example Training
If possible, have the Instructional Resource Guide so that you can show these components as you mention them.

30. Sample Script (Model, Lead, Test)
The Instructional Resource Guide provides sample scripts for Constant Time Delay (CTD), System of Least Prompts (LIP), Model, Lead, Test, and Example/Non-example Training . These sample scripts will be beneficial refreshers for teachers who are familiar with these strategies. For teachers who are not proficient with these strategies, the sample scripts provide clear guidelines for their use.
Remember that these are just samples, teachers will have to generalize these scripts and strategies to new content and skills being taught.

31. Ele Unit UDLs MS Unit UDLs HS Unit UDLs
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Instructional Families
Content
Modules
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
The Units and Lesson Plans provide models of universally designed planning for an entire class of students. The Units and Lesson Plans illustrate how to target the CCCs within general education lessons. Examples are provided for planning for engagement, representation, and expression. That is, they offer a model for how to engage all students in well-designed instruction for the Common Core Standards. Many examples are offered for meeting the unique needs of students with significant cognitive disabilities.
If possible, have a UDL Unit to view.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

32. UDL Unit Plans/ Lesson Plans
UDL unit plan and sample daily lesson plans
These are developed for the entire general education class to be inclusive of ALL students
Purpose: to model how to plan for all students from the onset of instructional planning (universally designed learning) including students in AA-AAS
Excellent for co-teaching and collaborative planning
Promote inclusive instruction; show how students who participate in AA-AAS can be in general education
Developed by University of Kentucky
The MASSIs (mathematics) and LASSIs (language) to be described later in the presentation, offer intensive instruction utilizing scripts based on evidence-based practices known to be effective in teaching skills to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
The Graduated Understandings include Instructional Families of CCCs. The families represent “bundles” of related CCCs that have a common instructional basis. Hence, these bundles may be taught within a related UDL Instructional Unit. It is critical to use a holistic approach to teaching the CCCs rather than a discrete or one-by-one checklist approach.
UDL Lesson Components include:
Introducing the Lesson
Direct Instruction and/or Facilitation of Activities
Practice
Closure (review lesson and objectives)
Exit Assessment
Resources

33. Unit Plans
For example, a lesson on area might provide:
Multiple means of representation – Provide students with a copy of the word problems and the table. Have drawings and 2 and 3 dimensional manipulatives available for students to use.
Multiple means of expressions – Allow students to solve the problem using formulas and/ or models and record information into tables using various formats: computer, graphic organizer (premade or original), etc. Allow students to use a reference of formulas: print, pictorial or tactile.
Multiple means of engagement – Ensure each student is actively involved in his/her partnership. Use scenarios (unit rates) related to student interests. For example, if a student is interested in animals instead of orchard trees, the scenario could involve a rate of grazing area per horse. As you observe pairs working, use questioning to get students to explain their strategies.
Lessons are taken from the general education curriculum; principles of UDL are applied
Teaching requires designing instructional plans that promote learning for all students – whatever their entry point is into the content.
The UDL Instruction Units contain lesson plans that illustrate how to target the CCCs, based on the CCSS, within general education lessons that are accessible to ALL students using Universally Designed for Learning lessons - providing equal opportunities for ALL students to learn the content.
The design and content of the UDL Instruction Units and lesson promote co-teaching and collaborative planning between general and special educators
The lessons provide models of universally designed planning for an entire class of students that address engagement, representation, and expression – they offer a model for how to engage ALL students in well-designed instruction based on the CCSS.

34. Unit Plan cont.
then modified and or adapted for Emerging Readers and Emerging Communicators
Multiple means of Engagement..... Showing the end first - present the concrete example of the graph with the trees.... Then with the end in mind... students at multiple levels can solve in multiple ways... either count or solve using a calculator, graph paper, 2 and 3 dimensional manipulative materials
Multiple Representation....  2 dimensional  paper with trees, 3 dimensional objects on green construction paper or cardboard squares.
Multiple means of Expression – Picture problem choices: present 2 choices of possible correct responses... including words or pictures, tactile representations ... 

35. MS MASSIs & LASSIs Ele MASSIs & HS MASSIs &
SCHEMA for Common Core State Standards Resources
NCSC Instructional Resources
Common Core State Standards
Core Content Connectors
Learning Progressions Frameworks
WHAT TO TEACH
Content
Modules
Instructional Families
Graduated Understandings
Element Cards
MS Unit UDLs
Ele Unit
UDLs
HS Unit UDLs
MS MASSIs &
LASSIs
Ele MASSIs &
HS MASSIs &
HOW TO TEACH
The MASSIs offer intensive instruction based on evidence-based practices. These “Math Activities with Scripted Systematic Instruction” have several features. First, they target CCCs prioritized for assessment. Second, they offer a guide for instruction with increasing levels of difficulty. The first steps of the lesson are accessible to students with little to no understanding of the content. The lesson continues building understanding through a target component of the CCC. Third, the MASSIs use a real life activity to teach the concept that can be easily set up in most classrooms with inexpensive materials. That is, they bring math word problems to life using a hands-on activity. Finally, the instruction is scripted, making them easy for teachers to use, and include evidence-based practices shown to be effective in teaching mathematics skills to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The MASSIs come with data sheets that can be used for monitoring progress towards mastery and a skill test for practicing responding in a testing context. Neither the Units/Plans nor MASSIs provide everything needed to teach all CCCs at each level. Instead, they provide models for how to teach the content. In contrast, teachers may find they can apply these model plans as a way to get started in teaching the CCCs/ Common Core. After teaching the model lesson plan or MASSI, teachers will gain practice in instructional strategies that are effective for teaching general mathematics content. LASSIs will serve the same purpose for ELA content as the MASSIs do for math content. LASSIS are currently in development.
Please have a MASSI to view.
Curriculum Resource Guides
Instructional Resource Guide
=Standards documents
= Documents that promote teacher understanding of the content
= Documents that promote instruction of the content

36. What is included in a MASSI?
The MASSIs offer intensive instruction using evidence-based practices known to be effective in teaching academic skills to students with significant cognitive disabilities. MASSIs are built around a real-world theme. In this example, the theme is voting for class president and the entire MASSI will relate to this.
They identify the concept and symbols needed to move toward mastery of the Core Content Connectors.
Using scripts, the MASSIs present instruction in grades bands 3-5, 6-8 and high school and help teachers plan and prepare for instruction with suggested teacher and student materials.
They offer a guide for instruction with graduating levels of difficulty – ranging from the first steps of teaching the content to students with little or no understanding of the content to building understanding of the target concepts of the CCCs using real-life word problems and using hand-on activities aligned to grade-level content.
The MASSIs come with tools, such as data sheets that can be used for monitoring progress towards mastery and a skills test to practice responding in a testing context.
After teaching the UDL Instructional Units and utilizing the MASSIs as appropriate for individual students, teachers will gain practice in instructional strategies that are effective for teaching content to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Language Activities for Scripted Systematic Instruction (LASSIS) will serve the same purpose for ELA content and are under development.
Color coded with instructional family
CCC, CCSS, lesson objective by grade level
Materials
Overview for all 3 grade levels

37. Bolded text indicates teacher script
Leveled Instruction
Bolded text indicates teacher script
Instructional strategy: CTD
Check and Score: Teacher scores on Progress Monitoring Sheet. Numbers correspond with number on data sheet.
Goals for each grade level in grade band
Here is a sample excerpt from the MASSI. The MASSI webinars explain the components in much more detail, but here is an overview. The MASSI is composed of leveled instruction, beginning with building the essential understanding, and moving toward the grade-aligned component. MASSIs are scripted lessons with embedded systematic and explicit instruction, indicated by icons throughout the lesson. The MASSIs are grouped by grade level, and the grade levels being addressed during each skill are noted. MASSIs always follow the same format: introduce the activity, model the process, and then student practice. The steps enclosed in boxes correspond with the steps on the progress monitoring sheets, for easy data collection methods.
Instructional strategy: LIP

38. Progress Monitoring Data Sheet
Here is a sample progress monitoring sheet. This corresponds to pg. 2 of the progress monitoring document. The steps correspond to the steps in the actual MASSI. This is to be used for data collection.
Progress Monitoring Data Sheet
Follows MASSI; steps correspond with steps of task analysis
1st column: materials to present to student
2nd column: instructional cue and prompt (if applicable)
3rd column: student response

39. MASSI is comprised of many steps
Broken down into segments to teach across multiple sessions/days
Indicates our suggestion for stopping places
How to administer skills test (teacher says/does, student response, and error correction)
Provides suggested criterion for moving forward (~60% or higher)
“Next”- what is to come in lesson and suggestions for each grade level
MASSIs cover a lot of material and are intended to be taught over multiple days. The stops signs are suggested stopping points in the lesson. These stopping points also indicate that it is time to administer a skills test, which corresponds to the part of the MASSI just taught. The skills test is another form of progress monitoring, and also helps prepare students for an alternate assessment format.

40. Each MASSI has a troubleshooting section
Each MASSI includes a troubleshooting section at the end, as well as a suggestion for a culminating activity. The “Build Towards Full Grade Level Competence” table provides suggestions of activities that can be done with students who excel through the MASSI and need a bit more challenge.
Each MASSI has a troubleshooting section
Each MASSI has a culminating activity to reinforce concepts in a real world activity
Table for building towards full grade level competence
Activities that would be expected at grade level for each CCSS addressed

41. Questions?