Centre for Research in Education (CREd) Transposing not applicable to applicable and achieved': Teacher perceptions of assessing the literacy capability inclusive of students with special educational needs. Dr Deborah Price and Ms Caitlin Cottnam Formerly Kensington Centre
Transposing not applicable to applicable and achieved' Presentation Objectives Explore literacy assessment approaches for students with special educational needs Identify how teachers assess to show what students can do and be.and achieve Findings informed by University of South Australia DRPF grant 2013 3 special education teachers 1 mainstream school teacher
Assessment tests high-pressure writing time limit sitting in silence specific
Vignette Exercise Your name is Emilie and currently you teach a Year 4 class in a mainstream metropolitan school. David, one of your students qualifies for a modified program having been diagnosed by the school as operating two years behind his year level. You adjust your planning and assessment according to his individual goals, however you are required to report on the same outcomes as David s peers. Critically discuss How do you feel about this? What do you do? What are the implications for David, caregiver/s, peers?
Literacy and Learning Disabilities/Difficulties Literacy Defined: refers to a set of social practices that enable people to derive and build meaning in their world with the type of texts they encounter The ability to read, write, speak, illustrate and to think critically about the written word Learning Disabilities: more permanent, neurological difficulties resistant to intervention Learning Difficulties: product of individual and sociocultural factors leading to disengagement and disempowerment Include students with non-permanent cognitive or behavioural problems which can be improved with quality instruction Estimation 10%-20% Australian students have literacy and reading difficulties So what does it mean to be empowered in a literate society for students with learning disabilities/difficulties? (Hyde, Carpenter & Conway, 2014, p. 110)
The Australian Curriculum The Literacy Capability Aspires to be world class and accessible to all young Australians. Curriculum writers have been challenged in ensuring the design is inclusive of students with special educational needs. Literacy achievement is seen as a top priority in education.
Mapping the class An initial assessment tool
Mapping an individual student Using the scope and sequence to assess where students are in their learning
Defining Literacy: Teachers Interpretation of the Literacy Capability An embedded element of every curriculum area. Being able to read, write, speak/communicate, listen, comprehend be able to express yourself the way that you want to express yourself (Emilie). I see them using it on a daily basis to basically, to live! To support them to have quality of life and to have choice and to have a voice, even if they don t, even if it s non-verbal (Carmen). Emerging Themes: Embedded nature of literacy The multimodal nature of texts Inability to categorise students with special educational needs into a sequential literacy capability continuum
Pizza Lesson Activity: In developing life skills, students visit the local supermarket, choose and purchase pizza ingredients (for their individual gourmet recipe), then prepare, cook, eat and serve the pizzas to their onsite café patrons. Literacy Objective: For students to recognise, identify and communicate ingredients and pizza making process Your task: How will you assess student achievement? How would you assess students presenting as non verbal?
Assessment included; - Students making choices- active learning - Strong emphasis on individual student goals - Applying rich literacy skills: including interaction, responding to questions and requesting personal needs. - Used an ipad app called Proloque2Go which acted as an ACC device encouraging them to create a sentence verbalising their choice of topping for their pizza. - Next students visually recognised a picture of their chosen topping, such as an image of a tomato, mushroom, pepperoni, olives, etc. on the IWB and selected it via touch. - Reinforced by recognising their chosen topping on physical cut out paper images and transferring the image onto a felt board. Examples of Proloque2Go app features
Carmen s Reflection...it s all visual for these guys and so if I put like a word in front of them, they don t, they can t read, it s got to be engaging.. some of them will have a visual recognition of a word, but not necessarily know what that word is. But, my biggest aim is because they are so visual, is to make them feel like they re successful in their learning. That s still literacy in that they re able to recognise, identify and communicate a whole range of ideas but just in a different format
Opening Assessment Opportunities Patrick walks into school and I (Carmen) greet him with How are you feeling today? He taps his ipad and then this voice states I am / feeling / happy. For Patrick being able to tell me a really bright student that just can t talk and for years has been completely frustrated through that process, it s pretty empowering I think. I mean I m excited by that. Those kinds of changes really, I just think it s a whole world that s just opened up for these guys, I think it s really cool. But it s just so empowering.
Opening Assessment Opportunities he s really really good with a computer and can open documents and close them and manipulate the mouse and so I ve started using some computer programs with him, but at first I just I wasn t aware of the extent of his knowledge I suppose perhaps it s the way I m delivering my stuff, maybe there are ways I can be changing it so I can be getting my students a bit more rapidly towards those kinds of things Carmen
The strengths I think are technology and the visual literacies to be honest with you, because it really means that those students can actually engage with it and actually succeed with it (Carmen).
What I see my job as doing with their literacy, is giving them enough tools that they can interpret and decipher and communicate what they understand (Emilie). Emilie incorporated technological and visual literacies to further assist her students to participate and feel successful during literacy lessons. Students in Emilie s literacy class were finishing off their spelling tasks from the week such as writing out dictionary meanings of spelling words or putting them into sentences, revising for the weekly spelling test or completing their Mr Men adjective stories. Kirra used the class computer to complete an interactive literacy program designed for year two students called reading for literacy. This program proved to be a relevant and engaging task that Kirra could complete independently and thus feel a sense of success and satisfaction. The program included activities such as a cloze passages, matching similar and opposite pictures and following instructions, all of which the program read aloud the text to her. The program offered similar tasks to what other year four students were doing, but focused at Kirra s level. This encouraged Kirra to persist with completing the tasks.
Any links to the literacy capability?
How would you assess these skills, besides using a checklist?
Modified SACE Learning and Assessment Plan Assessed: Assigned a Completed or Not Completed result
Non- Modified SACE PLP Learning and Assessment Plan Thoughts on the assessment for students with special educational needs? Re-design the assessment conditions
Non- Modified SACE PLP Learning and Assessment Plan Assessed: Against performance standards of A-E grades Enhanced, inclusive, student centred assessment approaches that support student empowerment are also being investigated and trialled support students to build skills and confidence in becoming adults with self belief and self agency. (Adelaide East Education Centre)
Pre-assessments - Utilised for any new subject or learning area to indicate general placing on learning trajectory - Developmental and sequential outcomes carefully planning - Inform pedagogy and content promoting goal driven pedagogies rather than retrospective learning methodologies. - Are diverse and creative: discussion, quizzes, audio and film based interviews, blogs, observation, essays, written work expressed through cartoons, contemporary connections and art. Community participation - Emphasis on staff/student/parent relationships: integral in gaining relevant insights into student knowledge and understandings - Holistic approach to student wellbeing - Learning community workshops: teacher/parent training nights - Sharing of knowledge via email, meetings, newsletters, 1-1 meetings, small group discussions Formerly Kensington Centre Formative assessments - continually used - ascertain growth in leaning via, written work which may include journals, emails, blogs, essays and personalised learning projects, ongoing 1-1 and small group discussions, staff to staff sharing of knowledge and the continual observation of each student. - Formative assessing is paramount to student success and staff understandings as the use of testing/ summative practices are not initiated due to the highly anxious cohort within our learning spaces.
Complexities Age versus developmental appropriateness.. What is really important for these students? Assessment and reporting included/excluded
Central Human Capabilities Approach Student assessment focused on idealisations of what SEN students should be. Rather Assessing what students are able to do and be (Central Human Capabilities, Nussbaum, 2003)
Ten Central Human Capabilities Life Bodily Health Bodily Integrity Senses, imagination and thought Emotions Practical reasoning Affiliation Other species Play Control over one s emotions (Nussbaum, 2003)
I will..by.