New Graduation Pathway for Students with Disabilities
At the June 2016 meeting, the Board of Regents adopted an amendment that created a new graduation pathway for students with a current Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This emergency amendment states that, if these students are unable to meet the graduation requirements by demonstrating proficiency on standard State assessments, they may demonstrate proficiency through a superintendent’s determination for a local diploma. It requires superintendents (or the principal/head of school of a registered nonpublic school or charter school, as applicable) to review, document, and provide a written certification or assurance that there is evidence that the student has otherwise met the standards for graduation with a local high school diploma.
Student Goal-Setting & Self-Monitoring: A Critical Life Skill
The first principle of the New York State Blueprint for Improved Outcomes for Students with Disabilities states: Students engage in self-advocacy and are involved in determining their own educational goals and plans. The Blueprint clarifies that students with disabilities should be creating and monitoring their own progress towards academic and social goals. (For more information on the Blueprint, see the School Tool on page 3.) Why is this the first principle of the Blueprint? Because student self-regulation, which includes goal-setting and self-monitoring, has consistently been proven to have a powerful positive impact across achievement areas for students with disabilities.What Works in Education? Evidence-Based Practices!
These days the education market is being flooded with products that claim to be “research-based” or “evidence-based”. For educators who are always looking for a program, product, or practice that will help students, it is easy to become overwhelmed by all the hype. How do we sift through the claims made by the creators and sellers of products or practices to truly distinguish the good from the bad??Effective Feedback: A Powerful Learning Support
Why is it important to think about the type of feedback we give to our students on their work? According to John Hattie (2015), his review of the effect sizes of 195 influences on student learning showed that effective feedback is “among the most powerful of influences.” However, Hattie warned that ”Effect sizes from these studies show considerable variability, meaning some forms of feedback are more powerful than others.” How can we give effective and powerful feedback to students that improves learning?According to an article by Grant Wiggins, Seven Keys to Effective Feedback (2012), effective feedback is 1) goal-referenced; 2) specific and actionable; 3) user-friendly; 4) timely; and 5) on-going and consistent. It is also based on formative assessments and includes opportunities for students to apply the feedback to their work. Effective feedback is not advice or praise; effective feedback lets the student know specifically what they did correctly and what they need to do to improve the work so they meet the goal or objective of the lesson or project.
The Lower Hudson Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Center: Why, How & What
Our goal to improve outcomes for all students with disabilities by ensuring the development of strong academic, social-emotional and self-determination skills is at the center of everything we do. We evaluate our work in terms of the impact it has on student performance.A Change in Perspective: Teacher Self-Efficacy & Student Behavior
According to research summarized by the authors, “teachers’ feelings of low self-efficacy ... were significant predictors of conflict with children…[and teacher] higher levels of personal stressors were associated with substantially lower levels of classroom behavioral management” (116-121). In other words, conflict with students is not just related to student behavior but is highly correlated with the teacher’s emotional state.Celebration Time!
As the 2015-2016 school year comes to an end, we at the Lower Hudson RSE-TASC want to celebrate the educators of the Lower Hudson Valley — YOU! — and all that you have done to ensure your students’ success this year. Thank you!!So here are a few of your stories ...
Show Me the Strategies! What are the Evidence-Based Strategies for Students with Disabilities?
As professional educators, we are constantly in search of powerful strategies that have a tangible impact on student learning. Given the limited amount of instructional time we have to work with students who struggle with learning challenges, we must also be mindful of how we choose to spend those precious instructional minutes. While the 21st Century World has provided us with unprecedented access to a vast number of resources on effective pedagogy, many teachers struggle to pare that professional advice down to a practical number of highly impactful strategies.Resistance to Change? Meet Them Where They Are
A few weeks into my new position as the Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) coach for my school team, I enthusiastically explained to a veteran staff member how we were implementing a new framework to address student behavior that would lead to a safer, more positive school climate through teaching and reinforcing all students for appropriate behaviors.Money in the Bank: Social-Emotional Learning and the 11-1 Ratio
It seems almost intuitive that if we teach students in our schools the essential social-emotional skills they need for life that it would not only benefit them greatly but would benefit society as a whole as well. However, because of the tremendous pressure in schools today to focus all efforts strictly on academics we focus very little on teaching social-emotional skills.