This month our Bright Spot comes from Monique Bonfiglio, Technology Teacher at Summit School, who attended the RSE-TASC Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) Institute.
What were students able to achieve?
- Ms. Bonfiglio reports that, since integrating EDI practices into her lessons, student engagement has increased, students are on-task, and students voluntarily participate more frequently.
What practices or systems made this possible?
- “After attending the RSE-TASC’s workshop on Explicit Direct Instruction, I have used this framework consistently, resulting in positive student learning and behavior outcomes. I spend less time trying to figure out how to deliver instruction now that I use the EDI lesson plan template. I am specially designing instruction for my student with IEPs and am able to cater my content delivery and methodologies around my students’ unique needs.”
What can we learn from this Bright Spot?
Specially Designed Instruction (SDI), defined in NYS regulations as “adapting, as appropriate to the needs of a student with a disability, the content, methodology or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs that result from the student’s disability”, is most effectively delivered when grounded in whole-class explicit instruction. When lessons are planned and carefully structured, SDI that meets the unique needs of each student with a disability in that class can be built into every component of that lesson.
Data-Driven Decision-Making 
Increasing Post-School Success through Interagency Collaboration 
How Can We Improve Deeper Learning for Students with Disabilities? 
Positive Classroom Management: Creating an Environment for Learning 
Self-Determination Skills Empower Students of All Ages 
Fidelity of Implementation: What is it and Why does it Matter? 
Rethinking Classroom Assessment 
A Three-Step Approach to Identifying Developmentally Appropriate Practices 
Transforming Evidence-Based Practices into Usable Innovations: A Case Study with SRSD