This page is maintained by John McCabe and John Boniello, Lower Hudson Special Education School Improvement Specialists. Click here to send them a question or comment.
WHAT WORKS
Quality Improvement Process
Research review: Review of Participant Diversity in Special Education Intervention Research Across a Selection of 12 Special Education Journals (Sinclair et al., 2018)
In 1987, James Ysseldyke, serving as editor of Exceptional Children, called for data-based research on the inclusion of underrepresented populations of exceptional students (i.e., students with disabilities) in intervention research. Thirty years later, nine researchers have collaborated to update the field on the extent to which diverse research participants have been included in research, and share the methods researchers have employed to recruit and retain diverse participants. What did they find?
What to Look for — Effective Instruction for Students with Disabilities
As administrators engage in conversations and feedback with teachers about the classroom practices they observe, it can be a challenge to stay informed about the evidence-based instructional practices that are most effective for our increasingly diverse classrooms. Good news! There are resources that administrators can add to their observation toolkit that can help them focus these conversations on strategies that have been proven to be effective with all students, and in particular with students with disabilities and English Language Learners. One such tool is the RSE-TASC Explicit and Specially Designed Instruction Walk-Through Tool.
Promoting Momentum and Motivation when Implementation is Hard, and Harder
Student outcomes are more likely to be achieved when evidence-based practices are implemented with fidelity (McIntosh, Horner, & Sugai, 2009). Seeing the positive impact of the evidence-based practices on student outcomes can promote momentum and motivation among all implementers (Andreou, McIntosh, Ross, & Kahn, 2015). However, we know there are often barriers to implementation, particularly when implementing school-wide frameworks such as PBIS.
Toolkit
Quality Improvement Process Toolkit
- Golden Circle Tools: The Why, How and What of the Quality Improvement Process: The concept of the Golden Circle, developed by Simon Sinek and articulated in this TED Talk is used by QIP Teams to ensure that their work is driven by a meaningful Why, or student outcome, and identifies Hows and Whats for the school to implement that are directly aligned to that student outcome.
- RSE-TASC Explicit Instruction Walk-Through Tool: The RSE-TASC Explicit Instruction Walk-Through Tool is both a teaching tool and a data collection tool. It identifies research-based practices that have been proven to be effective for all students, but particularly effective for students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and student of poverty.