Link Lines – February 2021
Link Lines Newsletter
Word Problems? No Problem! A Conversation with Dr. Sarah Powell
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Read the Administrator’s Corner below
Supervising High-Quality Math Instruction
Administrators are responsible for supervising instruction in all content areas, but many lack experience with math instruction. Therefore, it is not uncommon to rely on experienced math teachers as instructional leaders. While the instructional leadership of successful math teachers can be a critical part of building consistent and effective instructional practices, administrators need to make sure they are up-to-date themselves on evidence-based math instructional practices in classrooms.
For example, experienced math teachers may rely on instructional habits that might get short-term results at the expense of long-term mathematical reasoning skills (e.g., key words, rote memorization, operation-based problem solving) (Powell, 2020). For that reason, administrators need to know which instructional practices have been proven to build longer-term successes with students who struggle with math, including students with disabilities. More importantly, administrators need to know which instructional habits need to be eliminated from math classrooms.
Initially, teachers may be reluctant to abandon practices that have worked for many students over the years. Indeed, teachers may be attached to practices that worked for them when they were students. If administrators want to improve math outcomes for more students, they will need to help teachers change their instructional habits and become effective math teachers for all students, including those who struggle with math. It is important to stop accepting poor math performance and using language like “not a math person” when referring to ourselves or our students.
A number of math strategies have proven successful when employed consistently and effectively. One of those proven strategies is schema-based instruction (see Link Lines lesson Schema-Based Instruction). Administrators can familiarize themselves with additional evidence-based instructional practices for math by reviewing the Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) new resource guide (Berry & Powell, 2020) at the link below.
Evidence-Based Specially Designed Instruction in Mathematics: Resource Guide
Once familiar with the VDOE guidance, administrators should plan professional learning for teachers designed to help them replace ineffective instructional habits with evidence-based practices that will reach more learners. The IRIS Center Module at the link below is a comprehensive training tool that administrators can use with their teachers to start important conversations about high-quality math instruction.
High Quality Mathematics Instruction: What Teachers Should Know
Supervising high-quality math instruction can be a challenge for administrators if they lack experience or confidence with such a technical content area, but they need to help teachers make sense of the evidence behind a needed shift in guidance and practice. When proven practices are in place during core instruction for all students, we will improve outcomes for more learners.
References
Berry, K. & Powell, S. (2020). Evidence-based specially designed instruction in mathematics: Resource guide. Virginia Department of Education. https://www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/disabilities/learning_disability/swd-mathematics-resources.pdf
Powell, S. (2020, December 15). Word problems? No problem!: A conversation with Dr. Sarah Powell [Video podcast]. In Link Lines. William & Mary Training & Technical Assistance Center.
https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/webinar/wordproblemsnoproblem/index.php
The IRIS Center. (2017). High-quality mathematics instruction: What teachers should know. Author. https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/math/
Link Lines – Administrator’s Corner December 2020
Link Lines Newsletter
Literacy Leadership at the IEP Meeting – Administrator’s Corner Issue
Use of High Leverage Practices – Educators’ Issue
Link Lines – November 2020
November’s Issue of Link Lines: Use of High Leverage Practices
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Read the Administrator’s Corner below
Literacy Leadership at the IEP Meeting
By Cathy Buyrn, M.Ed.
Administrators serve as the local education agency (LEA) representative during individualized education program (IEP) meetings. It is important for them to take this role seriously as, in addition to the school responsibilities outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA, 2004), the recent Supreme Court case Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (U.S. Department of Education, 2017) established a higher standard for demonstrating student progress. In the unanimous decision, the court asserted that “a school must offer an IEP that is reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress in light of the child’s circumstances” (para. 1) and that “every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives” (p. 5). While administrators should ensure that IEPs contain challenging academic and functional goals across the curriculum and the school day, it is important that they pay particular attention to literacy.
Reading is a critical life skill (Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], 2008) that should be prioritized for all students, including students with disabilities. In 2018 the International Literacy Association (ILA) declared that “children have the basic human right to read” (p. 2) and in 2019 went even further, calling on administrators to “prioritize children’s rights to read” (ILA, p. 5). Specifically, administrators were asked to sign the pledge and take action by ensuring that scientifically driven reading instruction build the independent reading skills of all students. This call to action also applies to students with disabilities despite a history of low expectations and poor outcomes for this group of students. The Endrew decision aligns with this call to action and identified High-Leverage Practices for Special Education (McLeskey et al., 2017).
All of the 22 high-leverage practices (HLPs) in four aspects of practice – collaboration, assessment, social-emotional learning, and instruction – can guide administrative leadership focused on literacy across the school environment and at IEP meetings. Under the instructional umbrella of the HLPs, two specific practices (see Table 1) can be used to support the development of IEP goals and specially designed instruction (SDI) across the curriculum and especially in the five critical components of reading instruction (i.e., phonemic and phonological awareness, phonics/decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension). Administrators should make sure that the following HLPs are a focus of goal setting and instructional practices across the curriculum, and especially for students with identified reading difficulties.
Table 1
Connecting High-Leverage Practices and Systematic Reading Instruction
|
High-Leverage Practices (McLeskey et al., 2017) |
Reading Examples |
| HLP 11: Identify and prioritize long- and short-term learning goals. | Long-Term Goal
Setting low accuracy goals (e.g., 70%) for basic foundational reading skills limits student growth. Administrators should question goals with low accuracy targets. |
| HLP 12: Systematically design instruction toward a specific learning goal. | Short-Term Systematic Instructional Goals
Prerequisite subskills should be mastered with 100% accuracy in order to make progress towards the long-term goal. |
As the LEA representative at the table during IEP meetings, administrators have an ethical and legal obligation to elevate the academic expectations for students with disabilities and facilitate their right to become independent readers. Satisfying the new standard established by the Endrew decision requires specific attention to strategic goal setting (HLP 11) and systematic instruction (HLP 12) designed to accomplish “appropriately ambitious” (2017, p. 7) goals. This standard is especially critical in the five components of reading instruction. Administrators should not substitute reading accommodations (e.g., read aloud, audio, text-to-speech) for systematic and appropriately intensive reading instruction regardless of students’ age or grade level. If special education teachers are spending more time providing reading accommodations than they are providing systematic and intensive reading instruction, students with disabilities will not be the life-ready independent readers depicted in Virginia’s Profile of a Graduate. Rising to this challenge will require that administrators employ a multi-year focus on the “individualization” of student IEPs and the development of independent reading skills using scientifically based reading instruction.
Additional Resources
Administrators can build their own skills and knowledge about how to develop high-quality IEPs that close critical skills gaps across the curriculum and in the vital components of reading by completing the IRIS module at the link below.
How Administrators Can Support the Development and Implementation of High-Quality IEPs
For specific answers to frequently asked questions about the provision of special education services during the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia administrators can access the link below.
VDOE Special Education and Student Services (SESS) Frequently Asked Questions
Administrators can help build the IEP development skills of their special education teachers by having them complete the IRIS module at the link below.
Developing High-Quality Individualized Education Programs
Additional resources focused on SDI in the critical components of reading may be found at the National Center on Intensive Intervention link below. The site includes examples and resources to support SDI delivered in virtual learning settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strategies to Support Intensifying Literacy Interventions
Virginia State Superintendent of Instruction, Dr. James Lane, has asserted that early literacy skills and scientifically based reading instruction are priorities for all Virginia educators. Administrators and teachers can access professional development focused on these priorities at the link below.
Comprehensive Literacy Webinar Series
References
Americans With Disabilities Act [ADA] Amendments, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (2008). https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/americans-disabilities-act-amendments-act-2008
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).
International Literacy Association [ILA]. (2019). Advocating for children’s rights to read: A manual for enacting the rights in classrooms, communities, and the world. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/resource-documents/ila-childrens-rights-to-read-advocacy-manual.pdf
International Literacy Association [ILA]. (2018). The case for children’s rights to read. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/resource-documents/the-case-for-childrens-rights-to-read.pdf
McLeskey, J., Barringer, M-D., Billingsley, B., Brownell, M., Jackson, D., Kennedy, M., Lewis, T., Maheady, L., Rodriguez, J., Scheeler, M. C., Winn, J., & Ziegler, D. (2017, January). High-leverage practices in special education. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children & CEEDAR Center. https://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CEC-HLP-Web.pdf
U.S. Department of Education. (2017). Questions and answers (Q & A) on U.S. Supreme Court Case decision Endrew F. v Douglas County School District Re-1. Washington, DC: Author.
Link Lines – September 2020
Promoting Social Emotional Learning and Equity with Classroom Routines and Procedures: Part 2
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Read the Administrator’s Corner below
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Responsive School Restarting Considerations for Administrators
By Cathy Buyrn, M.Ed.
As states and school divisions begin to return to teaching and learning either virtually or in person, administrators need to have a responsive plan for addressing challenges in real time. Hopefully, school leaders have established self-care routines for themselves so that they are equipped to support the school community as we all return to a “new normal.” Students, families, and staff will bring a variety of emotions and fears as teaching and learning resumes. School leaders need to model empathy when communicating with stakeholders and facilitate conversations about equity, flexibility, and safety.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has provided guidance in Recover, Redesign, and Restart 2020: A Comprehensive Plan that Moves Virginia Learners and Educators Forward, placing equity at the center of all efforts to return to teaching and learning. While school leaders need to address learning gaps and plan for equitable academic instruction, the VDOE Accreditation Task Force is encouraging a primary emphasis on the social-emotional well-being for all students and staff. Schools should consider implementing strategies to encourage engagement, create a sense of routine in a potentially new atmosphere, and develop or create a sense of connectedness between students and their learning. (VDOE, 2020, p. 130).
Attention to equity and the social-emotional well-being of students and staff must be an ongoing focus as conditions evolve, needs change, illnesses occur, and adjustments inevitably have to be made to the teaching and learning process.
The established social-emotional core competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship skills will help set the stage for responsible decision-making (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2020) as schools restart in the fall. Beyond that school leaders, staff, students, and families will likely face rapid cycles of responsible decision-making as the year progresses.
Responsible decision-making, as defined by CASEL (2017), is “The ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms. The realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and a consideration of the well-being of oneself and others” (p. 2). Cycles of decision-making include “identifying problems, analyzing situations, solving problems, evaluating, reflecting, and ethical responsibility” (CASEL, 2017, p. 2).
Personal behaviors and social interactions regarding safety and new social norms will be part of the landscape as we return to teaching and learning. The CASEL (2017) social-emotional core competencies align with Virginia’s Profile of a Graduate and the 5C’s. Developing these competencies during the 2020-2021 school year will bring us all closer to the goal that “students in every grade will experience a new approach to instruction that focuses on key skills for success in a modern world” (VDOE, 2019, para. 1).
These new challenges present opportunities for us to learn together as we “recover, restart, and redesign” (VDOE, 2020, p. 1). School leaders will have to be the lead learners (Fullan, 2001), constantly looking backwards, across the current landscape, and to the future. Fullan’s Leadership Framework, including establishing and sustaining a context of enthusiasm, hope, and energy, is as relevant for the 2020-2021 school year as it was in 2001. Establishing a context of enthusiasm, hope, and energy is critical in order for educational leaders to pursue the current moral purpose driven by equity, social-emotional learning, and safety. Balancing coherence making, an understanding of change, relationships, and shared knowledge (Fullan, 2001) will help school leaders navigate the challenges of the 2020-2021 school year.
As a starting point for school leaders, staff, and adults, self-reflection and self-assessment of their own social-emotional competencies is critical. To that end, CASEL (2017) offers a self-reflection tool that can be used to engage in social-emotional reflection. A rich collection of other resources and tools may be accessed on the CASEL website, including new resources focused on the COVID-19 crisis and racial inequity.
References
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2017). Social and emotional learning competencies. https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/CASEL-Competencies.pdf
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2020). An initial guide to leveraging the power of social and emotional learning as you prepare to reopen and renew your school community.https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CASEL_Leveraging-SEL-as-You-Prepare-to-Reopen-and-Renew.pdf
Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education. (2020). Recover, redesign, restart 2020: A comprehensive plan that moves Virginia learners and educators forward. Virginia Department of Education. http://doe.virginia.gov/support/health_medical/covid-19/recover-redesign-restart-2020.pdf
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass.
Virginia Department of Education. (2019). Virginia is for learners. http://www.virginiaisforlearners.virginia.gov/media-library/
Link Lines – Summer Edition 2020
Promoting Social Emotional Learning and Equity with Classroom Routines and Procedures: Part 1
Click here to read this issue for educators
Read the Administrator’s Corner below
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Social and Emotional Learning Strategies for Administrators
By Cathy Buyrn, M.Ed.
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, resulting school closures and heightened calls to address racial inequities in our society, school administrators must be nimble and creative. In responding to these critical challenges, they have had to navigate remote learning, staff needs, communication with families, food distribution, technology distribution, connectivity, considerations for summer programs, considerations for opening of schools in the fall, and important questions about equity.
Trauma has touched everyone who makes up the school community, and the lived experience of school administrators during this time has been unique (Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education [VDOE], 2020). In order to continue to be able to effectively navigate the challenges ahead, administrators must make it a priority to address their own self-care and social and emotional learning (SEL). Moving forward administrators will need to make time to decompress, reflect, and replenish their energy sources to sustain the unprecedented demands on their efforts.
- Decompress
- Take care of yourself and your family.
- Spend time engaged in personal hobbies.
- Reading for pleasure
- Exercise
- Arts & Crafts
- Cooking
- Find a support group of friends and/or colleagues.
- Reflect
- What has your experience been during the closure?
- What do you think you did well and what do you hope to improve on?
- What have you learned about yourself and your staff?
- What have you learned about the school community?
- How can you leverage what you have learned in planning for the future? (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2020)
- Replenish Energy Sources
- Schedule time on your calendar for things that you find energizing about your work.
- Reading to students
- Staff community building
- Relationship building with families
- Celebrating success
- Schedule time on your calendar for things that you find energizing about your work.
Administrators who effectively address their own self-care and SEL will be in a much stronger position to help teachers and other staff do the same for themselves. Teachers have experienced their own challenges during this crisis, and they need a structure of support to re-engage in the teaching and learning process. They will need opportunities to connect, be heard, and heal in order to provide the same for their students (CASEL, 2020; VDOE, 2020). Administrators can model self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills (CASEL, 2020) to lay the groundwork for teachers to create inclusive, empathetic, and equitable learning environments when students return to school.
Administrators can find a robust collection of tools for organizing, implementing, and improving SEL in their school communities and high-quality equity building resources at https://casel.org/. Additional resources and tools may be found in the VDOE Recover, Redesign, Restart: A Comprehensive Plan That Moves Virginia Learners and Educators Forward document (2020, pp. 44-48).
References
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2020). An initial guide to leveraging the power of social and emotional learning as you prepare to reopen and renew your school community. https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CASEL_Leveraging-SEL-as-You-Prepare-to-Reopen-and-Renew.pdf
Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education. (2020). Recover, redesign, restart 2020: A comprehensive plan that moves Virginia learners and educators forward. Virginia Department of Education. http://doe.virginia.gov/support/health_medical/covid-19/recover-redesign-restart-2020.pdf
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