Competency 9. Instructional Management
a. Demonstrate an understanding of research of learning and instructional strategies
b. Describe and apply research and best practice in integrating curriculum and resources to all learners
c. Demonstrate the ability to utilize data for instructions decision-making
d. Demonstrate the ability to design appropriate assessment strategies for measuring learner outcomes
e. Demonstrate the ability to implement alternative instructional designs, curriculum, behavior management and assessment accommodations and modifications
f. Demonstrate the ability to appropriately use technology to support instruction
Reflection: Instructional Management
Ruth Paisley, Spring 2011
Currently one of the most powerful instructional management strategies is the support of the school leader for high functioning Professional Learning Communities in their schools or programs. By giving teachers and school personnel the structure and tools for the development of instructional goals, data-driven examination of student work, and application of evidenced – based instructional strategies, leaders give teachers the power to make a difference for the children they teach.
The logistics of implementing Professional Learning Communities in Special Education presents some challenges for special education instructional leaders. Questions such as, “Do special education staff join discipline specific PLCs?”, “If a teacher teaches students across grade levels and the building has grade level PLCs (or subject area PLCs, in secondary settings), which group does the teacher join?, or for early childhood special education, “Do the teachers join the building PreK and Kindergarten PLC?” As there are not clear answers for these questions the special education instructional leader needs to analyze the landscape and create the structure that will result in the best outcome for student achievement. In Saint Paul Early Childhood Special Education this has been explored in various ways with mixed results. This school year the program decided to ‘go slow to go fast’. The Fall was spent in a series of four site by site trainings in small groups and then staff were able to choose the PLC structure within their site that worked best for them. The PLC Powerpoint artifact shows one of the training sessions delivered to staff in the small site groupings. In the Spring of the year the work of the PLCs is showcased in a professional development event for all staff.
Since instruction is a data-driven process teachers collect information on their student's work in a variety of formats. I have seen video, systematic observation, and progress monitoring with systems such as the Individual Growth and Development Indicators and PALS assessment, work well in our program. The Literacy indicator artifact is a self-graphing spreadsheet that gives teachers immediate feedback on the literacy indicators required by the PreKindergarten program and Early Childhood Special Education, for those students who are able to participate. This tool was developed by the Saint Paul Public Schools Prekindergarten Program.
During the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, the federal Office of Special Education Programs created the Early Childhood Outcomes Center for the purpose of developing child and family outcomes for early intervention / early childhood special education services. Every State and therefore every school district is required to systematically collect entrance and exit data for both Infant / toddler and preschool services on every student. In Saint Paul this is a very large task with hundreds of students across five different data collections. The Early Childhood Outcome – Child Outcome Summary Form artifact shows screen shots of a web based data collection tool I developed with a District programmer. Information enters from the Student Information System-CAMPUS and IEP managers enter the rest of the data as they have it available. Reports are pulled from this tool for data entry during the collection period. Spring 2011 the Minnesota Department of Education will be posting the required Child Outcome data as District Performance Data for the first time as evidence of the work of our special education programs.
Special Education Transition Programs have also been impacted by the need for instructional planning and data collection. In the past few years, programs have been working to implement the Transition Tool Kit which is a systematic format for planning and documenting goals and progress. The Transition Tool Kit artifact lists resources and the compliance indicators required. This planning and instruction was evident in my observations and time spent with the Stillwater Transition Program during that part of my internship. The information on the outcomes of instruction collected by transition teachers is critical in planning the needed supports for launching young adults with disabilities into work and independent living.
Artifacts:
Professional Learning Communities Powerpoint:
Professional Learning Communities (PLC) 2009 meeting.pdf (93,8 kB)
Transition Tool Kit Checklist:
Literacy Progress Monitoring Teacher Spreadsheet:
Copy of ECSE MASTER - PM.xls (119,5 kB)
Early Childhood Outcomes - Child Outcomes Summary Form; Web-based data collection screen shot:
Early Childhood Outcomes Data Website Screen Shot.pdf (106,5 kB)