Individualization

1. Individualization Chris borgmeier Portland state university

2. Reading Review • Stanovich, 2010 • Thompson, Wehmeyer & Hughes, 2010 • Mind the Gap: Implications of a Person-Environment Fit Model of Intellectual Disability for Students, Educators and Schools • Calicott, 2003 • Culturally Sensitive Collaboration within Person Centered Planning

3. Thompson, Wehmeyer & Hughes, 2010 • Perspective on Disability • Disability is not a defect within the individual, but a poor fit between the person’s capacities and the context in which a person functions • Thompson, Wehmeyer & Hughes, 2010 • World Health Organization, 2001 • Shift the emphasis from measurement of traits to understanding the individual’s actual functioning in daily living • Luckasson et al., 1992

4. Disability • In a person-environment fit model • The pathology is not the Disability • The Disability is “the expression of a physical or mental limitation in social context – the GAP between a person’s capabilities and the demands of the environment • The purpose of Special Education is to close the GAP between personal capacity and environmental demands

5. Supports • From a person-environment fit perspective • Intellectual Disability is characterized by limitations in intellectual functioning that result in individuals needing extraordinary supports (supports that people from the general population don’t need) in order to participate in activities associated with everyday life • Assess: • Student’s present level of performance AND • Ways in which the environment might be modified

6. Fad or Fact?Individualization x Learning Styles • The term learning styles refers to the view that different people learn information in different ways. • Visual learners • Auditory learners • Kinesthetic learners

7. Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer & Bjork, 2008 The learning-styles view has acquired great influence within the education field, and is frequently encountered at levels ranging from kindergarten to graduate school. There is a thriving industry devoted to publishing learning-styles tests and guidebooks for teachers, and many organizations offer professional development workshops for teachers and educators built around the concept of learning styles.

8. Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer & Bjork, 2008 • “Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis. “ • “We conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning styles assessments into general educational practice."

9. Arter & Jenkins, 1977 • Conducted a Research Review & practitioner survey re: “Learning Styles” • "In spite of the absence of evidence that supports modality instructional matching, textbooks urge teachers to adopt this approach, and the majority of special education teachers believe in and employ this model.“ • “no one has successfully demonstrated that beginning reading instruction can be improved by modality and instructional matching” 

10. Individualization A systematic and collaborative process to develop and adapt environments, supports and instruction to individual needs. Individual considerations include the strengths, cultural and family contexts, preferences and priorities of the learner and family.

11. Instruction & Support A-B-C A-B-C Acquisition Fluency Maintenance Generalization Student Independence

12. Instruction & Support Data-Based Decision Making Individualization Culture Race Ethnicity Language A-B-C Sexual orientation Ability Gender Age Student Independence

13. CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT Tertiary Prevention: FBABSP for Students with High-Risk Behavior ~5% Secondary Prevention: Specialized Group Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior ~15% Primary Prevention: School/Classroom- Wide Systems for All Students, Staff, & Settings ~80% of Students

14. Academic Systems Behavioral Systems • Intensive, Individual Interventions • Individual Students • Assessment-based • High Intensity • Intensive, Individual Interventions • Individual Students • Assessment-based • Intense, durable procedures • Targeted Group Interventions • Some students (at-risk) • High efficiency • Rapid response • Targeted Group Interventions • Some students (at-risk) • High efficiency • Rapid response • Universal Interventions • All students • Preventive, proactive • Universal Interventions • All settings, all students • Preventive, proactive Designing School-Wide Systems for Student Success 1-5% 1-5% 5-10% 5-10% 80-90% 80-90%

15. Continuum of Support for ALL Math Science Spanish Reading Soc skills Soc Studies Basketball Label behavior…not people Dec 7, 2007

16. RtI

17. Response To Intervention (RTI) • Learning Disability v. Instructional Disability • Want to rule out instruction as cause for disability • Assess Learning & Environment • Other factors: • attendance

18. Necessary components of Assessment • When a student is experiencing difficulty, several related & complementary types of assessment should be performed • Assessment of the Learner (Student) • Assessment of Instruction (or Intervention) Curriculum and Environment Learner Instruction/ Intervention Curriculum Environment

19. Instructional Disability v. Learning Disability • The INSTRUCTION a student has received is assessed to determine whether the student’s difficulties stem from inadequate curriculum or teaching (Instructional Disability) • When instruction is found to be inadequate, the student should be given appropriate instruction to see whether it alleviates the difficulty • When appropriate instruction fails to remediate the difficulty, further assessment of the student is carried out to determine if there is a Learning Disability

20. Criteria: Double Deficit The student is significantly below grade level when compared to grade peers The student is not making progress toward the benchmark according to the progress monitor data (i.e., flat trajectory)

21. Instructional Challenge • For instruction to be effective, it must be possible for the learner, with reasonable effort, to master the information (facts, skills, behavior, or processes) being taught • Unchallenging Content • teaching what is already known • Appropriately Challenging Content • Overly Challenging Content

22. Individualization • What does individualization mean for a student who: • Is exceeding grade level and has not behavioral problems (mainstream student) • Is 4 grade levels behind in reading (6th grade student reading at a 2nd grade level; learning disability: reading) • Is at grade level academically but has signficiant behavioral problems • Is in 6th grade w/ significant cognitive deficits (IQ = 65); limited functional living skills (e.g. does not dress, clean or toilet independently)