What is effective instruction in the classroom for students with disabilities? For Tami, who is entering her 6 grade year at Akron Middle School with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), effective instruction will encompass team meetings and implementation of her IEP in reading, writing and math. With 300 minutes designated for reading and math, Tami will have instructional pull-outs during the day in both reading and math. Her teacher, Mr. Case will provide a lot of instruction in reading and writing during her daily LA (Language Arts) class.
For students with disabilities, effective instruction must begin with a team meeting to assess what is needed for students with IEPs and what will actively become the norm in instruction for each classroom. Tami and other students with disabilities must have a structured learning experience that is in legal and academic compliance with their diagnosed learning assessments provided in IEPs exclusively written to address their educational needs. In Mr. Case’s LA classroom, Tami is thriving and making the most of the individualized instruction that comes naturally from her teacher and peers. The additional supplemental pull-out tutorials provide positive reinforcement and skill building for Tami in reading and math.
Tami’s team of 6 grade teachers has created a portfolio for each of their students for the school year. In Tami’s portfolio, along with her IEP, diagnostic testing results and reflective evaluations on academic needs, each teacher continues to build the portfolio by adding subject content classroom assessments and Tami’s work on projects and parts of her reflective journal where she is able to self-assess and reflect on what’s working academically and what’s not. By meeting with Tami at the end of each week, the 6 grade team is able to use a rubric to assess how effective instruction and implementation have been for Tami and other students with disabilities in their classrooms.
In Part II, Tami shows how she will use checklists to reflect on her academic progress and monitor what skills she will need to build before she enters her 7 grade year of middle school.