FCS 469 Individualized Assessment & Instruction

FCS 251

Contact Information

Family & Consumer Sciences

University of Idaho
PO Box 443183

Moscow, Idaho 83844-3183

Betty Sawyer

208-885-7819
Fax: 208-885-5751

bsawyer@uidaho.edu

Kristi Overfelt

208-885-7819

Fax: 208-885-5751

kloverfelt@uidaho.edu

www.agls.uidaho.edu/fcsed

FCS 469 Individualized Assessment & Instruction
in the FCS Classroom

Welcome

This is the meeting place for FCS 469 Individualized Assessment for Differentiated Learning. In this capstone course you will be applying content from your previous education classes, and providing depth to your current understanding for working with diverse students.

During the course you will expand your understanding of how to modify teaching and assessment for diverse learners. While working with a variety of students you will have opportunity for first hand experience adapting materials to provide different approaches to learning and assessment. To support your adaptations and modifications you will choose one student to do an in-depth assessment and report.

The applications for differentiated learning and testing can be used to illustrate Idaho Core Teacher Standard #3 as you complete the portfolio which documents your practices from the Teaching Internship.

This class more clearly identifies on your transcript your ability to provide adaptations, modifications and accommodations within the general classroom.

Syllabus

Assignments

Assignment 1

Review the rubric for the Case Study project and begin thinking about how you will complete this course.

Module 1- How Do We Help All Students?

Rubrics

Assignment Performance Assessment Rubric:

Score	Performance Assessment Description
6	Strong and exemplary work. Exceeded expectation in all or most components of the project requirements
5	Proficient. Met benchmarks in all areas covered by the product
4	Developing capacity. Work reflected efforts and accomplishments in the components of the project but one or more areas did not meet benchmarks
3	Developing. Worked on and completed specific components. Results reflect substantial personal improvement and learning gains
2.	Worked on and completed specifically identified components. Meets expectations
1	Participated, but the final performance reflects significant discrepancies with the expectation for the intern
0	Did not submit a product.

Case Study Rubric:

Criteria Possible Points

Introduction - General description of student including 10

any learning disability, or other disadvantaging condition(s)

which affect this student.

Your observations of the student in the class you teach 25

and in other classes in which this student is enrolled.

Physical health and characteristics

Intellectual ability and academic performance

Emotional well-being

Social skills

Environment (home, school, work)

Behavior

Interests, attitudes, habits, conflicts

Other important information

Description of plan of action for addressing the needs 25

of the student selected including:

Adaptations to the instructional environment

Adaptations of instructional processes

Curriculum Changes

Teaching strategies

Outside interventions

Support and justify your plan of action: 20

Include examples of modifications

Synthesize information from a variety of sources

Evaluate effectiveness of adaptations

Evidence of use of resources as determined by citations 10

within the paper.

Use proper grammar and sentence structure, 10

correct spelling, punctuation, APA format. __________

100

Assignment 2

Use the ABA Inventory, or the short form with at least one student, preferably one class. Analyze the data you collected and reflect on how this inventory can help the classroom teacher personalize learning for all students. Send this reflection to Betty Sawyer as an email attachment. Be sure that you put your name + Assignment 2, on the attachment along with the course name/number.

Module 2 - Gathering Information About Your Students

Even students with similar learning styles benefit when instruction is tailored to their learning preferences and personal interests. In this module you will learn about two strategies to help discover these preferences and interests. One strategy focuses on how students use their learning outside school. It can be used to help you complete a meaningful and comprehensive assessment of your students so that you can design learning activities and objectives for each student. The other strategy helps teachers collect information about students' learning histories, so that one teacher's efforts can begin where other teachers have left off.

Activity-Based Assessment (ABA)

Although there may be a permanent record for each student in your class, as a teacher, you cannot always depend exclusively upon the official records to provide you with all the information you need. With greater information about each student, you can design learning experiences which will be meaningful, and helpful for students. When you look at the activities and patterns of the lives students are leading, you can overlap and embed real-life learning goals into the curriculum. The approach of examining students lives--activities they enjoy and activities they would like to explore and teaching to those interests is called activity-based assessment (ABA)

Included in this module is a specific strategy for doing activity-based assessment: the Activity Based Assessment Inventory. When you use the ABA Inventory, you can learn what students and their families value about learning and what students might want schools to help them accomplish in their lives.

The ABA Inventory

The ABA Inventory was first developed for significantly disabled students, but it can be used by the teacher to learn more about all the students. Information from this inventory can be used to make appropriate enrichment, enhancement, or overlapping decisions about curriculum for each student when needed. You may choose to use only part of the assessment because only one part of a student's learning is challenging. For example, students who are shy and socially uncomfortable may benefit from an in-depth analysis of their interests and abilities about recreation and leisure activities.

The ABA Inventory has two parts: The ABA Age-Appropriate Activity Lists and the ABA Summary. The ABA inventory was designed to help structure a conversation with a student and the student's family and friends. Another approach is to use the lists to develop a questionnaire or written interview in which students write down or talk about preferred activities. The information collected in either format can be saved to the student's cumulative file. As a record of the student's competence and growth, it will provide valuable information for others and a positive look at the student's abilities rather than deficits

A one-page ABA Summary is a helpful way to consolidate information from the Inventory.

Assignment 3

Module 3 - Behavior: Strategies, Supports and Structure

Discuss your course project with your classroom teacher and make an appointment to review permanent records on your identified student(s). Send a report what you learned when reviewing the permanent records. You may make this part of your daily journaling but send the reflection as an assignment for this class also. You can reflect on the process of viewing permanent records and your initial thoughts about the targeted student(s) for your Case Study.

Assignment 4

Module 4 - Standards: Creating Curricular Expectations

Describe what accommodations for differentiated learning you are considering. Describe how you will modify the curriculum/instruction for an individual, or a group of students, within the same class. Send this assignment as an e-mail attachment. Identify your assignment with your name, course name/number and Assignment 4 in FCS 469. You may also post this to Blackboard for one of your daily postings.

Assignment 5

Module 5 - Varying Methods of Teaching

.Create a lesson plan with accommodations and/or adaptations for at least one of the students you identified as having special needs. Teach this lesson, and reflect on your success Insert a copy of this lesson plan and your reflections into your portfolio for Principle 3 and post these documents to Blackboard to share with the other teacher interns. Also send this assignment to Betty Sawyer as an attachment. Identify that this is for FCS 469, Assignment 5 and be sure to include your name.

Assignment 6

Module 6 - What to Try with...

Using an assessment that you developed for a unit of instruction, indicate how you have allowed for learning styles and adaptations/accommodations for special needs students.

Resources:

Resource list for journal articles, newsletters, and ERIC

University of Idaho Resources

Additional Resources