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GUIDANCE FOR WEST VIRGINIA

AND IMPLEMENTATIO

N FOR

HANCOCK COUNTY

SCHOOLS

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Purpose of SPLWest Virginia Support for Personalized Learning (SPL) is a

framework that:

• encourages the flexible use of resources to provide relevant academic, social/emotional and/or behavioral support to enhance learning for all students.

• incorporates and builds on RTI processes for identifying and addressing students’ needs prior to initiating the special education eligibility process for learning disabilities.

• supports shared responsibility between general and special education teachers for the learning outcomes of all students. 3

Purpose of the SPL Guidance Document

Serves as a resource for each local district and school to use as they customize the framework to align with the needs of their students and with their local resources.

Link:http://wvde.state.wv.us/spl/

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Essential Components of SPL

LeadershipSPL is a significant change that affects the entire

educational system. Leadership is critical for effective implementation. Each school must have a Leadership Team. This

team:– Has a common understanding of the purposes of SPL– Works with PLC’s to:

• ensure teachers customize support for their students accordingly;• conduct self-assessments to focus strengthening the essential

components of SPL within their school;

– Supports collaborative problem-solving and relevant data collection and analysis

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Teams and ProcessesTwo layers of teams at each school:1. Problem Solving/School Leadership Team (titles

are interchangeable: we will use School Leadership Team)

2. PLC Team

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School Leadership Team• Composed of teachers (general and special

educators), specialists, parents, and school level administrator

• Plans intensive instruction for students• Promotes shared responsibility for student

learning• Collects and reviews data• Evaluates responsiveness to intense instruction

Teams and Processes

Teams and ProcessesProblem-Solving Process

Professional Learning Communities: PLC’sDepending on size of school, can be grade level, programmatic

level, content area, etc.

• support common goals

• combine resources

• share knowledge

• determine the most effective use of staff and other resources within their team

• examine of student work and evidence of student performance as essential processes of informed decision-making

• School PLC teams lead the implementation of SPL and are not new teams

Family and Community Partnerships

Must share the responsibility and ownership of student challenges and successes.

Be a positive partnership in order to increase the success of students and schools.

Effective educational partnerships must include parents, families, students, and community members.

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School Climate and CultureA positive school culture provides the foundation on which instruction occurs

and all students will be engaged in learning.Composed of three primary domains:

1. Engagement2. Safety3. Environment

These positive supports must be established at the CORE level:4. Define and consistently teach expectations5. Acknowledge appropriate behaviors6. Apply inclusive collaboration to decision-making7. Monitor and correct8. Use a culturally sensitive, solution-focused approach

Link to Survey:http://

wvde.state.wv.us/schoolimprovement/school-culture-survey.html

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• Identify strengths and needs of individual students

• Inform the problem-solving process• Inform instruction in order to make necessary

adjustments• Evaluate the effectiveness of instruction at

different levels of the system (e.g. classrooms, school, district)

• Inform educational decisions

Purpose of Assessment

AssessmentsScreening/Interim Assessments (Benchmarking)• Time frame: Occurs at the beginning, middle and end of the

school year• Method: STAR benchmark assessments• Students assessed: All students are screened through the process• Main purposes:

– Help teachers differentiate instruction based upon student performance

– Help teachers determine instructional groups– Help teachers determine if students are making adequate progress

through current instruction and if there is a need to change instruction

– Help teachers determine risk status of individual students– Help identify a need to use additional assessment processes

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AssessmentsFormative/Classroom Assessments Processes• Time frame: Ongoing• Method: Unit tests, teacher made tests, CBM (curriculum based

measurements)• Students assessed: All students• Main purposes:

– Help determine if students are meeting or exceeding grade level standards through current instruction and if there is a need to change instruction

– Help teachers differentiate instruction by relevant content, process, and product

– Help teachers adjust the degree and type of scaffolding within a gradual release of responsibility

– Help students and teachers determine rate of growth

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AssessmentsProgress Monitoring• Time frame: Determined by risk status;

– Targeted: every two to three weeks– Intensive: weekly

• Method: STAR Reading and Math Assessment and Early STAR

• Students assessed: Students receiving TARGETED and INTENSIVE instruction

• Main purposes:– Help determine if students are making progress towards learning

specific skills, processes or understandings through current instruction

– Inform school-wide action plans 16

AssessmentsDiagnostic Assessment (previously known as screening)• Time frame: As needed• Method: specific reading, speech, processing, and/or behavioral

tests/rating sheets administered by Sped teacher, speech therapist, or school psychologist– Ex: TAPS, CTOPP, QPS, BASC, Connors

• Students assessed: Selected students (completed when more information is needed for program planning)

• Main purposes: • Help teachers adjust degree and type of scaffolding within a gradual

release of responsibility • Help teachers differentiate instruction by relevant content, process and

product

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AssessmentsSummative Assessments• Time frame: End of school year or end of course• Method: WESTEST 2, Writing Assessment• Students assessed: All students (grades 3-up)• Main purpose(s):– Gives school leaders and teachers feedback about the

overall effectiveness of their programs– Informs school-wide action plans– Provides a longitudinal view of curricular strengths and

weaknesses

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Curriculum and Instruction

Six Essential Instruction Phases of SPL

NGCSO: CORE

Instruction

ProgressMonitoring

TargetedSupportProgress

Monitoring

IntensiveSupport

SAT /Evaluation

CORE• Provides the foundation of the curriculum and school organization that

has a high probability (80% of students responding) of bringing students to a high level of achievement in all areas of development/content

• Choose curricula that has evidence of producing optimal levels of achievement (evidence-based curriculum)

TARGETED• Supplemental curriculum aligned with CORE and designed to meet the

specific needs of targeted group (15%)

INTENSIVE• Focused curriculum designed to meet the specific needs of the targeted

group and/or individuals (5%)

Curriculum and Instruction

Curriculum and Instruction CORE Instruction (formerly Tier 1)

• Utilizes differentiated and scaffolded instruction to meet students’ needs

• Incorporates small group activities• Focuses on the most critical standards and objectives• Utilizes evidence from summative and ongoing

formative assessment to make instructional decisions • Maximizes instructional time • Emphasizes 24/7 learning

Curriculum and InstructionTARGETED Support (formerly Tier 2)Utilizes additional instructional supports:– Differentiating, scaffolding, and using multi-modal strategies

to engage students within the core classroom– Providing explicit instruction that emphasizes skill building as

well as contextualized instruction that emphasizes application of skills

– Peer interaction to scaffold student understanding– General ed teacher use of learning progressions within the

standards and objectives as guidance for constructing scaffolding

– Accommodations that affect how a student learns, not what they are expected to learn

Curriculum and InstructionINTENSIVE Support (formerly Tier 3)Utilizes targeted support PLUS:• Intensified scaffolding and time: suggested to occur 3 to 5

times per week for class sessions of 30 to 60 minutes• Small groups of similarly-skilled and needs-alike students or 1:1• Most likely occurs outside the general education classroom• May occur before, during or after the school day dependent on

available resources and personnel.

SPL does not promote: • replacing opportunity to receive instruction in science, social

studies, physical education and the arts• isolated skill drill requiring students to independently make

generalizations and connections back to the CORE content.

FOCUS: all students• INSTRUCTION: WV Next Generation Content

Standards and Objectives and instructional practices that are evidence-based and incorporate differentiated instruction and scaffolding

• LOCATION: general education classroom• ASSESSMENT: screening/interim, formative/

classroom; screening all-beginning, some-middle, all end

CORE Level

TARGETED Level FOCUS: students identified through screening as at-

risk or as exceeding grade-level standards• INSTRUCTION: targeted, supplemental

instruction delivered to small groups by the general education teacher(s)

• LOCATION: general education classroom or other general education location within the school; before, during, after school, interim, summer

• ASSESSMENT: progress monitoring every 2-3 weeks; diagnostic assessments to aid in identifying problem areas and focus instruction

TARGETED Level BEHAVIOR SUPPORT: specialized positive behavior

plans provided/monitored by teacher, specialists, parents

• GROUP SIZE: small groups of students with similar skills and needs

• TIME: 15-30 minutes per session, 3-5 sessions per week

• LENGTH: 9 weeks minimum prior to INTENSIVE• GOAL: eliminate gap between present achievement

and grade-level expectations and the gap between instruction and what students need

INTENSIVE Level FOCUS: students who have not responded to CORE

and TARGETED level instruction• INSTRUCTION: intensive, supplemental instruction

delivered to small groups or individually• LOCATION: general education location within the

school; may be pull-out; before, during, after school, interim, summer

• ASSESSMENT: progress monitoring every 1-2 weeks; diagnostic assessments for implementing instruction

BEHAVIOR SUPPORT: assessment of student behaviors (FBA) and development of specialized behavior plans with teacher, specialist, parents

• GROUP SIZE: individual or very small groups of students with similar skills and needs

• TIME: 30-60 minutes per session, 3-5 sessions per week• LENGTH: 9 weeks minimum prior to referral for

evaluation• GOAL: eliminate or narrow gap between present

achievement and grade-level expectations and gap between instruction and what students need

INTENSIVE Level

Decision-Making in SPL

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Decision-Making Considerations in SPLDecision-making drives SPL implementation through: • developing common understanding of key components and

processes, at every level (WVDE, districts, schools, classrooms)• self-assessment of needs and resources, at every level• training to cultivate new skills necessary to implement

personalized support for all students in WV

School PLC teams use relevant information in a defined, efficient, decision-making process to provide all students every opportunity to be

successful.

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Key Components of Instruction

Gap AnalysisUniversal Design for LearningDifferentiated InstructionUniversal Backwards DesignScaffoldingResearch-Based Instructional PracticeData-Driven Decision-Making

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Gap AnalysisDefines a student’s performance and individual needs

considered within the context of standards.Decisions about the most appropriate adjustments to

instruction are made in light of the gap between what the student can do and what he/she is expected to do.

The processes and tools used to measure and define the gap become more explicit and more consistent as a student’s level of support increases within the SPL framework.

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Universal Design for LearningAn educational framework based on the development of flexible

learning environments that accommodate individual learning differences.

Create curriculum that provides:• Multiple means of representation to give various ways of acquiring information

and knowledge,

• Multiple means of expression to provide alternatives for demonstrating what they know, and

• Multiple means of engagement to tap into interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to learn.

UDL is intended to increase access to learning by reducing physical, cognitive, intellectual, and organizational barriers to learning, as well as other obstacles. UDL principles also lend themselves to implementing inclusionary practices in the classroom. 37

Differentiated InstructionA framework for effective teaching that involves providing

students with different avenues to acquire content; to process construct or make sense of ideas; and to develop teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability.

Differentiated classrooms are responsive to a variety of student readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles.

It is a classroom where all students are included and can be successful. To do this a teacher sets different expectations for task completion for students based upon their individual needs.

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Universal Backward DesignA method of designing curriculum by setting goals before choosing

instructional methods and forms of assessment involving 3 stages:

– identify the results desired

– determine acceptable levels of evidence that support that the desired results have occurred

– design activities that will make desired results happen

Start with goals, then create or plan out assessments and finally devise lesson plans, similar to using a "road map“ with the destination chosen first and then follow the plan to the desired destination.

Teach toward the "end point" or learning goals, to ensure that content taught remains focused and organized. Promotes better understanding of the content or processes to be learned. Focus on addressing what the students need to learn, what data can be collected to show that the students have learned the desired outcomes (or learning standards).

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ScaffoldingAn instructional technique used to provide students

with support to accomplish a task that initially is beyond their independent grasp. Support will be gradually decreased; allowing the student to take progressively more responsibility.

Scaffolding can be provided in a variety of forms:• modeling• guided questions• additional opportunities for practice• providing a series of smaller tasks leading to a

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Research-based Instructional Practice A practice found to be reliable, trustworthy, and valid

based on evidence that when the practice is used with a particular group of students, the students can be expected to make adequate gains in achievement. – Ongoing documentation and analysis of student

outcomes helps to define effective practice. – In the absence of evidence, the instruction must be

considered “best practice” based on available research and professional literature.

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Data-Driven Decision-MakingA collective process designed to share common

understandings of issues and events, using information from a variety of sources.

Requires changes in the working culture of groups and is a collective learning cycle.

Curriculum decisions, instruction scheduling and student groupings should all be accomplished through data-driven dialogue.

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Roles and ExpectationsSchool Level Expectations: Leadership and PLC Teams

School Level Practice Profilehttp://wvde.state.wv.us/spl/Documents/Profile_School_revised-1-24-13.pdf

Roles and ExpectationsKey Expectations of Teachers:• Self-assess through the use of a Classroom-Level Practice Profile

• Identify students who are not making sufficient progress and adjust instruction accordingly.

• Utilize formative/classroom assessment and progress monitoring to determine whether the instructional adjustments are working.

• Communicate with parents regarding student progress.

• Collect and discuss with colleagues student performance data, as well compare the relative success of various options for grouping, differentiating and scaffolding.

• Provide relevant information to the problem-solving team as necessary

• Collaborate with designated consultants as appropriate

• Participate in the problem-solving team meetings

• Participate in the design and implementation of the customized instructional plan 44

Classroom-Level Practice Profilehttp://wvde.state.wv.us/spl/Documents/Profile_Classroom_revised-1-24-13.pdf

Roles and ExpectationsKey Expectations of Parents or Guardians:• Collaborate with teachers regarding their child’s needs• Share information about their child and family, as

appropriate• Support student learning at home• Attend problem-solving team meetings and partner in

implementing the instructional plan and in progress monitoring

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Parent BrochureTo be included in student’s beginning of year school

packet: must go home with every student

Roles and ExpectationsKey roles within the SAT Team: • School Administrator - Principal or Designee• Meeting Facilitator• Recorder• Provider(s) of individualized instruction• Progress Monitor(s)• School Psychologist• School Counselors• Specialists(more than one role can be filled by an individual)

The SPL guidance document provides description and bullets of key expectations and responsibilities for each of these critical roles in the SPL framework.

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SPL FRAMEWORK: A Quick Reference Guide