ROSENSHINE’S PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION

A SENDCO’S VIEW

A little bit about me first…

Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction

Hugely popular and now widely recognised amongst teachers seeking to engage with cognitive science

Align closely to the research underpinning the new inspection framework with regard to pedagogy (Ofsted : January 2019)

10 simple and clear principles that come from three sources:

(a) research in cognitive science (how our brains acquire information;

(b) research on master teachers (high gains on achievement tests);

(c) research on cognitive supports (scaffolds, modelling etc)

1. Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning 2. Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step 3. Ask a large number of questions and check responses of all students 4. Provide models 5. Guide student practice 6. Check for student understanding 7. Obtain a high success rate 8. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks 9. Require and monitor independent practice 10. Engage students in weekly and monthly reviews

Key phrase in Rosenshine’s paper:-

“Unless all students have mastered the first set of lessons, there is a danger that the slower students will fall further behind when the next set of lessons is taught”

Some thought weaving…

Please feel free to ask questions

Cognition and Learning – my fears around over-identification

SEN CODE OF PRACTICE

6.23 Slow progress and low attainment do

not necessarily mean that a child has SEN

and should not automatically lead to a

pupil being recorded as having SEN. ..

Four Broad Categories of Need:-Cognition and Learning

MLD – Moderate Learning Difficulty – a commonly misunderstood term?

synonyms:

average, modest, medium, middling, ordinary,common, commonplace, everyday, workaday; More

moderateadjective/ˈmɒd(ə)rət/1.1.average in amount, intensity, quality, or degree."we walked at a moderate pace"

DFES DATA COLLECTION - 2003

Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD)

Pupils with moderate learning difficulties will have attainments significantly below expected levels in most areas of the curriculum, despite appropriate interventions. Their needs will not be able to be met by normal differentiation and the flexibilities of the National Curriculum.

They should only be recorded as MLD if additional educational provision is being made to help them to access the curriculum.

An SEN Law Firm:-

Moderate Learning Difficulties "WHAT ARE MODERATE LEARNING DIFFICULTIES?"

Pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) will have attainments below expected levels in most areas of the curriculum, despite appropriate interventions. Their needs will not be able to be met by normal differentiation and the flexibilities of the National Curriculum.

They should only be recorded as MLD if additional educational provision is being made to help them to access the curriculum. Pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties have much greater difficulty than their peers in acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills and in understanding concepts. They may also have associated speech and language delay, low self-esteem, low levels of concentration and under-developed social skills.

Summer born pupils 90 per cent more likely to be on SEN register

Moreover, Gledhill et al state that mislabelling as SEN at an early age may increase the risk of summer born children developing secondary problems, such as a failure to fulfil their academic potential lower-self esteem or emotional and behavioural problems. This hypothesis may help explain the continuing link between SEN and month of birth into secondary school, when one might expect, the age effect to diminish with absolute age.

The Dreaded IEP

‘the challenge represented by the targets in individual education plans was highly variable… using these targets to judge whether children or young people were making good progress was extremely subjective.’ Ofsted 2010

SO WHY WERE IEPs A THING?

pressure from class teachers who believe maintaining an IEP for a child will mean the child gets support (TA)

concerns about parents’ reactions if IEP removed an historical belief that the quality and quantity of

paperwork is the key to retaining funding bureaucratic procedures of Local Authority – this varies

across the country a belief that IEPs make a difference to pupil outcomes

WHY I’M GLAD TO SEE THE BACK OF THEM

There was a confused ownership with IEP targetsMany targets written by SENCo sitting at home drowning

in paperworkMany children were not able to say what their IEP

targets were

‘the views of the pupils are rarely sought in the preparation of IEPs of in the review process’ (Ofsted 1999)

COLOURED OVERLAYS, PRICKLY CUSHIONS AND OTHER SUPPORT

WHERE WAS THE TALK ABOUT COGNITION AND LEARNING?

There are children in our mainstream schools with significant and complex SEND

Code of Practice is clear on this “6.37 High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching. Schools should regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and [TEACH]support vulnerable

pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered.”

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER Yes we need specialist training in aspects of SEND BUT Understanding of how we learn is essential = good

teaching for SEND pupils is good teaching for ALL

In 2010 Ofsted were on my wavelength:

“…we also recognise that as many as half of all pupils identified for School Action would not be identified as having special educational needs if schools focused on improving teaching and learning for all, with individual goals for improvement…”

For pupils identified for support at School Action level, the additional provision was often making up for poor whole-class teaching or pastoral support. Even for pupils at School Action Plus level and with statements, the provision was often not meeting their needs effectively, either because it was not appropriate or not of good quality or both.

At present, the term ‘special educational needs’ is used too widely. Around half the schools and early years provision visited used low attainment and relatively slow progress as their principal indicators of a special educational need. In nearly a fifth of these cases, there was very little further assessment. Inspectors saw schools that identified pupils as having special educational needs when, in fact, their needs were no different from those of most other pupils. They were underachieving but this was sometimes simply because the school’s mainstream teaching provision was not good enough, and expectations of the pupils were too low.Ofsted 2010 – A Statement is not enough

I’m really concerned that as we strive towards inclusion, putting in place strategies, resources, velcroed support in order to provide a paper trail or tangible “evidence” of what we have in place, we are inadvertently creating an OTHERNESS which is a million miles from what we’re trying to achieve. Often the focus moves from the teaching and learning.

“… ensuring that schools do not identify pupils as having special educational needs when they simply need better teaching”

Ofsted 2010 – A Statement is not enough

BACK TO ROSENSHINE

WHY I WELCOME THE CURRENT INTEREST IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND HOW WE LEARN

Focussing on the HOW children learn Cognition and Learning category of need Working memory limitations Cognitive load Repetition, Repetition, Repetition (over-learning) Dual coding Retrieval practice Spaced learning All these have been used by good teachers of SEND for years and

elements of them referred to in Ed Psych reports Very little of this in Initial Teacher Training

EXTRACTS FROM ED PSYCH REPORTS“...instructions [should be] given in small chunks (visual/written to refer back to)”

“...check that X understands a task and knows what to do…”

“... be aware of length and complexity of instructions: how many steps are required in completing the task; provide visual reminders and teach X where to find them…”

“Distraction or inattention might be a response to not understanding; ensure X is clear about the task and has the knowledge and skills to complete it…”

“ X… seems to benefit from tasks when what is expected of her is first modelled….then X practises herself to ensure she understands it….”

“... working memory is below average…. X may benefit from visual aids particularly when information is provided verbally...”

Please feel free to contact me

@rlrossi64