Overview

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Focused actions at all levels of the education system can create and sustain learning supports that contribute to the academic success of all students. A variety of educational frameworks and techniques can be useful for supporting the learning of students for whom traditional approaches are not highly effective. This module is organized to examine learning supports from the perspective of four somewhat different, but also highly compatible educational frameworks:

  • Integrated Comprehensive Systems (ICS)
  • Multi-tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS)
  • Culturally Responsive Teaching
  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

The module also considers methods that provide support - methods that enable teachers to use the educational frameworks.

  • Methods that modify structures
  • Methods that modify content
  • Methods that modify teaching approaches

This module aligns with Ohio’s Leadership Development Framework in the following areas:

  • Area 1: Data and the Decision-Making Process
  • Area 2: Focused Goal Setting Process
  • Area 3: Instruction and the Learning Process

Acceptable Alternative Student Projects

Organizational Supports

Sample Graphic Organizers

Self Monitoring

Visual Supports

Ways to Increase Active Engagement

What is School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports?

Discussion Questions

  1. Consider the concept of social justice that is introduced on page 3 of this module. In what ways has your school district taken steps to create a more socially just system of education for every learner? What actions will you take to increase equitable access to opportunities to learn and benefit fully from education? In what ways can your district's use of OIP-OLAC foster a more socially just education system for all members of your community?

  2. Discuss as a team (e.g., DLT, BLT, TBT) how perceptions of student differences impact the design and delivery of instruction in your district/school. Are differences (e.g., disability, socio-economic circumstance, cultural/linguistic background) viewed by teachers and administrators as assets (i.e., characteristics to be valued), or are they viewed as deficits (i.e., characteristics to be "fixed")? Consider the frameworks and methods in use or being considered for use in your district/school and how they might support or strengthen an asset-based model or approach.

Activities

Introductory Activities

  1. Taking Inventory of Frameworks and Methods

    List the frameworks and methods being used across your district or, if you work in a school, across classrooms in your building. Then, respond as a group to the following questions:

    • How many different frameworks and methods are being used?
    • For what purpose are they being used?
    • Where are they being used?
    • Are they being used consistently in all settings? How do you know?
    • To what degree are they being used in concert with OIP-OLAC?
    • Are they having the intended effect on student learning? How do you know?

Advanced Activities

  1. Incorporating UDL Strategies

    As a DLT or BLT, schedule meeting time to visit the CAST website at http://www.cast.org/

    and review the fundamental principles of UDL. Then, visit the Moving Your Numbers (MYN) website Resources & Links, Downloadable District Resources) at www.movingyournumbers.org and read the feature story of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC) and how the district uses UDL to improve student learning for all children.

    • Identify how these principles could be used in your district and school to increase active engagement in learning for all students, skill attainment, and higher performance. If UDL is already being used, identify ways to increase consistency of use across the district and within each school.
    • Identify how UDL strategies could be used, or used more effectively, by your TBTs in concert with the OIP and the Ohio 5-Step Process.
    • Identify needed professional development to support TBTs' effective use of UDL strategies and develop a plan for providing such support.
    • Identify methods for evaluating the use of UDL strategies by TBTs across your district and each school in the district.

You can earn credit and contact hours for modules, webinars, and podcasts completed on the OLAC site.

For more information, visit the Credit Corner. If you’re seeking credit for the Gifted Education Professional Development Course or the Culturally Responsive Practices Program courses, you can find that information on the course overview pages.

Changing District Culture to Improve Learning for All Students

Coteaching 4th Grade: Dewitt Elementary Cuyahoga Falls

Effective Math Practices, 6th Grade, Campbell, Ohio

First Grade Learning Centers: Dewitt Elementary School Cuyahoga Falls

Introduction to Learning Supports

Ron Rogers and Steve Ramos Talk About Universal Design for Learning

Supporting All Students: 3rd Grade Dewitt Elementary Cuyahoga Falls

Thoughts About Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom