SED4074

Developing an Inclusive

Classroom for Diverse Learning

Facilitator: Tsui Wai Tung, Roman
[email protected]
 SED4074 - S2
Critical dimensions of inclusive classrooms
Critical dimensions of inclusive classrooms
1. Sense of community and social acceptance
• Every student is valued and nurtured
• Students with special needs are truly included in their classroom
communities only when they are:
• Appreciated by their teachers
• Socially accepted by their classmates
• Opportunities for interaction between people of different abilities
Critical dimensions of inclusive classrooms
2. Appreciation of student diversity
• Recognize the differences in abilities, language, race, ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and academic skills
• Attention to their individual needs
Critical dimensions of inclusive classrooms
3. Effective management and instruction
• Successful classroom management
• Effective instructional techniques
• Appropriate accommodative practices
• Instructional flexibility
Critical dimensions of inclusive classrooms
4. Personnel support and collaboration
• General education teachers are supported by special education
teachers, paraeducators, and other related service professionals
• Co-Teaching – general and special education teachers work together in
providing direct service to students
• Teacher support teams – provide support to general education
teachers; provide a forum where problems are raised and discussed,
and solutions are developed
Response to Intervention (RTI)
• A multi-tiered framework designed to provide
students with evidence-based instructions
and interventions with increasing levels of
intensity based on ongoing progress
monitoring (Sansosti, Goss, & Noltemeyer, 2011)
Response to Intervention (RTI)
• Use of universal screening to identify students at risk
• Ongoing and systematic progress monitoring to identify those students
in need of additional help
• Use of evidence-based instructional practices applied across
individuals based on student need
• Use of a data-based decision framework
• Attention given to the fidelity of how interventions are implemented
(Crosland & Dunlap, 2012)
The Three-Tiered Model
The intensity of intervention
and support increases as the
level of tiers increase
Roles of the three tiers
• Tier-1 support: early identification and quality teaching in the classroom
for supporting students with transient or mild learning difficulties
• Tier-2 support: “add-on” intervention for students assessed to have
persistent learning difficulties
• Tier-3 support: intensive
individualized support
for students with severe
learning difficulties
Tier 1: Basic instruction and support level
• A core curriculum delivered with high quality instruction that
addresses the needs of ALL learners
• Universal screening to identify students who are not achieving the
expected grade-level requirements
• Assessments in Tier 1 are typically made quarterly
• Around 80% of the students will achieve the established
benchmarks
• Provide timely support to students so that they do
not become overly frustrated and get far behind
the expectation
Tier 2: Supplemental instruction and support level

• When students do not adequately respond to Tier 1 instruction,

targeted services and interventions can be provided
• In a specific area such as reading and math or a specific social behavior
• Use of small group instruction facilitated by
co-teachers or paraeducators
• Occur during class time or at other
scheduled periods (at lunchtime, during
study halls, after school)
Tier 3: Specialized instruction and support level

• Evaluate individual learning difficulties before providing Tier 3 support

• Determine student performance target
• Specifically designed to address their learning needs
• Only after Tier 3 interventions prove ineffective or inadequate would
eligibility for specialized services be considered
• Only 1-5% of students should require Tier 3 services
• These students are monitored frequently, usually on a weekly basis
Differentiated instruction
• Individualization within the general education classroom
• Attend the individual learning styles, abilities, interests, characteristics,
and needs of each student
• Provide them systematically with accommodations on teaching
content, learning process and outcomes
Differentiated instruction
1. Content
• What the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to
the information
• Students work on various aspects of the same subject matter
Differentiated instruction
2. Interest
• Design of classroom activities matches students’ interests
and life experiences
Differentiated instruction
3. Pace
• Students with diverse learning needs work through the content at
their own pace
• Ask them to answer only the questions of odd or even number
• Let them finish their incomplete class work at home as part of their
homework
Differentiated instruction
4. Sequence
• Teaching content and classroom activities are broken down into a
series of progressive learning tasks
• When students come across difficulties at a task, the teacher may
break down the task into smaller steps to help them learn more
effectively
Differentiated instruction
5. Level
• Students work on similar concepts at different levels to
reflect their own previous achievements
Differentiated instruction
6. Access
• Material is presented to students through varying modes, such as
visual, aural and tactile, to help students feel and perceive objects
through different senses
• Use different materials, figures, IT, symbols, languages, etc..
• These materials can arouse students’ interest and attention
Differentiated instruction
7. Response
• Students present their learning outcomes in varying ways
• Various modes of answering, e.g., writing and drawing
Differentiated instruction
8. Structure
• Work is presented in developmental steps or in conceptually related
chunks
• Add illustrations to facilitate students’ understanding
Differentiated instruction
9. Teaching time
• Extra time or teaching session is provided for further support

10. Grouping
• Students can be arranged into various grouping in learning, such as
pairs, groups, class, subject department or whole school
• If group work is needed for the completion of homework (e.g. project
learning), appropriate arrangements (e.g., group division, distribution of work,
peer guidance, etc.) should be made
Differentiated instruction
11. Learning style
• Students may learn through listening, exploring and problem-solving

12. Teaching style

• Didactic, exploratory or discursive modes
may be adopted
• Co-teaching
Differentiated assessment
1. Extra time allowance
• For written papers, normally a 25% extra time allowance will be
granted
• For students who have communication difficulties, when the
assessment involves a listening comprehension test, the teacher may
need to adjust the time and pace of playing the audiotapes
• In oral examination, longer response time may be allowed for students
with communication difficulties
Differentiated assessment
2. Modification in presentation format
• Question papers with enlarged font size
• Question papers printed on papers of specific color for easy reading
• For questions that require students to read some paragraphs first,
place respective parts of questions and answers on the
same page or place them on two separate sheets in
juxtaposition to facilitate reading
Differentiated assessment
3. Modifications in response format
• Provide answer sheets with wider spaced lines / larger grids
• Write their answers directly onto question papers: circle multiple-
choice answers or fill in the answers on question papers
• Present the answers in other ways, e.g. when doing sentence
scramble, use numbers to show the sequence of words instead of
copying the whole sentence
Differentiated assessment
4. Read aloud instructions and test items
• Use screen readers during examinations
• Have teachers read out questions on the exam paper
• Ask invigilators the pronunciation of
words in non-language exam papers
Differentiated assessment
5. Other assistive aids
• Use of computers (as word processors) to input the answers for
students with visual impairment or physical disabilities
• Use of speech-text-device to input the answers
for students with specific learning difficulties in
reading and writing who show severe difficulties
in dictation and writing
Differentiated assessment

6. Supervised breaks during examination

• Give students a 5-minute break during an assessment (normally for
exams lasting for more than 90 minutes)
• During the supervised breaks, students
should stop answering or reading the
question papers and be accompanied
by the invigilators
Differentiated assessment
7. Flexible seating arrangements during invigilation
• Students who need individual assistance should be seated in the front
row
• Arranging students with hearing impairment to sit near the teacher or
broadcasting equipment during listening tests
• Conduct the assessment in another room
Differentiated assessment
8. Altering the content of assessment
• Prepare question papers in different difficulty levels
• Bring the vocabulary books/ notebooks to sit for the writing
examination
• Delete the non-answer choices for “fill in the blanks” questions
• Exempt students from taking certain subjects or parts of a certain
subject
Differentiated assessment
9. Teach students’ test-taking skills
• Explain to students clearly the format and details of assessment
(e.g., type of questions, mode of answering, time limit)
• Training of examination skills
• Rules of taking the examination
Differentiated assessment
10. Diversify assessment strategies
• Overall performance of students can be reflected in various areas and
from different perspectives such as participation in class, involvement
in group activities, student portfolios
Decision on differentiated assessment
1. Professional reports on special educational needs
2. Recommendations from the class teacher and subject teacher
3. Feedback from the parent
4. Intention of the student
Home-school co-operation
• Teacher should maintain regular contact with parents to discuss the
progress of their children and the problems with their homework
• Advised to provide appropriate assistance and a suitable
environment for their children to do homework
• Requested to record the time their children spend
on each assignment and the types of assistance
• Appropriate arrangements can be made for school
learning and assessment activities in the future