Intro and DQ 1:2
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Grand Canyon University *
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PCN-518
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Mathematics
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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Uploaded by CaptainKoala4035
Hello, my name is Diana Miranda and I have a 7-year-old son and husband in Nevada. We love to play board games, go hiking when it’s not 100-degrees, as well as practice Taekwondo and Soccer. I am on my 5
th
year of teaching at my current school, and I love working with elementary aged children. Furthermore, I hold a bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in counseling. I have been able to use some of the concepts such as behavioral psychology, within the education system to assist me in dealing with behaviors with students of exceptionalities. If you would have asked me 5-10 years ago if I wanted to be a Special Education Teacher I would have said no, however, life has a way of pulling one into their calling. After trying to get into the Drug and Alcohol counseling path, I decided to stray away and ended up working in multiple education settings. I eventually took this as a sign to start working in the education system as a Paraprofessional and then worked my way up to a Special Education Teacher. I am currently working on completing my ARL route and master’s in special education. I am most excited on learning about personality development and learning about resources and interventions that can be used in counseling those who have experienced a loss. I think the most challenging aspect will be time management and staying motivated at this time of the year and juggling writing IEP’s as well as teaching. With that in mind, I know I can do this an never stray away from a challenge.
When disseminating student test results to parents and staff, how much information is necessary to share with each audience? How do you share said information with those who may not understand statistical analysis?
Communicating assessment results to parents and staff members can often be a difficult task. The vocabulary used in assessments can often be very elaborate and hard to decode for parents. Therefore, it is important to ensure that one breaks down the words with the use of examples or simpler synonyms. There are a few pieces of information that one should share with parents and staff such as: name and purpose of the test, test scheduling, student scores and percentiles (Brown, 2020). The name and the purpose of the assessment assists parents un understanding what and why the exam is given. Furthermore, it often helps parents understand
the validity of the exams. When looking at test scheduling, one should go over the intervals in which the exam is given. For example, at my school, we give Fast Bridge Assessments 3 times a year (beginning of Fall, mid-Winter, and end of Spring). These intervals also help with monitoring progress or regression. Student scores are important to review with parents. It is important to give both the student score, and the highest possible score as well. Furthermore, I tend to follow up with terms such as college pathway, low risk, some risk, and high risk to give parents a better understanding of their child’s achievement (Brown, 2020). Percentiles are both
important to review with parents and staff, however, I think a more in-depth review should be disseminated with staff who work with the children such as the General Education teacher. This
is because percentiles can often be hard for parents to understand its correlation to the score as it may often be lower or higher. In addition, with Fast Bridge, there can be up to 4 percentiles: class, school, district and national. Having four different percentiles can confuse parents, but for teachers, it helps understand how the child is doing within the school setting, district setting, and on a national level. This aides in providing the proper instructional interventions to help a student. Rather than dive in deep with percentiles, I like to go over a few
mastered and developing skills with parents. This gives them a more concrete understanding of what their child’s strength is in and what they still need assistance with. For staff, this also helps
target specific skills to provide interventions in, and for Special Education, we often use this to target a goal we want to address within their IEP. Reference: Brown, R. (2020, January 25).
Sharing assessment results with parents
. Illuminate Education. Retrieved from https://www.illuminateed.com/blog/2020/01/sharing-assessment-results-
with-parents-families/
How would you defend the importance of selecting and using technically sound formal and informal assessments that minimize bias to a parent with limited knowledge of special education law/procedures?
The use of both informal and formal assessments is both important in fully understanding a student’s academic abilities. Formal assessments are evidence based and standardized exams that measures a student’s progress on core standards. Formal exams can often happen at the beginning or end of the year, district assessments on ELA and math, or standardized state testing such as SBAC (N2Y, 2021). These exams may be harder for families to digest, thus the need to use to visuals to help break down the results. Parents should be explained the importance of these exams and understand the validity and reliability of these as well. Informal assessments on the other hand are non-standardized and are flexible in the forms they are given and to whom (N2Y, 2021). Informal exams can consist of work samples, projects, portfolios, and observations (NY2,2021). Although they are not standardized, informal assessments can often show a student’s abilities throughout the year or semester and may show both their strengths and weaknesses. It may help for students who tend to have testing anxiety and score low on exams. It can also provide a bigger picture on where and how a student may be struggling. Parents can often have limited knowledge on special education laws/procedures, thus the importance of ensuring proper protocols are being held to reduce bias. Prior written notices should include what assessments are being used to help make decisions (Special Education Rights- CCSD). This also shows the reasoning as to why one may be recommending accommodations and or modifications for the classroom. Parents often tend to try their best to understand materials and may ask further questions. If for any reason there is a language barrier, bias must be removed with the use of certified interpreter (Special Education Rights- CCSD). Furthermore, if a parent is still having difficulties understanding all the materials and terminology, they have the right to find a Special Education Advocate to aide them in the process. At my current school we open the doors to advocates and have very good relationships
with them. Advocates are not meant to be rude or mean, rather ensure that the special education legal procedures are being met, and that the parent has an active role in the decision-making process. References:
Formal and informal assessments: What's the difference? N2Y blog
. n2y. (2021, November 18). Retrieved from https://www.n2y.com/blog/formal-and-informal-assessments-whats-the-
difference/
Special education rights - clark county school district
. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ccsd.net/parents/resources/pdf/special-education-rights.pdf
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Describe how to generate questions for students while addressing a variety of levels and capabilities of mathematical thinking in an inclusion setting. Explain your choices.
Part of differentiating lessons is ensuring that questions used throughout them reach all types of students. Inclusion settings have become a priority and considered the Least Restrictive Environment. Students in the LRE should have the same opportunities to be able to participate and demonstrate their mathematical thinking. Discussed below are a few strategies that can help generate questions for mathematical thinking. One strategy is the use of starter questions which are normally open-ended and get children to think outside the box about a concept (Way, 2014). In addition, one can use stimulation questions like “There’s something strange about this addition square, what do you all think is missing?” With this question they can being to look for missing numbers or patterns that are presented. Assessment questions is another way that address different levels. These questions look more at the aspect of how the students got the solution or why the student decided to use the method they choose (Way, 2014). During this time, it would also be beneficial to have co-teachers of paraprofessionals check students work and have them show their process. During this time, it is also best to help them check for mistakes and have them work through the process again. Final discussion questions can be tied in with assessment questions. This helps students recheck their work and understand the importance of the lesson (Way, 2014). An example of this can be “why do you think it is important to know how to add decimals and relate to the concept of adding money to
pay for items at the store. Being able to connect concepts with real-world applications also helps students in their mathematical thinking and can be used for many levels as it is a life skill (Kersaint, 2015). For students who have special education inclusive minutes, it is important to use a variety of different co-teaching methods with the paraprofessionals to aide in students in participation throughout the lesson. References: Kersaint, G. (2015).
Talking math: 6 strategies for getting students to engage in mathematical discourse
. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/10/26/talking-math-6-
strategies-for-getting-students-to-engage-in-mathematical-discourse/
Way, J. (2014).
Using questioning to stimulate mathematical thinking
. NRICH. https://nrich.maths.org/2473