Learning for All
Effective Instruction and Assessment for All Students
It is our belief that:
• Each student has his or her own unique patterns of learning.
• Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience.
• Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of students.
• Classroom teachers are the key educators for a student’s literacy and numeracy development.
• Classroom teachers need the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports all students.
• Fairness is not sameness.
Reaching Every Student - Instructional Approaches
Universal Design for Learning
UDL encourages teachers to develop a class profile and
then provide the means and pedagogical materials that are tailored to draw on the strengths and meet the needs of all students and not only those with special education needs.
Differentiated Instruction
It recognizes student's varying levels of background knowledge, readiness to learn, language ability, learning preferences, and interests and to react responsively.
The Tiered Approach
It is based on frequent monitoring of student progress and the use of assessment data, focusing on learning rate and level, to identify students who are having difficulty and to plan specific assessment and instructional interventions of increasing intensity t o address their needs effectively.
Core concepts of UDL
- Universality and equity
- Flexibility and inclusiveness
- Appropriately designed space
- Simplicity
- Safety
Core concepts of Differentiated Instruction
- interests
- learning styles
- readiness to learn
Teachers can differentiate one or a number of the following elements in any classroom learning situation:
- The content of learning
- the process of learning
- the product of learning
- the affect/environment of learning
Core concepts of the Tiered approach
The tiered approach can:
- facilitate early identification of both students who may be at risk and students who may be in need of greater challenges.
- Ensure appropriate and timely intervention to address these students' needs and significantly reduce the development of future intractable problems.
Assessment for Learning
- Designed to give teachers information to modify and differentiate teaching and learning activities.
- The information is used to both determine what students know and to learn how, when and whether students apply what they know.
- Teachers also use this information to streamline and target instruction and resources and to provide feedback.
Assessment as Learning
- Focuses on the role of the student as the critical connector between assessment and learning.
- Students make sense of information, relate it to prior knowledge and use it for new learning.
- Students use the feedback to make adjustments, adaptations in what they understand.
Assessment of Learning
- Summative in nature and used to confirm students are able to demonstrate whether they have achieved the curriculum outcomes.
- Teachers ensure that assessments provide accurate and sound statements of students' proficiency so that the recipients of the information can make reasonable and defensible decisions.
Planning Assessment and Instruction
Develop a class and student profile
The class profile
The class profile is an information-gathering tool, a reference tool, and a tracking tool, all in one. It helps teachers plan effective assessment and instruction for all the students in the class, monitor student progress, and provide timely interventions when needed.
The Student Profile
The student profile gives detailed, in-depth information about the learning strengths and needs of the individual student. It supplements the class profile as a tool for planning precise and personalized assessment and instruction for students who need extra attention and support in particular areas of learning.
Learning for All through Professional Learning - The Three Big Ideas Guiding PLCs
- A commitment to ensure learning for all students
- A culture of collaboration
- A focus on results
Email: learning@Kto12.com
Website: www.edu.gov.on.ca
Location: 600 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, Canada
Phone: (416) 888-5555
Facebook: facebook.com/Learningforall.com
Twitter: @universaldesign