Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14

Online Classroom Impact Overview

The learners that participated in the P-12 Practicum Learning Module were Mild
Intellectually Disabled students at Ola High School. Ola High School is a public school
located in Henry County, Georgia. The learning environment was in the Mild Intellectual
Disabled Program classroom, which is a self-contained setting. The learners ranged from
9
th
to 12
th
graders with various degrees of disabilities.
Demographic data on the learners was obtained through Infinite Campus. Infinite
Campus is the computerized system that Henry County uses to store data on students.
The data collected indicates gender, race, age, and disability.

Demographic Information on Students from Infinite Campus (2014)



0
2
4
6
8
10
Gender
Female
Male
0
2
4
6
8
10
Race
African
American
Caucasian
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Age
18 years
old
17 years
old
16 years
old
15 years
old
14 years
old
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Disablility
Moderate
Intellectua
l Disability
Mild
Intellectua
l Disability
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
The title of the learning module was Writing for a Purpose. The learning
modules focus was writing standards ELACC11-12W4: Produce clear and coherent
writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience, ELACC11-12W5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing
what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience, and ELACC11-12W6: Use
technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared
writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or
information. For the learners in the Mild Intellectual Disabled setting it is appropriate to
give students access to the Georgia Performance Standards. Every learner in this program
has an Individualized Educational Plan with specific goals and objectives. The specific
goal the learners worked on in the learning module was: Given a topic, the student will
write a coherent paragraph using a topic sentence, details, and a conclusion with a score
of 8/15 to 15/15 on the post-test writing rubric. The learning module focused on
incorporating technology to strengthen writing skills. The students had been developing
writing skills all year and took a pre-test prior to the three-week learning module.
Henry County requires all Intellectual Disabled Programs to use the Unique
Curriculum with students in the program. Benchmark testing is done 3 times per year in
fall, winter, and spring. All tests are done online and data is collected on the Unique
Website. Data in this report is from the benchmark-writing test taken in the winter prior
to the learning module. The graph shows the students writing scores before the learning
module (pretest) and after the learning module (posttest). The writing rubric, which the
learners were scored with, has a possible of 15 total points. A score of 1-9 is considered
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
emerging, a score of 10-12 is considered Instructional, and a score of 13-15 is considered
Proficient.
Benchmark Writing Scores from
Unique Learning System (2014)
Pretest

Benchmark Writing Scores from
Unique Learning System (2014)
Posttest




0
2
4
6
8
10
Student
1
Student
2
Student
3
Student
4
Student
5
Student
6
Student
7
Student
8
Student
9
Writing Score
Pretest
Writing Score
0
5
10
15
Student
1
Student
2
Student
3
Student
4
Student
5
Student
6
Student
7
Student
8
Student
9
Writing Score
Posttest
Writing Score
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
The learners in the Mild Intellectual Disabled Program often have academic
motivational issues. Based on my experience as an educator in this program, the learners
are afraid of failure due to their past experiences in the general education setting. The
learners are especially afraid or embarrassed to write, because of their lack of skill in this
area. The Learners have weaknesses in nonverbal and abstract reasoning. Due to these
weaknesses, they have weak expressive and receptive vocabulary, which makes written
expression very difficult. The learners struggle with basic writing skills such as
capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling, idea development, and organization.
In using formative assessments I was able to differentiate instruction and to
improve student achievement. To motivate learners I tried to gain their attention though
different types of inquiry and online activities. My students enjoyed using online tools to
complete brainstorming activities to pre write. Specific examples used were story
starters, pictures, mapping tools, and other graphic organizers. To show relevance we
reviewed present knowledge and skills that had been previously discussed and practiced
to link or activate prior knowledge. These skills include, but are not limited to writing
purpose, writing audience, writing topic sentences, writing detail sentences, writing
conclusion sentences, and types of paragraphs. After reviewing present knowledge and
skills through online videos, presentations, activities, and games students took quizzes in
Edmodo to assess for learning. The students used all of their previous writing activities
to build upon, and finally to create a Prezi at the end of the unit. To build student
confidence I presented the rubric that was used to score writing and the students used the
rubric as a checklist to guide writing along with other editing checklist. The learners also
used the checklist to assess themselves and their peers. Through improving their writing
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
skills, the learners had the opportunity to gain satisfaction by showing off their writing
skills by creating a Prezi presentation and sharing their presentation in front of an
audience.
During the implementation of the learning module I used specific and appropriate
evidence-based practices that are effective while teaching learners with Mild Intellectual
Disabilities. In the Intellectual Disabled program we are required to teach an adapted
curriculum. Within this adapted curriculum the vital component is differentiating
instruction. According to Bashinski (2002):
Adapting the curriculum involves differentiating instruction to provide learners
with a variety of ways to process information and demonstrate what they have
learned, in order to "match" the way in which each learner learns most effectively.
Viewed in this manner, providing curriculum adaptations is a way in which to
implement Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.
My students took a Multiple Intelligence Test based on Gardners multiple intelligences.
The data I collected showed that 5 of the 6 male students were Logical/Mathematical
learners. They enjoyed learning through exploration with online activities and games.
The other four students were Spatial and Body/Kinesthetic. These students enjoyed using
images, pictures, colors, and maps to organize information to communicate through
writing. Writing activities were differentiated during the learning module. Students could
chose to use online graphic organizer tools or a variety of paper graphic organizers to
help them organize their thoughts. We call this the Pre-writing stage. In Hall and
Strangmans (2002) research on the effectiveness of graphic organizers improving
learning outcomes for a variety of learners, they found that 10 of 12 studies reported
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
some positive learning outcomes using graphic organizers. Using graphic organizers are
especially beneficial for my students who have expressive and receptive language
disorders, and for those who are visual learners. Another research-based practice that is
helpful for students with disabilities is Metacognitive Modeling. According to Blakey
and Spence (ND) in their article Developing Metacognition, studies show metacognitive
strategies increase learning. In the creation of a metacognitive environment, teachers
monitor and apply their knowledge, deliberately modeling metacognitive behavior to
assist students in becoming aware of their own thinking. (Blakey and Spence (ND)
During the learning module, I modeled the writing process with every writing activity.
As I modeled the writing process, I would think out loud so the students can hear me
think as I am writing. Together we would think out loud as we completed a graphic
organizer on the interactive board, then the students would complete a graphic organizer
independently. The metacognitive strategies need to be consistently modeled with the
Intellectually Disabled Students.
While implementing instruction, it is important to know and understand my
students. First, I must have knowledge of basic demographics and their ability levels.
Then, I must access their entry skills and prior knowledge with benchmark assessments.
Also, it is important to know what motivates my students and to know what strategies
work best with their learning characteristics. Finally, I need to implement appropriate
research-based practices to support their learning.
Learner Assessments
The Writing Probe used for the learning module is a benchmark tool that
evaluates the writing skills of learners who are able to create basic paragraphs and topic
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
documents in written or typed formats. In the Writing Benchmark, the learners followed
a six-step process to create a document on one of six writing probes presented. It is best
practice to develop writing topic and think about the conventions of the document prior to
writing so learners were guided in the planning phase of writing on the topic. Then, the
learners created the writing document on paper or by typing in a document. The
administrator of the assessment scored the students written document and entered scores
into the Unique GPS for data collection. Scoring was based on: the average number of
words per sentence, the percent of words spelled correctly, writing process skills (ideas,
organization, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions).


Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14

Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14

Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14


Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
Pre-test and Post-test Data

Table 1: Assessment Overview
Name of
Assessment

Name of
School
where
online P-
12
Practicum
Learning
Module
was
implemen
ted
Topic of
the P-12
Practicum
Learning
Module
Student
Demographic
No. of
students
taught
Pre-
Assessment/
Post
Assessment
Used

Length of
Unit of
instruction

Unique
Writing
Benchmark



Ola High
School

Writing for
a Purpose

Mild
Intellectual
Disabled Self-
contained
9
th
12
th


9

Written with
Paper and
Pencil (Pretest)
Written using
Word Document
(Posttest)

3 weeks


Table 2: Assessment Individual Data
Student Identifier Pretest score in
percentage
Posttest score in
percentage
Student 1 60% 93%
Student 2 60% 93%
Student 3 20% 67%
Student 4 40% 60%
Student 5 60% 87%
Student 6 60% 73%
Student 7 40% 67%
Student 8 40% 67%
Student 9 60% 80%

Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
Table 3: Assessment Group Data
Group Pretest Mean
score in %
Group Posttest Mean score
in %
Percent Change (+ or -
%)
49% 76% +27%

Analysis and Interpretation of Data
The criterion used to determine if the learning module was successful was based
on the data collected through the benchmark writing assessments. The data showed an
overall increase of twenty-seven percent between the pretest and posttest mean scores.
The data also showed an overall increase of the average number of words per sentence,
an overall increase in the percent of words spelled correctly, and an overall improvement
in writing process skills (ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency and
conventions). These results can easily transfer into student goals that focus on increase
sentence length, decrease spelling errors, and growth in areas of the writing process that
need improvement.
Recommendations for Revisions
Based on the student achievement data and the experience of delivering the
instruction, I would change a few things for future delivery of this learning module. Even
though data indicates overall improvement in sentence length, spelling errors, and
organization, much of the improvement is due to the opportunity to use a word processor
and online tools. First, I would increase opportunities for differentiation. Even though I
offered some opportunities for differentiation, I feel that more opportunities were needed
Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14
for my lower functioning students. I would offer not only a variety of tools, but also
different levels of writing activities. I feel like the accessibility for my students could be
improved as well. My higher functioning students were able to access and benefit from
online resources, but I feel that I would need to provide even more accessibility for my
lower functioning students. At times my lower functioning students struggled to access
resources and truly benefit from them independently. At times I had to provide one on
one instruction through peer tutor, para pro, or myself during online instruction. Lastly,
I would create more activities, presentations, and videos to increase metacognition
behaviors on an independent level for the learners instead of the learners being dependent
on me for this practice. According to Blakey, Metacognitive skills are needed when
habitual responses are not successful. Guidance in recognizing, and practice in applying,
metacognitive strategies, will help students successfully solve problems throughout their
lives. (Blakey and Spence (ND) Students with Intellectual Disabilities will benefit from
metacognition before they begin writing tasks. Through having activities, presentations,
and videos online to guide them through the metacognition process will help them to
develop this practice for a lifetime.






Rachael McGaha PPLM-SER 4/17/14

References
Bashinski, S. M. (2002). Adapting the curriculum to meet the needs of diverse
learners. PBS Teachers. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/earlychildhood/articles/adapting.html
Blakey, E., Spence S. (ND) Developing metacognition. education.com. Retrieved from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Dev_Metacognition/
Hall, T., & Strangman, N. (2002). Graphic organizers. Wakefield, MA: National Center
on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved from
http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/graphic_organi....