Debra

J. Scott
FRIT 7430 Learner Analysis Assignment 9/26/2010

Evaluating Learner Characteristics

Introduction
Floyd Middle School has been established since 1965 and is located in Mableton, GA. It is a part of the Cobb County School District. The students come from five feeder schools in the area, and Floyd supports two high schools, South Cobb and Osborne. They have identified over forty-two ethnic groups. Floyd Middle School has a very high transience rate; over 49.90% of the students enrolled and withdrew during the 2009-2010 school year. Since many of the students come from different cities, counties, and states, their entry skills & prior knowledge vary widely creating additional challenges for both their students and teachers. According to the schools 2010-2011 Title I Schoolwide plan, there are two student subgroups who present the school with exceptional academic challenges for this school year: students with disabilities and Limited English Proficient (LEP) students. This is of particular significance because the class I will be teaching contains students that have all been diagnosed as having a Severe Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD).

Demographics
According to Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences, in order to effectively teach educators should take full advantage of the variety of ways that students learn (i.e. linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal). Though it may be difficult to assess aptitude in these distinct areas, it has prompted many to wonder if we do students a disservice when we design instruction and assessment simply appealing to their linguistic and logical ability levels. Gardners theory has opened the door to considerations such as the possibility of cultural and sexual biases in education. Standardized test results like those listed below from Floyd Middle Schools (2010-2011) Statewide plan help to identify the possibility of the existence of weaknesses in instruction possibly resulting from cultural bias. 68% of the Hispanic students met math standards. 67% of the Black students met math standards. 49% of students with disabilities met math standards. 67% of students with disabilities met reading and language arts standards. 52% of limited English proficiency students met math standards. 77% of limited English proficiency students met reading and language arts standards. 66% of economically disadvantaged students met math standards.

Entry Skills & Prior Knowledge

As indicated in the appendix, the students in the class are all classified with some level of Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD) therefore the data below showing the percentages of Floyd Middle School students with disabilities (SWD) who met and exceeded the math, reading/language arts standards is also a consideration when designing lesson plans. It is valuable to keep these statistics in mind considering that developing language and problem solving skills is critical in order to learn any subject matter: SWD Absolute Bar 10 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 Rd/ELA 73.3% 81% 67% 61% 54% 42% Math 67.6% 60% 49% 48% 28% 26%

As indicated in the appendix, the majority of the classroom students are reading below grade level therefore several unit lessons will aggressively model aspects of the SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) study method, Ron Wright (nd). Students will be allowed ample time to review all headings and pictures in assigned readings, predict what they think will be covered in the text, written and orally express any questions they would like to see answered in the unit study. This will be followed by a combination of reading selections from the text orally: individually, in pairs, or as a class. Many students without learning disabilities find it difficult to read textbooks therefore this is a study method that is useful to encourage regardless of grade level and ability. During this time use of MS Word will be encouraged for note taking in order to encourage students to experiment with the use of fonts, text, color, and clip art to express their thoughts. As often as possible, applying mathematical concepts within the context of science education will allow students to get a better understanding of their practical relevance. Of particular importance in science is using data to predict behavior using graphs and charts therefore data collection and interpretation is one of the big ideas that should consistently be reinforced throughout instructional design regardless of subject or grade level. Students will be tasked with representing data collected during various hands on activities and/or virtual experimental science labs. Students will be required to represent data in a variety of formats, comparing them to see which format they think best communicates the relationship. During this time the graphing capabilities of MS Excel will also be introduced. The objective would be for it to become more and more natural for students to make use of Microsoft Offices desktop publishing tools to express concepts in their own words as well as images.

Motivational Strategies
As indicated in the appendix, all but one of the students in the class to be instructed is AfricanAmerican. Considering the student population, during instructional design there will be an effort

to focus on the contributions that African-Americans have made to scientific theory throughout history. Inviting professionals from the community who work in scientific related fields to visit the class will allow students an opportunity to see professionals that came from a similar background to their own. The objective is to encourage more African-American students to see scientific fields as a viable career option for themselves. Inviting a doctor from the AfricanAmerican community is a good way to not only increase interest in a unit on Human Body Systems and emphasize the practical relevance of understanding Life Science but it would also provide a positive role model for the African American students. The same principle should consistently be applied to address and reduce the tendency of significantly more males than females pursuing majors or careers in science related fields. If young impressionable women are given more opportunities to see professional women in science related fields, it is more likely that these career fields will become a more viable option for them as well.

Educational and Ability Levels

I have never been tasked with creating a unit that involved individualizing instruction for such a diverse group of students. The students receive instruction for all subjects facilitated by a single classroom teacher and paraprofessional. Since I do not currently have a teaching assignment, I have asked to co-teach several Science lessons with the classroom teacher. I asked the teacher for the background information regarding the students educational and ability levels which is attached in the appendix. Not having ever taught students with special needs, I was shocked by the level of diversity that this teacher is expected to teach effectively; even considering the support team that implements the students Individualized Education Plan (IEP). I forwarded the blank table (which included only the category labels) to the regular classroom teacher asking that the students not be identified by name so that the information regarding each student could be forwarded in a general format respecting the confidentiality of the students. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet the students but I will be able to associate names & faces to the descriptions as I personally interact with them. Even with the assistance of a paraprofessional, delivering individualized instruction to this degree would be much more challenging without the use of technology. The publishers of the Science texts (Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston) supply several good supplemental multimedia tools (i.e. audio versions of sections from the text, interactive virtual laboratory experiments, and animations). Reviewing the supplements with each students strengths and weaknesses in mind is allowing us to make a comprehensive list of support materials suitable for specific student requirements. Using the computer as an instructional tool provides students an opportunity to work relatively independently at their own pace while allowing the facilitators more freedom to circulate the room and address questions.

Accommodations
As indicated in the appendix, the guidelines dictated by the IEP allow students to receive information and to demonstrate what they have learned in ways that recognize and minimize the effects of their disability. The accommodations specified in the students IEP included such general provisions as preferential seating to reduce distractions, giving oral rather than written assessments, modifying assignments to include more visual and/or audio content, as well as providing extended time for tests and assignments.

Unit Standard
National Educational Technology Standard - Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Academic Motivation
Students will be tested on their understanding of the unit topics using the same assessment for both a pre-test and post-test. The pre-test will give us an idea of the students comprehension and recognition of several foundational key concepts. Based upon Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences, the format of the assessment will be varied to include more or less graphic representations based upon students who have been identified through testing as having more visual than linguistic aptitude. The results will better enable us to eliminate or vary the core activities as well as vary how new information will be introduced. According to John Kellers ARCS Model, there are four major categories affecting motivational levels: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. Based on the theory, addressing these four categories during the instructional design process will tend to increase student engagement with the subject matter which would ultimately increase retention. To design the pre-test and post-test assessment, we will deliberately interweave familiar foundational concepts with the introduction of the new concepts. Our objective is that students will experience a level of confidence in what they already know as it relates to the new concepts. As much as possible, I will be co-designing with the regular classroom teacher a tiered unit composed of similar activities for each student but with tasks that vary in level of difficulty, number of questions (choice of questions and/or the wording of questions), and amount of time allowed for completion. The class is composed of both 6th and 7th graders therefore there will be varying subject content. To increase the level of interest or Attention to the subjects we will introduce the topics with a hands-on-activity related to a key foundational concept that applies to both unit topics: How energy flows-the effects of electrons in matter. I chose to more thoroughly reinforce this concept because it is fundamental to understanding concepts studied throughout Earth, Life, and Physical Sciences. I will be designing the entire unit of lessons with the classroom teacher but I will only be coordinating various lessons specifically related to familiarizing students with the skills required to successfully complete a culminating group project. Because many EBD students have difficulty establishing relationships, we will limit groupings to pairs of students which will be flexible based on observed behaviors while also limiting the amount of time for the groups sessions when necessary. Working together and creating community is a big part of my chosen standard therefore regardless of the challenges, throughout the unit we will aggressively encourage the students at the very least to ask questions of each other. During group activities, students will be assigned roles based upon their strengths in order to strengthen their confidence. In order to provide the structure often required by EBD students, step by step instructions for producing a basic multimedia product will be provided but the students will none the less be

encouraged to experiment with the use of a variety of drawing, graphic, and audio visual tools. The students projects will have practical value because they will serve as custom graphic organizers clearly representing a concept (of their choice) introduced in the unithopefully in a manner in which they can truly relate. The objective is for the final projects to be displayed and referenced throughout the remainder of the year as a tool for reviewing concepts. Many scientific concepts are abstract and admittedly very difficult to visualize. An ultimate goal of many of our instructional strategies will be to encourage a habit of mind in which students take the initiative to creatively express their level of understanding of various concepts. I am particularly anxious to see if a greater dependence upon technology to communicate ideas visually will increase the confidence of the language and speech impaired students. Only when students feel free to express how they are thinking (connecting old and new ideas) will educators truly be able to identify areas of misunderstanding, particularly as it relates to the big ideas.

References
Floyd Middle School. Title I Schoolwide Plan. 2010-2011. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from http://www.cobbk12.org/Floyd/ Small, Ruth V. (1997). Motivation in Instructional Design. ERIC Digest. ED409895, Retrieved September 13, 2010, from http://ide.ed.psu.edu/idde/ARCS.htm Smith, Mark K. (2002, 2008). Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences, the encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved September 13, 2010, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm Wright, Ron (nd). The SQ3R Method,Retrieved September 24, 2010, from http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/wrightr/other/sq3r.html

Appendix
Learner Characteristics Table