Programs for students with exceptionalities

Programs for students with exceptionalities must extend beyond the basic literacy and numeracy skills and instead be aligned to students’ needs and abilities and what they will be expected to know and be able to do. Effective leaders ensure that special education teachers design and implement innovative practices that develop deep learning competencies and effective measures for monitoring students’ progress toward their IEP goals and objectives, as well as state and district standards. As a result, students with and without exceptionalities have to be given equal opportunities to engage in rich learning experiences within the general education classrooms in an effort to deepen learning. How will you deepen learning of your staff to be invested in program change and sustainability?

For this Discussion, you will use the same case scenario from Modules 2 and 3. Then, you will consider the six deep learning competencies (Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, Character, and Citizenship) to develop a plan for addressing the district mandates. As you begin to reflect on the 6C’s, consider two or three things that will most improve teaching and student learning.

To Prepare:

• Review Chapter 4 in the Fullan and Quinn text, reflecting on the three elements that deepen learning. Reflect on how these elements would impact the organization in the case scenario.
• Review Figure 4.2: Deep Learning Competencies—The 6Cs. Consider what the learning would look like for each competency.
• Consider the five examples presented in the text, reflecting on the similarities each district displayed in moving whole systems toward deeper learning.
• Review the case scenarios presented in Modules 2 and 3 and reflect on how you would deepen learning of the staff to understand the goals of the new initiative.

By Day 3 of Week 6

Post your plan sharing the steps that you, as the leader, would take to clarify learning goals and develop precision in pedagogical practices to “shift practices” within the case scenario site. Be sure to include reference to the 6C’s and other chapter topics, such as the student learning model and the role of technology.

• Explain what learning would look like for each of the competencies.
• Identify the pedagogies that foster those competencies.
• Design measures to assess student progress.