Instructional Practices for High Level Learners and Standard-Based Curriculum

Instructional Practices for High Level Learners

When it comes to the right curriculum (instructional practices) that teachers and administrators should be developing -- that are effective in helping students achieve a high level of learning -- this paper points to a standards-based system (combined with creative curricula) as the most effective. There are a number of ways in which teachers can implement those practices that lead to a high level of learning in students -- and this paper reviews those strategies.

Explain various instructional practices designed to achieve high-level learning for all students in a standards-based curriculum.

Instructional practices in schools rarely stay static, according to a peer-reviewed article in the journal Computers in the Schools. In fact, many schools over the past few years have been actively engaged with "fundamental restructuring efforts" because teachers appear willing in many instances to try "…a range of instructional practices" that will be beneficial to the learning process (Liu, 2010, p. 20). But if teachers do not have the appropriate level of knowledge of the theory behind the instructional practice, they cannot hope to bring out the best in students, Liu explains (20)

This article reviews the myriad instructional practices (peer teaching; peer mentoring; open education; right brain/left brain; computer-based instruction; student-centered learning; distance learning; technology-based instruction; among others) that are used by teachers (21). However, Liu asserts that there is "no strong evidence for the significant effectiveness of these instructional practices," and in fact many practices "…seem to appear each year and are quickly discarded" (22). But if these practices are supposedly not effective, what do the authors of this paper propose that can be effective? Firstly, the authors point out that the teacher's perception of the practices "…strongly predicts the likelihood of practice"; and the stronger the teachers' grasp of the theory and research behind a given strategy, "…the more accurately they see the value" of that practice in terms of its application to higher levels of learning (23).

The article surveyed 162 experienced teachers as to their knowledge and perceptions of 24 different instructional practices that are quite common in public education. The conclusion reached by the authors is that: a) educators in higher positions in the field of education are more aware of successful practices than those in elementary and secondary positions; b) the higher the degree achieved by the teacher and the more experience a teacher has, the greater the teacher's understanding of educational practices' and c) teacher education programs should focus on preparing teachers "…with a solid foundation of knowledge in instructional practice" (Liu, 30).

Progress Monitoring and Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM).

In the Journal of Special Education, the authors point to "progress monitoring" -- and curriculum-based measurement -- as instructional practices that have been proposed as a way to "predict performance" and also to "monitor progress" toward "…rigorous, state-defined academic standards" (Wallace, et al., 2007, 66). Also, the authors report that progress monitoring is part of an overall "response-to-intervention" (RTI) approach, which helps in terms of assessing student progress (66). When research focuses on curriculum-based measurement -- and what strategies work well in terms of bringing out the best in these students -- when teachers use CBM there are "significant gains in student achievement" (Stecker, et al., 2005, 795).

Achieving higher levels of learning is facilitated through a careful strategy of CBM, which means teachers monitor and assess student achievement up to two times per week and hence the data collected reflects how any particular student is progressing "…over a period of time" (Stecker, 796). Are students "on target" to meet the long-term goals that the standards-based curriculum has established? Stecker asserts that teachers can discover how well students are progressing by using the data from CBM; that data allows teachers to plan and even to "individualize" instruction for specific students based on CBM (797). Hence, instructional decisions -- designed to achieve high levels of learning -- can be made based on specific data-inspired evidence in a CBM-focused strategy.

TWO: Explain how a standards-based curriculum can be maintained -- but at the same time individual students' needs are met by instructional practices.

Authors Copeland and Cosbey present several instructional approaches that have been effective when placing students "…with extensive support needs" in general education settings (Copeland, et al., 2008-2009, 214). In a mainstream classroom with standards-based curricula, students with disabilities have "positive outcomes" and students without disabilities also benefit," Copeland explains (214-215). The benefits for students with disabilities in a standards-based, inclusive curriculum include: a) increased social interaction; b) new friendships; and c) "social competence" (Copeland, 214). The benefits for students that do not have disabilities include: a) "improved self-esteem"; b) development of personal principles such as "morals and ethics"; c) "decreased fear of differences and disabilities"; and d) a lessening of bias towards others who are disabled in a learning milieu (Copeland, 215).

Copeland explains that students with "extensive support needs" have problems when they try to use skills that they learned in one classroom or environment in another totally different environment (216). That attempt to transfer knowledge is problematic for many students, the authors report, and as a result the challenge of specific areas of learning (academic skills, communication skills, and social skills) is substantial for those students. One way to help a student practice applying skills learned in one setting to another setting is to provide the student with"…embedded opportunities" or to take advantage of "naturally occurring opportunities" (Copeland, 216).

Those "naturally occurring opportunities" are more effective than say, having the student practice one particular skill over and over (like writing his name ten times), Copeland continues (216). The naturally occurring chances to learn include having the student write his name on regularly assigned schoolwork, on forms, on art projects or other assignments that are not forced upon him. In other words, instructional practices offering multiple opportunities for using learned skills -- in a standards-based curriculum -- addresses the need to motivate the student to "attend and stay focused" (Copeland, 216).

Service-learning (including community service participation) in a standards-based curriculum can be an effective method for students to succeed, according to Anne Seitsinger (University of Rhode Island). Seitsinger points out that "real-world experiences" are invaluable because students can use their "…newly acquired academic skills and knowledge" out in the community (Seitsinger, 2005, 20). This enhances the lessons that students have learned in the classroom because when it is integrated into the curriculum, it gives students a chance to "…think, talk, and write about what he or she did and saw during the actual service activity" (Seitsinger, 20). So basically what the author is explaining is that the curriculum is standards-based and yet there is a creative aspect to the instructional practice, and that is, while the student is learning skills he or she is also developing a "…sense of caring for others" (20).