Access to the Common Core State Standards for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive

Disabilities: Transitions We Must Make

Karen Erickson, Ph.D.Center for Literacy & Disability Studies

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hillerickson@unc.edu

Instructional Transitions for Teachers of Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

Transition 1: From access to learning. Transition 2: From mastery of skills to application of

knowledge and skills.Transition 3: From independent work to active

participation, interaction, collaboration and communication.

Transition 4: From accessing selected standards or parts of standards to comprehensive instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

Transitioning from an emphasis on ACCESS to an emphasis on

LEARNING

Access to Text v. Learning to Read

• Focus over the last decade has been on:– Simplified text– Picture supports– Teaching the content

• Outcome has been:– Students learn the content of texts– Students are not learning critical, foundational

reading skills

This is a common example of simplified,

picture-supported text.

Tarheelreader.org

Common Core Exemplar Texts Companion Library

http://dynamiclearningmaps.org/unc/texts/index.html

Transition 2: From mastery of skills to application of knowledge and skills.

History of Reductionist Approaches

• “reductionist interventions” (Katims,2000, p. 4)

– Are sequenced and hierarchical – Employ drill and practice to train– Focus on skills such as:• letter names and sounds, • word decoding, • sight words, and • filling out written forms

(Joseph & Seery, 2004;Zascavage & Keefe, 2004)

What might it look like?

Transition 3: From independent work to active participation, interaction,

collaboration and communication.

Transition 4: From accessing selected standards or parts of standards to comprehensive instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

May 09(K-1 Classroom)

1 hour

8:30-9:00 breakfast9-9:30 calendar9:30-10 specials10-10:20 fine motor10:20-10:30 recess10:30-11:10 communication/IEP goals11:10-11:30 handwriting without tears11:30-12:15 lunch/recess12:15-12:50 free time and bathroom12:50-1:00 art1:00-1:30 play skills1:30-2:00 math2:00-2:15 recess2:15-2:35 vocational 2:35-3:10 cooking3:10-3:30 get ready to go home

May 2011(K-1 Classroom)

8:40 - 9:00 Breakfast and sign in9:00 -9:15 Opening (home/school journal, calendar, weather)9:15 – 9:30 Guided Reading9:30-10:00 Shared Reading10:00 – 10:20 PE10:25 – 10:35 Recess10:40 – 11:00 Writing11:00 - 11:20 Word Work11:20-12:00 Lunch12:00-12:15 Computers12:15 - 1:45 Self-Selected Reading 12:45-1:00 Word Wall1:00 - 1:30 Shared Writing1:30 - 2:00 Math (self-selected reading and word wall)2:00 - 2:30 Play Skills2:35 – 2:45 Get ready to go home

2 hrs & 25 mns