Meeting Individual Student Needs through Digital Learning

Meeting Individual Student Needs through Digital

Learning

October 1, 2012

cultivating learning and positive change www.magnoliaconsulting.org

Meeting Individual Student Needs through Digital Learning Magnolia Consulting, LLC, October 1, 2012

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Meeting Individual Student Needs through Digital Learning

Mary Styers, Ph.D. Magnolia Consulting, LLC

All children should have the opportunity to encounter a differentiated curriculum marked by challenging and enriching activities based on their individual needs.1

Today’s classroom abounds with diversity, as students bring a multitude of life experiences, represent a variety of cultural backgrounds, and demonstrate differing learning abilities. 2 Teachers face the challenge of educating every student whether they are students with impoverished home lives, English language learners, gifted or special needs students, or students with different learning styles.3, 4,5,6,7 In every case, each student requires educational resources that are responsive to their unique needs and situation. One overarching strategy for accommodating a wide variety of student needs involves tailoring classroom instruction to the needs of individual students and ability levels, also known as differentiated instruction.8,9

Differentiating is more effective than solely teaching to the whole group because student needs and interests differ.10,11 When differentiating instruction, teachers acknowledge that students come to the lesson at different starting points, progress at varying rates, and one type of teaching will not meet the needs of all students.12,13 Differentiated instruction maximizes the learning potential of each student.14,15 Researchers find that differentiating instruction to meet student needs results in statistically significant increases in reading and math achievement.16,17,18,19,20 Furthermore, research supports that when teachers adjust their instruction to accommodate differences in student learning styles, student achievement and positive attitudes towards the subject area increase.21 Digital learning programs offer one method for providing differentiated instruction to a diverse student population. Research affirms that the use of individualized computer instruction in the classroom results in students learning more, acquiring content faster, and having a deeper understanding of the lesson.22 This paper presents research on how teachers can tailor their classroom and digital instruction to meet the needs of all students, including English language learners and students with special needs. Archipelago Learning’s suite of supplementary digital learning products for students from Pre-Kindergarten through Post-Secondary education, are presented as an example of digital learning programs that support teachers in being systematic, responsive, and accommodating to the needs of a diverse classroom environment.


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How to Meet Student Needs in the Classroom There are several research-based, best practices for differentiating instruction. In responding to student needs, educational research commonly references four key areas of instructional practice: A) Instruction should be learner-centered. Teaching is most effective when instruction is focused on student needs.23 In practice, teachers should vary classroom and digital instructional materials based on the needs of individual students, so that the materials are appropriate based on student ability levels.24,25,26 The supplementary digital learning programs offered by Archipelago Learning provide teachers with unique opportunities to engage students by providing differentiated and individualized instruction. B) Frequent, ongoing assessment is critical. Frequent informal and formal classroom and digital assessments help teachers understand how students progress and respond to instruction.27,28,29 Ongoing and regular student performance data helps to inform teachers of what their students know and still need to practice. Web-based formative assessments offer one method for continually monitoring student progress and have a greater impact on student achievement compared to online or paper assessments.30 Studies also suggest that online formative assessments offer a highly cost-effective approach to improving student achievement when administered several times a week, due to their low costs relative to other educational interventions and frequent student performance feedback. 31,32,33 C) Using assessment results to modify instruction is essential. Once teachers have feedback on student performance, they can use the data to inform and modify the teaching cycle.34,35,36,37 At different stages of instruction, classroom and digital assessment results serve

different purposes. During the planning instruction stage, teachers collect baseline assessment data to inform what they should teach based on students’ background knowledge. During the guiding instruction stage, teachers use real-time student data to change ability groups or modify pacing. Archipelago Learning’s digital products offer one example of how digital programs help educators in the guiding instruction stage. Archipelago Learning digital products offer summative assessments, which give teachers feedback on overall effectiveness. They also give immediate and real-time formative feedback on student learning, and provide teachers with opportunities to adjust and guide instruction.

HOW ARCHIPELAGO LEARNING DIGITAL PRODUCTS MEET A WIDE VARIETY OF STUDENT NEEDS

• Provide learner-centered instruction

focused on the needs of individual students

• Offer ongoing assessment for meeting classroom, state, and Common Core targets

• Adjust instruction based on student performance, providing additional support in areas of difficulty

• Inform teachers of student progress, allowing for flexible changes to in-class grouping

• Offer teachers explicit suggestions for differentiated activities to support students’ unique learning needs


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Finally, during the evaluating instruction stage, teachers use student results to gain an overall understanding of the effectiveness of their teaching and overall student mastery.38 Ultimately, students receive more attuned instruction when teachers use classroom and digital learning assessments throughout the teaching cycle. D) Flexibility in pacing and ability group assignments is important. When creating student ability groups and pacing instruction, teachers must remain flexible and responsive. Teachers should base ability grouping configurations and instructional pace on student learning needs.39,40,41,42 For example, teachers might offer students more time when they need it, provide tiered instruction, or group students heterogeneously or homogeneously depending on what students need.43,44 One study suggests that ability groupings are more effective when teachers frequently revise group assignments based on assessments and pace their instruction to meet student needs.45 Digital learning programs offer one method for providing flexible and responsive instruction. For example, Archipelago Learning’s digital products give teachers up-to-date information on student progress through built in real-time reporting. This allows for flexible and frequent revisions to classroom ability group assignments. When teachers approach their classrooms as learner-centered and use ongoing classroom or digital assessments to modify instructional practices, such as pacing and group assignments, students benefit from a classroom environment that is responsive to their unique needs.

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners and Special Needs Students English language learners and special needs students constitute a sizable portion of United States classrooms. During the 2009-2010 school year, 10 percent of K-12 students were classified as English language learners, and 13 percent of PreK-12 students obtained special education assistance.46 The instructional practices referenced above generally address the needs of a wide variety of students, including English language learners and special needs students; however, these two groups also benefit from additional accommodations and instructional practices. English Language Learners. For English language learners, studies show that first language proficiency is important for second language development. Higher language proficiency in a first language during elementary or middle school predicts subsequent language achievement in a second language during and

HOW ARCHIPELAGO LEARNING DIGITAL PRODUCTS SUPPORT ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND

SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS

• Study Island offers content instruction in Spanish for students in grades 3-12

• EducationCity has a Learn English module that provides supplementary language instruction for beginning to intermediate English language learners

• ESL ReadingSmart provides a Spanish translator, allowing students to translate any on-screen text

• Archipelago Learning’s digital products provide assessment support for English language learners through translators, Spanish modules, and Spanish language assessments


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after high school.47,48 When students have a deeper understanding of their first language, the benefits extend to future learning and achievement outcomes. Thus, digital learning programs, like those in the Archipelago Learning suite of products, that support students in their understanding of a first language also nurture second language development and subsequent achievement. When schools provide students with equitable opportunities to show what they know, teachers have a more authentic measure of student progress and can adjust instruction accordingly. Several potential classroom or digital assessment accommodations for English language learners include providing customized dictionaries, simplifying testing language, testing in students’ native language, and using online technology to support language learners.49,50,51,52,53 Special Needs Students. In a digital learning environment, special needs students can directly benefit from multiple accommodations including, hearing text read aloud, controlling the pace of their instruction, or have extra time on tests, seeing enlarged text, using computers for writing, or having different computerized writing or grammatical checks (e.g., spell check in a word processing software).54,55,56 Studies also suggest that providing struggling students with interactive animation supports during lessons is associated with greater comprehension and learning across a wide variety of subject areas when compared to students who only see static images or read print-based materials during instructional time.57,58

Interactive digital learning environments that utilize engaging characters and interactive avatars can also be beneficial. One study finds that these types of digital learning environments are motivational for students, and students perceive the personalized support (particularly in reading and understanding instructions) as beneficial.59 Furthermore, interactive avatars in digital programs can support special needs students in experiencing increased confidence and interest in educational content areas.60 Archipelago Learning digital products provide a wide array of accommodations for special needs students, designed to directly support and actively engage students, including opportunities for read-aloud-text, interactive avatars, engaging characters, and immersive graphics.

HOW ARCHIPELAGO LEARNING DIGITAL PRODUCTS SUPPORT SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS

• Study Island provides multiple

accommodations for special needs students including: option to have text read aloud, text in larger fonts, scratch pad; highlighting, fewer answer choices, more time for assessments, and scientific and standard calculators

• EducationCity, Reading Eggs, and Reading Eggspress provide interactive graphics and audio features that reinforce topics using different learning techniques

• EducationCity, Reading Eggs, and Reading Eggspress also utilize engaging characters and avatars, which offer an extra source of positive support for students


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Archipelago Learning Digital Products Meet Student Needs

Archipelago Learning offers a suite of supplemental digital learning products, including Study Island, EducationCity, Reading Eggs, Reading Eggspress, ESL ReadingSmart, ReadingMate, and Northstar Learning. Each of the products are designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of learners from Pre-Kindergarten through Post-Secondary education. Archipelago Learning products are learner-centered with a differentiated approach aimed at meeting the needs of individual students. For example, as students progress through

ReadingMate, they receive differentiated instruction specific to their unique needs in reading. All Archipelago Learning products provide ongoing, frequent progress monitoring to support teachers in continually assessing student needs. Teachers have immediate access to student performance results and can use the results to modify classroom instructional practices. Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress, for example, allow teachers to continually monitor real-time student progress towards mastering key reading skills including, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and phonics. Northstar Learning provides college and career-ready students with progress monitoring information related to their performance on career and college course exams. Through online teacher resources in Archipelago Learning digital products, teachers receive explicit suggestions for differentiated classroom activities to address varied student ability levels. For example, Study Island provides a set of suggested classroom activities for meeting the needs of different student ability levels, with activities directly linked to specific state or Common Core State standards in reading and math. EducationCity also provides teachers with a variety of interactive lesson plans, activities, and whiteboard resources mapped to state and Common Core state standards for both whole-class and small group learning. Archipelago Learning products also provide support for English language learners and special needs students. Within EducationCity, the “Learn English” module provides support for beginning to intermediate English language learners in academics, social and communication areas. In the program, students listen to and practice English sound patterns. ESL ReadingSmart, also provides individualized instruction and support designed to build English language proficiency, with a translator available to students who need additional first language support. Additionally, teachers can modify Archipelago Learning digital products to meet the needs of special needs students. In Study Island, teachers can opt for additional support features like text-to-speech, larger font sizes, providing a scratch pad, highlighters, fewer answer choices, and scientific and standard calculators. Additionally, EducationCity, Reading Eggs, and Reading Eggspress include audio support and interactive graphics, reducing any


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hearing or visual burdens for students, and providing an engaging way to interact with the content. Furthermore, EducationCity, Reading Eggs, and Reading Eggspress incorporate interactive avatars and characters in lessons. These characters are designed to engage, nurture, and support students as they progress through the programs. Archipelago Learning’s suite of individualized and differentiated digital learning programs accommodate a wide variety of student needs, and provide teachers and students with an enriched and productive learning experience.

References 1 Manning, S., Stanford, B., & Reeves, S. (2010). Valuing the advanced learner: Differentiating Up. The Clearing House, 83, 145-149. doi: 10.1080/00098651003774851 [Quote is from p. 148] 2 Aud, S., Hussar, W., Johnson, F., Kena, G., Roth, E., Manning, E., Wang, X., & Zhang, J. (2012). The Condition of Education 2012 (NCES 2012-045). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.govpubsearch 3 Bradley, R. H. & Corwyn, R. F. (2002). Socioeconomic status and child development. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 371-399. 4 Lovelace, M.K. (2005). Meta-analysis of experimental research based on the Dunn and Dunn model. The Journal of Educational Research, 98, 176-183. 5 Gugliemi, R. S. (2008). Language proficiency, English literacy, academic achievement and occupational attainment in limited-English-proficient students: A latent growth modeling perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 322-342. doi: 10.1037/0022- 0663.100.2.322 6 Manning, Stanford, & Reeves (2010) 7 Tobin, R. & McInnes, A. (2008). Accommodating differences: variations in differentiated literacy instruction in Grade 2/3 classrooms. Literacy, 42(1), 3-9. 8 Tobin & McInnes (2008) 9 Tomlinson, C. A. (2000). Differentiation of instruction in the elementary grades. Washington, DC: ERIC Digest. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED443572 10 Cobb, A. (2010). To differentiate or not to differentiate? Using internet-based technology in the classroom. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 11(1), 37-45. 11 Tomlinson, C. A., Brighton, C., Hertberg, H., Callahan, C. M., Moon, T. R., Brimijoin, K., Conover, L. A., & Reynolds, T. (2003). Differentiating instruction in response to student readiness, interest, and learning profile in academically diverse classrooms: A review of literature. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 27, 119-145. 12 Cobb (2010) 13 Tomlinson (2000) 14 Tomlinson (2000) 15 Tomlinson et al. (2003) 16Allen, J.P., Pianta, R.C., Gregory, A., Mikami, A.Y., & Lun, J. (2011). An interaction-based approach to enhancing secondary school instruction and student achievement. Science, 333, 1034-1036. doi: 10.1126/science.1207


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17 Cobb (2010) 18 Baumgartner, T., Lipowski, M.B., & Rush, C. (2003). Increasing reading achievement of primary and middle school students through differentiated instruction (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED479203 19 Reis, S. M., McCoach, B., Little, C. A., Muller, L. M., & Kaniskan, R. B. (2010). The effects of differentiated instruction and enrichment pedagogy on reading achievement in five elementary schools. American Educational Research Journal, 48, 462-501. doi: 10.3102/0002831210382891 20 Kyriakides, L. & Creemers, B. P. M. (2008). Using a multidimensional approach to measure the impact of classroom-level factors upon student achievement: A study testing the validity of the dynamic model. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(2), 183-205. doi: 10.1080/09243450802047873 21 Lovelace (2005) 22 Schacter, J. & Fagnano, C. (1999). Does computer technology improve student learning and achievement? How, when, and under what conditions? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 20(4), 329-343. 23 Tomlinson et al. (2003) 24 Meyen, E., Poggio, J., Seok, S., & Smith, S. (2006). Equity for students with high-incidence disabilities in statewide assessments: A technology-based solution. Focus on Exceptional Children, 38,1-8. 25 Robinson, J.P. (2010). The effects of test translation on young English learners’ mathematics performance. Educational Researcher, 39, 582-590. doi: 10.3102/0013189X10389811 26 Tomlinson et al. (2003) 27 Brimijoin, K. (2005). Differentiation and high-stakes testing: An oxymoron? Theory into Practice, 44(3), 254-261. 28 Manning, Stanford, & Reeves (2010) 29 Tomlinson (2000) 30 Wang, K. H., Wang, T. H., Wang, W. L., & Huang, S. C. (2006). Learning styles and formative assessment strategy: Enhancing student achievement in web-based learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 22, 207-217. 31 Yeh (2007) 32 Yeh (2008) 33 Yeh, S. S. (2010). The cost effectiveness of 22 approaches for raising student achievement. Journal of Education Finance, 36(1), 38-75. 34 Brimijoin (2005) 35 Calderon, M., Slavin, R., & Sanchez, M. (2011). Effective instruction for English learners. The Future of Children, 21, 103-127. 36 Salend, S. (2009) Using technology to create and administer accessible tests. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41, 40-51. 37 Jones, R. E., Yssel, N., & Grant, C. (2012). Reading instruction in tier 1: Bridging the gaps by nesting evidence-based interventions within differentiated instruction. Psychology in the Schools, 49(3), 210-218. doi: 10.1002/pits.21591 38 Moon, T. R. (2005). The role of assessment in differentiation. Theory into Practice, 44(3), 226- 233. 39 Brimijoin (2005) 40 Slavin, R. E. (1987). Ability grouping and student achievement in elementary schools: A best- evidence synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 57, 293-336. 41 Tomlinson (2000)


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42 Tomlinson et al. (2003) 43 Slavin (1987) 44 Tomlinson (2000) 45 Slavin (1987) 46 Aud et al. (2012) 47 Gugliemi, R. S. (2008). Language proficiency, English literacy, academic achievement and occupational attainment in limited-English-proficient students: A latent growth modeling perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 322-342. doi: 10.1037/0022- 0663.100.2.322 48 Sparks, R.L., Patton, J., Ganschow, L., Humbach, N., & Javorsky, J. (2008). Early first- language reading and spelling skills predict later second-language reading and spelling skills. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 162-174. doi: 10.1037/0022- 0663.100.1.162 49 Abedi, J., Hofstetter, C.H., & Lord, C. (2004). Assessment accommodations for English Language Learners: Implications for policy-based empirical research. Review of Educational Research, 74, 1-28. doi: 10.3102/00346543074001001 50 Kieffer, M.J., Lesaux, N.K., Rivera, M., & Francis, D.J. (2009). Accomodations for English language learners taking large-scale assessments: A meta-analysis on effectiveness and validity. Review of Educational Research, 79, 1168-1201. doi: 10.3102/0034654309332490 51 Rivera, C., & Collum, E. (2004). An analysis of state assessment policies addressing the accommodation of English language learners. George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education: Arlington, VA. Retrieved online from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED500432.pdf 52 Robinson (2010) 53 Wang, L. (2005). The advantages of using technology in second language education. T.H.E. Journal, 32, 38-40. 54 Dolan, R. P., Hall, T. E., Banerjee, M., Chun, E., & Strangman, N. (2005). Applying principles of universal design to test delivery: The effect of computer-based read-aloud on test performance of high school students with learning disabilities. Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 3(7). Available from http://www.jtla.org 55 Fichten, C.S., Ferraro, V., Asuncion, J.V., Chwojka, C., Barline, M., Nguyen, M.N., Klomp, R., & Wolforth, J. (2009). Disabilities and e-learning problems and solutions: An exploratory study. Educational Technology & Society, 12, 241-256. 56 Salend (2009) 57 Ertem, I. S. (2010). The effect of electronic storybooks on struggling fourth-graders’ reading comprehension. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 9, 140-155. 58 Hoffler, T. N. & Leutner, D. (2007). Instructional animation versus static pictures: A meta- analysis. Learning and Instruction, 17, 722-738. 59 Ke, F. & Abras, T. (2012). Games for engaged learning of middle school children with special needs. British Journal of Educational Technology. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- 8535.2012.01326.x 60 Woolf, B. P., Arroyo, I., Muldner, K., Burleson, W., Cooper, D. G., Dolan, R., & Christopherson, R. M. (2010). The effect of motivational learning companions on low achieving students and students with disabilities. Intelligent Tutoring Systems, 1, 327-337.


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Appendix. Effect Sizes of Research To understand the strength of a set of findings, readers can take effect sizes into consideration. Effect sizes explain the difference in standardized deviation between two groups of interest. In other words, an effect size of 1.00 means that an average person in the treatment condition scored 1 standard deviation or 32 percentile points, higher than the average person in the control condition. The table below details the effect sizes of referenced studies when effect sizes were available.

Area Range of effect sizes Differentiating instruction to meet student needs

• Student learning styles61 • Research on differentiating instruction

to meet student needs62,63 • Formative assessments and

achievement64

0.22-2.74

Special Education students and differentiated instruction65 2.40

ELL: First language proficiency predicting later second language performance66,67 0.24-1.15

61 Lovelace, 2005 62 Allen et al., 2011 63 Reis et al., 2010 64 Wang, Wang, Wang, & Huang, 2006 65 Ernest et al., 2011 66 Gugliemi, 2008 67 Sparks et al., 2008

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Meeting Individual Student Needs through Digital Learning