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EvidenceofStudentLearningRationale
TheEvidenceofStudentLearningisanassignmentthatismadeupoflessonsplansthat

fitintoaunitwithspecificobjectivesandassessmentschosenbytheteachertomeasurestudent
learningthroughout.InthisESL,Ichosetoworkwithafirstgradeclassonahealthunitabout
nutritionandmakinghealthyeatingchoices.Eventhoughtheunithadhealthobjectives,the
learningwouldbeassessedthroughawrittennarrativebystudentsinadditiontoseveral
formativeassessmentsalongtheway.Eachday,thelessonswerewrittentoincludelearning
stylesofallstudentsandtoincorporatetheneedsallstudentswithexceptionalities.The
assessmentswerewrittenthesameway.
TheCouncilforExceptionalChildrenstandard1statesthatprofessionalsarerequiredto
showtheirunderstandingofexceptionalitiesmayinteractwithdevelopmentandlearninganduse
thisknowledgetoprovidemeaningfulandchallenginglearningexperiencesforindividualswith
exceptionalities.Inthisassignment,thereweremanyinstanceswhileplanningthelessonsfor
thisunitthatIhadtoexamineandplantoprovidemeaningfulandchallengingexperiencesforall
childrenintheclass.Thisclasshasawiderangeofabilitylevelsandneedssothatplanningwas
notasimpletask.Forthestudentswhoareworkingabovegradelevel,therehadtobeareasfor
enrichmentandforthosestudentswithexceptionalities,therehadtobetimeswhentheywere
challengedbutnotoverwhelmed.Iachievedbothofthesebyusinginteractivematerialsand
activitiesthatgavethestudentstoworkontheirlevelandnothaveoneuniformexpectation
amongallstudents.Ialsoachievedreachingallstudentsbygivingthemtheopportunitytouse
vocabulary,visualsandresourcesthatwereappropriateforthemduringthelesson.Onthefinal
assessment,thestudentscouldmeetexpectationsbyusingtheirownlanguageandskilllevelto

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showwhattheylearned.Manyofthechildrenchosetousefoodsthattheywerefamiliarwith,
whichkeptthecontentrelevantandmadethefinalproductmoreofapersonalreflectionofwhat
theyknow.Ifeltasthoughallofthelessonswereplannedandexecutedwhilecreatingan
environmentthatchallengedeachstudent,nomattertheirabilitiesandprovidedmeaningful
experiencesforthem.
TheCECstandard2focusesonthelearningenvironment.Allbeginningspecial
educatorsshouldcreatesafe,inclusiveresponsivelearningenvironmentssothattheindividuals
withexceptionalitiesbecomeactiveandeffectivelearnersanddevelopemotionalwellbeing,
positivesocialinteractionsandselfdetermination.Inthisassignment,allstudentsweregiven
abundantopportunitytoshareandbecomeeffectivelearnsaswellascreatingtimeforpositive
socialinteractionsandselfdeterminations.Whenthestudentswerelearningaboutthefood
groupstheyhadthechancetointeractwithotherstudentsandsharetheirpersonalexperiences
withdifferentfoodgroupsandspecificfoodsinthosegroups.Theyalsosharedtheirpersonal
preferenceswhenwritingaboutthecompletemealintheirHowTonarrative.Somestudents
requiredmorespecificdirectionsaboutwhichfoodsfitintowhichcategoriesandhowtheycould
expresstheirideasaboutcreatingtheirmealbutalloftheirideaswereincorporatedintotheir
finalassessment.Theywereactiveparticipantsineachofthelessons,regardlessoftheirneeds
inacademicorbehavioralareas.Givingallofthestudentschangestointeractoversimilar
interestswasveryhelpfultothosestudentswithexceptionalitiesaswellastherestofthe
studentsintheclass.
TheCECstandard3referstotheprofessionalsknowledgeofgeneralandspecialized
curriculumtoindividualizelearningforindividualswithexceptionalities.InthisassignmentI

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usedmanytoolstofurtherfamiliarizemyselfwiththespecificgrade1curriculumobjectivethat
Iwasusingfortheunit.IusedtheMarylandStateEducationCollegeandCareerReadywebsite
(http://mdk12.msde.maryland.gov/instruction/commoncore/)toidentifythespecificstandards
thatIwantedtouseandutilizedtherestofthesitetobetterunderstandwhattheremainderofthe
topicsandindicatorswere.Ialsometextensivelywiththeclassroomteacherandthespecial
educatorwhoworkwiththechildrenintheclasstomakesurethatIwasteachingtoalsohelpin
areasthattheyfeltthestudentsneededtofurtherdevelop.Afterusingallofthisinformation
frommultiplessources,IfeltasthoughIhadafullunderstandingofwhatwasexpectedfromthe
curriculumandIwasabletocreatelessonplanswithelementstoreachalllearners.
TheCECstandard4requiresspecialeducationprofessionalstousemultiplemethodsof
assessmentanddatasourcesinmakingeducationaldecisions.Whileteachingthisunit,I
assignedthestudents;1pretest,2formativeassessmentsand1finalassessment.Twoofthese
assessmentsweredonesimilarmethodswhiletheothersrequiredstudentstoutilizetoolsand
knowledgethattheyhadlearnedinthelessons.UsingtheinformationthatIgatheredwhen
givingthepreassessment,Iwasabletoknowthatthestudentswerecomingintotheunitwith
littletonoknowledgeaboutthetopicsthatweweregoingtocover.Thisdatahelpedtodrivethe
nextdayslessonandprovidedmewithinformationaboutwhatwouldneedtobetaughtand
whatcouldbefocusedonless.Attheendofthefirstday,thestudentswererequiredtocomplete
asortingactivitythatreflectedthematerialthatwelearnedaboutinthefirstlesson.Thedata
thatIgatheredfromthatformativeassessmentletmeknowthatIcouldmoveontothefollowing
lessonknowingthattheinformationthatIpresentedtothemwasunderstoodandutilized.Atthe
endofthesecondday,Ibroughtbacksomeoftheelementsfromthepretestbutalsohadthem

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createahealthymealusingfoodsthattheywerefamiliarwithandwouldusewhilewritingtheir
HowTonarrative.Usingthatdatafromtheday2formativeassessment,Iwasabletoseethat
thestudentswereabletoapplywhattheyhadlearnedfromday1andday2incompletingthe
activity.Bythefinalday,thenarrativewritingusedtheformativeday2assessmentsotheywere
familiarwiththematerialandtheycouldusetheirownlanguageandexperiencestocompletethe
writingpiece.Evenforthechildrenwithexceptionalities,theywereabletocompleteallthreeof
theassessmentswithminimalinterventionsfromtheteacher.Iusedprogramsandtoolsthat
wereknowntothemandthatprovidedthemwiththeconfidencetocompletetheassessmentson
theirownandtothebestoftheirabilities.
CECstandard5requiresallspecialeducationprofessionalstoselect,adapt,andusea
repertoireofevidencedbasedinstructionalstrategiestoadvancelearningofindividualswith
exceptionalities.Toplantouseinterventionswithchildrenwhoyouonlyseeonceaweek,I
thoughtitbesttolookattheirIEPsandspeakwiththespecialeducatorthatteachesthemeach
day.ShegavemealloftheinterventionsthatweretypicallyprovidedforthestudentsandthenI
wasabletochoosewhichoneswouldbemostappropriateforuseinthetechnologyclassroom.
Forthesestudents,themostcommoninterventionwasprovidingvisualsand
rephrasing/reformingquestionsthathavealreadybeenposed.Inthisunit,therewerealready
visualsthatwerebuiltinduringeachactivitysomanyadditionalresourceswerenotneededbut
theywouldbeavailableifthestudentsexpressedaneedforthem.Ialsogavestudentsclose
supervisionwhiletheywereworkingsotheycouldeasilyaskquestionsiftheyhadany.While
thenarrativewritingwastakingplace,therewereseveralstudentswhoIwroteforandtheyhad
totypethewrittenwordsintoWixie.Thiseliminatedtheoverwhelmingprocessofhavingto

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typeastheythinkcontinuously.Alloftheinterventionsprovedveryeffectiveforthestudents
withexceptionalitiesaswellasthosewithout.
CECstandard6statesthatallspecialeducationprofessionalsusefoundational
knowledgeofthefieldandtheirprofessionalEthicalPrinciplesandPracticeStandardstoinform
specialeducationpractice,toengageinlifelonglearningtoadvancetheprofession.While
planningtheESL,Ichoseanobjectivethatwillbeafoundationalpieceforchildrenintheir
knowledgeandlearningintheclassroom.Thisunitoflessonsalsoprovidedthestudents,and
teacher,withtheopportunitytolearnabouttheirclassmatesandcelebratethediversitythatthey
bringtotheenvironment.Withfoodbeingsuchabigpartofmanyculturesaroundtheworld,
eachstudentcameintotheunitwiththeirownexperiencesthattheycouldsharewiththeir
classmates.Thereweremanychancesforthestudentstointeract,shareandlearnfromeach
other.Byengagingstudentsinthismaterial,Iambuildingconfidenceinallchildrenand
promotingtheloveoflifelonglearning.Providingopportunitiesforchildrenwith
exceptionalitiestoengagematerialthatisrelatabletothemandchancestobesuccessfulwas
proveninthedatathatwasgatheredfromthefinalassessmentintheESLandtheobservational
datathatwastakenduringthedayslessons.
CECstandard7articulatesthatspecialeducationprofessionalsshouldcollaboratewith
families,othereducators,relatedserviceproviders,individualswithexceptionalitiesand
personnelfromcommunityagenciesinculturallyresponsivewaystoaddresstheneedsof
individualswithexceptionalitiesacrossarangeoflearningexperiences.IntheEvidenceof
StudentLearningassignment,Iwasabletocollaboratewithmanydifferentpeoplewhile
learningmoreaboutthestudentsintheclassandincorporatetheirneedsintothelesson.Imet

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extensivelywiththespecialeducationteacherwhoisthecasemanagerofalltheexceptional
studentsintheclass.Shehelpedmetobetterunderstandhowthechildrenusetheirinterventions
whentheyarewritingintheclassroomandwhichstudentswillmostlikelyneedmoreassistance
thanothersanditshouldbeincludedintheplanning.Ialsometwiththerelatedservice
providers,occupationaltherapy,speechandguidancetoseeiftherewereanyplacesinthe
lessonsthattheirstudentscouldneedmoreinterventions.Afterspeakingwithalloftherelated
servicesthatwereapplicabletomystudentsintheclass,Imetwiththeclassroomteacherto
ensurethatalloftheobjectives,interventionandactivityideaswerethingsthatshefeltwould
benefitstudents.WhenIwasabletoaddherinputintothefinallessons,alloftheactivities,
teachingmethodsandassessments,theplanningoftheunitnowincludedinputfromallofthe
staffmembersthatworkedwiththesestudentsonadailybasis.IhadlearnedasmuchasIcould
andusedthatknowledgetoplanthemostrelevantandapplicablelessonsthatIpossiblycould.
Theinformationprovedveryusefulandcreatedasuccessfulunitintheclassroom.
TheEvidenceofStudentLearningassignmenthelpedmetorefocussomeoftheskills
thathadbeenneglectedintheplanningofmypreviouslessons.Itrequiredthecollaborationof
manydifferentteammembersandtheutilizationofmanydifferentkindsofinterventionstomeet
theneedsofallchildren.Eventhoughthereisaverylargedifferenceinabilitiesinthis
classroom,allofthelessonsneededtobeplannedouttomeettheneedsofeachchildfromthe
lowesttothehighestabilities.Inadditiontotheplanningandexecutionoftheselessons,the
assessmentshadtodictatethelearningthathadtakenplaceeachdayandprovidemewiththe
informationabouthowtoproceedwiththenextdayslesson.Thisexperiencewasvery

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beneficialformehavingbeenintheclassroomfor8yearsandremindingmeoftheimportance
ofallofthepiecesofaneffectiveandsuccessfulunitplan.