SDI is what makes special education "special."
-Professor Marilyn Friend
What SDI is:
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Iowa Rules of Special Education (IRSP) define special education as specially designed instruction (SDI) . . . to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. See 20 U.S.C. § 1401(29); 34 C.F.R. § 300.39; 281 I.A.C. 41.39.
The IDEA and the IRSE further provide that SDI involves adapting the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's disability; and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children. See 34 C.F.R. § 300.39(b)(3) and 281 I.A.C. 41.39. This reference to adapting the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction underscores Congress’s expectation that SDI will be individualized according to the child's unique needs arising from the child's disability.
Professor Perry Zirkel pointed out that in Endrew F., the U.S. Supreme Court used the "unique needs" purpose in the SDI definition to reinforce the Court's refined substantive standard for FAPE: To meet its substantive obligation under the IDEA, a school must offer an IEP reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child's circumstances. (Emphasis added) See Endrew F. v. Douglas Cty. Sch. Dist. RE-1, 580 U.S. 386 (2017); see also Zirkel, P., 387 Ed. Law Rep. 17 (2021).
For each goal area, the IEP must contain a statement of the SDI, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child-
1. To advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals;
2. To be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and
3. To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities described in this section; . . . See 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A)(i)(IV); 34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(4)); 281 I.A.C. 41.320(1)
Additionally, SDI:
• may be provided in any area of the child's unique needs (e.g., academic, behavioral, social, physical, communication, functional) (see 20 U.S.C. § 1414);
• must be designed to prepare the child for further education, employment, and independent living. See 34 C.F.R.300.1; 34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(4); 281 I.A.C. 41.1; 281 I.A.C. 41.301(6);
• must be delivered in an intentional, explicit, and systematic manner (see 34 C.F.R. § 300.35; § 300.226(b); 71 FR 46540, 46627);
• may be provided in any location, including multiple settings throughout the school day (see 20 U.S.C. § 1401(29)(a);
• must directly address the ambitious goals in the child's IEP (see Endrew F. v. Douglas Cty. Sch. Dist. RE-1, 580 U.S. 386, 402, 137 S. Ct. 988, 1000 (2017));
• does not lower expectations or learning standards for the child (see Endrew F. v. Douglas Cty. Sch. Dist. RE-1, 580 U.S. at 403 citing Rowley, 458 U. S., at 179); and
• must be closely monitored to ensure the desired results are being achieved (see 34 C.F.R. § 300.320; 281 I.A.C. 41.51(15); 41.314).
Example:
[With the permission of a client-parent, I am sharing notes from a recent meeting of a well-functioning IEP team. "Erin" (not the child's real name) is a fourth-grader. Note how well this information in the IEP passes "the stranger test."]
Erin’s weak working memory is interfering with her progress in the general education math curriculum. Although her long-term memory is in the high average range, she has difficulty holding small amounts of information in working memory for long enough for it to transfer to long-term memory. In math class, Erin forgets the purpose of the instruction, loses track of where she is in the process of multi-step computations, skips steps, and performs steps out of order. Even when she has correctly completed a calculation, she rarely "remembers" what she "learned" and is unable to repeat the process.
Based on recent testing of Erin's memory and her teacher’s observations of her functioning in math, Erin's IEP team determined that for her SDI in math, Erin will receive direct instruction, including pre-teaching and re-teaching of key vocabulary, math concepts and processes, modeling of abstract math concepts through visual examples/concrete materials/manipulatives, and guided practice of subskills explicitly related to her performance of whole tasks. In addition, her SDI will address the following:
1. Erin often does not remember instructions or what kind of problem she is doing (e.g., multiplying fractions).
• Instructions for Erin will be adapted so that they are as brief and simple as possible.
• Instructions will be broken down into individual steps and illustrated on a flow chart that staff and Erin will use to keep track of where she is in the calculation process.
• The type of problem and instructions will be frequently repeated by the teacher and by Erin.
2. Erin often loses her place in multi-step math calculations.
• Multi-step activities will be broken down into separate steps.
• External memory aids (e.g., flow charts, visual organizers) will be used during instruction and practice. To encourage Erin's use of memory aids, she will receive regular periods of practice in using the aids in the context of simple activities with few working memory demands.
3. Erin has difficulty remembering new (and forgotten) math vocabulary for long enough to understand and save it in long-term memory.
• New and forgotten math vocabulary will be identified, listed, taught, and re-taught until she has held on to them long enough in working memory to transfer them to long-term memory.
• A list of these terms will be compiled to which Erin will have access at all times.
4. To additionally prepare Erin for further education, employment, and independent living, she will be encouraged to ask for forgotten information, trained in the use of memory aids, and encouraged when she persists in working on complex tasks instead of abandoning them.
What SDI is NOT:
SDI is what is done by the teacher or professional consultant (SLP, school psychologist, social worker, etc.), NOT by the child, to help close the academic performance gap between a child with disabilities and the child's general education peers. This means, among other things, that SDI is NOT gathering data on a child or rating the child’s performance on a rubric.
SDI is NOT dictated by a school's instructional model (e.g., MTSS, full inclusion) or by current curriculum or staffing.
SDI is NOT differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is used to give all students a chance to demonstrate learning in ways that work best for them; SDI is individualized instruction used to address an individual child's goals and needs.
SDI is NOT Tier 3 instruction. Generally speaking, the difference between SDI and Tier 3 interventions is that SDI is the instruction described in the child’s IEP to which the child is entitled and to which the IDEA's procedural safeguards apply.
Example:
[With the permission of a client-parent, I am sharing notes from the meeting of a poorly functioning IEP team that took place last spring. Sam (not the child’s real name) was in third grade at that time.]
Sam is identified as being persistently at risk in reading and despite having received Early Literacy intensive reading instruction in K-3, he hasn’t met the grade-level benchmarks on the screening assessments. On (date) his mother gave (the principal) a report from a speech evaluation at the University of Iowa and asked that Sam be evaluated for special education. After the initial evaluation, the team determined that Sam is eligible for special education in reading.
Proposed specially designed instruction: Sam will continue to receive 90 minutes per day of Early Literacy reading instruction.
This description gives us no idea why Sam is struggling and how to adapt instruction to meet his unique needs arising out of his disability. It provides nothing on which to base an assumption that this is the appropriate SDI for Sam - after all, Sam has already received early literacy instruction in K-3 and is still identified as persistently at risk in reading - so what’s the basis for giving him more of what hasn’t been working?
No comments:
Post a Comment