Participate and share: Poster 
Purpose and Objectives::
All instructional staff and leaders need support when choosing appropriate tools and options for students, particularly in the case of special needs students. In our district, this support is provided through technology and special needs coaching support, new teacher induction cadres, a district-level assistive technology specialist, and a loan library of tools that can be checked out for student use.
● Participants will learn how the district Accessible Design Team designed professional development for staff that support classroom teachers on a daily basis to support special needs students.
● Participants will hear stories of ongoing coaching successes with teachers reluctant to utilize technology with struggling students during instruction.
● Participants will learn about how technology has assisted with processes and structures to support students.
Poster session: Content will be available digitally for later review, and discussion could range from 5-15 minutes, depending on interest.
The Model: Accessible Design What is “Accessible Design”?
Within education, accessible design is the process of planning and presenting lessons, activities, and educational experiences such that students are able to participate in a way that makes learning meaningful for them. Many students are able to participate in the lessons and activities exactly as their teacher planned. Some students, however, may struggle with participating unless their teacher is purposeful in designing the lesson to account for the nature of the student’s struggle. Accessible design occurs when staff is purposeful in providing the correct supports in the form of tools, options and services which allows the meaningful learning to happen.
What do we mean by “tools, options and services” in regard to Accessible Design?
“Tools, options and services” refer to a broad range of resources we provide and actions that we do with and for students to help them be successful participants in school. This includes success with academic skills, social interactions skills, emotional regulations skills, adaptive skills, communication skills, and motor skills. This also includes skills needed to participate in all facets of the school experience, including before school and after school activities - whether on campus, on transportation, or during a school sponsored event (e.g. field trips)
“Tools” refers to items that are put into place to allow a student to better access the curriculum. This includes, but it is not limited to, anything that falls under the term “Assistive Technology” which is defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) as, “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability ... Exception ... the term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device.”
“Options” refers to providing choices and/or flexibility in the manner in which a task is approached. In short, this can mean giving the student the choice to express learning in a preferred manner, so long as it captures the learning that is being measured. This can also include providing the student accommodations or modifications. Accommodations are alterations to instructional strategies, materials, learning environment, or assessments intended to remove barriers to learning while still expecting that students will master the same instructional content as their typical peers. They change how the student accesses the curriculum, but they do not change the learning expectations. Modifications are fundamental changes to the grade level content which a student is expected to learn, when compared to their grade level peers. These changes are reflected in the content the student is exposed to and expected to demonstrate.
“Services” refers to actions taken by staff that directly assist a child regarding the selection, acquisition, and use of a tool or option. This includes any consideration, diagnostic assessment or evaluation of the child’s needs: selecting, providing, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of tools and options; and training with the child, identified school personnel, and, if appropriate, the family of the child.
Why might a student struggle participating during one of my lessons?
Generally speaking, students struggle during lessons because either:
(a) the content is being presented in a manner which does not align to they way the student best learns that type of content (e.g. they need hands-on experiences and the content is presented orally), or
(b) they are living with a “deficit” which is impacting their learning. Deficits could be cognitive, social, emotional, environmental, physical, medical, familial, historical, etc. The deficits could impact a student’s ability to see, hear, read, write, calculate, comprehend, communicate, understand, walk, grasp, track, type, interact, etc. These deficits could be, but are not always, a disability under Special Education or Section 504 rules.
Why is it important for us to have these procedures?
As members of the Creighton family, we have accepted the responsibility to help fulfill the district’s vision of inspiring adventurous thinkers, collaborative learners, and kind-hearted leaders. How can a struggling student become an adventurous thinker if we do not support their thinking? How can a struggling student become a collaborative learner when they cannot interact successfully with lessons and content? How can a struggling student become a kind-hearted leader unless we demonstrate we care about them by providing the tools, options, and services they each need to experience success?
What is the goal of the Accessible Design procedures?
These procedures were developed to serve as a guide for staff in how to address the educational struggles our student have. In these procedures, the district has provided a system for how to:
--Determine what tools, options and services can be incorporated into lessons to address specific educational struggles
--Access the district’s Accessible Design Loan Library to provide tools and options not readily available to the classroom teacher
--Scaffold the use of the tools and options to ensure that both the student and the staff know how to use them
The Creighton Accessible Design plan has been recommended to schools all over the state of Arizona as a model for supporting identified Special Education students, as well as all students that struggle with the process of learning.
https://attipscast.com/ http://smcmtechintheclassroom.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/86565400/AT_UDL.pdf
http://smcmtechintheclassroom.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/86565400/AT_UDL.pdf
http://www.cast.org/our-work/research-development/projects/center-on-inclusive-software-for-learning.html#.W62_3xNKhE4
https://luisperezonline.com/2013/02/02/a-samr-and-udl-framework/
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