Teaching for Exceptionalities Benchmark Assessment

Individual: Teaching for Exceptionalities (Benchmark Assessment)

a)     General Practicum information:

i)      Students’ practicum experiences should follow the practicum experience requirements, including the diversity and hour requirements for this course.

b)     Benchmark Assessment:

i)      Contact a school, identify yourself as a GCU student, and request an opportunity to observe and participate in two different educational settings/grade levels that serve students with mild to moderate disabilities. Legally, you may not ask what the student’s disability is and you may not look at the IEP without parental permission. Of the total 15 hours required schedule to spend a minimum of 5 hours with the student during this practicum experience in one of the educational settings.

ii)    Spend a total of 15 hours, approximately 7.5 hours in two different grade levels. Each setting needs to serve students with mild to moderate disabilities.

iii)  During your initial observations of the student, take note of which modalities are strongest for the student (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc.). Also, note the curricular areas in which the student exhibits strengths and weaknesses.

iv)   Obtain a lesson plan that has been written by the teacher in a curricular area that is a challenge for the student (math, writing, reading, science, etc.). Make a copy of this lesson to submit with the Benchmark Assessment. Review the learning objective, activity/assignment description, and assessment (where applicable).

v)     Write an Accommodation/Lesson Plan based on your observations and inclusive of the following. Ensure that you review the plan with the mentor teacher(s).

(1)  A brief description of the targeted student with a disability: (a) Age and grade level of student, (b) Areas of academic strengths/weaknesses, (c) Student’s preferred modalities of learning.

(2)  A learning objective that would be more appropriate for the targeted student with disabilities.

(3)  An activity/assignment that would match this objective and would be appropriate for the student based on his or her cognitive level.

(4)  An assessment for this activity that would be appropriate for the targeted student; consider and describe technologies and other instructional supports that would enhance the learning for this student.

vi)   Implement the modified lesson with the targeted student. Seek the mentor teacher’s feedback on your teaching.

vii)Write a 1000-1250-word Reflective Analysis.

(1)  Consider the following. Ensure your responses are inherent in the essay, not simply short answers to these questions:

(a)   Which accommodations and modifications were successful?

(b)  If you taught this lesson again, would you do it the same/different? Explain.

(c)   What other accommodations/modifications might the student’s regular education classroom teacher make?

(d)  What other accommodations/modifications might the student’s special education classroom teacher make?

(e)   What other accommodations/modifications might related service specialists make (where applicable)?

(2)  Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

viii)         Ask the classroom teacher to complete the Classroom Teacher Evaluation Form. Include it, the classroom teacher’s lesson plan, your Accommodation/Lesson Plan, and your Reflective Analysis as the Benchmark Assessment submission to the instructor.