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gaylbowser@gmail.com
9/16/2019 4:01 AM
Literature about educational change indicates that there are four critical components needed for educational change:
• Training, though not sufficient by itself, training is an important way to get initial information to educators (Joyce & Showers, 2002).
• On-site, ongoing source of support as trainees practice using new skills (Dansereau & Dees, 2002; Harris, 2007, Joyce & Showers, 2002).
• A combination of expectation and support from the immediate supervisor (Rodgers, Hunter, & Rogers, 1993; O’Dwyer, Russell, & Bebell, 2004).
• A clear path to the desired outcome (Leaventhal, Singer, & Jones, 1965; Schofield, 2004).
Common models of support to classrooms that serve children with complex communication needs include hands-on service to the student, training, consultation, collaboration, and coaching. Each model has its own characteristics and indicators for when it might be most effective in supporting classrooms.
Support through Hands-on Service to the Student
Most SLPs begin their work by providing direct service to individual students. Hands-on service in an isolated setting provides the, with a great deal of information about an individual child’s performance, skills, and learning needs. However, hands-on service does little to support generalization and functional application across settings. Teachers seldom attend to therapists’ target goals during nontherapy time (i.e., generalization setting), and children do not display the target skills in non-therapy times if a pull-out model is used (McWilliam & Scarborough, 1994). When teachers are, instead, taught to embed communication instruction in everyday routines, children demonstrate greater increases in IEP-targeted behaviors (Peck, Killen, & Baumgart, 1989).
Support through Professional Development
Effective professional development for educators is connected to their work with students, engages them in concrete tasks, and must be connected to a focus=on school change (Neufield, & Roper, 2003). For specialists who address professional learning about complex communication needs, it is important
to shift the focus from stand-alone courses to a more comprehensive approach to professional development that includes specific assessment and implementation strategies and ongoing support. Training offered as the only support service, no matter how well done, does not result in effective implementation. Training alone, as a method of change, has repeatedly been shown to be ineffective in human services, education, health, business, and manufacturing (Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). In addition, there is good evidence that successful implementation of any new strategy requires a longer-term multilevel approach. Joyce and Showers (2002), in a review of the literature of the kinds of supports that are effective in making educational change, indicate that even when well-designed training is paired with demonstration and opportunities to practice during professional development sessions, educators are generally able to retain and implement only 20% of the content provided.
Ongoing Team and System Support
It is ongoing support of the team that offers the best chance of helping educators make the changes needed to ensure effective AT implementation. “During the initial stage of implementation the compelling forces of fear of change, inertia, and investment in the status quo combine with the inherently difficult and complex work of implementing something new” (Fixsen et al., 2005, p. 16). At the implementation stage. SLPs step back from their role as assessors and begin to provide information; direct support to educators, students, and families; and mentoring that encourages their independence and autonomy in the use their new skills. During the implementation phase of providing support, the expert must understand what knowledge and skill other team members have and what additional skills are needed. Specialists who provide support at this stage must translate their personal knowledge and experience to provide alternative perspectives and strategies (Hanft & Place, 1996). Support may be provided in the form of consultative services, collaboration, and/or coaching. With a clear understanding of the support needs present in the environment, specialists can determine which of these strategies may be most effective.
Choosing a Support Strategy
Consultation, collaboration, and coaching are all effective strategies for supporting an educator in implementation of communication plans and their integration into the curriculum for the learner with complex communication needs. They vary, however, in several key ways such as in goals, focus, content of conversations, and accountability.
AAC specialists and SLPS interact with the families, caregivers and educators with the goal of supporting them to comfortably plan and carry out progams that effectively address a student’s ability to request, refuse, use social communication and share information.That support may include the three of consultation, collaboration, and coaching at different times and in differing amounts. The choice of which strategy to use will depend upon the team’s specific needs and the type of question or issue being addressed, but it may also vary depending upon learning style, the support of a supervisor, and the complexity of the need. Here’s a summary of when each strategy might be most applicable.
Use of consultation: A consultative approach assumes that an expert will share information and their experience with another individual. Consultation may be most appropriate when the recipient does not have much knowledge about the topic and needs a great deal of factual information, sources of further reference material, and/or technical support. An expert consultative approach is most useful when a team has questions that really do have answers.
Use of collaboration: Collaboration may be most appropriate when people with different resources can work together or when both are members of an existing team with an ongoing relationship and ongoing responsibility for the specific student. It is most effective when there is a supervisory expectation of working together as equals to achieve common goals, the opportunity to work together over time, and the ability to problem-solve together. While a collaborative model is often creative and effective, it is also the most time consuming. If teams expect collaboration from an expert who does not have time in the schedule to truly collaborate, the result may be dissatisfaction among team members and failure of the support relationship. It is for this reason that it is important to define both the extent and the limits of the collaborative support relationship.
Use of coaching: Coaching has been shown to be the most effective way to help an individual learn to implement a new strategy. It is most effective when the team wants to become more resourceful, informed, and skillful in supporting the communication of students with complex communication needs and is willing to take on additional independence in decision making and implementation. In a coaching model of support, the primary attention of the specialist is given to influencing the internal thought processes of team members as a way to improve instruction. It involves asking thought-provoking and targeted questions, listening carefully, and providing accurate and usable feedback.
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I shared a link to this collection on social media. It's almost like a "developmental arc" moving from our silos to a well oiled machine ... and sometimes starting over again when staff change (or taking three steps back sometimes!)
Karen Natoci - 9/19/2019
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Many teachers require their college students in communication disorders or child development classes to complete a Communication Matrix online. Please have your students use the Test Drive site for this purpose. You may ask them to print out the Profile and Communication Skills List as proof of their work.
The only way I know that he wants something is because he fusses or whines when he's unhappy or uncomfortable, and he smiles, makes noises or calms down when he's happy and comfortable. Does this statement describe your child?
She doesn't come to me to let me know what she wants, but it's easy for me to figure out, because she tries to do things for herself. She knows what she wants, and her behavior shows me what she wants. If she runs out of something to eat, she will just try to get more, rather than trying to get me to give her more.
Does this statement describe your child?
He knows how to get me to do something for him. He uses some of the kinds of behaviors below to communicate:
Does this statement describe your child?
Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging
– Does this independently most of the time when the opportunity arises
– Does this in a number of di erent contexts, and with di erent people
– Does this inconsistently
–
Only does this when prompted or encouraged to do so. Only does this in one or two contexts or with one person.
Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging
I was a teacher for a lot of years. And the term Silos really resonates. When I went into my classroom for students with complex communication needs, I was in charge of it all. And in my classroom, we did not have any kind of district-adopted learning sequence or curriculum. So, while it was fun to be in charge, there was little opportunity for me to share ideas with other people. It's one of the reasons I so appreciate this Communication Matrix Community Site. I get ideas and inspiration from people I will probably never even meet.
I do think, though, that it's better to have a learning sequence or curriculum to go with the information that you get from using the matrix. The places that I see the best services provided for students with complex communication needs are the places where the agency has offered a sequence that matches state standards and where everyone can know what kids are working on. If the entire class is having a month of activities about fall and seasons, then we all have something to talk about.
gaylbowser@gmail.com - 9/19/2019