Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) - Texas SPED Quick Learns

Welcome to Texas SPED Quick Learns, a micro learning video series designed to give you quick but vital information about special education in Texas. In this video, we will explore elements of specially designed instruction, also referred to as SDI. This information aligns with the resource document Specially Designed Instruction Guide, which can be found on the Texas SPED Support website. We encourage you to pause the video now and download this document to use as a supportive resource. Teachers use a variety of instructional strategies in order to meet the needs of all learners. Effective instructional strategies, including differentiation and scaffolding, research based instructional strategies, or RB's, and Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, can be effective for all students and account for variants related to the impact of a disability and level of mastery of the content being taught. Descriptions and examples of each of these strategies appear in the guide on SDI. Two effective instructional strategies are especially relevant to the implementation of SDI for students with disabilities: differentiation and scaffolding. Differentiation is a process used to recognize the varying background knowledge, readiness, language, learning preferences, and interests of a student. The intent of differentiated instruction is to maximize each student's growth and individual success. Differentiation may be implemented in the form of daily checks for understanding, daily formative assessments, or infusing universal access tasks into lessons. Scaffolding is the intentional practice of attending to content, students and other contextual factors in the design or implementation of temporary student specific instructional supports that maximize access to grade level concepts and tasks. Teachers may implement scaffolding to support students in reformatting complex concepts into individual steps, improving accessibility and supporting students struggling with memory, attention, focus, or comprehension of a concept. Federal law defines special education services as specially designed instruction at no cost to the parents to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. In Texas, the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee, or ARD committee, determines the individualized SDI needed for each student as a part of the Individualized Education Program, or IEP. SDI is in addition to general education instruction, not in lieu of it. And instruction that is for all students is not considered SDI. SDI is required for students receiving special education services regardless of the setting in which a student is educated and is individualized based on information in the IEP. It is intended to help that student master IEP goals and objectives that facilitates forward progress in the general curriculum. Teachers should use strategies and supports to adapt the content, methodology, and delivery of instruction that address the specific barriers to learning that are a result of how the student's disability impacts their learning. Let's take a closer look at these three areas and what they look like during a daily classroom instruction. In Texas, the curriculum is the content of instruction. The curriculum is aligned with the state standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or TEKS. In order to determine appropriate SDI supports for individual students, educators can ask this essential question. How can the curriculum be adjusted so that students with disabilities have the same access as their peers without disabilities to rigorous standards and grade level content? For example, a student with a learning disability in mathematics calculation can be given simplified digits and an intentional sequence of instruction to build skills for calculation. Students work in small groups, which allows the special educator to work with the student and several of their peers using modeling and a sequence of instruction that other students do not need. In addition to SDI and based on the IEP, a student may need accommodations and or modifications in order to access and make progress in the general education curriculum. Accommodations change how the content is taught, how it is made accessible, or assessed. Accommodations do not change what the student is expected to master as the objectives of the course and activity remain intact. Accommodations for instruction should be based on the needs of the student and as identified on the IEP. For example, when presented with twenty five math problems consisting of adding whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, the teacher eliminates ten problems as an accommodation, ensuring that the remaining fifteen problems include adding whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Shortening the assignment adjusts how the student demonstrates mastery of the content while keeping the activity intact. Modifications change what the student is expected to master. This means that the course, activity, or TEKS objectives are altered to meet student needs. For example, when presented with twenty five math problems consisting of adding whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, the teacher eliminates ten problems involving decimals as a modification, ensuring that the remaining problems include adding whole numbers and fractions only. In deleting the problems that require the student to add decimals, changes are made to what the student is expected to master. For more information on accommodations and modifications, check out the accommodations and modifications Texas SPED quick learns video within this series. In this kindergarten classroom, the general education teacher conducts a whole group sequencing lesson based upon the story, The Little Red Hen. She then provides an activity worksheet in which students are tasked with coloring and sequencing the story independently. The special educator works with a group of identified students at a small group table to reinforce the lesson using visual supports arranged in a repeated and deliberate sequence. This individualized approach allows her to address any specific challenges or strengths that these students may have related to sequencing tasks, ensuring that each student can fully participate in the general curriculum at their own level. After their review, the students in the small group work on the same activity as their peers using adapted materials with teacher support. This adaptation to the content optimizes diverse learning outcomes and fosters a supportive and inclusive environment where all students can succeed. Methodology is the research based or best practice instructional designs of content or overall approaches to instruction and the techniques used to deliver it. Methodology is driven by student need. When considering adaptations to methodology and delivery of instruction, the fidelity of research based methodology may be affected by changes to the frequency, duration, or location of the instruction. In order to determine SDI supports for individual students, educators can ask this essential question, which instructional approach is most successful in fostering student learning, and what techniques are necessary to use this instructional approach with fidelity? For example, a student identified with a reading disability is provided multisensory teaching and repeated reading to increase fluency and comprehension. The art committee has identified these strategies that mitigate the impact of the student's disability when accessing the general curriculum. In this sixth grade math classroom, Mrs. Hibbets, the general education teacher, conducts a class review on multiplying fractions and distributes a worksheet to gauge the class's understanding of the topic. She then provides targeted assistance to a small group of students using evidence based methodologies tailored to their needs using support such as the use of multiplication charts, calculators, and mnemonic devices. These methodologies mitigate the impact of the students' disabilities in mathematics and are distinct from those required by the rest of the class. By adapting methodology to meet individual students' needs, missus Hibbett's provides a supportive and effective learning environment where each student can engage actively in the curriculum, achieve learning goals, and progress through the enrolled grade level TEKS. The delivery of instruction is the way in which instruction is offered in order to meet the needs of individual students with disabilities. The delivery of instruction can include the setting of instruction, the timing and dosage of the instruction, and considerations for student grouping. Educators can ask this essential question: when and where is instruction delivered in order to maximize student learning? Decisions regarding adaptations to delivery of instruction are made by the Aard Committee and include the setting of instruction, the frequency of instruction, the duration of instruction, and the grouping considerations for the instruction. For example, a student with dyslexia may receive direct services in the area of phonological skills in a separate classroom for forty five minutes every day, five times per week, in a group of no more than four peers. In this high school English two classroom, the general education teacher and the special educator collaborate seamlessly to deliver a lesson using the parallel teaching approach. They have divided the class in half and are conducting simultaneous instruction on the same content. Separating the class into two equal groups enables teachers to foster increased student discussion to enhance opportunities for active lesson engagement and to provide personalized attention to each student. This adaptation to delivery of instruction ensures that every student, regardless of their learning needs, can actively engage with and advance through the general curriculum. When planning for the delivery of specially designed instruction, both the general education teacher or content expert and the special education teacher or SDI expert develop plans for providing SDI within the context of the general curriculum instruction. Both teachers are required to review a student's IEP and participate in ongoing collaboration to support each other in understanding IEP details, SDI implementation and feedback, and data for future IEP development. Here's some questions that all teachers can ask when they are planning lessons in order to provide students with specially designed instruction. Do planned materials need adjustment or additions to meet the needs of the student as required in the IEP? Does the student's IEP require modification of the grade level TEKS? What is required by the student's IEP to ensure access and progress in the general curriculum? What, if any, changes are needed to the setting, frequency, or duration of instruction for this student? Should the lesson objectives for the class remain the same for the student? What prerequisite skills are necessary for this instruction? What strategies beyond those available to all students will be implemented for the student? The purpose of special education, including the provision of specially designed instruction in the least restrictive environment, is to ensure the child has access to the general curriculum. For more information on SDI, check out the Specially Designed Instruction Guide and Specially Designed Instruction Collection, which includes field user guides, which can be found on the Texas SPED Support website.