Assessment DescriptionUnderstanding the development and individual differences of students with disabilities allowsspecial education teachers to respond appropriately during instruction, utilizing supportiveinstructional strategies and technologies to meet student needs. Using assistive technologies,such as alternative and augmentative communication systems, to support instructionalassessment, planning, and delivery, is essential to the language development andcommunication of students with disabilities.

Read the case study below to inform the assignment.

Case Study: Stephanie

Grade: 5th

Age: 10

Stephanie is a fifth grade student who is intellectually disabled and also has a severe languagedisorder. She is 10-years-old and spends a great portion of her day in self-contained settings.She receives speech therapy from a speech pathologist for a minimum of 30 minutes, four daysa week. The rest of the time her language needs are supported by the special educationteacher. She does attend a general education fifth grade classroom daily for 60 minutes forEnglish language arts instruction, per her parent’s request. An instructional assistantaccompanies her to class.

Stephanie’s oral expression skills are in the below average range. She struggles with oralexpression speech, expressive language, and meanings of words. Her speech is limited andshe usually has poor decoding and reading comprehension skills. Her reading level is at a lowfirst grade level, reading simple stories with a Lexile level of 275-400. Her favorite book is If YouGive a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. Stephanie writes very little and relies on the PictureExchange System as her primary form of communication.

Stephanie attends the fifth grade English language arts class for exposure to more appropriategrade level content and socialization. She requires frequent breaks and one-on-one supportfrom an assistant when participating in the general education setting. The special educationteacher and assistant work with the general education teacher and follow the modifiedcurriculum from the state department of education.

For standardized grade-level testing, Stephanie participates in the yearly Alternate Assessment.The assessment is administered orally by the teacher and a proctor is present. The assessmentis multiple choice and the administrator can accept eye gazing, finger pointing, and verbalresponses to answer questions. The assessment is not timed and the teacher can apply the 10response rule: If the student does not respond after 10 questions, the teacher can end theassessment.

Assignment:

Use the “ELA Mini-Unit Template” to complete this assignment.

Part 1: Student Goal

Write a measurable reading comprehension goal for Stephanie’s IEP. Within the goal,incorporate an alternative and augmentative communication system to support hercommunication and learning.

Part 2: Mini-Unit

Compose a mini-unit of three ELA lesson plans for the general education classroom thatincorporates your ELA standards for teaching reading comprehension to fifth graders.

For each lesson plan include differentiated activities and assessments for Stephanie that usethe AAC system identified in Part 1 to allow her to access the curriculum and address hermeasurable IEP goal.

Part 3: Rationale

Provide a 250-500 word rationale that explains how your mini-unit instructional choices aredevelopmentally appropriate for teaching the content standards, and how the differentiatedactivities and assessment will allow Stephanie to meet her goal and fully access the curriculum.Address how your accommodations and differentiation create a supportive learning environmentthat encourages self-advocacy, increases independence, and emphasizes safe and ethical useof information and technology for Stephanie.

Support your rationale with 2-3 scholarly resources on best practices regardingsemantics/language disorders and the use of assistive technology.

APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.