Source: Fisher & Frey, 2015.
Figure I.1: Unstoppable Learning components.
Driving questions direct both classroom instruction and student supports. Fisher and Frey (2015), in Unstoppable Learning, pose driving questions for learning adaptations, and we answer those questions and others in feature boxes and throughout the text.
• How can I leverage structures to improve learning?
• Have I checked the results of my curriculum and instruction and taken action to ensure successive approximation?
• What are the short-term and long-term consequences of the adaptations I provide for students? (p. 177)
Structures, curriculum, and adaptations, integral in applying systems thinking, are precisely what the triangle of support addresses. We explain that next.
Triangle of Support
How do educators determine what areas need special attention when a student requires accommodations? The triangle of support names three key areas to focus on, and they reflect the big-picture consideration that systems thinkers require: (1) personal supports, (2) curriculum adaptations, and (3) instructional and assistive technology (Castagnera, Fisher, Rodifer, Sax, & Frey, 2003).
Figure I.2 displays a graphic representation of the triangle of support. Chapter 2 (page 31) looks at these supports in greater detail.
Source: Adapted from Castagnera et al., 2003.
Figure I.2: The triangle of support.
We rely on the triangle of support because in our experience as K–12 educators, some form of support is often lacking when students struggle to access the general education curriculum and meet standards. The triangle of support consistently and accurately guides the key areas worth considering. Personal supports include personal assistance and prompting. Curriculum adaptions allow students to have content and materials made accessible for them by tailoring to their learning needs and styles. A wealth of instructional and assistive technology provides access in a variety of innovative ways.
Universal Design for Learning
Universal design for learning is “a process that maximizes learning for all students, minimizes the need for individual accommodations, and eventually benefits every learner by considering different ways that students’ minds are activated” (Hunt & Andreasen, 2011, p. 168). The universal design for learning framework requires educators to analyze the most effective input and output methods for student instruction and assessment. Input is how students receive information, and output is how students demonstrate what they have learned. The student profile, infused skills grid, and academic unit lesson plan are tools that aid that analysis. You will find exemplars for tool use in chapter 1 (page 11). Once teachers have used these tools for their analysis, they can funnel the information into the three crucial aspects of universal design for learning: representation, expression, and engagement. Figure I.3 displays a graphic representation of this funneling into universal design for learning, and we discuss it in more detail in chapter 1.
Figure I.3: Universal design for learning.
An Elegant Melding
The elegant melding of systems thinking, the triangle of support, and universal design for learning forms a fortified learning environment where students do not have to be concerned with how they will access the curriculum they encounter and instead can focus on enjoying the process. They receive the tools they need to be successful.
The systems thinking approach intertwines with the triangle of support when educators purposefully develop meaningful relationships with the key players on a student’s education team while maintaining consistent communication. Alertness to learners’ constant changes, which we define as educator responsiveness, fosters a sustainable foundation from which educators can build student success in learning. Incorporating universal design for learning into purposeful planning allows the education team to anticipate struggles, consider differentiated instruction, and evaluate the need for additional adaptations. Teachers can accomplish this by embedding differentiation methods and other adaptations into the curriculum and lesson design from the beginning. Implementing universal design for learning provides the opportunity to differentiate and adapt the representation, expression, and engagement of any instructional activity.
Using universal design for learning principles in lesson planning, as well as in the areas that the triangle of support identifies (personal supports, curriculum adaptations, and instructional and assistive technology), allows educators to see that there are various ways to meet the same learning target. Universal design for learning implements the best way for all students to have access, requiring educators to explore ways for all students to reach the same goal. Educating students is about allowing them to explore their own learning styles, exposing them to not only content knowledge but knowledge of how they learn best and the supports that best help them. Teachers can provide a supportive learning environment through systems thinking, reflecting, and focusing on how they can best adapt instruction to reach all learners—to make it universal. Figure I.4 is a graphic representation of how teachers can ensconce universal design for learning and the triangle of support within systems thinking.
Source: Adapted from Castagnera et al., 2003; Fisher & Frey, 2015.
Figure I.4: Unstoppable Learning, the triangle of support, and universal design for learning melded.
About This Book’s Student Beneficiaries
Though teachers often consider adaptations for students with disabilities, adaptations are not solely provided to students receiving special education services. Some students simply struggle with certain concepts. All students can benefit. In fact, Tracey E. Hall, Anne Meyer, and David H. Rose (2012) declare:
One of the clearest and most important revelations stemming from brain research is that there are no “regular” students. The notion of broad categories of learners—“smart–not smart,” “disabled–not disabled,” “regular–not regular”—is a gross oversimplification that does not reflect reality. By categorizing students in this way, we miss many subtle and important qualities and strengths. (p. 2)
With this end in mind, educators must acknowledge a variety of considerations when implementing instruction, activities, and tests, and keep rigor intact. The examples in this book, for instance, are from our professional classroom experience with actual students. The existence of various learning differences and styles, disabilities, cultures, languages, and home-life challenges calls for educators to implement culturally responsive pedagogy that facilitates adaptations in the classroom.
These types of instructional decisions are complex. Systems thinking requires that educators make these decisions while considering