3. Frequently Asked Questions Assignment

FAQ Answers Attached

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18AsXTyksMCpsA90HomYkqUsFaGvGH0GH/view?usp=sharing

amill193 Over 5 years ago

All questions answered January - February 2018

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15RPlTYqvcj5-hRiEfLvxpynCM95aJMcR/view?usp=sharing

thecoz Almost 6 years ago

2010

dtcronic About 8 years ago

I completed this step in 2008.

My mentor, Ceil Triggs, reviewed my reflections to the 15 questions that I chose. Ann Hoddmen approved the FAQ document that I submitted.

dcole1962 About 8 years ago

1990-1991

dofka_c Over 8 years ago

Completed 1988

hopekr Over 8 years ago

The 15 responses to the FAQs were sent to Ms. Shari Schindle in 2010

The answers to the FAQs were emailed to our mentor Ms. Shari Schindle.

pushpa Over 8 years ago

Yes, we had submitted our answers to Ms. Shari Schindle.

We had sent our fifteen responses by email to Shari Schindle in Jan 2010.

krishna2000 Over 8 years ago

Yes we had submitted our answers to Ms. Shar i Schindle.

We had sent our fifteen responses by email to Mrs. Shari Schindle in 2010.

jayashree Over 8 years ago

Learning Strategies FAQ

1. Why should I teach learning strategies when my students are failing content area courses? I need to tutor them so they will pass. My students need me to teach them history and science to graduate. They will drop out if they have to be in regular classes.According to researchers at KU-IRLD a strategy is a person's approach to a job. It includes how a person thinks and acts when planning, carrying out, and evaluating his/her performance. Students who do not know or know how to use good learning strategies are often poor learners and eventually drop out of school. Therefore, teachers must come up with another option to the usual tutoring they offer. This traditional method of tutoring students in the content area that they are failing is only beneficial for the time being or at least until the next test. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to teach students how to learn, so they can be successful, independent, lifelong learners? The SIM learning strategies were specifically developed for students at the secondary level who have learning disabilities or who are low achievers. These strategies center on making the students more actively engaged in their learning by teaching them how to learn and how to use these newly acquired tools for solving problems. The learning strategies are scaffold in manageable steps for the students to learn in a non-threatening manner. As educators who learned content presented to us as students in a classroom, we often take it for granted that our students have the same learning skills that we do. In fact, they do not. They are not lazy; they just process material in a different manner. The research conducted on the effectiveness of these strategies has proven that students make significant gains. If we continue to tutor these students for the sake of passing a test, they will not be successful lifelong learners. Tutoring will then enable them to become dependent on this type of tool as a crutch. SIM is all about promoting effective instruction and learning of important content in schools. SIM is not about replacing core classes, but about enhancing the information disseminated in classes through the use of strategies and CERs. Once learned, students may use these tools throughout their secondary and postsecondary educational career. The benefits of learning the strategies and CERs may even cross over into adulthood. The Strategies Instructional Approach by Donald D. Deshler and B. Keith Lenz                             The Strategies Intervention Model: A Model for Supported Inclusion at the Secondary Level by Rosemary Tralli, Beverly Colombo, Donald D. Deshler, and Jean SchumakerAn Instructional Model for Teaching Students How to Learn by Donald D. Deshler and Jean B. Schumaker from the University of Kansas

3. Why do I need to go through hours and hours of training to teach study skills? In fact, I teach a lot of study skills now. How are these strategy materials different?
SIM Learning Strategies have been tested so that they give the maximum benefit in the minimum amount of time. It is important to implement the strategies as designed to get the full benefit. There is a methodology followed in each strategy to helps the students learn the strategy. It also provides a familiar framework for teaching further strategies.
This is achieved by including teachers with actual students throughout the process. Teachers test the strategy with their students and data is collected to determine if there is a significant positive impact for below average and perceived as valuable by high-achieving and average-achieving students. Once the strategy is published it is not set in stone never to be changed. As students change and teachers suggest ways to improve strategies KU-CRL will edit and send out updates.
KU-CRL brochure and Schumaker Deshler Chapter 4
The academic performance gap begins as early as first grade and grows increasingly wider until around middle school at which time lower-achieving students make little gains without intervention.
Ensuring Content-Area Learning by Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities
Teacher who attend good staff developments find it helpful because they are able to see demonstrations of new teaching methods. This builds confidence in a teacher thus insuring they will probably try the new method in their classroom. Also, staff development allows teachers to see the new method broken down in easy to implement steps. If time is given to teachers to prepare a lesson employing the new Routine, they are more likely to use it in their classroom. By going through staff development in Content Enhancement, you receive something no training book can ever deliver – the confidence to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone. With a sense of confidence you know you are capable of doing a Routine that otherwise may seem overwhelming when just reading about it in a manual.
“What Can We Do About Teacher Resistance?” PHI Deltap Kappan By Jim Knight March 2009

5. How can I use strategy instruction to make students successful in general education classes?
Based on research conducted at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning, which includes time tested use of Strategies in classrooms, it is best to follow the eight stage model for instructing students in the use of a Strategy before embedding the strategy in core curricular settings. The last stage of the model, generalization, instructs students in how to begin using the strategy in other classes. Before this begins, the intervention teacher needs to meet with curriculum teachers to provide professional development in how to use the strategy’s mnemonic along with cue, do, and review in the regular classroom. It is important to emphasize naming the Strategy and reviewing how to use it while cueing, doing the linking steps, and review what was learned, how the strategy helped with the learning, and how to use the Strategy in other areas of a student’s life. Collaboration is a necessary ingredient between the interventionist and the content area teachers.Schumaker, J.B., & Clark, F.L. (1990). Achieving implementation of strategy instruction through effective inservice education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 13(2), 105-116.Schumaker, J.B., & Deshler, D.D. (1992). Validatin of learning strategy interventions for students with learning disabilities: Results of a programmatic research effort. In Bernice Y.L. Wong (Ed.) Contemporary Intervention Research in Learning Disabilities: An International Perspective. New York, Springer-Verlag.

7. Why is it important to teach low-achieving adolescents strategies?
Teaching students how to learn and apply knowledge is the primary reason for instructing students in the use of Strategies. Various reasons exist as to why a student might be low achieving.   First, some students fail to find ways to accomplish tasks.   Secondly, self-motivation and low confidence stop students from setting attainable goals in which they monitor and evaluate their progress in small, attainable steps. Finally, many low-achieving students are unable to apply learning to other areas of their academic career, let alone into their daily life.
As a result, according to Hock & Deshler (2001), low-achieving students struggle daily in their academic life making state-wide assessments difficult to pass, which in turn leads to a higher drop-out rate. This can often times lead to problems with the law.   Society also plays a role because students become citizens that are underemployed or unemployed, often needing assistance. Learning Strategies and Content Enhancement Routines can play an important function in the solution to this problem. Passing rates on statewide assessments go up and dropout rates go down with a systematic use of SIM in schools.    This systematic approach begins at the district level, moves into the administrative level, is filtered through both interventionists and core academic teachers and finally out into all general education courses.
Deshler, D.D, & Lenz, B.K. (1989). The strategies instructional approach. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 36(3), 203-224.Deshler, D.D., & Schumaker, J.B. (1993). Strategy mastery by at-risk students: Not a simple matter. The Elementary School Journal, 94(2), 153- 167. Ellis, E.S., Deshler, D.D., Lenz, B.K., Schumaker, J.B., & Clark, F.L. (1991). An instructional model for teaching learning strategies. Focus on Exceptional Children, 23(6), 1-24.Hock, M.F., & Deshler, D.D. (2003) Adolescent Literacy: Ensuring that no child is left behind. Principal Leadership. (November).Kline, F.M., Deshler, D.D. & Shumaker, J.B. (1992). Implementing learning strategy instruction in class settings: A research perspective. In M. Pressley, K. Harris, & J. Guthrie (Eds). Promoting Academic Competence and Literacy in School. (pp. 361-406). San Diego: Academic Press, Inc.
8. Will learning strategies work for all low achievers? Should I teach all of my students learning strategies?
Procedures must be powerful enough to make a difference for low-achieving students and must be perceived as valuable by high-achieving and average-achieving students. In addition, the degree to which students are able to use SIM skills and strategies in a variety of setting and situations is important in determining whether an instructional procedure has merit.
SIM Strategic Instruction Model Brochure
Research conducted by the Institute for Academic Access (IAA) whose members are Don Deshler and Jean Schumaker of the University of Kansas resulted in the Content Literacy Continuum. The CLC enhances content instruction with the goal that students learn critical content required, regardless of literacy levels. This framework provided rationales for research on and development of both individual and integrated sets of Content Enhancement Routines (CERs). Content Enhancement (CE) principles, on which all CERs are based, support both students and teachers. The teacher acts as a mediator of instruction, builds on students’ prior knowledge, selects the most important content information, and organizes and transforms that information so that all students can succeed. This approach uses collaboratively developed graphic devices to help students understand and generalize information, and to benefit from different ways of learning. Content Enhancements respond to teachers’ recommendations for using a variety of teaching methods and modifying curriculum, and the need for higher-order thinking scaffolds. Each graphic device is designed to support a specific goal of learning. Using an integrated set of Content Enhancement Routines holds the promise of helping all students respond to rigorous content-area standards by incorporating individually researched routines throughout a course.
Bulgren, Janis A. Integrated Content Enhancement Routines: Responding to the Needs of Adolescents With Disabilities in Rigorous Inclusive Secondary Content Classes. Teaching Exceptional Children, 38(6), 54-58.
9.    How long would it take students to master all the strategies? When do we begin? You must look at your data to determine your students’ strengths and weaknesses. Then examine the various learning strategies and determine which would best fit your particular needs. Not all learning strategies will be needed by your students. There are Acquisition Strategies (Word ID, Paraphrasing, Self-Questioning, Visual Imagery, etc.), Storage Strategies (FIRST-Letter Mnemonic, Paired Associates, Listening and Notetaking), and Expression and Demonstration of Competence Strategies (Sentence Writing, Paragraph Writing, Theme Writing, etc.). The teachers involved with these students, intervention and classroom, should plan together and collaboratively solve problems that may occur throughout the year in order for students to be successful in school The critical components of successful strategy instruction are “(a) daily and sustained instruction, (b) multiple opportunities to practice the strategy in a variety of situations, (c) individualized feedback, and (d) required mastery of the strategy (Ellis, Deshler, Lenz, Schumaker, and Clark, 1991).” The strategies could be scaffolded through the grade levels so that more of them could be used by the students. Since every student is an individual it is difficult to say exactly how long this process will take. Start with the Learning Strategy that you feel would most benefit your students, and add the next one, if and when time allows. Remember, “the rate of introducing new strategies is tied to the successful implementation of previously taught strategies.” References:Deschler, D.D., & Lenz, B.K. (1989). The strategies instructional approach. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. 36(3), 202 – 224.Tralli, R., Colombo, B., Deschler, D.D., & Schumaker, J.B. (1996). The Strategies Intervention Model: A model for supported inclusion at the secondary level. Remedial and Special Education. 17(4), 204-216.Kline, F.M., Deshler, D.D., & Schumaker, J.B. (1992). Implementing learning strategy instruction in class settings: A research perspective. In M. Pressley, K. Harris, & J. Guthrie (Eds).Promoting Academic Competence and Literacy in School. (pp.361-406). San Diego: Academic Press. Inc.
10. Why do Strategies take so long to teach?
The classroom setting determines the time in which it takes to teach a strategy. Several factors play an important role. These factors include, but are not limited to:

The amount of instruction necessary for students to attain the prerequisite skills necessary to begin a Strategy.
How often students are able to meet with their teacher (daily exposure is best with as few interruptions for assemblies, going to the office, state testing, etc.).
Class size.
The amount of personal effort a student puts forth to learn and use a Strategy.
How soon a student is able to meet mastery.

When teaching a Strategy, instructors need to follow an eight-stage process. Each stage in the process has varying time frames. Stage one, pretest and make commitments takes about two days. Stage 2, describe, will take from one to three days for most strategies. Stage 3, model, usually takes one day. Stage 5, controlled practice and feedback, and stage 6, advanced practice and feedback, will depend on the efforts of the students, which is often driven by the motivation practices of the teacher. These two stages usually take from 5-15 days to complete. Stage 7, posttest and make commitments, takes one to two days of instruction. Finally, stage 8 generalization, carries on throughout the rest of the year with the student providing examples of work completed in other classes showing the use of the strategy.
Ellis, E. S., Deshler, D.D., Lenz, B. K., Schumaker, J. B., & Clark, F. L. (1991). An instructional model for teaching learning strategies. Focus on Exceptional Children, 23(6), 1-24
13. Will my students do better in general education classes if I teach them one strategy? Is there anything else I have to do? (The unspoken thought is "This sounds like ivory tower stuff to me!")

Learning Strategies give students tools become active learners and a plan to follow to be able to use what they learn so that they can be successful in school. There are many different strategies including:

Reading
Storing and Remembering Information
Expressing Information
Demonstrating Competence
Social Interaction
Motivation and
Math.

Under each of these big categories are several specific strategies. This variety has proven beneficial because students usually have different gaps in learning.SIM Learning Strategies Brochure
SIM Learning Strategies are developed by partnering with classroom teachers to get data from real situations with real students. Teachers are involved in the testing of the strategies to refine them before they are ever published. Once the data is collected the strategy is evaluated for its impact. Procedures must be powerful enough to make a difference for low-achieving students and must be perceived as valuable by high-achieving and average-achieving students. In addition, the degree to which students are able to use SIM skills and strategies in a variety of setting and situations is important in determining whether an instructional procedure has merit.It does not stop there. As teachers submit feedback the strategies are updated to meet the demands of students and teachers.
SIM Strategic Instruction Model Brochure

14. How long will it take before I see students generalize? What kind of hurdles can I expect? The Generalization Stage is divided into 4 parts. Phase 1: Orientation will prepare the students for the generalization process. The teacher will prompt the students to examine the pros and cons of using the strategy and discuss how the strategy might be used in other contexts. This phase should only take one class period. Phase 2: Activation requires the students to purposefully use the strategy across a variety of materials, settings, and situations. The content area teachers should assume some responsibility for helping the students use the strategy within their classes. Phase 3: Adaptation prompts to students to identify the cognitive strategies they use during the strategy and begin to make changes and integrate elements of the strategy as new and different settings demand. Phase 4: Maintenance ensures that the students continue to use the strategy across contexts and time. The length of time it takes before students to go through these 4 phases will depend on the students and the strategy. The students should make a commitment that focuses on generalizing the strategy. The student and the teacher will need to work together to determine where the strategy can be used, what modifications in the strategy may need to be made, and where the strategy can be used. This process can be enhanced through the cooperation of other content teachers. The more the student uses the strategy in a variety of situations and with a variety of material, the faster the generalization process will move. The hurdles that you may encounter will could be pinpointing various problems that students may meet and modifying instruction. Also, the commitment of the content area teachers to “embed” the strategy is vital to the success.Deshler, D.D., & Lenz, B.K. (1989). The strategies instructional approach. International Journal of Disablitlity, Development and Education. 36 (3), 203 – 224.Ellis, E.S., Deshler, D.D., Lenz, B.K., Schumaker, J.B., & Clark, F.L. (1991). An instructional model for teaching learning strategies. Focus on Exceptional Children, 23(6), 1-24.
15. Strategies sound great, but what do I do to get my students motivated? They are sick of school: They are sick of failing.According to Focus on Exceptional Children, by E. Ellis, D. Deshler, B. Lenz, J. Schumaker, and F. Clark (1991), the Motivational Domain is a critical feature of knowledge and skills associated with learning and using a new strategy. Majority of students who have been identified to receive strategic intervention are those students who are described as unmotivated and unsuccessful in school. There are two internal problems, belief systems and self-motivational techniques, which are related to lack of motivation. When students have a negative belief about themselves, or the task at hand, they tend to lack motivation. An example of this is a student who has a history of failure and views themselves as incapable. These students often rely on others to set goals for them, give them direction, and give them reinforcement. Because they do not feel adequate, they often do not exert the energy needed for task completion or achieve success. This is also applies if the student does not find the knowledge meaningful, valuable, and helpful. These students’ beliefs in old learning habits greatly impact their belief in the task at hand and willingness to learn something new. There are four techniques that effective teachers use to alter their students’ belief systems towards academics and strategies. First, teachers focus learning to encourage and reinforce student independence. When students are allowed choices, they take ownership of their learning. Second, teachers communicate high expectations of their students through the teacher’s actions and verbal communication. The students are more likely to achieve their goals if they feel that others believe they can achieve them. Third, effective teachers help their students identify the negative beliefs that are at the root of their behaviors and thinking. Examples of these underlying beliefs are the need to feel important, the need to love and be loved, the need to survive, etc. Fourth, the teacher helps students disregard unproductive beliefs in a variety of ways. One way is planning each assignment so the student is given the opportunity to connect success with the strategy. Another way is to be aware of the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of their students, so that they can identify behaviors that may interfere with the student using the strategy successfully. A third way is promoting positive feedback, positive self-talk, and discussing the impact that the negative beliefs have on their academics. A fourth way is to instruct with rationales and statements that connect the usage of the strategy with self-success. A final way teachers help students change their thinking is through monitoring, recognizing, and celebrating progress based on pretest, goal setting, and charting.A second internal factor is a lack of self-motivation techniques. For students to independently use the learned strategies, they must be motivated over an extended amount of time. The students must think about their thinking as learners and realize they are responsible for their own learning. Students need to be trained in self-motivation so that they have self-efficacy and personal control. This leads to a paradigm shift in negative attitudes and opens the door to learning. Students will in turn establish their own goals, and are able to reinforce themselves. An effective classroom is driven by student goals and not teacher goals. In conclusion, motivational factors play an important role in promoting strategic learning and performance. Teachers must be aware of these factors and address them appropriately throughout the learning process for the students to be able to use the strategies effectively and efficiently.#17 - How important is it to follow the teaching procedures in the manual? I know my students; I know how to teach them.
It is critical that the instructor’s manual. Research has shown that 98% of all the low-achieving students who have been taught the learning strategies have mastered them if the 8-stage instructional procedure describe in the instructor’s manual is followed carefully. Teachers who have participated in field-testing have observed that “picking and choosing” the information they want to present and not referring frequently to the manual have resulted in student confusion and poor performance. The research has shown that students rarely master a strategy in these situations. Each set of instruction provided in the manuals is based on learning theory and research. It has been shown that low achievers need the special instructional sequences and conditions that are specified in the learning strategies manuals if they are expected to be successful.Schumaker, Jean, Deshler, D.D., Nolan, Susan, Alley, Gordon. The Self-Questioning Strategy Instructor’s Manual. (1994). 4 – 6.

19. Are there ways that I can help students learn content that go along with the strategies I am teaching?

All of the strategies are tools to get the student actively engaged with the material and to help them retain the content.In the Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing strategy students work on summarizing and identifying main idea in order to be able summarize a paragraph. This will help students focus on the main ideas thereby making it easier to memorize the content of the class. This is just one of the many Learning Strategies. [All of the strategies and a brief synopsis are listed in the SIM Learning Strategies Brochure.
SIM Learning Strategies Brochure

20. I can’t believe my students can be successful in general education classes. How can I get students to transfer the learned Strategies?
A two-prong approach needs to be used to help students transfer learned Strategies into the general education classroom. First, students need to be shown their capability to apply Strategies successfully in all core content areas. Second, teachers need explicit training in how to embed Strategies effectively in the regular classroom. This team approach to helping students will validate student learning.
Helping students believe in their abilities, especially those who struggle, is one of the most difficult things a teachers needs to achieve with students. Following the eight-stage approach for teaching Strategies helps students recognize their abilities and not see failure as an option. By following the eight stage approach, students successfully take baby steps in which they can monitor their progress by charting their growth through the stages. By the time students reach stage eight, success is validated simply by looking at the progress chart. By this time, they have received continuous praise for their accomplishments and recommendations to help move through the next challenge. Stage eight allows students to reassess their commitment to use the Strategy. This “generalization” stage allows intervention teachers to help students recognize how to apply their learning in all classroom settings. A classroom discussion, led by the teacher, helps students identify concerns, modify the Strategy so it can be applied in different settings, and commit to using the Strategy when relevant. Students also need practice in deliberately finding uses for the Strategy in mainstream classrooms and ways to prompt themselves in using the Strategy by creating cue cards.
In order to help students be successful using Strategies in other curricular settings, teachers need specific professional development in how to embed Strategies in general education settings. The professional development needs to explain the general idea of the strategy, look at specific ways to use the Strategy in the mainstream classroom, how to cue the Strategy and the specific mnemonic device associated with the Strategy.
Deshler, D.D., & Schumaker, J.B. (1998). An instructional model for teaching students how to learn. In J.L. Graden, J.E. Zins, & M.J. Curtis (Eds.), Alternative education delivery systems: Enhancing instructional options for all students. Washington, D.C.: NASPDeshler, D.D., & Lenz, B.K. (1989). The strategies instructional approach. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. 36(3), 203-224.
35. In what sequence should I teach the Learning Strategies?
The strategies should be taught in a sequential order according to the demands students are expected to meet in the general education classroom. Student performance escalates significantly when students are taught a "critical mass" of related strategies. Although there isn't a definite scope and sequence of instruction that must be followed when teaching the strategies, there are some sequences that have been found to yield significantly better results than others in certain settings. The optimal sequence for a given situation is one of the topics addressed during each SIM training session. Regardless of the sequence of instruction followed across strategies, it is imperative that the eight-stage instructional methodology be carefully followed within each strategy to ensure that students both master and generalize the strategy.Generally speaking, there is no set sequence for the teaching of the learning strategies yet there are two issues that need to be taken into consideration when deciding what strategies to teach and in what order:

What are the student’s most pressing content class needs?
Does it help the student with whatever educational necessities he/she needs?

On the other hand, a recommended sequence for teaching the learning strategies would be: Word Identification, Visual Imagery, Self-Questioning, Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing, Paraphrasing & Summarizing, and Inference. Of these multiple strategies, Word Identification, Visual Imagery, and Self-Questioning may be taught first. Whatever strategies are taught, it is essential that the eight-stages of the strategy be vigilantly followed. This will to make certain that students master and generalize it; it will enable the student to successfully implement the strategy throughout their lives in different settings.
The Inference Strategy-Instructor’s Manuel-Introduction Nanette S. Fritschmann, Jean B. Schumaker, And Donald D. Deshler Edge Enterprises, Inc. Lawrence, Kansas 2007

How many students can receive instructions in learning strategies at one time? How much flexibility is there in group size and what things can I adjust?

The size of the student groups does not matter-for the most part. Strategies can be effectively taught to both small and large groups of students. They may also be taught one on one. That being said, it is also important to keep in mind the influence of students seeing and hearing how their peers interact during instruction, thereby learning from each other. On the other hand, there are some strategies that can be taught to large general education classes such as The Fundamental of Sentence Writing, but it is best to teach some of the acquisition strategies to small groups of students (6-12) especially if they are at-risk. The Inference Strategy-Instructor’s Manuel-Introduction Nanette S. Fritschmann, Jean B. Schumaker, And Donald D. Deshler Edge Enterprises, Inc. Lawrence, Kansas 2007

judyuzzell Over 8 years ago

Completed and submitted articles for update to LS PPDI

dgillam Over 8 years ago

Binder submitted to PD Leaders 2007

A completed binder and the completion of the FAQ's was submitted and reviewed by Mary Ellen Ohare and Kim Toebe in Spring 2007.

kojile Almost 9 years ago

Only editable by group admins

All posted evidence