EDAP611 - School and Class Wide Evidence-based Interventions

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

EDAP610 Educational and Behavioural Functional Assessment

Incompatible

EDIP609 Implementing Differentiated Provision

Unit rationale, description and aim

School leaders and teachers have a broad range of programs and approaches to draw from in developing pedagogical approaches in schools. This unit will provide students with the skills to reflect critically on the theoretical and evidence based foundations of programs and approaches to make informed decisions. The unit will also address considerations for atypical learners including Indigenous Australians as well as individuals with diverse cultural linguistic and experiential backgrounds. Some specific approaches will be examined such as differentiation, inclusion, "Universal Design for Learning", and "Response to Intervention". Students will gain the skills to reflect critically on the theoretical and evidence based foundations of programs and approaches to make informed decisions by engaging in supervised practice in which they

• are scaffolded to develop individual diagnostic assessment plans for students who have atypical learning profiles; they will administer a range of assessment protocols and diagnose the learning profiles of individual atypical learners;
• plan and administer, under supervision, an intervention program for students who have atypical learning profiles; this intervention will include academic, learning and social interaction goals as appropriate.
• plan and administer, without on-going supervision, an intervention program for students who have atypical learning profiles; this intervention will include academic, learning and social interaction goals as appropriate.

The aim of this unit is to support students in developing the required advanced knowledge, understanding and expert skills they need in order to realise effective school and class-wide evidence-based interventions.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Define a learning problem and locate relevant literature to develop a base of evidence relating to the problem (GA4, GA6, GA8; APST 1.2, 6.4, 7.4 (HA &/or Lead)

LO2 - Apply effective interventions including the “Response to intervention” model of facilitating change in learning and teaching and its application to particular problems (GA4, GA6; APST 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2, 3.6, 4.3, 5.4, 6.4 (HA &/or Lead)

LO3 - Articulate the key principles of effective learning and teaching for atypical students and how these apply to individual classrooms. (GA8, GA10; APST3.2, 3.6, 4.1, 4.3, 4.5, 6.4 (HA &/or Lead)

LO4 - Appraise challenges at school and classroom level relating to cultural competence and the inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse students in schools. (GA4, GA6; APST 1.3, 1.4, 2.4, 7.4 (HA &/or Lead) 

LO5 - Create classroom programs and strategies based on evidence-based interventions including “Response to Intervention” (GA4, GA10; APST 1.5, 2.6, 3.2, 3.6, 4.5 (HA &/or Lead).

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS

On successful completion of this unit, students should have gained evidence towards the following standards:

Content

Topics will include: 

• Theoretical and evidence based foundations of interventions, programs and approaches 
• Challenges in engaging and assessing exceptional children  
• The practical application of the diagnostic process 
• Effective selection and evaluation of assessment tools  
• Positive behaviour intervention and support 
• Facilitating change through data driven problem solving 
• Evidence based pedagogy including Universal Design for Learning 
• Response to intervention – class and school level 
• Information and communication technologies for education 
• Differentiation and inclusion 
• Cultural and linguistic diversity and cultural competence. 
• Professional learning plans for staff  
• Working with parents and families 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is offered in multi-mode and will be supported by a unit LEO (learning environment online) site.  

Engagement for learning is the key driver in the delivery of this curriculum. The unit will facilitate active participation in pedagogical approaches that demonstrate alignment of teaching, learning and assessment and incorporate: 

• Use of a core set of digital resources (including modules, readings, suggested websites and other electronic resources) to support learning and assessment; 
• Use of online tools to build a community of learners (e.g. forum, chat, podcasts, WIKI); 
• Engagement in reflective practice supported by the study of scholarly literature; 
• Critical analysis and applied learning to educational case studies for the purposes of assessment. 

This is a 10 credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video, workshops, and assignments etc. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to successfully complete this unit, postgraduate students need to complete and submit two graded assessment tasks. The assessment strategy used allows students to demonstrate their knowledge and skill related to school and class-wide evidence based interventions for all children.   

The first task (50%) requires students to diagnose one atypical learning problem, implement an individual assessment and program for one or more atypical students that is supported by the current literature and to provide recommendations from the diagnosis for an intervention. The second task (50%) requires students to diagnose instances of atypical learning, design and implement an intervention in a supervised context and design and implement an intervention independently. Students then write a report that describes their work in each context and synthesising this into a statement that describes what they know now as a professional educator of exceptional learners.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Ashman, A. (Eds.). (2015). Education for inclusion and diversity (5th ed.). Melbourne, Vic: Pearson Australia. 

Carrington, S., & MacArthur, J. (Eds.). (2012). Teaching in inclusive school communities. Milton, Qld: John Wiley &Sons. 

Harrison, N. (2011). Teaching and learning in Aboriginal education (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. 

Karten, T. J. (2010). Inclusion strategies that work: Research-based methods for the classroom (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.  

Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D. (2011). Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in the classroom (2nd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. 

Merrell, K.W., Ervin, R.A., & Peacock, G.G. (2012). School psychology for the 21st Century: Foundations and practices (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.  

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 

Rief, S.F., & Heimburge, J.A. (2006). How to reach and teach all children in the inclusive classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

Wendling, B.J., & Mather, N. (2009). Essentials of evidence-based academic interventions. New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN: 978-0-470-20632-4 

Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2013). Educational psychology (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia