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Adapted curriculum overview : Our year at a glance FY 24/25

 

ACCESS and enCORE Training & Implementation

Date: October 27, 2023 (Based on latest source date)

Subject: Review of ACCESS Training Plans, enCORE Curriculum Details, Implementation Strategies, and Updates

This briefing document synthesizes information from the provided sources regarding upcoming training initiatives, curriculum details, implementation strategies for ACCESS and the enCORE curriculum, and important updates.

I. ACCESS Training Initiatives:

  • FY 24-25 ACCESS Training: A training plan draft outlines a session titled "Navigating ACCESS, AAC/AT, and Teach Town SEL lesson and Make-n-Take Activities: All about ACCESS; Resource sharing and implementation strategies.; Make and Take session (PM session)." The intended audience is "ALL ACCESS Teachers."
  • Georgia Alternate Assessment 2.0 Training: Scheduled for February 14, 2024, at Riverside PLC 1. Participants are required to bring laptops and will be divided into two groups led by Dr. Wright: AM for Middle and High school, and PM for Appling with Elementary. An email with confirmed details was to be sent on December 15, 2024.
  • ACCESS GAA & Important Updates: An email dated February 20, 2025, from Annel Hagerman indicates ongoing communication regarding "ACCESS GAA & Important Updates." The email was sent to a broad list of recipients including Access Program, school technology coaches, principals, and other district personnel, suggesting continued emphasis and updates related to the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) and ACCESS.

II. enCORE Curriculum Overview:

  • Comprehensive Alternative Curriculum: enCORE provides instruction in four core content areas: "ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies." It also offers optional lessons in "adaptive skills, cognitive skills, articulation, and language development."
  • Grade Bands: Lessons are designed for specific grade bands: "K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-12." All lessons are taught within these bands.
  • Curriculum Components:Digital: Includes "enCORE License (for Student & Teacher)," "Unit Assessments (Online & PDF)," "Literature (e-Readers & PDF)," "Lesson Plans, Worksheets, & Curriculum Resources (PDF)," "Teacher-led technology lessons," "Independent, student-led technology lessons," and "Data Collection & Reporting."
  • Physical: Includes "Teacher Materials" and "Teacher Guides," with physical goods packages distributed by grade band, including Teacher Sets, Manipulatives Kits, Libraries, and Student Workbooks. Approximately 12 cartons per classroom will be delivered.
  • Gradual Release of Responsibility: enCORE utilizes a "Gradual Release" model, encompassing "Direct Instruction, Guided Practice, Independent Practice." This is a central concept rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) aiming to help students hit learning goals and build vital skills.
  • Daily Implementation Guides (DIGs): The DIG is described as a "daily road map for each lesson" and a "playbook." It provides:
  • "Objectives for each day"
  • "Materials needed" (mostly found in the curriculum tab and listed in the lesson plan)
  • "Segment number from lesson plan (where teachers can find the procedure(s) for instruction)"
  • "Teacher-led lessons that correspond with the objective/instruction" (directly reinforce skills taught)
  • "Supplemental materials (if applicable)"
  • K-12 DIGs have a "same structure across all domains!" They can be found in enCORE by navigating to the "Curriculum Tab," then the "Unit," then the "Subject," and clicking "View" next to the "Daily Implementation Guide." The DIGs are essential for daily planning, laying out what students should learn and the necessary materials.

III. enCORE Implementation and Use:

  • Lesson Plans: Taught in segments, found under the "Lesson Plans (sorted by subject)" tab within a unit/book.
  • Teacher-Led Technology Lessons: These lessons should be projected and can connect with students in small groups or individually. Data can be taken during these lessons. To change the lesson within a teacher-led session, the method is to select the three dots on the top right corner.
  • Student-Led Technology Lessons: Students access these through the Student Dashboard.
  • Scheduling: Creating a daily or weekly schedule with dedicated blocks for ELA (90 minutes), Math (90 minutes), and Science/Social Studies (60 minutes) is recommended. Utilizing small group rotations and centers can support instruction, especially when staffing is limited. The enCORE curriculum can support scheduling the day, and rotations and centers can be utilized.
  • Assessments:Unit Assessments: Used at the beginning of a unit to establish a baseline and again at the end to gauge progress. Can be paper or digital (both are available). Paper versions allow for pausing mid-assessment. Individual assessment is generally recommended for pre-assessments to get a clear baseline. Aim to start students at a level where they are expected to get around 80% correct.
  • Post Assessments: Delivered in the same format as pre-assessments to track progress at the end of a unit.
  • Benchmark Assessments: Assess foundational skills across ELA, Math, and Cognitive Skills, and should be given three times per year (BOY, MOY, EOY).
  • Data Collection and Reporting: Data should be taken during direct instruction, teacher-led tech lessons, and student-led tech lessons, ideally every day (approximately 4 teacher-led lessons a week). The reporting dashboard offers:
  • Lesson Report: Shows student performance on specific lessons.
  • My Classroom Report: Provides a class-wide overview of mastery and areas needing support.
  • Individual Student Report: Details a single student's progress, including pre-tests passed, lessons in progress, and mastered lessons. This helps identify skills students are working on.
  • IEP Goals: Only include goals appropriate for the enCORE curriculum (e.g., academic goals tracked in technology-based lessons). Data should be recorded and prompting provided according to the IEP. Best practice includes inputting a maximum of 5 goals per student at a time, each covering one skill. Align at least 3-5 Teacher-Led & 3-5 Student-Led lessons to each IEP goal, considering prerequisite skills.
  • TeachTown Basics: Recommended for students developmentally 2 to 10 years old who do not learn through traditional instruction and benefit from Discrete Trial Training, requiring skills broken down into smaller segments and needing repetition with clear, concise, and concrete directives.

IV. Key Pedagogical Strategies Embedded in enCORE:

  • Time Delay: An "errorless learning" technique and a "systematic prompting strategy" for discrete skill acquisition. Stages include Zero-Second Delay (with and without distractors) and Four-Second Delay, gradually increasing the time before a prompt to encourage independent responses. This is an ABA principle to minimize errors and build independence.
  • Prompting and Fading: Using prompts to guide students and gradually decreasing their use to promote independent behavior.
  • Reinforcement: Contingent and immediate reinforcement is crucial for increasing desired behaviors. Reinforcers should be something the student likes.
  • Getting Student Attention: Ensuring students are focused and minimizing distractions before starting activities.
  • Offering Choices: Providing students with choices to increase engagement and motivation.
  • Intersperse Maintenance Tasks: Regularly including previously mastered skills to maintain high success rates.
  • Modeling: Demonstrating the desired behavior at an appropriate level for the student.
  • Taking Turns: An important social skill to incorporate into activities.
  • Varying Materials: Using different objects frequently to maintain interest and increase generalization.
  • Teaching Multiple Responses: Encouraging various ways to demonstrate understanding to promote generalization.

V. Guided Access for TeachTown Programs:

  • A walkthrough demonstrates how to enable Guided Access on an iPad to keep students within the TeachTown enCORE app and prevent them from exiting the program without a passcode. This involves navigating to iPad Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access, toggling it on, setting a passcode, and then triple-clicking the top button to start and end sessions within the app.

VI. Important Dates and Contact Information:

  • February 14, 2024: Georgia Alternate Assessment 2.0 Training.
  • December 15, 2024: Email about Georgia Alternate Assessment 2.0 Training to be sent.
  • February 17, 2025: enCORE 101 Pt. 2 webinar on using Lesson Plans & Teacher-Led Lessons.
  • February 20, 2025: Email regarding ACCESS GAA & Important Updates was sent.
  • Contact information for Annel Hagerman (Annel.Hagerman@bcsdk12.net) is provided for further support, noting that she may be in classrooms supporting students and will respond as soon as possible.

VII. Implementation Considerations:

  • Mastery is the goal, not just exposure to content. It is acceptable for students to take longer to master lessons.
  • Flexibility in grouping students (whole group, small group stations) is encouraged.
  • Some lesson segments (e.g., ELA writing, Math word problems, Science experiments) may take longer and can be spread across multiple days.
  • Team collaboration in planning and preparing materials is recommended for efficient implementation.
  • Behavior strategies should be employed to support student engagement with computer-based lessons (e.g., visual prompts, reinforcement systems).