SPED 609 - Advanced Curriculum and Instruction: Extensive Support Needs

Units: 4
Prepares prospective Education Specialists in Moderate-Severe Disabilities with evidence-based tools, strategies and materials for needs assessment and progress across academic and basic skills (e.g., communication, motor and social behavior) and systematic instruction across these key curricular domains.

Prerequisites: Admission to M.S. Special Education program.
Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid or Online-Asynchronous.
Grading: A-F grading only.
Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Demonstrate knowledge of implementation of a variety of assessment strategies for analyzing the possible communicative functions of an individual’s behavioral repertoire; student will demonstrate knowledge of the historical antecedents to the assessment of students with moderate/severe disabilities including purpose of assessment and validity of results.
Demonstrate the knowledge of assessment strategies for communication, cognition, speech and language.
Demonstrate the knowledge of implications of the interrelationships between communicative, cognitive, speech and language skills for instructional programming.
Complete one communication assessment and develop a communication goal and one instructional objective based on the assessment information.
Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of instructional strategies for communication skills including incidental teaching procedures and the interrupted behavior chain strategy.
Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of alternative communication modes including natural systems, manual signing and pictorial communication systems.
Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for teaching initial communication skills for each of the above systems.
Demonstrate knowledge of strategies and tools for assessment of social interaction behaviors across a variety of settings, contexts, and communication partners.
Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for positioning students with severe multiple disabilities to normalize muscle tone and facilitate maximum participation in a variety of activities and settings.
Demonstrate knowledge of the equipment needs of students with severe multiple disabilities as well as the operating and use of such equipment.
Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of adaptations which can be used to facilitate maximum participation of students with severe disabilities across multiple, natural environments, including general education classrooms.
Demonstrate knowledge of current techniques for infusing motor skills instruction across functional activities and environments.
Demonstrate knowledge and skills with a transdisciplinary team process to serve students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms and other meaningful inclusive contexts.
Demonstrate knowledge of the relationships between conceptual views (past and present) of competence and procedures designed to assess competence, demonstrating procedures to prepare educationally relevant assessment tools by delineating: a. activity based response sequences (i.e., Student Repertoire Inventories) b. natural cues and consequences and natural performance criterion.
Demonstrate an understanding of CCSS standards and assessments; as well as how to work with the IEP team to design effective modifications and/or accommodations of these while also assessing their students’ skills and needs in relationship to the standards.
Translate assessment data into individually relevant performance objectives and instructional plans that address learning needs and design measurement systems that are consistent with the objectives derived from the assessment data and use a variety of assessment strategies to determine the function of problem behavior and use the results to develop positive behavioral support plans.