Special Education in a PLC

Teams everywhere are asking, “What are the best resources for special education, and where can we nd out more?” While there are some easy answers to this, there is also some complexity in determining “great” resources for special education due to the fact that the student need quickly varies, as do the team dynamics. However, the two most important pieces in planning for success around special education within a professional learning community are: (1) ensuring that true collaboration is happening with all members of the student’s team and (2) continually assessing for rigor in the student’s educational plan. Following are some of my favorite resources that address collaboration and rigor.

Yes We Can!: General and Special Educators Collaborating in a Professional Learning Community by Heather

Julie A. Schmidt, and Jeanne Spiller

Friziellie,

Learning by Doing (Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, & Mike Mattos, 2016) is often considered the backbone of PLC work. Within special education, Yes We Can! serves as our foundation. This book takes us through not only the history of special education but also the hard realities faced by those serving within special education. It then goes through some of the fundamentals necessary to create structures to support collaboration for all students and to have shared learning expectations. We also learn what is most important to understand, what all students should learn, and how to embrace standards-aligned instruction, including for students who receive services. Each chapter in the book gives clear examples and steps to ensure we are planning for the highest levels of success for all students.

Doable Di erentiation: 12 Strategies to Meet the Needs of All Learners

by Jane A. G. Kise

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite go-to books for both special education teams and general education teams. We all know the importance of creating a learning environment that is di erentiated to meet the individual needs of our students, but sometimes the “how” of doing this can seem overwhelming, and many times we don’t know where to start. Here is where Doable Di erentiation is a must-have for all educators; it provides immediate starting points for us. The book is broken down into three sections: The Foundation, The Strategies, and Lesson Planning. One of the things I like most is that the book can be read cover to cover or utilized for specific topics. Throughout the sections, teams can find strategies that are not only practical but also easily implemented the following day in the classroom.

Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning by Erik M. Francis

I have been challenging special education and general education teams to really examine their instruction and focus on the complexity we ask students to demonstrate and how we intentionally deliver deeper teaching practices to our students receiving support. Special education teams are great at writing measurable IEP goals for students, and many times the focus for professional development is around IEP goals and the legal areas of an IEP. However, one area that our teams should receive more professional development in is understanding how to include more rigor and grade-appropriate content within their instruction. In Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge, there are so many powerful tools to distinguish the performance expectations and cognitive demands around instruction. Throughout this book, we find concrete examples of how we can break down and reconstruct our learning targets, ask deeper questions, and provide academically rigorous learning experiences for our students, especially within the field of special education.

KRISTEN BORDONARO is a special education administrator in the Chicagoland area. She has worked within the field of special education for the last 15 years.

NO MATTER HOW GOOD anideamightsound, practitionerswanttoknow,“Yes,butdoesitwork? Canitpositivelyaffectmyclassroom,myinstructional practice?”

Teachersandprincipalsoftencollect storiesfromotherschools,butscholarlyresearch alsocontributestounderstandingwhatmakesPLCs effective. Thiscolumnwillintroduceyoubrieflyto contemporaryresearchaboutPLCsinpractice. Sharethissynopsiswithcolleaguesandpolicymakers who wonder how to make PLCs work more effectively, anddigdeepertolearnmoreonyourown.