Teaching Students w/ASD 5.1: Communicating Daily Student Learning

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Consider your thoughts and experiences about the important aspects of communicating with EAs. This could include the sharing of forms and other documents you have found to be useful. 

• What does the shared role look like?
• How are IEP goals and objectives carried out and monitored?
• Is the EA aware that it is the teacher’s role to communicate with families?
• How is evidence of learning being collected?
• How is data being collected on problematic behaviours?
• How will learning be communicated on the Report Card?

Communicating student learning between the adults in the school environment can be tricky depending on the actual involvement of the resource teacher, SSA(EA), and other specialists in my experience. In ideal circumstances, there would be on-going progress monitoring and communication done by the resource teacher, classroom teacher, SSA, and other specialists through triangulated data collection and regular meetings or updates through email. Triangulated data collection “...involves the careful reviewing of data collected through different methods in order to achieve a more accurate and valid estimate of qualitative results for a particular construct. (Oliver-Hoyo & Allen, 2006) However, in my experience, communication between all parties is mostly informal conversation about triangulated data collected.

Evidence of learning is generally collected in my classroom through task-based data such as student work samples, audio, and video records; observational data; attitudinal data; and conversational data such as conferring with a student. Evidence of learning from the SSA and resource teacher is mostly task-based data, observational data(FBA, ABC, and anecdotal evidence), and attitudinal data or conversational data depending on the expressive language of the student. Behaviours are usually documented anecdotally or by an SSA or resource teacher through data collection methods using FBAs, ABCs, etc. All parties tend to regularly share little changes, successes, and challenges informally, but the data altogether definitely provides a good overall picture of the student’s progress. This is usually shared with the parent through the resource teacher or through me. The SSAs in my district are not allowed to communicate directly with parents about student progress and they are aware of this.

My district does strength-based reporting twice per year. Report cards are incredibly personalized and provide a narrative of the child. There are four areas where written comments go: an overview of the child, learning strengths, areas of growth, and ways to support.

In “overview of the child” we input comments about the student’s interests, friendships, work habits, etc. This area is generally centered on soft-skills. 

“Learning Strengths” comes under the “Overview of the Child” and this is where you would write comments about core or curricular competency areas the child demonstrates strengths.
“Areas of Growth” is for core or curricular competencies a child needs work in.

“Ways to Support” encompasses ways teachers and parents can support the child in developing their areas of growth both at school and at home.
Our report cards use specific examples and are supposed to include student voice, so I am constantly writing things down and recording my student’s thinking to include on their report card.

Here is a link to my district's website for Communicating Student Learning: https://www.vsb.bc.ca/site/csl/Pages/What-is-CSL.aspx

Oliver-Hoyo, M., & Allen, D. (2006). The Use of Triangulation Methods in Qualitative Educational Research. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35(4), 42–47.

Triangulation of Data

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According to Applied Research Capacity(ARC, n.d.), the following is a list of types as a means to meaningful and accurate assessment:

Types of Data 

"One thing to consider is that there are a variety of sources of data that you might wish to explore. Each has its own unique form that can help you gain insights into different things:

Demographic data: these sources of data are helpful for gathering insights about the unique characteristics of a school and community population; e.g., OnSIS data (grade, age, gender, special education, language learning needs, socio-economic indicators, etc.), Canadian Census data.

School Process Data: gathering insights about the structures and processes that support learning conditions in the school; e.g., school and board improvement planning, IPRC and diagnostic assessment processes, community partnerships for social services.

Attitudinal/Perceptual Data: gathering insights about attitudes, perspectives, or behaviors at a given point in time and exploring changes over time; e.g., narrative accounts, pre and post surveys, feedback forms, interviews, focus groups.

Observational Data: can be gathered first-hand or collected from other people. Systematic documentation and analysis helps to strengthen anecdotal evidence; e.g., attendance, checklists, rubrics, field notes, pedagogical documentation. 

Conversational Data: helpful for exploring multiple perspectives, attitudes, and changes over time; e.g., interviews, focus groups, written reflections, meeting notes, narrative accounts, conversation mapping.

Task-Based Data: the lens for looking at this data may include a focus on the process and/or the product of student learning. The data may also reflect individual, small or whole group tasks; e.g., student work samples, pre and post-assessments, video, or audio documentation.

Student Achievement Data: Often quantitative in nature, these data sources provide a snapshot of student learning at a given point in time. These sources are often aggregated at the classroom, school, board or provincial level; e.g., report card data, EQAO data, graduation rates, diagnostic, formative, summative classroom assessments."

For more on this, please visit the original source of this information: Triangulation Tips Sheet

ARC. (n.d.) Triangulation tips sheet [PDF]. Retrieved from http://arc.thedev.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Triangulation-Tip-Sheet-FINAL.pdf