4 Ways to Improve Learning Recovery for Students with Special Needs

This post is sponsored by Illuminate Education

Learning recovery is a leading conversation in education right now. Educators, school leaders, policy makers, parents and members of the community are all looking for ways to help students learn from pandemic-era instruction and regain their academic footing.

They are particularly concerned about students with developmental, learning, and emotional and behavioral challenges. Virtual instruction and home confinement had an outsized impact on these learners, according to researchers. In a story for the New York Times, developmental behavioral pediatrician Jenny Radesky states that “some children were showing angry outbursts, severe crying episodes, signs that they were emotionally dysregulated.” Others showed delays in developmental progress, says Dr. Eileen Costello, Chief of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center.

So how do we help these students get back on track? What can we do to support their social and academic recovery? Here are four strategies to get you started.

Implement a comprehensive assessment platform. The right assessment platform will include universal screening. This screening data will help teachers identify A class of knowledge of common dark spots and a changing instruction for guidance. It can also help uncover students who need intervention resources.

Reliable data brings integrity and direction to the recovery process. It keeps educators from over-qualifying students who have disabilities. It helps that they do not act in a biased way. And they have lost the past two years.

Double check-ins and interventions. Some students have already had an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in place. These are the solutions for the candidates but the school closures are interrupted. Provisions for changes In the rules, owing to the pandemic, expanded the way students could have, including online or virtual instruction, instructional telephone calls and other curriculum-based instructional activities. Restarting regular IEP meetings to assess improvements is key to getting to work with an updated baseline.

Talk to and share data with parents. Feedback from parents or guardians who serve as the student’s on-site instructor will add depth to the picture. These folks can help you understand where the student is with their recovery. Do they get easily frustrated? How engaged are they? Are they confused with certain tasks? What tools do they find helpful?

And share your data with them. Walk through the Social Emotional Behavioral Screening and Progress Monitoring Assessments. This data, especially when combined with MTSS collaboration and management tools, can help identify barriers to stalling the student ‘learning.

Tap stimulus dollars. Congress The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund for approximately $ 13.2 billion. Talk to your school leaders about how to allocate some of their dollars to students with tutoring and intervention efforts. It can be tough to pull dollars away from initiatives aided by a broader category of students but make the argument. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Is encouraging educators to get creative and innovative with stimulus dollars. Many districts have used these funds to create technology for their students.

For more on strategies and considerations, you can use Progress Monitoring to learn more about how to effectively use their IEP learning goals and download the free eBook: Special Education in Progress Monitoring.