Betsy Davis

Making Learning Easier: Connecting New Knowledge to Things Students Already Know

is a collaborative partnership between faculty and staff at the University of Kansas (Jan Bulgren, Don Deshler, Keith Lenz, and Jean Schumaker) and the University of Oregon (Doug Carnine, Betsy Davis, and Bonnie Grossen). The primary goal of the IAA is to determine ways to improve the educational outcomes for adolescents with disabilities by designing instructional methods that take into account the students’ unique characteristics and the complex dynamics that are unique to high-school curricula and schools. In order to accomplish this goal, IAA researchers are teaming with classroom teachers to determine ways to restructure courses required for standard high school diplomas so that students with disabilities can be successful. They are: • Considering the standards students must meet; • Selecting the critical content and “big ideas” related to those standards; • Thinking carefully about course content in light of the needs of all students in these academically diverse classes; • Organizing and transforming that content into forms that are “learner friendly” (i.e., easy to understand and remember); • Considering what processes students must use to learn the content; • Showing students how to use these processes to learn the content; • Presenting the content in a way that involves students in the learning process; • Using specially structured materials to teach difficult information/skills; • Setting up multiple practice opportunities for students to practice learning the content; • Assessing the students’ mastery of the content and attainment of the standards; and • Providing them with helpful feedback and further instruction, as needed, to promote mastery. During the life of the IAA, several instructional packages will be designed and validated for use in these restructured courses. The end objective will be to provide educators with a menu of validated practices from which they can choose and with which they can build core academic courses that are specially tailored to their students, subject matter, and schools.