ILPs: Districts develop individualized learning for all

On Board Online • May 26, 2014

By Merri Rosenberg
Special Correspondent

When Joanne Fleming, a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Mineola Middle School in Nassau County, introduces her class to a new topic, she uploads the relevant material to her students’ iPads.

“I do some overall group instruction, but they work on their iPads and submit their work electronically to it,” said Fleming, who’s done this for the past two years. “I can grade it and make an audio comment. It’s so efficient. I already know who’s struggling and can decide how to differentiate the lesson.”

While districts have considerable experience in customizing instruction for special education students under the IEP (individualized education plan) model, now they are figuring out how to deliver equally individualized instruction for all students to ensure they are making progress on Common Core State Standards.

In Mineola, all students are getting what’s called ILPs – individualized learning plans – with a high-tech twist.

“Inherent in the Common Core standards is student growth,” said Mineola Superintendent Michael Nagler. “Technology makes individualizing work for kids a lot easier than having teachers differentiate with papers. Our goal is to make it seamless. It’s been an evolution.”

In Mineola, the first step is to “benchmark” students. Mineola works with the nonprofit NWEA (the Northwest Evaluation Association), which offers a range of Common Core aligned educational assessments, including MAP, the measure of academic process.

The results of those assessments are used to create individualized learning goals that are laid out in the ILPs.

To help students make progress on those individualized goals, Mineola uses apps that are also tailored for each student. It was the first district in New York to work with eSpark Learning, a company that provides personalized learning apps. Teachers have a dashboard to check students and monitor their progress on various standards

Another Nassau County district, Plainedge, in Massapequa, also works with NWEA and eSpark. In addition, it uses a reading program called Scientific Learning, which offers opportunities for individualized instruction.

“When we took a look at the Common Core for grades 3-8, it was obvious that it’s not a one-size-shoe-fits-all for our kids,” said Plainedge Superintendent Edward A. Salina, Jr. “How do you go about doing this? We went looking for partners.”

The technology helps teachers keep tabs on the progress of each student on a wide variety of Common Core standards.

For example, when a Mineola third grader is working on a math module, there’s an app that “may cover two different standards,” said Nagler. Every question “is tagged with the standard it addresses, so the exit ticket drills down on the standards.”

That kind of specificity helps teachers such as Leslie VanBell, a special education teacher at Mineola Middle School. By moving individualized assignments to the iPad, she said, “I can amend assignments and can post online in a discreet and respectful way. In the old days, I’d spend hours replicating work sheets. This way, the kids are not aware they have different assignments.”

VanBell, who uses the NWEA individualized literacy program, added, “The challenges waiting for kids are aligned with the Common Core standards. I can monitor, and check in whether they can do the skill. Their progress has been remarkable. Two-thirds of my struggling students are making two-year gains in six months.”

The constant availability of data on student progress and a focused snapshot on where individual students struggle or need more challenges, is invaluable, said Nagler.

“We want to collect multiple data points on our students. This personalizes work for students and shows them their own growth. The six exit tickets put all six data points on a line graph for them. The point is to help children grow. I tell my teachers, students need to know what they don’t know. The standards are so voluminous that you need technology to work with them.”

But even the most sophisticated app has its limits. Ultimately, of course, “nothing can replace a good teacher,” said Nagler. “These are tools to help teachers be more efficient in their work, particularly in assessments.”