Martha Reed, M.Ed. Parent Journal, Autumn 1996Parents' Educational Resource Center
Schwab Learning
The many important functions that underlie learning are not always measurable on traditional tests used to diagnose learning problems. However, through a teacher's careful analyses of task and performance expectations, it is possible to determine which functions are required for the mastery of skills and content at each grade level. There is also a range of behavior expectations that can be observed when the student interacts with the teacher, the curriculum, and other students in the classroom. By observing these behaviors and carefully analyzing performance expectations, it is possible for teachers to determine individual patterns of strengths and weaknesses. Teachers can also observe where breakdowns in the learning process are occurring.
A well-trained teacher, with keen observation skills and knowledge of neurodevelopmental functions and associated behaviors, has the best opportunity to search for and identify learning strengths and weaknesses.
Teachers may find recurrent themes indicative of student performance patterns:
in the classroom environment
in the context (content and format) of the curriculum materials
in the work demands of the tasks the student is being asked to perform (volume, memory, organization, and rate)
Parents, too, have the opportunity to make such observations and provide additional important information. The key to thorough knowledge of student learning abilities is not in the quantity of right and wrong answers.
Instead, knowing a student's strengths and weaknesses and identifying breakdowns in the learning process come from direct, systematic, and sensitive observation of:
patterns of errors and successes from multiple sources and samples
how the student performs tasks
when and in what context successes and difficulties occur
with what consistency the behaviors occur
the ease, fluency, and capacity in assimilating and expressing new knowledge
affective reactions and coping strategies
By observing and searching for recurrent themes, a management plan for every student can be achieved. These plans will enhance learning, reduce frustration, and provide success--necessities for the maintenance of self-esteem and learning motivation.
Well designed plans:
help students understand themselves
guarantee protection against public humiliation
foster self-esteem and pride
preserve a student's personal accountability
facilitate the strengthening of strengths and affinities
accommodate or bypass impeding dysfunctions and skill deficits
include direct interventions at the breakdown points, so as to strive to improve weak
functions and skills
enlist collaboration between teachers, students, and parents
A teacher's observations are a powerful tool for turning student failure into success through well-designed interventions.
About the author: Ms. Reed is an Educational Diagnostic Specialist at the Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning at UNC-Chapel Hill and an Educational Consultant to All Kinds of Minds, a non-profit institute for research and the study of differences in learning. She has special interest in the assessment and management of learning differences in children and adults.
From the Parent Journal, a quarterly publication for parents of children with learning differences, published by the Parent Educational Resource Center, a program of Schwab Learning.
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/teaching_techniques/teacher_observation.html
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