Evaluation of Special Educational Needs in the Cognitive Domain

Scholar Year: 2017/2018 - 1S

Courses

Head Teacher Responsability Ana Francisca da Silva Moura Head Luísa Manuela da Costa Ramos de Carvalho Head

Weekly workload Hours/week T TP P PL L TC E OT OT/PL TPL O S Type of classes Lectures Type Teacher Classes Hours Contact hours Totals 1 1,33 Ana Moura   0,13 Gina Lemos   1,20

Teaching language

Portuguese

Intended learning outcomes (Knowledges, skills and competencies to be developed by the students)

This course aims to develop a set of attitudes, knowledge and skills that contribute to a deliberate, grounded and detail assessment of children/ young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN), focusing on the cognitive domain*. Considering the ultimate goal of inclusive education systems - "to ensure that all (...), regardless of age, have significant educational opportunities and high quality within your local community alongside their friends and their peers" (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2015) – at the end in this course, the student will be able to: a) Recognize the assessment as an essential process to characterize the skills and the level of performance of children/ young people with SEN and as a starting point for the definition of intervention measures; b) Enclose the concepts of learning difficulties and special needs; c) Characterize the SNE d) List the main methods and assessment tools/measures in each stage to/of assessment process; e) Select methods and assessment tools/measures appropriate to each purpose; f) Plan and schedule the process of data collection; g) Evaluate the child/youth; h) Analyze and classify the data collected for later educational intervention process; and i) Recognize the value and relevance of the work in the context of collaborative teams and inter-institutional relations within the SEN.

* Intellectual deficits, autism spectrum disorder, hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit, specific learning disorders (reading, writing, mathematics), giftedness, talent and high abilities, and others that are considered relevant and appropriate to the group.

Syllabus

1. Equity, quality and diversity: inclusive education in the national framework and European
2. Learning difficulties and special education needs
3. Characterization of SEN focusing on the cognitive domain
3.1. Intellectual deficits
3.2. Autism spectrum disorder
3.3. Hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit
3.4. Specific learning disorders
3.4.1. With impairment in reading
3.4.2. With impairment in written expression
3.4.3. With impairment in mathematics
3.5. Giftedness, talent, high abilities
4. The SEM assessment
4.1. The requirements for quality assessment
4.2. The referral process
4.3. The assessment process
4.3.1. The multidisciplinary team and the assessment considering the ICF-CY
4.3.2. Individual preparation of the team meeting
4.3.3. The use of the checklist to assess functions and structures of the body, activity limitations and participation restrictions manifested in infancy, childhood and adolescence and relevant environmental factors
4.3.4. The team meeting
4.3.5. The technical and pedagogical report and functionality profile
5. Methods and tools/measures of assessment in SEN focusing on the cognitive domain:
5.1. Intellectual deficits
5.2. Autism spectrum disorder
5.3. Hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit
5.4. Specific learning disorders
5.4.1. With impairment in reading
5.4.2. With impairment in written expression
5.4.3. With impairment in mathematics
5.5. Giftedness, talent, high abilities
* and others that are considered relevant and appropriate to the group.

Demonstration of the syllabus coherence with the UC intended learning outcomes

Attitudes, knowledge and skills are key tools in training and lifelong learning continuing professional development for inclusion, for anyone working in educational settings. Considering the conceptual framework and the national guidelines of the General Directorate of Education of the Ministry of Education and the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, and in order to (i) "raise the deeds of [individuals] all forms of personal, social and academic success that will be relevant to the student in a short [and] a long term", (ii) "ensure that [all] value diversity (...) and contribute individually and collectively to expand access to education improving equity, so that all (...) can develop their potential" and (iii) "guarantee (...) customized learning approaches involving all (...) and to support their active participation in the learning process "(European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2015), should be promoted, on the one hand, the matrix knowledge of SEN, their methods and assessment tools/measures, and on the other, attitudes of commitment, trust, acceptance and respect, to fulfill inclusive education challenges.
To discuss the values and to question individual and collective attitudes of teachers in the European and national framework of Inclusive Education is the starting point for the promotion of a repertoire of attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviors that promote themselves inclusive practices.
To avoid overestimation/over diagnosis of SEN it is required to properly give a definition of Learning Disabilities concepts (DA) and of SEN. Regarding the evaluation of SEN one should take into consideration the requirements of a quality assessment, the conditions and terms for the process of referral and the evaluation process. Regarding the evaluation process itself, it is fundamental: to recognize the added value of the multidisciplinary team and to know the assessment by reference to the ICF-CY; to know how to individually prepare for the team meeting; to know how to use a checklist for the assessment of body functions, activities and participation, and environmental factors; to know how to handle the team meeting; to know how to prepare the technical and pedagogical report and functionality profile of children/young people with SEN.
Also, to characterize in detail the SEN is essential not only for having an in-depth scientific knowledge of each of them, but especially to know their implications for learning and also for being able to act accordingly. By understanding each SEN, one should be able to plan the assessment process, to select the methods and tools/measures to give indication of their performance levels, to analyze the results' pattern, and to decide about further educational intervention. Knowing methods and assessment tools/measures regarding each SEN is essential for the characterization of each case and the subsequent intervention. Last but not least, to discuss the value of multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaborative teams in SEN is particularly important regarding not only assessment but also intervention processes.

Teaching methodologies

We will have a double teaching approach: one, theoretical and another, practical.
On the one hand, the interrogative method will serve to ask students questions that seek to introduce and generate interest on the topic and to promote their participation and, secondly, the expository method supported in the slide presentation seeking synthesize of the key aspects of the topic. Whenever possible, the most controversial topics will be discussed in order to develop a critical thinking on them.
On the other hand, we will have more dynamic methodologies eminently demonstrative and active ones. This component of the classes is characterized by a strong interaction teacher-students to develop attitudes, knowledge and skills to enable one to assess children/young people with SEN. In this context, the main objective of the practical moments of the classes is the confrontation with several examples of situations/case studies, in order to facilitate the understanding of SEN in the context of collaborative teams and, secondly, to contribute for the consolidation of knowledge and the training of attitudes and skills in this regard.

Demonstration of the teaching methodologies coherence with the curricular unit's intended learning outcomes

We will have a double teaching approach: one, theoretical and another, practical.
On the one hand, the interrogative method will serve to ask students questions that seek to introduce and generate interest on the topic and to promote their participation and, secondly, the expository method supported in the slide presentation seeking synthesize of the key aspects of the topic. Whenever possible, the most controversial topics will be discussed in order to develop a critical thinking on them.
On the other hand, we will have more dynamic methodologies eminently demonstrative and active ones. This component of the classes is characterized by a strong interaction teacher-students to develop attitudes, knowledge and skills to enable one to assess children/young people with SEN. In this context, the main objective of the practical moments of the classes is the confrontation with several examples of situations/case studies, in order to facilitate the understanding of SEN in the context of collaborative teams and, secondly, to contribute for the consolidation of knowledge and the training of attitudes and skills in this regard.

Assessment methodologies and evidences

It will be given privilege to the discussion of work in the context of the classroom regarding case studies, either individually, or as a group work.

Bibliography

Correia, L. M. (2013). Inclusão e necessidades educativas especiais: Um guia para educadores e professores. Porto: Porto Editora.
Direção-Geral de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Curricular. (DGIDC). (2008). Educação especial: Manual de apoio à prática. Lisboa: Autor.
Direção-Geral de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Curricular. (DGIDC). (2008). Unidades de ensino estruturado para alunos com perturbações do espectro do autismo: Normas orientadoras. Lisboa: Autor.
Fonseca, V. (2001). Cognição e aprendizagem. Lisboa: Âncora editora.
Howlin, P., Charman, T., & Ghaziuddin, M. (2011). The SAGE handbook of developmental disorders. U.K.: Sage Publications.
Kauffman, J., & Lopes, J. A. (2007). Pode a educação especial deixar de ser especial?. Braga: Psiquilibrios.
Lopes, J. A. (2010). Conceptualização, avaliação e intervenção nas dificuldades de aprendizagem: A sofisticada arquitectura de um equívoco. Braga: Psiquilibrios.
Swanson, H. L. (2013). Learning disabilities: Assessment, identification, and treatment. In Melissa A. Bray & Thomas J. Kehle (Orgs.) The Oxford handbook of school psychology (pp. 1-47). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8 – Outras referências:
Cruz, V., Fonseca, V., & Alves, V. (2002). Educação cognitiva e aprendizagem. Porto: Porto Editora.
Direção-Geral de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Curricular. (DGIDC). (2011). Educação inclusiva e educação especial – Indicadores-chave para o desenvolvimento das escolas: Um guia para diretores. Lisboa: Autor.
Gargiulo, R. M. (2014). Special education in contemporary society: An introduction to exceptionality. London: Sage Publications, Ltd.
Hulme, C., & Snowling, E. (2008). Developmental disorders of language learning and cognition. U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. J. (2013). Learning to read: What we know and what we need to understand better. Child Development perspectives, 7(1), 1-5.
Organização Mundial de Saúde/ Direcção-Geral de Saúde. (2004). Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade, Incapacidade e Saúde. Lisboa: Autor.
Parker, H. C. (2011). Desordem por défice de atenção e hiperatividade: Um guia para pais, educadores e professores. Porto: Porto Editora.
Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2012). Interventions for children’s language and literacy difficulties. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 47(1), 27-34.
Sucena, A. Castro, S. L., & Seymour, P. (2009). Developmental dyslexia in an orthography of intermediate depth: The case of European Portuguese. Reading and writing, 22, 791-810. doi: 10.1007/s11145-008-9156-4.
Tomblin, J. B. & Bishop, D. (2008). Understanding developmental disorders: From theory to practice. U.K.: Taylor & Francis.