leveled daily curriculum

Leveled Daily Curriculum

Pilot Case Study

Conducted by Sasha Long M.A., BCBA June 2021

2

Leveled Daily Curriculum Pilot Case Study

WHO ARE WE? At The Autism Helper, Inc., we are dedicated to empowering those who support individuals with Autism. This includes teachers, parents, clinicians, administrators, and more by providing resources, tools, and methods to measure success. We share easy-to-understand strategies through our blog, podcast, and training videos and provide in-depth training in our CE Courses, live events, and Professional Development Membership. We create engaging and high-quality academic resources and curriculum for students of all ages. Our goal is to bring value by keeping expectations high and focusing on positive behavior change and data-based decisions.

WHY CHOOSE US? Professionals from The Autism Helper team are teachers, Behavior Analysts, Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and we’ve been there! We’ve been in the classroom pulling materials together day by day to give our students as many learning opportunities as we can. We’ve pulled from different curricula, differentiated our instruction, and made sure each one of our students was learning. The Autism Helper’s Leveled Daily Curriculum is here to simplify preparation across subject areas, with leveled curriculum, daily! Complete with printable exercises, progress monitoring, and pre and post-test data, this curriculum provides comprehensive activities for learners with diverse skill sets.

The Autism Helper is proud to provide meaningful skill acquisition for our learners as evidenced by our pilot case study.

“

3


THE STUDY In our pilot study*, teachers from across the United States gathered 1,120 pieces of data from 172 students, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Results indicate that across all levels of all subjects taught using The Autism Helper Leveled Daily Curricula, learners gain an average of 23% from pretest to posttest (Figure 1), with an average posttest score of 88% at test out (Figure 2).

THE EVIDENCE The National Standards Project (2009, 2015) and The National Clearing House on Autism Evidence and Practice (2020) both cite strategies used in The Autism Helper’s Leveled Daily Curriculum as evidence-based practices, including discrete trial teaching, reinforcement procedures, the use of visuals, and prompting procedures. We value evidence-based practices as the gold standard for providing treatment for learners across the spectrum and ensure we embed them in each step of our curriculum. Visual supports are woven into each lesson and activity to allow learners who need additional context to use them and excel, while teachers reinforce learning to make meaningful gains. Discrete Trial Teaching, or the process of providing multiple practice opportunities, error correction, and differential reinforcement, is an effective tool to teach learners with

Autism and other developmental disabilities new skills in a controlled and systematic manner. And our results show the impact!

*Pilot case study was run in January-April 2020 and was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was not collected during e-learning. Additional data is forthcoming.

4


Figure 1 - Average scores on the pre and post-tests across all subjects, levels, & units of The Autism Helper Leveled Daily Curriculum. The bands indicate the range of scores across each test.

Figure 2 - Average scores on the pre and post-tests across all subjects, levels, & units of The Autism Helper Leveled Daily Curriculum.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pre Test Post Test

Perc

enta

ge

Cor

rect

All Subjects, Levels, & Units

0

20

40

60

80

100

T1900xt T1900xt T1900xt T1900xt T1900xt T1900xt T1900xt T1900xt

Scor

e

Average Score Per Subject

Pre Test

Post Test

Lang. Arts Science Soc. Studies Math Func. Lit. Reading Comp.

5


THE OUTCOMES What sets The Autism Helper’s Leveled Daily Curriculum apart is the versatility across the curriculum. Learners can build skills in foundational subjects like literacy and math, while also learning about Social Studies and Science. Our Social Studies Leveled Daily Curriculum boasts 35% gains for learners across levels, with posttest scores averaging 89% (Figure 3), while in our Science Leveled Daily Curriculum, learners grow 29% for learners across levels, with posttest scores averaging 89% (Figure 4).

Figure 3 – Average scores on the pre and post-tests across all levels of The Autism Helper Social Studies Leveled Daily Curriculum. The bands indicate the range of scores across each test.

Figure 4 - Average scores on the pre and post-tests across all levels of The Autism Helper Science Leveled Daily Curriculum. The bands indicate the range of scores across each test.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pre Test Post Test

Perc

enta

ge

Cor

rect

Social Studies: All Levels & Units

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pre Test Post Test

Perc

enta

ge

Cor

rect

Science: All Levels & Units

6


TEACHER RESPONSE

I cannot express how much I love this [Functional Math] curriculum. My students are succeeding with this and I love that it is put in the context of the real world. I have shown this to staff members and they were amazed with it as well. I believe I have every curriculum that you made because they are absolutely fantastic!

- Jessica F. Functional Math Leveled Daily Curriculum

(2/27/21; Students used with 3rd, 4th, 5th grades; Primarily students with learning difficulties, and on the autism spectrum)

The data collection that goes along with this resource is excellent. Parents enjoy seeing the growth and feel like their child is covering the foundations of math even when not on grade level material.

- Cassandra H. Math Leveled Daily Curriculum

(9/19/20; Students used with: 2nd, 3rd, 4th grades; Primarily students on the autism spectrum)

This resource is perfect. It helped focus my planning and gave a clear path for the entire year! The pre/post tests and grading rubrics are wonderful! All I have to do is design the lessons and explorations to support the material. Easy to set up, print, and go. Works great in small groups/centers/1:1 work both in-person and virtual.

- Mary Z. Reading Comprehension Leveled Daily Curriculum

(11/30/20; Students used with: 3rd, 4th, 5th grades; Primarily students with learning difficulties, on the autism spectrum, and with mild to severe disabilities)

I have students in the same class from 4th to 8th grade with varying abilities. I love that this is a leveled science program so I can teach the same material to all students, but have them work at a level that they can be successful. The no prep aspect saved me as I started my current position in November and I had no science materials.

- Jamie H. Science Leveled Daily Curriculum

(2/5/21; Students used with: 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th grades. Primarily students with learning difficulties, on the autism spectrum, and with mild to severe disabilities)

“ “

7


REFERENCES: National Autism Center. (2009). Findings and conclusions: National standards project,

phase 1. Randolph, MA National Autism Center. (2015). Findings and conclusions: National standards project,

phase 2. Randolph, MA Steinbrenner, J. R., Hume, K., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski,

B., Szendrey, S., McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., & Savage, M. N. (2020). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with Autism. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice Review Team.

leveled daily curriculum

Documents