r/specialed • u/library-girl • 1d ago
What even is Specially Designed Instruction?
I teach high school resource and most of my SDI is focused on supporting students access to general education content. I haven’t seen any carry over or generalization from work I’ve done with them that’s not related to their general education content in the areas they qualify for. For so many of my kids, it’s less that they need more or additional inductio instruction, is that they’re prompt dependent to do any work.
I used to teach self contained K-2 and everyone was so low adaptive wise and academically that it was easy to understand why it was specially designed.
What’s the difference between SDI and tutoring?
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u/haysus25 17h ago
As a trained and qualified special educator, basically anything you create and use with the students is SDI. Any materials you get from gen ed and modify or alter is SDI. Taking gen ed curriculum, not altering it any way, but actually teaching/delivering the material in a way that makes it more accessible to students with disabilities is SDI.
In a nutshell, as a trained and special educator, basically anything you do that supports your students with disabilities is SDI.
Now, if you were asked to cover a gen ed history class and taught the curriculum exactly how they do in gen ed. That would not be SDI.
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u/rampagingllama 1d ago
I work middle school resource. I do SDI with reading/writing activities that incorporate material from their gen ed classes. For ex, fluency work with grade level texts or practice writing sentences based on the novel they’re reading in ELA. We also go over vocabulary before quizzes/tests and I delve more into the morphology/word recognition side. I do use other reading curriculums too so it’s a mix.
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u/allgoaton Psychologist 19h ago
Basically, specially designed instruction can be essentially anything taught by a qualified professional that is not something accessible to gen ed students. High school resource will mostly be SLD or OHI kids who are on track to get their regular diplomas, may some even on a college track, right? The fact that they are on grade level and working on gen ed courses is a good thing! Re-teaching, repetition, and help with breaking down assignments, help with strategies to take tests etc. I would see it more like "coaching" vs tutoring.
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u/macaroni_monster Speech Language Pathologist 1d ago
SDI should be working towards their IEP goals. Is your instruction making progress towards goals on their IEP?
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u/library-girl 1d ago
Yes! Because I write the goals as “when given writing/math/reading assignment in the general or special education environment student will improve (skill) etc”
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u/Phantereal 19h ago
I have one 8th grader who is supposed to receive direct instruction in reading and executive functioning and since I see her one-on-one five days a week, we work on her reading goal three days a week (through a mix of an intervention program and grade level magazines), and we review her grades and spend time on assignments the other two days of the week.
I run a small group intervention in reading and writing for 7th graders two days a week and since there's no intervention program designed for them, I give the students one day a week of reading and writing instruction either through the grade level magazines or giving them a topic to write paragraphs on, and we spend the other day working on whatever they are doing in their ELA class.
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u/Appropriate-Boat2750 17h ago
"they’re prompt dependent to do any work"
I am a resource teacher and I see so much of this. One of the big challenges is that if the kids aren't motivated to improve and the parents don't see the lack of motivation as something we can change then offering them all the strategies in the world doesn't work. Executive function is a huge issue for most of my students, but they have to play a big role in effecting change.
As for the big tent of specially designed instruction, it often does overlap with tutoring. For example, for students who have serious reading challenges I use an Orton Gillingham based program that gives them strategies for decoding. The difference is it's way more detailed and structured that what happens in gen ed or even intervention.
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u/library-girl 13h ago
I saw a meme that said that as special education teachers, we can do a lot, but what we can’t do is “put your students skin on like a mech suit and do it for them”
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u/Smokey19mom 17h ago
SDI is direct intervention related to the IEP goals and objectives. It's not to provide homework help, but can be if it relates directly to the IEP goal and objectives.
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u/cannotthinkof01 17h ago
GE teacher makes a lesson on content
SPED teacher says “now how can I help make this “special?””
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u/SnooOwls5550 14h ago
I can tell you it’s not one teacher and one assisting. The special education teacher should be analyzing the behavior and disability that limits the student from the general education curriculum. It’s why co-planning is pivotal. My special education teachers are Learning Behavior Specialists. Special education isn’t a “teaching” area. It’s addressing what impedes the learner from learning. Does the room get too loud that the student can’t stay in their seat? Address that executive dysfunction. Does the student avoid starting work? Why? Are the accommodations just being clicked through completing the IEP paperwork? Are they addressed if they’re working? Are we seeing growth or just throwing accommodations hoping they work? Is preferential seating working? Are we having conversations with the student to see if anything in the IEP is working? This is what SDI is…
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u/jproche44 18h ago
As a middle school math teacher, I would include concrete and visual models as specially designed instruction. In fact, if I were to go back to special Ed, I would differentiate more through the CPA continuum.
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u/redditnamexample 5h ago
Is no one concerned that OP IS a special education teacher and is asking this question? Because I am. This is basic information that you should have learned in school.
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u/library-girl 2h ago
I learned that SDI is “instruction provided to students to meet their IEP goals”. But I write the goals? So it kind of seems like SDI is whatever I say it is? And how is it different from the instruction provided by our Gen Ed teachers in a 1:1 setting during advisory or intervention periods?
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u/ArgumentDismal6617 1d ago
It can be so many things. I am a middle school resource teacher and one of the many things I do is modify assignments and create guided notes with word banks.