Students with Disabilities Badge Rubric

2 points:

• Professional learning supports teachers’ awareness of their assumptions about what students with disabilities are capable of and how those assumptions impact the rigor of instruction for students with disabilities, and
• Professional learning reinforces the belief that students with disabilities can be successful with rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work when given appropriate support.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following: 

• Professional learning supports teachers’ awareness of their assumptions about what students with disabilities are capable of and how those assumptions impact the rigor of instruction for students with disabilities, or
• Professional learning reinforces the belief that students with disabilities can be successful with rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work when given appropriate support.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not support teachers’ awareness of their assumptions about what students with disabilities are capable of and how those assumptions impact the rigor of instruction, and
• Professional learning does not reinforce the belief that students with disabilities can be successful with rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work when given appropriate support.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning deepens understanding of the positive impact of inclusive implementation of HQIM on all students.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers in continued examination of their beliefs and biases around whether students with disabilities are capable of the rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work embedded in HQIM.
• Instances in which the professional learning references research that shows that students with disabilities can achieve at similar levels as their peers with the correct supports and opportunities for reflection on the research.
• Instances in which the professional learning addresses common misconceptions about students with disabilities, including the misconception that students who are academically behind cannot access grade-level content or that students with disabilities operate from a deficit.
• Instances in which the professional learning deepens understanding of how assumptions about students with disabilities can impact the delivery of an HQIM in a way that negatively impacts students with disabilities.
• Instances in which the professional learning references research that illustrates how assumptions and biases can impact student achievement.
• Instances in which resources and/or facilitator notes state that students with disabilities deserve high-quality instruction and access to rigorous, grade-level work and opportunities to reflect on this position.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes teacher belief in the value of collaboration in the classroom, and 
• Professional learning builds teacher understanding that strategically leveraging educator strengths in co-teaching partnerships improves outcomes for students with disabilities.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes teacher belief in the value of collaboration in the classroom, or
• Professional learning builds teacher understanding that strategically leveraging educator strengths in co-teaching partnerships improves outcomes for students with disabilities.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not speak to the value of collaboration in the classroom, and
• Professional learning does not build teacher understanding that strategically leveraging educator strengths in co-teaching partnerships improves outcomes for students with disabilities.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning builds understanding of what collaboration is and how it impacts both teacher and student growth and development.
• Instances in which the professional learning references research that establishes the relationship between collaboration and student achievement and/or other student outcomes.
• Instances in which the professional learning highlights strategies for co-teaching using HQIM. 
• Instances in which the professional learning highlights opportunities for teachers to leverage their strengths in the process of co-teaching using HQIM.
• Instances in which the professional learning identifies how inflexible use of co-teaching models can disadvantage some students. For example:
  • Teachers grouping students with IEPs together despite different strengths and needs within the content area.
  • The special education teacher being assigned to teach only students with IEPs despite a lack of deep content knowledge.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how various co-teaching models can be used to increase access to HQIM for all students, and
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to strategically identify which co-teaching models to use when implementing HQIM, based on knowledge of their own strengths, their students’ strengths, and the content.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how one or more co-teaching models can be used to increase access to HQIM for all students, or
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to strategically identify which co-teaching models to use when implementing HQIM, based on knowledge of their own strengths, their students’ strengths, and the content.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of how co-teaching models can be used increase access to HQIM for all students, and
• Professional learning does not develop teachers’ ability to strategically identify which co-teaching models to use when implementing HQIM.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how various co-teaching models might be used during specific lessons in service of HQIM-embedded objective mastery. 
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to strategically leverage their knowledge of self, students, and content to select a co-teaching model for a particular lesson.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to consider what it would look like to implement a lesson in a small group vs. a larger group context.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to collaboratively plan to differentiate HQIM at the unit and lesson levels, and
• Professional learning shares examples of and/or criteria for collaborative planning protocols that encourage practitioners to use knowledge of student strengths and needs to prepare instruction.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to collaboratively plan to differentiate HQIM at the unit and lesson levels, or
• Professional learning shares examples of and/or criteria for collaborative planning protocols that encourage practitioners to use knowledge of student strengths and needs to prepare instruction.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of how to collaboratively plan to differentiate HQIM at the unit level and/or lesson levels, and
• Professional learning does not share examples of and/or criteria for collaborative planning protocols that encourage practitioners to use knowledge of student strengths and needs to prepare instruction.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning shares criteria to evaluate existing protocols to determine their effectiveness for use in collaborative planning.
• Instances in which the professional learning shares examples of high-quality collaborative planning protocols that encourage practitioners to use knowledge of student profiles to prepare instruction.
• Instances in which the professional learning provides opportunities to use collaborative planning protocols to meaningfully adjust delivery of HQIM for individuals or subgroups of students at the unit and lesson levels.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes teacher belief in the value of monitoring progress of students with disabilities in the classroom, and 
• Professional learning builds teacher understanding that students with disabilities vary in how they best demonstrate what they have learned on HQIM-embedded assessments.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes teacher belief in the value of monitoring progress of students with disabilities in the classroom, or
• Professional learning builds teacher understanding that students with disabilities vary in how they best demonstrate what they have learned on HQIM-embedded assessments.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not speak to the value of monitoring progress of students with disabilities in the classroom, and
• Professional learning does not build teacher understanding that students with disabilities vary in how they best demonstrate what they have learned on HQIM-embedded assessments.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning builds understanding of what progress monitoring is and how it impacts a student’s academic achievement.
• Instances in which the professional learning highlights opportunities for student choice or the flexible use of scaffolds in the HQIM assessment process.
• Instances in which the professional learning highlights the importance of using what is known about a student to identify how best to gather formative or summative data on content mastery using HQIM-embedded assessments.
• Instances in which the professional learning identifies how implementing HQIM-embedded assessments without appropriate IEP accommodations can disadvantage students with disabilities.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to leverage the student’s IEP to understand how they best demonstrate their learning, and
• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to implement testing accommodations on students’ IEPs when administering HQIM-embedded formative and summative assessments. 

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to leverage the student’s IEP to understand how they best demonstrate their learning, or
• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to implement testing accommodations on students’ IEPs when administering HQIM-embedded formative and summative assessments. 

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of how to leverage the student’s IEP to understand how they best demonstrate their learning, and
• Professional learning does not promote understanding of how to implement testing accommodations on students’ IEPs when administering HQIM-embedded formative and summative assessments. 

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to utilize the IEP to understand how students are best able to demonstrate or communicate what they know on HQIM-embedded assessments.
• Instances in which the professional learning emphasizes that data collected using HQIM-embedded assessment is not valid unless the testing accommodations on a student’s IEP are in place.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to implement testing accommodations to meet varied students’ needs when administering HQIM-embedded assessment. This could include helping teachers:
  • Understand the HQIM-embedded assessment recommendations for how accommodations should be used with fidelity.
  • Understand which testing accommodations should be used during informal and formative HQIM-embedded assessments of particular skills.
  • Understand how testing accommodations can be systematically tracked and implemented for all summative HQIM-embedded assessments at the class or grade level.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to analyze assessment data to understand what students with disabilities did and did not master from the HQIM, and
• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to use the data to plan instructional next steps for students with disabilities.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to analyze assessment data to understand what students with disabilities did and did not master from the HQIM, or
• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to use the data to plan instructional next steps for students with disabilities

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of how to analyze assessment data to understand what students with disabilities did and did not master from the HQIM, and
• Professional learning does not address how to use the data to plan instructional next steps for students with disabilities.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to utilize data analysis protocols that will help teachers understand the performance of students with disabilities, specifically, on HQIM-embedded assessments.
• Instances in which the professional learning builds teachers’ ability to identify the knowledge and skills within the HQIM-embedded formative assessments so that they are able to engage in a disaggregated analysis of student mastery.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to make decisions about how to respond to the data for individuals and small groups of students with disabilities that are collected from HQIM-embedded assessments. This might include training on strategies for:
  • Maintaining mastery of key knowledge or skills.
  • Giving targeted and actionable feedback. 
  • Pulling a small group to reteach key knowledge or skills.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes teacher belief in the value of student agency in the classroom, and 
• Professional learning builds teacher understanding that letting students make choices and decide which scaffolds they utilize in the learning process fosters self-directed learning.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes teacher belief in the value of student agency in the classroom, or
• Professional learning builds teacher understanding that letting students make choices and decide which scaffolds they utilize in the learning process fosters self-directed learning.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not speak to the value of student agency in the classroom, and
• Professional learning does not explicitly connect self-directed learning to student choice and student ability to decide which scaffolds they utilize.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning builds understanding of what student agency in the learning process is and how it impacts a student’s learning experience in one or more of a variety of ways.
• Instances in which the professional learning references research that establishes the relationship between agency in the learning process and student achievement and/or other student outcomes.
• Instances in which the professional learning highlights UDL-aligned, HQIM-embedded opportunities for student choice or the flexible use of scaffolds in the learning process that support student agency.
• Instances in which the professional learning highlights the relationship between making choices and self-selecting scaffolds in the learning process and developing students as self-directed learners.
• Instances in which the professional learning identifies how inflexible delivery of supports and scaffolds can disadvantage some students. For example:
  • Overuse of scaffolds by offering the same scaffolds to all students, including students who don’t need them.
  • Underuse of scaffolds by offering students the opportunity to self-select scaffolds without guidance on how to make an informed decision.
  • Missed opportunities for students to learn about themselves as learners by deciding for students which options they should choose and which scaffolds they should utilize vs. letting students make and reflect on their own decisions.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to use options embedded in the HQIM to increase access to rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work for all students, and
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to support students to make decisions on which HQIM-embedded scaffolds they want to leverage, and when, in order to promote student agency through self-directed learning.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of how to use options embedded in the HQIM to increase access to rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work for all students, or
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to support students to make decisions on which HQIM-embedded scaffolds they want to leverage, and when, in order to promote student agency through self-directed learning.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of how to use options embedded in the HQIM to increase access to rigorous, grade-level-appropriate work for all students, and
• Professional learning does not explicitly develop teachers’ ability to support students to make decisions on which HQIM-embedded scaffolds they want to leverage, and when, in order to promote student agency through self-directed learning.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to utilize the HQIM-embedded options for engagement, understanding, and action and expression in a way that facilitates student decision-making.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to provide students access to HQIM-embedded supports for them to leverage in alignment with their needs and preferences. This could include helping teachers:
  • Understand how specific HQIM-embedded supports increase engagement, enhance representation, and improve action and expression for varied learners.
  • Use formative and summative assessment data, especially “in the moment” checks for understanding, to evaluate varied students’ progress toward the objective and respond to data by providing scaffolding outlined in the HQIM. 
  • Reflect on the effectiveness of the provided HQIM-embedded supports for varied students and plan aligned instructional next steps.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to guide students through the process of choosing options or scaffolds that align with what they know about themselves to promote self-directed learning in service of learner agency.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of when it is appropriate to adapt HQIM based on the information on a student’s IEP, and
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to adapt HQIM for students with disabilities without compromising rigor.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of when it is appropriate to adapt HQIM based on the information on a student’s IEP, or
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to adapt HQIM for students with disabilities without compromising rigor.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of when it is appropriate to adapt HQIM based on the information on a student’s IEP, and
• Professional learning does not develop teachers’ ability to adapt HQIM for students with disabilities without compromising rigor.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on what specialized instruction is and when students with disabilities are entitled to the specialized instructional strategies articulated on their IEPs.
• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to analyze HQIM for embedded supports that align with a student’s IEP.
• Instances in which the professional learning engages teachers in discussion around potential harm caused by adapting HQIM for students with disabilities in a way that compromises rigor. 
• Instances in which the professional learning deepens understanding of how one might implement scaffolds in ways that do and do not lower the rigor of the lesson.
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to strategically adapt HQIM and integrate additional options for engagement, representation, and action and expression in alignment with a student’s IEP without compromising rigor.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of the importance of maintaining mastery of HQIM content for all students, including students with disabilities, and
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to use evidence-based practices for students with disabilities to review and reinforce HQIM content.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following: 

• Professional learning promotes understanding of the importance of maintaining mastery of HQIM content for all students, including students with disabilities, or
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to adapt HQIM for students with disabilities without compromising rigor.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of the importance of maintaining mastery of HQIM content for all students, including students with disabilities, and
• Professional learning does not develop teachers’ ability to use evidence-based practices for students with disabilities to review and reinforce HQIM content.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning discusses the relationship between short- and long-term mastery of the content.
• Instances in which the professional learning discusses the ways that individuals vary in terms of their active, short-term, and long-term memory. 
• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to engage in systematic review of already taught content
• Instances in which the professional learning supports teachers to strategically leverage evidence-based best practices to engage in spiral review of HQIM content. This could include helping teachers:
  • Establish a daily routine for spiral review of material.
  • Use materials that offer information in multiple modalities.
  • Use data to make decisions about what to target during spiral review and for whom.

2 points:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of when it is appropriate to reteach HQIM-aligned content, and
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to plan interventions that leverage evidence-based methods for students with disabilities, in alignment with students’ IEPs.

1 point: 

Professional learning includes one of the following:

• Professional learning promotes understanding of when it is appropriate to reteach HQIM-aligned content, or
• Professional learning develops teachers’ ability to plan interventions that leverage evidence-based methods for students with disabilities, in alignment with students’ IEPs.

0 points: 

• Professional learning does not promote understanding of when it is appropriate to reteach HQIM-aligned content, and
• Professional learning does not develop teachers’ ability to plan interventions that leverage evidence-based methods for students with disabilities, in alignment with students’ IEPs.

Sample Evidence Collection

Reviewers look for and record: 

• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to use HQIM to reteach content that students did not demonstrate mastery of. This could include helping teachers:
  • Hold routine time in their scope and sequence for reteaching content.
  • Identify what types of trends in student performance would warrant reteaching a lesson.
  • Identify which key concepts and skills in a unit are most important to reteach if the criteria for reteaching are met, and why.
• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to use evidence-based methods when designing a reteach lesson for students with disabilities. 
• Instances in which the professional learning provides training on how to use information in a student’s IEP when designing a reteach lesson.