Expanded Learning Time

Over at Edutopia,  http://www.edutopia.org/blog/stw-expanded-learning-time-special-education-craig-haas there is an interesting article about Special Ed Best Practices Inspire Successful Expanded Learning Time for All Students (Craig Haas).  Conversations about how we support kids and "best" practices are common this time of year as we look at ways to do things "even better" next year.

Their stated goal, "to provide relevant academic support to each individual student" got me thinking about how we do interventions.  The author said, "we had to focus tightly on the specific area of concern or need for each student." 

Sounds like common sense to me!  When you "service" a child with either special education services OR with Academic Support Services you are not necessarily meeting their specific needs unless you have really determined the area(s) that are difficult and are addressing those specific areas of needs.  Thus, if a student's fluency is impacted by his/her decoding of words, address that point.  If a student's fluency is impacted by language or syntax, address that! 

In addition, while I am sure it will be hotly debated in teacher union circles, the Expanded Learning Time also sounds like common sense to me!   http://www.mass2020.org/node/3 We should / could all do a period of "coaching" each day!