Teaching the ECC
by Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated March 28, 2019
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated March 28, 2019
Orchestrating the ECC
It can feel daunting to think that as a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments you need to ensure all areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) are addressed. Keep in mind that not all students will need to be instructed in each area. Additionally, remember that although you are responsible for ensuring all needed areas in the ECC are addressed with each student, YOU don't necessarily need to teach every ECC skill. This is where teamwork is important.
Everyone on the student's team has a unique skill set. When choosing goals and objectives to work toward, focus on those areas that ONLY YOU can teach (e.g. using low vision devices, braille instruction, AT use specific to visual impairments, etc.). For other areas of the ECC, consider yourself a conductor of an orchestra. Collaborate with team members and model how to adapt activities to allow access. This is particularly important when a student has additional disabilities. Also remember that every student, whether or not they are blind or visually impaired, needs to learn social skills, independent living skills, banking skills, develop skills for college and career success, have good study skills, etc.. Your role is to teach the student these skills when they need to learn them in a different way than sighted peers as a result of the student's visual impairment. If the student has enough usable vision to learn skills in the same way as sighted peers, they will not need unique instruction. For this reason, it is critical to know the student's vision by conducting a thorough Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning Media Assessment to know how the student's vision is negatively impacting them.
Everyone on the student's team has a unique skill set. When choosing goals and objectives to work toward, focus on those areas that ONLY YOU can teach (e.g. using low vision devices, braille instruction, AT use specific to visual impairments, etc.). For other areas of the ECC, consider yourself a conductor of an orchestra. Collaborate with team members and model how to adapt activities to allow access. This is particularly important when a student has additional disabilities. Also remember that every student, whether or not they are blind or visually impaired, needs to learn social skills, independent living skills, banking skills, develop skills for college and career success, have good study skills, etc.. Your role is to teach the student these skills when they need to learn them in a different way than sighted peers as a result of the student's visual impairment. If the student has enough usable vision to learn skills in the same way as sighted peers, they will not need unique instruction. For this reason, it is critical to know the student's vision by conducting a thorough Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning Media Assessment to know how the student's vision is negatively impacting them.
Determine ECC Needs of Student
It is helpful to complete an ECC Checklist to document the areas the student needs instruction in. There are several ECC checklists that can be found online or purchased.
•APH: FVLMA Kit (Includes the ECC Screening Record)
•TSBVI: EVALS
•Iowa Expanded Core Curriculum
•I created an Annual Needs Checklist as well, located on the printables page, that you are welcome to download and use. I incorporated skills found in other checklists but laid out in a way that I felt was organized and user-friendly.
When selecting areas of the ECC to write goals/objectives for, it is important to prioritize and focus on those goals that the student will need ongoing support and instruction. For me, this typically would include areas of concept development for younger students and those following a modified curriculum; braille reading foundations and fluency; listening skills; visual efficiency skills, tactual efficiency skills, keyboarding instruction and instruction in low vision devices and VI technology. You can then embed the other areas of the ECC into your instruction. I recommend using themes to systematically address each area and ensure I cover all areas. When selecting activities, I like to layer skills and be able to address multiple skills and concepts as possible.
•APH: FVLMA Kit (Includes the ECC Screening Record)
•TSBVI: EVALS
•Iowa Expanded Core Curriculum
•I created an Annual Needs Checklist as well, located on the printables page, that you are welcome to download and use. I incorporated skills found in other checklists but laid out in a way that I felt was organized and user-friendly.
When selecting areas of the ECC to write goals/objectives for, it is important to prioritize and focus on those goals that the student will need ongoing support and instruction. For me, this typically would include areas of concept development for younger students and those following a modified curriculum; braille reading foundations and fluency; listening skills; visual efficiency skills, tactual efficiency skills, keyboarding instruction and instruction in low vision devices and VI technology. You can then embed the other areas of the ECC into your instruction. I recommend using themes to systematically address each area and ensure I cover all areas. When selecting activities, I like to layer skills and be able to address multiple skills and concepts as possible.
Determining Service Level
When determining service level, I like to use the VISSIT, a free resource from the Texas School for the Blind. Provide direct instruction in those skills that you are the only one who can teach and the student will require ongoing instruction in. Provide collaboration to team members in ways to adapt instruction. Model instructional strategies and collaborate with team members on adapting materials, the setting and curriculum. In this way, teaching the ECC becomes a team effort.
Key Strategies
- Use age neutral materials. This makes activities appropriate for use with students of all ages and by using real objects, experiences, and facts you will help students develop concrete concepts.
- It is perfectly appropriate to repeat themes from year to year. Build on prior experiences and knowledge, digging in deeper and focusing on different aspects as the student progresses through grades.
- Always have the next transition in mind. It is important to focus on skills for immediate access, but always keep the next transition in mind. Prepare the student in elementary school for middle school, middle school for high school and always laying the foundation for college and career success.
- Although you can use "generic" materials to teach ECC objectives, if you are working on the same goals day after day and week after week, it important to change up the materials with unit related materials. This will help maintain student interest (and yours!), help you embed ECC concepts, and help students transfer skills to new materials.
- Don't assume the student has prior knowledge and be on the lookout for fragmented concepts. There have been times when I thought a student had achieved a skill on the ECC checklist based on parental, student, or teacher feedback only to find that the student didn't have a true understanding of the concept or wasn't performing a skill independently. Additionally, a student may have one level of understanding or independence which is appropriate for the current grade but needs to build on those skills for a deeper understanding or independence.
- Although it's important to have a plan, it is equally important to still take advantage of teachable moments. The themes and layout of the TVI's Guide or designed to ensure all areas are covered, but be flexible and prepared to introduce other concepts as they present themselves.
In life, and in school, it is impossible to play every role. TVI's need to be a positive role model of self-determination by knowing their role and how to implement it.” ~ ECC Essentials: Teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum to Students with Visual Impairments by Carol B. Allman p. 519
