Supporting Students With Learning Needs in the Block (Teaching in the Block)

If you are grappling with the complexities of teaching students with special needs in "the block" (That is block schedules) you may want to race out to your local bookstore and grab a copy of SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL LEARNING NEEDS IN THE BLOCK.Authored by a trio of Unionville Chadds Ford, PA. teachers,the book was released in April and is the newest addition to the highly acclaimed Eye on Education series on block scheduling. Unique in its presentation of content and strategies for teaching and succeeding with students with special needs, the book is the first major work to focus on block scheduling and students covered by the national Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).Lead author Marcia Conti-D'Antonio said the idea of writing the book, now in its second printing, grew out of a conversation she had with Robert Lynn Canady, a nationally respected education author and expert in educational restructuring. "We were engaged in our restructuring effort when our principal, Ed Spang, had Lynn Canady come in to meet with us" she said. As part of that effort, Conti-D'Antonio raised questions about special education in the block. "He told me that he had not addressed the issue and that he was not aware of any credible published work on the subject" she said. "He then asked me to consider writing a chapter (on the subject) for one of his upcoming books. I agreed to do that." Canaday liked what she had written so much that he asked her to write a book. While agreeing to take on that challenge, Conti-D'Antonio knew is was not a task she wanted to tackle alone. Instead she turned to her colleagues Joanne Eisenberger and Robert Bertrando.A 23-year veteran of public education, Conti-D'Antonio said she wanted to work with Eisenberger and Bertrando because of their extensive research-based knowledge and classroom experience. "I also consider Joanne my mentor," she said, noting that when she joined the Unionville-Chadds Ford teaching staff "I needed someone to be reflective with..." In writing their book, the trio drew extensively from their personal knowledge and experiences, research and professional literature, and their involvement with the school district's "Thinking Skills" project. Eisenberger explained that the project was designed to look at curriculum and to identify where higher levels of thinking could occur naturally. It also focused on giving students the kind of training they would need to help them use those higher-level thinking process. She said the project has been hugely successful in that it showed measurable improvent in student achievement for all participating students.Among the desired outcomes, Conti- D'Antonio and Eisenberger said they wanted the book to "present teachers with information and strategies that would result in more rigorous teaching and learning approaches than what could be achieved by lecturing for 90 minutes."Referring to the students in the Thinking