Abstract
Mr. Dupont, a high-school special educator, and Ms. Elliott, a general education mathematics teacher, co-teach in an inclusive, secondary classroom. They noticed a need for their students with and without disabilities to develop skills associated with self-determination (e.g., choice making, decision making, goal setting, self-management). Mr. Dupont also thinks that helping students on his caseload develop skills associated with self-determination in general education classrooms will support students in accessing and progressing in the general education curriculum. Mr. Dupont and Ms. Elliott come to the conclusion that all of their students, regardless of disability status, could use instruction in skills associated with self-determination so they can achieve their goals within class and beyond the classroom. However, Mr. Dupont has previously taught skills associated with self-determination one-on-one with students and is unsure what it would look with a whole class of students with varying support needs. Mr. Dupont and Ms. Elliott decide to collaborate to figure out how skills associated with self-determination can be taught in a whole-class setting.
Being self-determined means acting or causing things to happen by setting and taking the steps necessary to achieve one’s goals (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Forber-Pratt, et al., 2015). Skills associated with self-determination, including choice making, decision making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-management, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-knowledge, enable people with and without disabilities to act as causal agents progressing toward valued goals and outcomes (Nota, Ferrari, Soresi, & Wehmeyer, 2007; Shogren, Wehmeyer, & Burke, 2017). Over the past 30 years, evidence of the relationship between instruction in the skills associated with self-determination and positive school and postschool outcomes has accumulated (Algozinne, Browder, Karnoven, Test, & Wood, 2001; Burke et al., in press). Teaching self-determination skills has been linked to enhanced academic outcomes (Shogren, Palmer, Wehmeyer, Williams-Diehm, & Little, 2012), improved transition knowledge and skills (Wehmeyer, Palmer, Lee, Williams-Diehm, & Shogren, 2011), employment (Dean, Burke, Shogren, & Wehmeyer, 2017), and increased community access (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Rifenbark, & Little, 2015). Most importantly, for teachers like Mr. Dupont and Ms. Elliott, teaching skills associated with self-determination has been linked to attainment of core content academic goals for all students and improved access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities (Lee, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Soukup, & Little, 2008; Shogren et al., 2012).
Being self-determined means acting or causing things to happen by setting and taking the steps necessary to achieve one’s goals.
Almost every state or local education agency has adopted core content standards that include objectives closely aligned with skills associated with self-determination, including goal setting, problem solving, and decision making (Wehmeyer, Field, Doren, Jones, & Mason, 2004). However, explicit instruction on skills associated with self-determination is rarely delivered in general education contexts, as it is expected students will incidentally acquire these skills over time. By delivering high-quality instruction on skills associated with self-determination, general and special education teachers can partner to actively engage all students in learning skills associated with self-determination that are essential across the life span (Shogren, Wehmeyer, & Lane, 2016). Within multitiered systems of supports that enhance school and postschool outcomes for all students, instruction in skills associated with self-determination could be conceptualized as Tier 1 interventions that all students receive and could benefit from. Additionally, increasingly specialized supports (Tiers 2 and 3 interventions) can be provided to groups or individual students, as needed. For example, a student might need additional support in learning and applying the steps associated with problem solving and could receive explicit instruction in a small group with other students struggling with problem solving (Tier 2) while concurrently receiving instruction through the self-determination instruction with their peers in inclusive, general education classrooms (Tier 1). If even more intensive, individualized supports were needed to support the student to learn to apply problem-solving strategies in specific situations (e.g., social situations), individualized Tier 3 supports could be utilized.
To enable these outcomes, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI; Shogren, Wehmeyer, Burke, & Palmer, 2017; Wehmeyer, Palmer, Agran, Mithaug, & Martin, 2000) was designed as a teaching model to enable teachers to teach students to (a) set goals, (b) create an action plan to achieve those goals, and (c) revise the action plan or goal as necessary based upon self-evaluation. Researchers have evaluated the efficacy of the SDLMI to determine its impact on access to general education curriculum of students with disabilities (Hagiwara, Shogren, & Leko, 2017; Lee, Wehmeyer, & Shogren, 2015). This is largely due to a requirement within the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (2006) that students with disabilities must be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum (§ 602[a][19], § 1414[d]). This mandate necessitates that students with disabilities are given the supports necessary to engage with and progress in the general education curriculum. Interventions intended to promote self-determination, like the SDLMI, have been implemented almost exclusively with students with disabilities (Burke et al., in press). However, instruction on skills associated with self-determination is directly linked with positive outcomes for all adolescents, and implementation of the SDLMI with adolescents with and without disabilities simultaneously within the general education context has significant potential to improve outcomes for all students.
For example, Raley, Shogren, and McDonald (in press) conducted a preliminary study examining the impact of the SDLMI on goal attainment of 34 adolescents with and without disabilities in two inclusive secondary algebra classes. Findings suggested that after one semester, students with and without disabilities showed slight increases in self-determination and attained educationally relevant, self-selected goals related to core content following the intervention. Both students with and without disabilities and their teacher reported that the SDLMI was very helpful in promoting goal setting to self-regulate the learning process and increased student self-direction and engagement in the process of learning core content. Therefore, these findings demonstrate that students with and without disabilities can benefit from SDLMI implemented within general education classrooms.
What Is the SDLMI?
The SDLMI is a model of instruction and can be incorporated within general education content instruction across a variety of core content areas (e.g., mathematics, English language arts) to enhance student involvement and progress in the general education curriculum by equipping students to set goals related to learning core content, developing actions plans, and evaluating progress toward those goals (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Burke, & Palmer, 2017). The SDLMI is intended to support student-directed learning in any area, requiring teachers to determine ways to integrate the model into the existing curriculum. When implemented with a whole class, it is particularly important to acknowledge that all students have varying levels of self-determination and that student-directed learning does not mean every student has to perform every task independently. Rather, it implies that students are causal agents in the learning process because they make or cause things to happen by being involved in and engaged with setting and working toward goals for their learning (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Forber-Pratt, et al., 2015). Students assume the role of being an active learner by acting in collaboration with the teacher and assuming direction of the learning process, with necessary supports for learning and implementing these skills. In this way, students are supported in their efforts to take responsibility for their core content learning goals, rather than having the teacher direct the process of identification and accountability.
Students are causal agents in the learning process because they make or cause things to happen by being involved in and engaged with setting and working toward goals for their learning.
As a high school special educator who supports students in planning for the transition to adult life, Mr. Dupont is familiar with and has frequently used the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT; www.transitionta.org) to learn evidence-based practices for transition. He reviews content from NTACT and identifies that the SDLMI is an evidenced-based intervention to support teachers in promoting student self-determination. After sharing what he finds with Ms. Elliott, they review the SDLMI Teacher’s Guide (available at www.self-determination.org) and decide to try implementing the SDLMI with an inclusive, secondary algebra class. Consistent with recommendations in the SDLMI Teacher’s Guide, Ms. Elliott suggests dedicating 15 to 20 minutes twice a week to teaching mini-lessons related to the SDLMI, and Mr. Dupont offers to split teaching the SDLMI lessons and provide extra support to any students who may need it outside of the mini-lessons.
Engaging in Preliminary Conversations
Before initiating the SDLMI, however, it is important that teachers engage students in a series of preliminary conversations to introduce students to the concept of self-determination, the process of the SDLMI, and the roles and responsibilities of teachers and students. Through a series of discussions, teachers introduce self-determination, the SDLMI, and related information. Most students will not know exactly what self-determination is before using the SDLMI, so teachers can dedicate the first discussion to introducing self-determination and exploring how students use self-determined actions (e.g., making choices, setting goals) in their everyday life. Because it is a combination of two words most secondary students know, an inviting opener for the first discussion is asking students to define self-determination for themselves and discuss this as a class, with the teacher providing guidance to understand the skills that are associated with self-determination. The goal of a subsequent discussion is to describe the purpose and structure of the SDLMI. Teachers can use this second meeting to explain the intention of implementing the SDLMI in their classroom and what the phases of SDLMI are. This discussion provides an opportune time to explain how engaging in learning skills associated with self-determination can benefit students in their academics, but the skills are also important and relevant to future contexts (e.g., postsecondary education, employment). A final conversation should address key terms associated with the SDLMI (e.g., goal, plan, evaluate) to ensure that language used throughout the learning process is easily understood and should involve information related to the roles of the student and teacher within the SDLMI to promote transparency of the process and establish the roles of the student as a self-directed and active learner. Teachers can also discuss goals related to the academic content that will be brought to the process and begin the process of transitioning ownership and responsibility for attaining the goals to students.
As a teacher with 25 years of experience, Ms. Elliott is unsure her algebra students will be interested in setting math goals. Mr. Dupont thinks she makes a good point and suggests using the SDLMI to set, plan, and evaluate progress on a goal unrelated to math first to get students excited about sharing their interests and desires and then use this foundation to engage students in setting mathematics goals. He describes how students could set a goal around something they are interested in outside of math class, like music, club, sport, or other extracurricular activity they are involved in. Ms. Elliott says, “Let’s give it a try!” Therefore, they decide to incorporate this focus within their preliminary conversations mini-lessons. After these mini-lessons, they will begin the SDLMI.
SDLMI Phases
The SDLMI is divided into three distinct phases of instruction that teachers use to teach students how to engage in self-regulated problem solving in service of a goal (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Burke, & Palmer, 2017). Each phase is guided by an overall problem that students must solve by posing and answering questions that intend to teach students how to learn, personalize, and apply to reach self-selected goals.
Phase 1: Set a goal
The problem to solve in Phase 1 is “What is my goal?” and students are prompted to develop their goal by answering questions related to their awareness and knowledge of their learning needs, support needs, preferences, interests, and values. At the end of Phase 1, students set a goal toward which they will work. This goal is typically close to or identical to a goal that a teacher would set for student learning, but the student actively participates in the process of identifying the goal and has ownership over the goal and steps taken to work toward the goal in later phases.
Phase 2: Take action
The overall problem in Phase 2 is to answer the question, “What is my plan?” and students are tasked with analyzing the actions required to reach their self-selected goals. Students are guided through the process of identifying barriers that would prevent them from taking action and actions they can take to remove those barriers. The teacher enables the student to develop an action plan to achieve the goal set in Phase 1 and to identify a self-monitoring process to keep track of progress toward the goal. After students’ action plans are developed, they are ready to implement their plan in service of their goal.
Phase 3: Adjust goal or plan
The problem in Phase 3 is to answer the question, “What have I learned?” Teachers support students to evaluate the progress they have made toward their goal and decide if they have met their goal. If students have met their goal, they start working through the phases again, beginning with Phase 1, to determine the next goal they want to be working on. If they determine they did not meet their goal, they then decide if they need to make adjustments to their goal or identify a new action plan for working toward their goal (e.g., lack of specificity of the goal or plan). If they determine the need to change their goal, students will go back to Phase 1 and start the process again. If they determine they need to change their action plan, students will review their goal from Phase 1 and then go through Phase 2 again to develop a new action plan. The intent is that students work through Phases 1, 2, and 3 of the model repeatedly so that they experience multiple opportunities to practice skills associated with self-determined action with multiple goals. In Figure 1, an overview of the three phases of the SDLMI is provided.
Three phases of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction
SDLMI Components
Within each phase, there are Student Questions, Teacher Objectives, and suggested Educational Supports. Student Questions are stated in first-person voice to encourage student ownership of the instructional process and should be answered by students with teacher support in numerical order to teach students the sequence of self-regulated problem solving. Each Student Question is linked with Teacher Objectives that guide, or serve as a “road map” for teachers to understand their role in enabling students to solve the problem stated in the Student Questions. Further, each phase includes Educational Supports (e.g., choice-making instruction, self-scheduling instruction) that teachers can utilize to meet Teacher Objectives. The Educational Supports are intended to provide a means for teachers to teach students needed skills to answer the questions and begin to teach themselves. Figure 2 provides an example of how teachers can use the Educational Support of self-assessment of skills to enable students to identify strengths and areas of needed improvement in a mathematics class and then set a goal that will enhance performance in the classroom. To demonstrate how the components of the SDLMI function cohesively, Figure 3 depicts the problem-solving process students engage in as they answer a Student Question and highlights the Teacher Objectives and Educational Supports that teachers will utilize in supporting students to answer the question.
Example of a completed student self-assessment of skills related to math class
Example of the self-regulated problem-solving process of a student progressing through Phase 1
Implementing the SDLMI With a Whole Class
Although the SDLMI has clear standards for fidelity of implementation, including consistency in the sequencing of the Student Questions, meeting of the Teacher Objectives, and of using the Educational Supports (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Burke, & Palmer, 2017), there is flexibility in how the SDLMI can be implemented. This allows for the SDLMI to be utilized across contexts. The main focus is promoting student identification and agency over the goal, although as noted before, as the teacher shapes instruction, the goals set by students tend to mirror targets that would be set by teachers. The difference is that the student now has ownership over the goal, which enhances motivation, rather that the goal being teacher directed. Beyond the implementation information provided in Shogren, Wehmeyer, Burke, and Palmer (2017), information about additional professional development resources, including interactive online modules and in-person coaching supports, are available at self-determination.org.
The SDLMI can be taught through mini-lessons conducted over time in order to provide students with multiple opportunities to work on their goal and reflect on the process. However, it is important to note that the structure of implementation should fit the context. That is, the length of the SDLMI implementation and duration of instructional sessions can be adjusted based on the needs of students and time constraints on teachers, which provides flexibility to general education teachers who have rigorous curriculum objectives to meet. For example, if students are in the same class across an academic year, it would be useful to implement the SDLMI multiple times over the course of the year to give students many opportunities to engage in self-regulated problem solving and develop self-determination. When planning the format for SDLMI implementation, it is important to remember that self-determination develops over time and through multiple opportunities to use skills associated with self-determination (e.g., making choices, setting goals). In Figure 4, a sample implementation schedule across an academic semester is provided. Teachers can use this schedule to build lesson plans for each session, based on the targeted curricular content.
Sample Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction implementation schedule (GAS = goal attainment scaling; SDI:PTR = Self-Determination Inventory: Parent/Teacher Report; SDI:SR = Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report, SQ = Student Question)
Ms. Elliott and Mr. Dupont review the SDLMI Teacher’s Guide and decide to teach mini-lessons on Preliminary Conversations, Phase 1: Set a Goal; Phase 2: Take Action; and Phase 3: Adjust Goal or Plan. They account for school breaks and professional-development days and start planning the mini-lesson topics for the semester.
Getting Familiar With the SDLMI
To support students to set a goal using the SDLMI, an understanding of the three-phase process is necessary. Engaging in a practice trial of the SDLMI with a self-selected goal that is not specifically related to a core content area and is instead associated with individual areas of interest is helpful when first getting started. The rationale behind this strategy is twofold. First, students are more likely to engage in conversations around topics that are more interesting to them individually instead of a core content area supporting the development of a trusting relationship with their teacher. Second, this strategy allows the teacher the opportunity to explain the learning process with a low-stakes goal before starting a core content–specific goal. Teachers should also encourage students to discuss their goal area interests unrelated to core content with their family to promote partnerships and communication between students, families, and teachers. After progressing through the three phases of the SDLMI with a practice goal about an area of interest unrelated to the core content area, students are ready to begin the SDLMI with a core content goal.
Because Mr. Dupont has taught some lessons related to goal setting with his students previously, he knows that students are going to pick all sorts of goals, and keeping track of all of the different goals with an entire general education mathematics class is going to be challenging. He asks Ms. Elliott if there are certain goal areas or topics she can identify that would be useful for multiple students. Ms. Elliott says that almost all of her students can work on having their materials (e.g., math book, calculator) with them, taking notes in class, and using specific math strategies when doing independent work. On the basis of Ms. Elliott input, Mr. Dupont suggests establishing three goal areas: (a) preparedness (i.e., having materials promptly before class commences), (b) note taking (i.e., strategies associated with taking notes in class), and (c) specific math content strategies (e.g., underlining potential variables in word problems). Ms. Elliott agrees and they continue planning.
Establishing Goal Areas
Although the SDLMI was designed for implementation in a variety of contexts—one-on-one, in small groups, or in whole-class instruction—most research has been conducted in instructional contexts where students were able to select individualized learning goals (Hagiwara et al., 2017). Although this can be an important way to use the SDLMI, when thinking about implementing the SDLMI with all students in a secondary, inclusive context, it is important to ensure that all goals are linked to the core content targeted in the classroom and aligned with the instruction that the general education teacher is targeting. Therefore, when implementing the SDLMI classwide, teachers can select broad goal areas that they would target through their instruction (e.g., preparedness, note taking, specific content strategies) and support students to select one goal area and develop an individualized learning goal within that goal area. In this context, the overall goals for instruction can still be achieved, but the students take more responsibility and ownership by selecting a goal area and setting a personal and specific learning goal. Students are given the opportunity to reflect on their current status related to the goal areas and identify a specific goal that they would like to target as they progress through the three phases of the SDLMI. Students can then, after they achieve their goal, select another goal related to this broad area or a different area to continue their learning. When implemented in this manner, the teacher enables students to individualize their goal given self-identified strengths and areas of need and also narrows the wide range of goal areas, making goal-setting and evaluation manageable across all the students in the class. If none of the goal areas apply to a given student, the teacher can discuss options for further individualization of the goal area and subsequent specific learning goal with the student. This can also be a an opportunity to utilize specialized instructional strategies to support the engagement and progress of students with disabilities in inclusive contexts.
Teaching SDLMI Phase Mini-Lessons
When teaching the SDLMI within the context of a large group, it is important to remember that students will have varying levels of self-determination. As such, establishing a flexible teaching pace and embedding opportunities to discuss barriers students will come upon when implementing their plans to achieve their goals is important. This allows teachers to follow the implementation standards established by the SDLMI developers and customize implementation to their setting and timelines. The SDLMI developers recommend structuring instruction around SDLMI mini-lessons in which students and teachers discuss and work through one Student Question per mini-lesson. The sample implementation schedule provided in Figure 4 shows how each mini-lesson topic focuses on a Student Question. After reviewing the question and having some general discussion as a large group, students form pairs or small groups within each goal area to share findings or thoughts with each another. Then, teachers facilitate a whole class discussion. This provides students opportunities to discuss their experiences and learn from each other’s progression through the phases of the SDLMI at a pace that can be adjusted if needed. Throughout implementation, the special education teacher can schedule one-on-one sessions with students to discuss their progress toward their goals and provide any additional support as needed.
Evaluating the Impact of the SDLMI With the Whole Class
In an effort to establish the impact of the intervention, teachers can use multiple measures to show how students are benefiting from implementation of the SDLMI. First, student feedback should be solicited after each mini-lesson, so teachers can gauge the social validity of the intervention from the students’ perspective and adjust strategies accordingly. Second, to assess adherence to the instructional practices that define implementation of the SDLMI, teachers can engage in self-evaluation using the SDLMI Fidelity Measure (Shogren, Wehmeyer, & Naoom, 2017). Third, to measure the degree to which students achieve goals set using the SDLMI, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS; Kiresuk, Smith, & Cardillo, 1994) can be a useful process. The GAS process includes establishing five possible goal outcomes that can be identified by students with the support of their teachers. As students work through the SDLMI multiple times, setting multiple goals, teachers can look at changes in student goal attainment over time. Graphing this information and providing details on growth in goal attainment in core content can be a meaningful way for students and teachers to visualize and communicate growth over time to students and their families, administrators, and fellow teachers. Fourth, empirically validated assessments of self-determination, such as the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR; Shogren, Little, et al., 2017), can provide an assessment of student self-determination pre- and post-implementation of the SDLMI. The SDI:SR is an online, self-report measure of self-determination with embedded accessibility supports (e.g., audio playback, in-text definitions). Additionally, teachers can utilize measures that assess teacher perceptions of students’ changes in self-determination, such as the Self-Determination Inventory: Parent/Teacher Report (SDI:PTR), providing additional insight into areas in which individual students or groups of students need additional supports. Table 1 lists and describes the measures related to implementation of the SDLMI with the whole class.
Measures to Evaluate the Impact of the SDLMI
Note. SDLMI = Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction.
Measures and associated training information can be accessed at www.self-determination.org.
Mr. Dupont and Ms. Elliott plan on collecting data on student goal attainment, self-determination, and social validity to share with their administrators, teachers, and families. To support family involvement, Ms. Elliott plans on dedicating a section of her class website to progress updates on using the SDLMI, and Mr. Dupont will work in time during individualized education program meetings to share with families how their children are using the SDLMI. They hope that the data will show that using the SDLMI in an inclusive environment where students are learning core content enhances opportunities for all students to be successful.