The effectiveness of graphic organizers and Baxendell's guiding principles for instructional practices with special needs students

Table 3

Age/Sex/Grade Level

Sex Age Grade Level

Cases	M	F	15-16	17-18	Grade Level
1	X			X	9^th
2	X			X	9^th
3	X				9^th
4		X		X	9^th
5	X		X		9^th
6	X			X	9^th
7	X			X	9^th
8	X			X	8^th
9		X	X		9^th
10	X		X		8^th
11	X			X	8^th
12	X		X		8^th

The analysis in Table 3 shows that 2 out of the 12 participants were females, and 7 were between 17 -18 years of age.

Categories

From the framework outlined in chapter two, the analysis generated one dimension: performance (including level of accuracy in focusing on relevant information, building connections, integrating new information, and level of independence in completing graphic organizers).

Level of accuracy in focusing on relevant information: the student demonstrates skills in choosing relevant information (either most significant, or revealing some pattern) with an average of percent accuracy (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).

Level of accuracy in building connection among ideas: the student demonstrates skills in building connections among ideas with an average of percent accuracy (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).

Level of accuracy integrating new information: the student demonstrates skills in integrating new information with an average of percent accuracy (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).

Perform independently: the student seldom requires cues or prompts/limited cues/extensive cues/constant prompts when completing graphic organizers with an average of percent of independence (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).

It is useful at this point to define cues or prompts, and percentage of independence. Any assistance provided to a pupil that increases the likelihood that the student will give the correct or desired response is a cue or prompt. Type of cues or prompts include physical, verbal, auditory, and visual. In this study only verbal prompts or cues are used; therefore the others will not be described. A verbal prompt is any verbal assistance provided to pupil that increases the likelihood that the student will give the correct response (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).

Degree of independence is observed and measured from observations of frequency of prompting. In itself the type of intensity of a cue does not determine a measure of independence (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).

Finally, it is the number of steps in which the student performed independently in relation to the steps or periods with prompts provided that determine the percentage of pupil independence (see New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher's Guide, 2003).