Data-Informed Instructional

Improvement Plan

MARY BROWNRIGG
EDL 633
Core Vocabulary Communication Board
 About our school

Center based program

Every student has an impairment
MOCI- Moderately Cognitively Impaired
SCI- Severely Cognitively Impaired
SXI- Severely Multiply Impaired

Ages 3-26 years old

Average of 8-15 students in each classroom. Varies
depending on the severity of impairment
 Why do we need a communication board?

Right now, teachers print

out various pictures on
their own.
Sometimes, teachers do
not even use pictures.
There is not one unison
communication board
that the entire school
uses.
 A few facts about the core board

This core board uses words that we frequently use.

Ex. I, you, he, she, want, go, in, out, finished etc.

When introducing this to your students, start off by

only using a few words at a time.
Gail Van Tatenhove created this board and is a
speech-language pathologist. She has created
several programs to help students communicate.
 The survey
I created a survey all about the core vocbulary
board and sent it to 11 of our teachers at the school.
The teachers work in various classrooms and work
with various ages of students.
In our school, we have 6 classrooms who have been
trained on the core vocabulary board.
I surveyed 11 of our teachers and 5 of the teachers
surveyed have been trained on the core vocab
board.
In the next few slides, I will show you some of the
data I have collected from the survey.
 Survey
This question is in the
survey because I wanted
to see how the teachers in
MOCI felt about the board
since most of their
students can talk
compared to the teachers
in SXI where most of their
students are non verbal.

I wanted this question

to be in the survey
because in my school,
the longer the teacher
has been teaching, the
harder it is for them to
change what they are
doing in the
classroom.
 Survey Continued

Most of the teachers Our school has a

have used the core very large age
board in some way, range from 3-26
shape, or form. and I thought it
Which means that could be helpful
teachers who have not to get the
been completely perspective of the
trained are still trying teachers who
to use it some way in teach the
the classroom. preschool aged
children to the
teachers who
teach the adults.
 Survey cont.
-5 teachers have been
trained.
-All of the other teachers in
the school have been briefly
trained
-1 teacher said she has not
been trained.must have
missed the professional
development

-The 5 trained teachers said

yes they do believe this is the
correct communication board.
-The other teachers did not
say no to the board, they just
are unsure because they are
not completely using it with
their students and are not
fully trained.
 How do you feel about the communication
board?

The board is great addition to my classroom communication. I use pecs in my room

and my students are successful. With using the core board too my students can
make more/ different requests ... Like "I want a turn" and I need help . Iv seen good
success with a few students and others in the room are beginning to show more
interest . I'm going to add a comment to the last question .. I think core board works
for SCI but I cannot comment on other disabilities .
I love the core board initiative! It helps us to stay focused, gives more purpose and
meaning to our activities, and allows the students to become better
communicators!! Our students seek out the boards and will share information with
us that doesn't just apply to "I want or I need". Can't wait to be able to use it more
and learn more about it!
It is a great tool when use correct and taught correct
I love it! The more consistent you are, the better it gets!
I feel like it is a great start to get our district on the same page. The students will
respond to it at different levels, and not all of the parents will follow through at
home, but the school staff will have a consistent system. The boards look the
same/similar. The language and targets will be the same. It can be used in any
activity with any person. It targets various parts of speech and various
communicative functions.
 Interview from one of the teachers who have
been fully trained on the communication board.

I have been using this communication board since

September and was very hesitant to start it. But I
thought that this could be a great way for my students
to start communicating with me. It was a slow start
but now most of my students use the core board. I
also have several of my students who have
graduated from the Core Vocab 32 and are now
using the Core Vocab 57. It took them about 2
months to master the Core Vocab 32!! This
communication board does work if you put your mind
and time into it!! Consistency is key!
Question: How are your students doing with the
core board?

I asked the teachers who were trained on

the core vocabulary board because they
use it everyday in their classroom and
the students are actually using it every
day and may be even at home.

33.33%

They are getting it!

Most are getting it!
They are somewhat getting it.
Students show no interest in board

66.67%
 How much will it cost to train teachers and
implement?

It will be very low cost.

We would need to have Gail herself come to our
schools during professional development to train the
teachers. This would cost approximately $3000.00.
The rest is very low cost because we already have the
boards. If we need any more boards or pictures, we
would only need to print them off and have them
laminated which we have the resources to do.
 Why should we use this board?

Will help students learn how to communicate in a

more appropriate way.
Teachers could understand more of the wants and
needs of the students.
Behavior will go down because a lot of behaviors
happen because students cannot communicate their
wants and needs.
 Resources

Gail Van Tatenhove. (n.d.). Retrieved April

01, 2016, from
http://www.vantatenhove.com/

Zangari, C., & Parker, R. (n.d.).

PrAACticalACC. Retrieved April 1, 2016, from
http://praacticalaac.org/