Class Profiles:
The class profile provides a snapshot of the strengths and needs, interests, and readiness of the students in the class. It is a resource for planning that conveys a great deal of critical information at a glance, serving as an inventory of accumulated data.
It enables teachers to identify patterns among their students in terms of:
• their learning styles/profile
• their current place/level in the learning, or “readiness to learn”
• their interests and talents
• their socio-affective characteristics
• the challenges meeting their learning needs, and the supports needed
Why Develop a Class Profile?
The class profile assists in
• sorting, categorizing, and summarizing classroom data
• detecting patterns among the students that will guide the planning of a unit
• using data to design differentiated instruction
• forming flexible groupings
• sharing information among fellow educators and parents.
The Process of Developing a Class Profile
1. Gathering information about students.
A class profile is developed by gathering information about each student from the following sources:
•(OSR)/(IEP)
•previous teachers
• parents, and student questionnaires
• students surveys (e.g., interest inventories, attitudinal surveys)
• classroom observation (e.g., anecdotal notes)
• diagnostic assessments (e.g., pretests)
• Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) data
2. Organizing and recording the student information on a class profile template.
Each student’s strengths and areas of need, in terms of his or her learning readiness related to the subject and grade or course, interests, and social-behavioural characteristics, are summarized and recorded in a predetermined format or on a template. There are many options that can be used for the template. We have provided you a tool to use today.
3. Selecting instructional strategies and resources based on information in the class profile.
After information from all relevant sources has been reviewed, appropriate instruction that addresses each student’s strengths and needs is determined. As ideas are compiled in a class profile, the range of students’ individual and shared strengths, needs, challenges, and interests are identified.
Patterns among students will emerge from a review of the class profile, and can be used to inform the selection of strategies and resources.
Students will benefit from strategies and groupings that are determined by their learning styles, preferences, and particular stages of learning.
4. Program planning and the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, differentiated instruction, and the tiered approach.
Taking into account the requirements of the curriculum, the instructional strategies selected, and the patterns and emerging trends in the class, educators develop their program plans.
Universal Design for Learning and DI ensure that planning is flexible, supportive, adjustable, and focused on increasing all students’ access to the curriculum. “What is necessary for some is good for all”
Plans should incorporate a range of strategies and a continuum of support.
5. Monitoring progress and adjusting strategies; reviewing the overall program.
Over time, progress and growth, or the lack of it, are noted and strategies are reconsidered, if adjustments are needed. In the case of students who have persistent learning challenges, the need for more intensive instructional support or for special intervention by an in-school team or external specialist may also be noted.
6. Consultation with the in-school team(s) and out-of-school resources (including community agencies).
After having tried selected strategies for a reasonable amount of time an in-school team collaboratively reviews instructional strategies and interventions that have been implemented. The team may consider whether and how to incorporate recommendations made by out-of-school professionals.
See the Concept Map below for a summary:
It enables teachers to identify patterns among their students in terms of:
• their learning styles/profile
• their current place/level in the learning, or “readiness to learn”
• their interests and talents
• their socio-affective characteristics
• the challenges meeting their learning needs, and the supports needed
Why Develop a Class Profile?
The class profile assists in
• sorting, categorizing, and summarizing classroom data
• detecting patterns among the students that will guide the planning of a unit
• using data to design differentiated instruction
• forming flexible groupings
• sharing information among fellow educators and parents.
The Process of Developing a Class Profile
1. Gathering information about students.
A class profile is developed by gathering information about each student from the following sources:
•(OSR)/(IEP)
•previous teachers
• parents, and student questionnaires
• students surveys (e.g., interest inventories, attitudinal surveys)
• classroom observation (e.g., anecdotal notes)
• diagnostic assessments (e.g., pretests)
• Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) data
2. Organizing and recording the student information on a class profile template.
Each student’s strengths and areas of need, in terms of his or her learning readiness related to the subject and grade or course, interests, and social-behavioural characteristics, are summarized and recorded in a predetermined format or on a template. There are many options that can be used for the template. We have provided you a tool to use today.
3. Selecting instructional strategies and resources based on information in the class profile.
After information from all relevant sources has been reviewed, appropriate instruction that addresses each student’s strengths and needs is determined. As ideas are compiled in a class profile, the range of students’ individual and shared strengths, needs, challenges, and interests are identified.
Patterns among students will emerge from a review of the class profile, and can be used to inform the selection of strategies and resources.
Students will benefit from strategies and groupings that are determined by their learning styles, preferences, and particular stages of learning.
4. Program planning and the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, differentiated instruction, and the tiered approach.
Taking into account the requirements of the curriculum, the instructional strategies selected, and the patterns and emerging trends in the class, educators develop their program plans.
Universal Design for Learning and DI ensure that planning is flexible, supportive, adjustable, and focused on increasing all students’ access to the curriculum. “What is necessary for some is good for all”
Plans should incorporate a range of strategies and a continuum of support.
5. Monitoring progress and adjusting strategies; reviewing the overall program.
Over time, progress and growth, or the lack of it, are noted and strategies are reconsidered, if adjustments are needed. In the case of students who have persistent learning challenges, the need for more intensive instructional support or for special intervention by an in-school team or external specialist may also be noted.
6. Consultation with the in-school team(s) and out-of-school resources (including community agencies).
After having tried selected strategies for a reasonable amount of time an in-school team collaboratively reviews instructional strategies and interventions that have been implemented. The team may consider whether and how to incorporate recommendations made by out-of-school professionals.
See the Concept Map below for a summary: