Rachel Lundstrom

SETT Assignment

SETT Introduction
The SETT framework is a special education tool designed by Joy Zabala to assist teachers (general and
special), Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Team members, Assistive Technology (AT) specialists, and
even the student with a disability. SETT, which stands for Student, Environment, Task, and Technology, is
a framework for staff to analyze the technologies that might be beneficial for a student with a disability.
By looking at the many factors that a student deals with on a daily basis (in their living and school
environment, the tasks assigned, the areas the student struggles in), one can discern appropriate pieces
of technology equipment for potential success. No tech, low tech, mid tech, and high tech
resources allow staff to look at a wide variety and range of potential resources. Students may benefit
from minimal amounts of AT, while others may need extensive (and potentially costly) programs to
meet their needs. The SETT framework will show the IEPT what options are available in order to meet
the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the students individual needs.

Student
Josie is a 6
th
grade student at Woodville School. She was initially evaluated for special education in 1
st

grade under the area of Speech/Language Impairment. Josie received services in the speech program for
articulation, syntax, and semantics. While in this program, she received services from the Occupational
Therapist 2-3 times per month. She was then exited from special education after one year. In 5
th
grade,
Josie was reevaluated for special education based on her Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement
(KTEA) assessment scores. On her most recent state assessment, (MEAP) in 5
th
grade, Josie scored Not
Proficient on all three areas (reading, math, and science). Josie qualifies for special education under
Specific Learning Disability in the areas of oral and written expression and reading fluency and
comprehension. Josie has moved frequently, attending five different schools before 6
th
grade in both the
Wood and Smith Public School Districts. For 6
th
grade, Josie spent the first half of the year at Lincoln
School (Smith Public) and the second half at Woodville School.
Josie enjoys school, and is skilled in mathematics. In reading comprehension, she is much more
successful when reading aloud. Her fluency is choppy and staggered. Her written expression skills,
including spelling and handwriting, are at a lower elementary level and take a lot of labor. Josie is
enrolled in some general education courses, some general education courses with co-teaching support,
and an hour of resource time. She is expected to be performing at a middle school/upper elementary
school level with some modified assignments. Josie has a positive attitude towards school, and is eager
to meet new people and new friends in the new building. She is generally positive when in the
classroom, but when she falls behind in note taking or lecture answers, she gets flustered. Josie has
child-like interests, including art projects, childrens books, and some games and toys.

Environment
Josie is enrolled in some general education courses, some general education courses with co-teaching
support, and an hour of resource time. She is expected to be performing at a middle school/upper
elementary school level with some modified assignments. Josie enjoys participating in the general
education classroom, but usually performs at a higher level when the special education teacher is sitting
nearby. The special education teacher co-teaches in some, but not all, of her courses. However, the
special education teacher co-teaches with each subject at some point throughout the day. So, she is
always up-to-date with the content and expectations of the general education teacher, even if she is not
co-teaching with Josies specific section. Support in study skills, general education support, and
additional pre-teaching is given in the resource hour each day with the special education teacher.
Chromebooks are available in class sets in each general education classroom, and the special education
classroom has Macbooks available for the students. There is also a computer lab with Macintosh
computers and SMARTBoards in a few of the classrooms. No additional programs are currently being
used, but there is potential for additional assistive technologies. The staff is still forming their
expectations for Josie because she is a recent transfer to the building and the district, but the general
education teachers have taken a look at her previous IEP in order to prepare for her general education
placements. Her family has some expectations for academics in Josies life, but they are not at the top of
the priority list.

Task
All students in 6
th
grade at Woodville follow a typical middle school schedule. Students attend Math,
English, lunch, Science, Reading, and Social Studies each day with varying teachers and classrooms.
Students also alternate between day 1/day 2 schedules for PE, Art, Choir, Theater, and Spanish classes.
All students are expected to complete appropriate coursework, and follow teacher directives in each
class period. For students in special education, some rotation courses (PE, Art, Choir, Theater, and
Spanish) are removed each day in order to provide an available hour to attend the resource room.
However, the courses are removed based on rotation (i.e. on day 1, the student will miss Spanish. On
day 2, the student will miss Choir) so that the student still attends specials throughout the week. This
leads to some gaps in assignments and tasks required because the student does not attend Spanish, for
example, every day. The resource room does not assign additional academic homework assignments,
but may complete additional in-class tasks related to the core subjects the student takes daily or
additional social or transition skills.
For Josie, performance is still being determined in the general education classroom. Currently, she is
completing all class assignments in the remedial English/Reading courses and regular-level Math course
she is taking. In Science and Social Studies (both regular-level courses), Josie is expected to complete
regular assignments with extended time and assistance. When open-ended response questions are
given, the special education teacher often creates fill-in-the-blank prompts for the students. For all
coursework, Josie is given extended time during resource hour to finish up unfinished assignments.
Oftentimes, the special education teacher sits near Josie in co-teaching classes in order to help her reach
potential performance.

Current Tools
Currently, Josie uses a MacBook each day in the special education classroom. When in the general
education classroom, she typically uses a Chromebook in the room. However, when the class is given
reading time to silently read a textbook chapter, Josie and the other special education students go to
the resource room. There is specific software on the MacBooks that will read the e-text aloud, so Josie
takes advantage of this resource. These computer-based tools are currently the only assistive
technology that Josie uses in the classroom.

Technology
1. Sentence Starters
Providing students with learning disabilities with a sentence starter sheet
by subject is a great way to keep them focused on the task at hand in a
general education course. Many of these students struggle with
formulating complete sentences, especially when answering open-ended
questions. For these students, placing a simple reminders sheet inside
their planner, inside cover of their class notebook, or in their
folder/trapper makes a handy location for students to pull out their
sentence starters when they are stuck. These reading sentence starters,
for example, allow students to respond to the text. This is something Josie
has to complete in her Reading and English courses on a daily basis, and
this is a simple way to keep her engaged and working without an individual
aide. By providing starters for subjects where the student struggles, a teacher can easily provide a
resource and support in a printed or technology-accessible way.
2. Spelling City
Spellingcity.com is an online spelling and vocabulary
program for students at any age. This program allows
teachers to input spelling words, assigns student tasks to
be completed on the website, provides fun games to enhance vocabulary knowledge, and gives pre- and
post-tests to students. This website is a great tool for the resource room, since subjects like spelling are
not typically taught in the middle school curriculum. For Josie, weekly or bi-weekly spelling lists could be
created in the resource room to supplement her remedial vocabulary levels. These assignments could be
completed and studied on the MacBooks in the resource room in order to keep Josie up-to-date in the
general education classroom. Teachers can use this website for free without an account, or can pay for a
class-wide or school-wide membership to increase student spelling capabilities across the building.
3. Voice Dream
Voice Dream is an Apple application for iPad or iPhone. This app provides the student with
easy accessibility for written text. Instead of having to read a document aloud or silently,
the student will have the screen read to them. Another important feature of the screen
reader is the yellow highlighting, which highlights each word as it is read aloud. This allows
the student to connect what she is hearing to the words on the page, continuing to
increase written language comprehension. This app would be great for Josie to use in her
content courses such as Science and Social Studies in the general education classroom. Instead of
leaving the classroom for silent reading time, she could simply plug into an iPad or iPod to see and hear
the text. This would also be beneficial for readings which are assigned for at-home use. While the app
costs $9.99 and an iPad would also need to be purchased, this assistance would give Josie the freedom
of reading at the same pace as her classmates with equal amounts of comprehension.
4. Typing Web/Mavis Beacon Keyboarding Kidz
For students who struggle with handwriting and keeping up in the
classroom, websites and programs to increase typing skills can be a
great assistance. Although typing courses are a thing of the past,
many great options still exist. Typingweb.com is a free, online learn-to-type
program, or purchasable programs such as Mavis Beacons typing software will
allow students to correctly learn how to keyboard, and thus succeed when
taking notes in the classroom or completing one of many technology-based
assignments. For Josie, learning to type effectively would rid her of the burden
of taking handwritten notes in class. Although notes are minimal in 6
th
grade,
this will prepare Josie for a future filled with long lectures and lots of notes to be
written down. By completing a typing course in the resource room using a free
or purchased ($19.99 for Beacon Kidz) program, Josie will be more confident in
her notes and feel like she can successfully contribute to a classroom conversation in her general
education classes.
5. Audio Notes
Students who struggle with note taking and written expression could benefit
from Audio Notes, an app for the iPad. When class begins, students hit
record and all audio in the classroom is recorded. Then, students can take minimal notes (only key
words, pictures, or even just numbers when important points are mentioned). When a student needs to
review notes, they can click on the written items and the speech will be repeated, starting from that
point. Josie would benefit from this app because it allows the student to take minimal written notes, but
still gain all the information. Since Josie is an auditory learner, she would be able to listen and study
instead of having to read her notes while studying. This could be used in general education classrooms
as well as review sessions at home or in the resource room.