Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 52, December 27, 2024
The Learning Behavior Specialist I (LBS I) is a teacher of
children and youth with one or more of the following documented disabilities as
specified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 USC
1400 et seq.): specific learning
disabilities, emotional disability, intellectual disability, autism, traumatic
brain injury, orthopedic, or other health impairment. By October 1, 2025, all
candidates for an endorsement in LBS I must complete a program that aligns to
the Individualized General Curriculum and Individualized Independence
Curriculum, Combined Initial Specialty Set, published by the Council for
Exceptional Children, 2900 Crystal Drive, Suite 1000, Arlington VA 22202-3557,
and available at
https://exceptionalchildren.org/standards/specialty-sets-specific-practice-areas.
(No later amendments to or editions of these guidelines are incorporated.) The
standards effective until September 30, 2025 are as follows:
a) Foundations - The competent learning
behavior specialist understands the philosophical, historical, and legal
foundations of special education and meets the standards set forth in Section
28.100(a).
b) Characteristics of Learners - The
competent learning behavior specialist understands the impact that disabilities
have on the cognitive, physical, emotional, social, and communication
development of an individual and provides opportunities that support the
intellectual, social, and personal development of all students (ages 3-22).
1) Knowledge - The competent learning
behavior specialist understands:
A) the impact
of language disorders, processing deficits, cognitive disorders,
behavioral/emotional/social disorders, and physical (including sensory)
disabilities on learning;
B) the
impact of language disorders, processing deficits, cognitive disorders,
behavioral/emotional/social disorders, and physical (including sensory)
disabilities on behavior; and
C)
the unique impact of multiple disabilities on learning and behavior.
2) Performance - The competent
learning behavior specialist provides information about students with language
disorders, processing deficits, cognitive disorders,
behavioral/emotional/social disorders, physical disabilities, and health
impairments and their impact on learning to teachers, parents, and employers as
appropriate.
c)
Assessment - The competent learning behavior specialist understands the
educational assessment process and uses various assessment strategies to
support the continuous development of all students (ages 3-22).
1) Knowledge - the competent learning
behavior specialist understands:
A) strategies
for assessing individual learning characteristics and modes of
communication;
B) strategies for
assessing students' skills within curricular areas, including academic, social,
and vocational;
C) strategies for
assessing learning environments and conducting functional behavioral
assessments within the environment;
D) a model of reading diagnosis that includes
student proficiency with print conventions, phonemic awareness, word
recognition, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and self-monitoring;
and
E) the uses and limitations of
informal and formal assessments.
2) Performance - The competent learning
behavior specialist:
A) adapts group academic
and statewide assessments for students with disabilities;
B) assesses the extent and quality of an
individual's access to the general curriculum;
C) monitors a student's progress through the
general curriculum;
D) designs and
implements functional assessment procedures;
E) assesses reliable methods of response in
individuals who lack typical communication and performance abilities;
F) adapts formal assessment devices to
accommodate a student's mode of communication and response;
G) identifies students' educational
priorities by developing and conducting an individualized inventory of the
student's home, community, social, and vocational environments and integrated
curriculum needs;
H) identifies a
hierarchy of reinforcers and empirically evaluates their effectiveness for an
individual with moderate, severe, and multiple disabilities;
I) determines strengths and needs of
individual students in the area of reading;
J) determines students' independent,
instructional, and frustrational reading levels to inform instruction;
and
K) interprets and explains
reading diagnostic information for classroom teachers, parents, and other
specialists to plan instructional programs.
d) Planning for Instruction - The competent
learning behavior specialist understands how students differ in their
approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted
to diverse learners. The learning behavior specialist understands instructional
planning and designs instruction based on knowledge of the discipline, student,
community, and curriculum goals.
1) Knowledge
- The competent learning behavior specialist understands:
A) the Illinois Learning Standards (see 23
Ill. Adm. Code 1. Appendix D) and effective instructional strategies and
resources for teaching the scope and sequence in the academic, social, and
vocational curricular domains;
B)
effective instructional strategies for adapting the general curriculum to meet
the needs of individual students;
C) the use of appropriate reading
intervention strategies and support systems for meeting the needs of diverse
learners;
D) the differences
between reading skills and strategies, and the role each plays in reading
development;
E) importance and
strategies for teaching emerging literacy skills (concept of print, phonemic
awareness, fluency, and comprehension) to success in reading
achievement;
F) the strategies to
develop a longitudinal, outcome-based curriculum with the identification of
priorities, including social, language, academic and career and technical
skills across life skill domains (i.e., domestic, recreation/leisure,
vocational, and community);
G)
adaptive equipment to facilitate eating, dressing, grooming, bowel and bladder
management, independent living, and mobility;
H) guidelines for the selection and use of
augmentative or assistive technology devices (e.g., sign language, electronic
devices, picture and symbol systems, and language boards);
I) effective strategies for teaching study
skills;
J) the skills necessary for
student success in community settings;
K) community career and technical options,
including supported employment and competitive employment models;
L) the rationale for career development and
vocational programming across the preschool to postsecondary age span;
and
M) the principles of partial
participation.
2)
Performance - The competent learning behavior specialist:
A) integrates knowledge of the
characteristics of the learner, Illinois Learning Standards, general curriculum
and adaptation strategies appropriately into an effective individualized
education program;
B) selects
appropriate instructional strategies based on the curricular content and the
age and skill level of the student;
C) evaluates, selects, develops, and adapts
curricular materials and technology appropriate for individuals with
disabilities;
D) applies the use of
appropriate reading intervention strategies and support systems for meeting the
needs of diverse learners;
E)
adjusts reading instruction to meet the learning needs of diverse
learners;
F) assesses the entrance
level skill requirements of a potential site for vocational
placement;
G) prioritizes skills
and chooses chronologically age-appropriate materials, emphasizing
functionality, instruction in natural settings, and interactions between
students with and without disabilities;
H) develops longitudinal, outcome-based
curricula for individual students;
I) identifies and prioritizes objectives for
community skill training;
J)
identifies available community recreational/leisure activities; and
K) identifies career and technical and
community placements appropriate to the age and skill level of the
student.
e)
Learning Environment - The competent learning behavior specialist uses an
understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a
learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active
engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
1) Knowledge - The competent learning
behavior specialist understands:
A) rationale
for selecting specific management techniques; and
B) theories and positive approaches for
managing significant behavior problems, including self-stimulation and
self-abuse.
2)
Performance - The competent learning behavior specialist:
A) uses appropriate strategies for managing
significant behavioral episodes and crisis intervention;
B) coordinates activities of related services
personnel to maximize direct instruction time for individuals with disabilities
and to ensure that related services are integrated into individuals' daily
activities and schedule;
C) uses
appropriate strategies for decreasing self-abusive behaviors; and
D) plans and implements instructional
programs and behavioral interventions designed to facilitate the acquisition of
adaptive social skills.
f) Instructional Delivery - The competent
learning behavior specialist understands the central concepts and methods of
inquiry; uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students'
development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills; and
creates learning experiences that make content meaningful to all students (ages
3-22).
1) Knowledge - The competent learning
behavior specialist understands:
A) effective
instructional strategies for basic sequences of skills in the academic, social,
and career and technical curricular areas;
B) traditional, improved traditional, and
rapid procedures for helping individuals achieve bowel and bladder
control;
C) language intervention
strategies and appropriate uses across age and skill levels;
D) instructional procedures for increasing
communication use, spontaneity, and to promote generalization of communication;
and
E) instructional procedures for
facilitating errorless learning, including teacher delivered prompts and
discrimination learning.
2) Performance - The competent learning
behavior specialist:
A) plans, organizes, and
implements educational programs appropriate to the cognitive, linguistic, and
physical needs of individuals in the least restrictive environment;
B) integrates academic instruction, affective
education, and behavior management for individual learners and groups of
learners in the least restrictive environment;
C) uses strategies to enhance the thinking
process;
D) uses effective
instructional strategies to assist individuals with disabilities to develop and
self-monitor academic and social skills;
E) provides community-referenced
instruction;
F) interprets sensory,
mobility, reflex, and perceptual information to create appropriate
lessons;
G) integrates study skills
curriculum with delivery of academic instruction;
H) participates in the selection and
implementation of augmentative or alternative communication devices and systems
for use with students with disabilities;
I) matches individual needs with appropriate
community placements, including supported employment and competitive employment
models;
J) applies principles of
instruction for generalized language arts or math skills to teaching domestic,
community, school, recreational, or vocational skills that require language
arts or math;
K) designs and
implements instructional programs for teaching eating, dressing, grooming, and
toileting skills;
L) uses language
intervention strategies and appropriate usage across age and skill
levels;
M) uses instructional
procedures for facilitating errorless learning, including teacher delivered
prompts and discrimination learning;
N) plans and implements individualized
systematic instructional programs to teach priority skills;
O) uses instructional procedures for
increasing communication use and spontaneity, and to promote generalization of
communication;
P) plans and
implements instructional programs directed toward objectives established for
recreation/leisure skills, domestic skills, community skills, and career
development and vocational training emphasizing positive self-concepts and
realistic goals; and
Q) plans and
implements programs for students transitioning from school to adult
life.
g)
Collaborative Relationships - The competent learning behavior specialist uses
knowledge of effective written, verbal, and visual communication techniques to
foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction among
professionals, parents, paraprofessional educators, and students.
1) Knowledge - The competent learning
behavior specialist understands collaborative and consultative roles of special
educators in the integration of individuals with disabilities into the general
curriculum, and educational and alternative settings (including
community).
2) Performance - The
competent learning behavior specialist collaborates with parents, general
educators, other professionals (including community) and paraprofessional
educators in the integration of individuals with disabilities into the general
curriculum, and educational and alternative settings.
h) Professional Conduct and Leadership - The
competent learning behavior specialist understands teaching as a profession,
maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve
students' learning and well-being.
1)
Knowledge - Competent learning behavior specialists understand the scope of
their practice and seek additional resources and assistance as needed to meet
the individualized needs of students.
2) Performance - Competent learning behavior
specialists:
A) practice within their own
scope of practice and seek additional resources and assistance as needed to
meet the individualized needs of students;
B) demonstrate an ethical responsibility to
advocate for the least restrictive environment and appropriate services;
and
C) engage in professional
activities that benefit students with disabilities.
i) Reflection and Professional
Growth - The competent learning behavior specialist is a reflective
practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students,
parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks
opportunities to grow professionally. Competent learning behavior specialists:
1) conduct self-evaluation, making ongoing
adjustments to assessment and intervention techniques as needed to improve
services to students; and
2)
reflect on their own practice to improve instruction and guide professional
growth.