Recent epidemiological evidence has confirmed that voice disorders are a common occupational hazard of teaching school, with 11% of teachers reporting a current voice disorder, and 58% experiencing a voice disorder during their career. Furthermore, these voice disorders adversely affect job performance and attendance, with 43% of teachers having to reduce classroom activities, and 18% of teachers missing work on a yearly basis because of voice-related problems. Because of lost workdays and treatment expenses, the societal costs-in the U.S. alone-have been estimated to be nearly $2.5 billion annually.[ii]

Elementary school teachers, in particular, may have an even greater likelihood of experiencing vocal cord injuries, since they (elementary teachers) often teach the same basic concepts, over and over again, until the students achieve concept proficiency or concept mastery. Teachers must find ways to reduce how often they speak in order to prevent these injuries. SIP offers an inexpensive way for teachers to save their voices and still make sure that their students get the instruction they need, since students can listen to phone-based audio lesson as many times as they want.

Closing the Achievement Gap or Providing Enrichment Content Using Resources That Are Free, Easy To Use, And Already in Your Classroom or Home!

Challenge

The academic achievement gap starts even before students enter kindergarten. Students from low socioeconomic status (SES) communities frequently start kindergarten at a tremendous disadvantage. Many kindergarten students are at least one or two years behind the academic level of their peers. Unfortunately, this academic disadvantage follows low SES students through every grade level and every school they attend. A student who reads poorly in first grade has only a 10% chance of ever catching up and becoming a proficient reader in the later grades.

Literacy is also strongly linked to success in life, and illiteracy is strongly linked to adult unemployment and crime. Focusing on strategies for closing the achievement gap at the kindergarten and first grade levels is extremely important to solving these problems.   

Finding effective solutions to the achievement gap is an extremely complex issue that has become even more challenging due to a multitude of local, state, and federal funding restrictions. School districts all across the country are struggling with budget cuts, staff reductions, and shrinking resources. So far, almost all of the solutions proposed for closing the achievement gap would require increased funding for additional staff and classroom resources at a time when school administrators are facing significant financial limitations.

How can elementary school teachers help close the achievement gap without additional resources? How can they continue to meet the ‘unique learning needs’ of all of students in their classrooms? Teachers are becoming even more creative at finding effective instructional strategies and techniques that work with students across a wide range of academic levels. In addition, many teachers have found new ways of using existing free resources to accomplish the task.

Teachers can meet the needs of individual students by using technology to enhance student learning. With the assistance of technology, teachers can deliver specific, student-centered, differentiated instruction.

The successful implementation of classroom technology requires that any technology used by the students must be so simple that students can use the technology with no training. Think about appliances that we use every day. When was the last time you needed the instruction manual for some of these common school items: a light switch, a door knob, a chair, a water fountain, a trash can. We should expect all classroom items, especially technology tools, should be very simple to use, work as expected, and not require constant support, upgrades, and training.

One Solution is as Close as the Nearest Telephone

Did you know that the telephone is a valuable educational tool? The next time you walk into a classroom, or even your home, find the nearest telephone. Interactive phone technology, especially voice recognition, has opened the door to differentiated instructional resources. By using a telephone based instructional system called SIP - which stands for Supplemental Instructional Program - connecting to quality, standards-based educational content is as simple as making a telephone call.

SIP is Effective for Special Education and Regular Education Students

SIP makes learning engaging and fun by incorporating cognitive responsive, multi-modal learning techniques that appeal to all types of learners. By using catchy, easy to remember songs and chants which have the targeted concepts embedded, SIP utilizes rhythmic patterns and repetition to teach new concepts.

For students who need extra practice, SIP is also a great tool for reinforcing content. In addition, the SIP system uses audio guided instruction to give students the scaffolding and support they need to acquire new skills, as students enhance their existing knowledge. Therefore, SIP is a resource that helps students make continuous progress by giving students access to authentic, differentiated instruction.

A song, followed by an interactive practice session, is one of the lesson sequences SIP employs. This lesson format not only allows students to listen and practice singing the concepts, but it also allows students to play an interactive game as they answer questions about the content they have just learned. Moreover, this program acts as a personal tutor for students who need repetitive practice. Both learning disabled and non-learning disabled students who need to hear the lesson more than once, or who need extra practice to learn the concepts presented, will benefit significantly.

Guided writing instruction is another example of an application where the telephone based systems are highly useful. This works for teaching a variety of writing genres including personal narrative, procedural, informational, and functional writing. The lesson audio sequence consists of the student listening to an example of a complete sentence. Then the student is asked to write the sentence as they are guided in writing each word of the sentence. The audio based lesson guides the student as they write the words while also helping with phonics, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation The telephone based system allows the students to work independently and at their own pace.

As an added bonus, SIP is especially beneficial to students of all ages who are learning English. It helps students improve their oral communication skills, especially pronunciation and listening comprehension. What is even more amazing is that students who are normally shy and hesitant to speak out load enjoy speaking into the telephone as they answer the interaction questions. 

SIP is Easy to Use

How easy is it to use the SIP?  This system is so easy to use that even kindergarten-aged children can use it independently.  A student can use any telephone to call a SIP content number. Then, after the call is connected, the student follows the instructions, listens as the content is delivered, and answers related questions when prompted. Even the youngest students can follow the audio prompts. Students will have fun as they work independently without interrupting their teachers or their parents.

SIP is Accessible to All Students

While there is an abundance of quality, technology-based, instructional resources on the market, accessibility remains a problem. Many of these require expensive equipment, such as computers and high speed internet connections. Students from affluent households can afford the hardware and connection fees required to access these resources; however, students from lower income households often cannot. The beauty of SIP is that it is available to everyone who has access to a phone, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Integrating Visual Learning Based Components

It is also easy to integrate content areas that have a visual component, such as learning the colors, shapes, digits (numbers), or sight words with just a few minutes of teacher or adult preparation time. Just color code the telephone buttons by placing colored stickers or tape colored paper on them. The color key is as follows: 1 black, 2 brown, 3 red, 4 orange, 5 yellow, 6 green, 7 blue, 8 purple, 9 pink, * (star key) tan, 0 white, # (pound key) gray. This works on any phone. Then, students can play “The Color Treasure Hunt Game”. For example, the system will ask the student to find the “Green” button. When students press the correct color (the 6 button), they get an encouraging response. When students press a color that is different from the color that has been named, the system will tell students what color they actually pressed and help them find the correct color. Remember, this  sticker concept works for almost anything which requires visual input, especially colors, shapes, digits, sight words, and so on.

Adaptive Telephones Help Students Overcome Physical Limitations

Inexpensive telephones with oversized buttons are very easy for students with vision problems or fine motor skills problems to use.  In fact, the phone shown in the illustration above even has a top row of buttons that are designed as one touch speed dial buttons with clear covers to hold small pictures.  A student who wants to practice learning the colors can dial the color program by simply pressing the speed-dial picture of the rainbow, while a student who needs help with sight words can press the pictures of the words and be instantly connected to the sight word practice program.

Automated Audio Content is Beneficial for Teachers, Too

Conclusion

The SIP - Supplemental Instructional Program - system gives classroom teachers a powerful and convenient tool to help them meet the unique instructional needs of all of their students. Its quality, standards-based content is just a telephone call away. Now, students who need extra help have access to an engaging, interactive and fun, audio-based learning program that is very easy to use. SIP can be used at school, at home, or anywhere there is a telephone.  The SIP system helps teachers work more effectively while helping them prevent vocal cord injures. SIP helps students work up to their potential. SIP also gives parents an instructional tool to use with their children, since the only equipment it requires is a telephone.

Further Information

For additional information contact:     

Supplemental Instructional Program (SIP)

The High Achievement Organization.   

(ii)Nelson, R. (2005, April 12). Teachers with voice disorders: Recent clinical trials research. The ASHA Leader, pp. 8-9, 11.