Dianne Davis Department Head of Special Education - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Dianne Davis

Department Head of Special Education

Brockton High School

Session 63: Focused Programming for Students with DisabilitiesSlide2

Who am I?

Happiest person alive!

Who are you?

Teachers?

Administrators?

Paraprofessionals?

Other?Slide3

BHS By-the-Numbers

Comprehensive 9-12

4,367 current enrollment

79% poverty level

11% students with disabilities

14% transitional bilingual program60% speak another language in their homes; (30 different languages)Slide4

A Tale of Four Students

Rudy

Maria

Cody

SabrinaSlide5

The way we were…

Substantially separate classes for ALL.

Silos: special education, bilingual education, general education

“yours” and “mine”

Inequitable supports based on limited understanding of disabilitiesLow standards and expectation for SWDSlide6

T

he Catalyst for Change

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)

The test is a graduation requirement

Massachusetts has only one diploma

All students earning a diploma take the SAME test! **EXCEPT 2% (Don’t let me get started on this!)Slide7

MCAS data was abysmal for the whole school, but for SWD it was worse:

MCAS 1998

Failure

ELA

–

44% (SWD – 78%) MATH – 75%(SWD – 98%)Slide8

Model Schools

Rigor

Relevance

RelationshipsSlide9

Reflective Practice

Is this the best we can do?

Are our students getting equal opportunities for rigor?

Do we believe that ALL students should reach their full potential?

What has to change? Slide10

Turn and Talk

What one major issue are you struggling with in relation to students with disabilities in your school or district? What brought you here today?

3 minutesSlide11

Dismantled substantially separate classes taught by special education teachers

Reallocated teachers to the co-taught model

Culture shift: ALL means ALL

Shared responsibility: not “yours” and “mine”

RIGORSlide12

I Can’t!

I Won’t!

I Shouldn’t Have To!Slide13

But wait!

We didn’t do a lot of planning for the changes!

General educators weren’t asked and weren’t prepared.

Special educators needed to shift mindsets too!

Student needed help.

Parents were complaining. Administrators didn’t collaborate and often disagreed rather passionately.EVERYONE is frustrated!Slide14

The Individualized Education Program

How many of you read them on a regular basis?

Do you find that the document is:

easy to understand?

u

seful?

actionable? Slide15

Goals were cut-and-paste and not necessarily disability-related.

Anxiety disorder with a math goal

“If they are in a co-taught English class, they have to have an English goal!”Slide16

Focus #1: Create Meaningful IEPs

Make the IEP a manageable document that is easily understood and implemented with fidelity. Slide17

How we changed:

Communicated the need to stakeholders

Met with the two Team Chairs

Weekly meetings

Department Head reads every IEP and provides feedback to Team Chair.

Caution:

maintain spreadsheet to watch timelines!!!Maintained the focus at every department meeting and communicated via email when an issue arose. Slide18

Putting the “I” back in the IEP

Do not lose sight of the disability-related need! Keep asking “How does this support

‘s goals?”

3-5 accommodations

Ask:

Is this accommodation just a best practice? Positive reinforcement vs. Behavior Intervention PlanDoes this accommodation make sense? Preferential seating vs. seat to the right of the speaker as has hearing loss in right ear. Slide19

Have you ever tried to implement an IEP like this???Slide20

Hubs and Individual Schedules

While accessing content in general education without support, co-taught classes or substantially separate programs, students require additional supports. Assistive technologies are directly taught in some hubs. Slide21

A

ssistive Technology

Challenge:

Students are now accessing grade level difficult reading. They are in biology, social science, English, auto tech, etc. How can a student with a severe reading disability access at the same pace?

Answer:

e

lectronic text readersCaution: MatchingChallenge: Written language deficits hinder students from keeping up with peers. Answer: word prediction, spell- and grammar-check ONCaution: Matching AND keyboarding skillsSlide22

Focus #2: Be Proactive not Reactive

August PD

Reading IEPS and co-teaching prep.

September PD

Implementation supports

October PD Reflection and needs assessment November PDDifferentiated Instruction

March PD

Anatomy of an IEP

May and June PD

Schedules and TransitionsSlide23

Relevance and Relationships

Cited by the DESE for lack of student participation

High failure rates

Many disciplinary hearingsSlide24

Focus #3: Engage the Disengaged

Data teams that look at three areas:

Attendance = 3+

Suspensions = 10+

Grades = 2+Fs

Student Support Teams

Guidance CounselorTeacherStudent ParentSlide25

Suspension DataSlide26

Focus on

Student-driven IEPs

Give the students their own data

“You are smart!”

Strengths-based

All students must participate in their team meetings

IEP worksheet Educator evaluation goal (monitor)90% of students must have in folderSlide27

SampleSlide28

Student IEP Worksheet SampleSlide29

Student IEP Worksheet SampleSlide30

Student IEP Worksheet SampleSlide31

MCAS data was abysmal for the whole school, but for SWD it was worse:

MCAS 1998

Failure

ELA

–

44% (SWD – 78%) MATH – 75%(SWD – 98%)Slide32

MCAS 2014

Failure

ELA

–

(SWD – %) MATH – (SWD – %)

And now…..Slide33

Focus on what matters most!Slide34

Action Steps

3-2-1

3 big ideas

2 actionable steps

1 question you still have (please ask!)Slide35

Pick One:

http://goo.gl/HKxzQC

Paper

MSC App

QR Code

Session Evaluation

#ModelSchoolsSlide36

Thank you!

Dianne Davis

diannedavis@bpsma.org