Reynoldsburg City Schools
January 2009
Special Education Update System review leads to plan of action
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Q&A: Testing
2
How should students with disabilities participate in district and state tests?
Thoughtful Conversation
3
How are roles and responsibilities of special education and general education teachers regarding children with special needs determined?
Teaching Strategy
4
Priming Prepares Pupils Prior to
Site-based management has historically been a key component of Reynoldsburg’s approach to providing education, including special education. The Superintendent sought feedback on the effectiveness of this approach when he requested an outside review of Reynoldsburg’s special education system last spring. Greg Maloney, a consultant with the Educational Service Center of Franklin County, conducted the review. Recommendations and observations were provided in four major areas: •
Participation (REPRINT)
Quick Updates & Links
4
• • •
Relationship between RSD Central Office (CO) and the individual school buildings; Performance of SWDs; Compliance with special education requirements; and, Efficiency of operations.
This newsletter is intended to provide an overview of current activities with a look ahead to the rest of the year. If you have questions or comments, please contact: Cathy Bregar Director of Student Services 501-1036 cbregar@reyn.org
Priority areas for the 2008-09 year will be in the following areas as determined with input from the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Director of Student Services, Building Administrators, Psychologists and others:
1. Performance of students with disabilities on state assessments (including Alternate Assessment) 2. Allocation of resources 3. Implementation of new state operating standards for students with disabilities 4. District implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) 5. Services for students with disabilities, including support for students with autism, students with behavior needs, alternate placements and least restrictive environment A Plan of Action has been developed to address these areas. Activity is ongoing in all five areas. A future update will provide a progress report.
Click on the following links to read the full documents: ¾ ¾
Special Education System Review for Reynoldsburg City Schools: Final Report Plan of Action
Special Education Update
Page 2
Q&A: How should SWDs participate in testing? Questions have been raised regarding how students with disabilities should participate in assessments. Following are answers to a few commonly asked questions.
All testing accommodations or exemptions must be documented in the student’s IEP prior to the assessment.
What options exist for students with disabilities when taking state assessments? In Ohio, there are three ways to assess student achievement of academic content standards:
necessary to measure the student’s progress in the curriculum. The appropriate, allowable accommodations for participation in state-wide, diagnostic or district-wide testing in each area of assessment are also clearly reflected in the IEP and match accommodations routinely used in teaching and testing. Appropriate accommodations are determined by the IEP team to be necessary to accurately measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child.
participation in the regular assessments without accommodations (most students), participation in the regular assessments with allowable accommodations (many students with disabilities), and participation in the alternate assessments (small number of students with the most severe cognitive disabilities).
Participation decisions [e.g., accommodations and/or exemptions from the consequences of not passing the graduation test(s)] must be made by the IEP team on an annual basis. All decisions must be documented in writing in the student’s IEP BEFORE the student takes the tests. [Excerpt from Ohio Department of Education Office of Assessment: Assessment Rules Book, 2007-08Updated 3/24/2008]
How should the team determine testing participation and accommodations? The IEP must include a statement of any accommodations that are
The team must identify in the IEP any individual accommodations the child will need during testing. Accommodations must be selected carefully so that the test scores are not invalidated. [Excerpt from Section 7.5 of the draft Guidance Document to support the new Ohio Operating Standards]
What about district assessments (Common Assessments / Terra Nova)? Participation in District Assessments is the same as participation in state assessments as determined by the IEP team.
Page 3
Special Education Update Thoughtful Conversation:
How are roles of special education and general education teachers determined? In Reynoldsburg City Schools, we have high expectations for the performance of all our students, including students with disabilities. The federal regulations and state operating standards are clear that students with disabilities must have access to the general curriculum. The goals and objectives in the IEP are to help students access instruction in the general education program. The responsibility for meeting IEP goals and objectives is a shared responsibility of all staff. The special education teacher’s primary roles are to: • • •
Provide intervention according to the IEP to help students fill academic gaps, Teach students the skills and strategies to access the general education curriculum, and Collaborate with the general education teacher to support grade level standards.
The regular education teacher’s primary role is to: • • •
Teach the student with a disability the grade level standards, at the child’s level, through differentiated instruction, Follow all IEP instructional accommodations and modifications, and Collaborate with the special education teacher to reinforce and support nonacademic IEP goals.
General and Special Education teachers have shared responsibility for the following: • •
Planning coordinated instructional strategies; Communicating with each other, students and parents;
• •
Reporting progress (both on the report card and the IEP progress report), and Helping students on IEPs achieve at least one year’s growth in one school year.
On the next page is a reprint of an article that describes a powerful strategy for increasing the success for students with disabilities in general education activities. The strategy involves a coordinated planning effort so that the student is introduced to information or activities (e.g., vocabulary, lesson concepts, class expectations, etc.) typically by the intervention specialist, who then follows up after the actual lesson or activity occurs in the general education class or environment—again, by the intervention specialist. Another important consideration for collaborative design of instruction for students with disabilities is to start with a clear picture of the intended outcomes, both long and short range. Every IEP includes a statement of the parent and student’s vision for the future. At age 14, the IEP begins to articulate a plan for transitioning from school to work and/or postsecondary education. Students with disabilities are required to participate in Ohio’s Assessment System, with most students having to take and pass the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) to receive a diploma. Knowing where the student needs or wants to be provides the team with a destination from which to design an instructional road map that prioritizes the areas of greatest emphasis—academic, social, communication, sensory, access, independence, organization and/or accommodation.
Rule 3301-51-07 of the Ohio Administrative Code requires that the IEP include a statement of “the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child to (i) advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; (ii) be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum….; and (iii) be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities described in this rule.”
Page 4
Special Education Update
Teaching Strategy: Priming Prepares Pupils Prior to Participating Reprinted from the August/October 2008 FORUM, published by the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities – OCECD
sessions should be short. Material should be introduced; priming is not teaching, correcting, or testing.
Priming, an intervention that introduces students to information or activities prior to their use, is a low-cost, time-efficient strategy that helps students who need structure and predictability. Priming familiarizes a child with material before its use; introduces predictability into the information or activity, thereby, reducing stress and anxiety; and increases the child’s success. Priming typically involves showing students the materials that will be used in a lesson the day or the morning before the activity.
Priming typically consists of four steps:
The primer shows the student what will occur during the lesson by introducing the materials and class expectations. The primer may condense the activities onto an index card that the child can carry to class and refer to as needed. Priming can occur in the classroom or at home. It is most effective when it is built in as a part of the student’s routine. Priming should occur in an environment that is relaxing. The mood of the primer should be patient and encouraging. The priming
QUICK LINKS Click on the following links to access information from the ODE website:
Ohio Operating Standards for Special Education Statewide Assessment Accommodations for students with disabilities Special Education Forms
1. Collaboration – It is important to determine up front who is going to prime and what activities/lessons will be involved in priming. A resource room teacher may prime content for a general education classroom, a parent may prime, a paraprofessional may prime, or an older student may prime the child with disabilities. Priming may be needed for some activities but not others. It is imperative that collaboration occur between the teacher and the primer to address these issues. 2. Communication – An open line of communication must exist between the teacher and the primer. Some of the questions that must be addressed are: • Who will prepare the priming materials? • Where and when can the primer access the priming materials? • How will the primer notify the teacher that the priming has occurred? • How will the primer and teacher handle last minute changes in the activities/
• •
lessons that may not have a priming opportunity? How will it be determined that priming is an effective strategy? How will problems be addressed?
3. Is a scheduled meeting needed to overview how priming is proceeding? 4. Feedback – The teacher and primer should determine how feedback should occur. Some may choose to use a form that reports how priming went during the session and its results during the lesson/activity. This type of communication is efficient without being time consuming. If problems occur during priming, brainstorming sessions may be needed to alter the sessions. Priming is a relatively easy and timeefficient strategy to help children and youth improve their academic and behavioral skills. An investment in priming can increase students’ confidence and reduce stress and anxiety. Author Brenda Myles is a leading expert in autism spectrum disorders and a professor at the University of Kansas.
Training planned for new rules, forms Ohio’s special education rules have been updated in response to changes in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004. The intent of these requirements is to ensure that children with disabilities have equal opportunity, full participation in education, independent living and economic self-sufficiency. Once the supporting overall Ohio Guidance Document and the new IEP and ETR forms are finalized, training
opportunities will be provided to staff. This will begin early this year. The current required forms, PR-01 to PR-07, will NOT change for the 20082009 school year. The Evaluation Team Report (PR-06) and the IEP form (PR-07) will be modified during the 2008-2009 school year based on stakeholder input. The revised version of these two forms will be required in the 2009-2010 school year.