Samuel R. Coleman

Culminating Activity Project

EXC 655B

Introduction

I started working in public schools in 2001 as a long term substitute teacher. I worked in SDC

and RSP classes with students who had special needs. I enjoyed working with students but I became

aware of the challenges that my student had to face in order to learn. I noticed that there were a variety

of factors that appeared to impacted the learning process. As I earned my single subject and

preliminary special education (mild/moderate) teaching credentials, I gained experience working with

students at the elementary, middle, high and adult transition programs. I began to notice patterns in the

success and failure of students that I worked with. I began to ask for support from master teachers and

district support providers on how to best support struggling students. I also began to study and reflect

on the writings of Abraham Maslov (Hierarchy of Needs), Daniel Pink (Motivation) and David Allen

(Getting Things Done). From these text I realized that in order to understand the needs of struggling

students one needs a systematic approach to identify the factors that are impacting a students' academic

achievement. The challenge is to create a system that is easy to understand, implement and monitor.

Rather than recreate the wheel, I decided to start with an existing system and to adapt it. I started with

the SST (student study team) model.

A student study team is defined as, “. . . positive school-wide early identification and early

intervention process. Working as a team, the student, parent, teachers and school administrator identify

the student's strengths and assets upon which an improvement plan can be designed

(http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ai/dp/sb65sst.asp)”.

When I first discovered this model it appeared to provide most of the elements needed to

identify the factors that prevented a student from achieving academically:

1) positive approach

2) school-wide

3) early identification

4) early intervention

5) collaborative process (teachers, parents, students, administrator(s)

As I began to research how different schools and school district implemented student study

teams, problems began to surface.

1) Every school site and or district implemented student study teams differently

2) Interventions appeared to be ad-hoc

3) Monitoring of the students' ongoing progress wasn't consistent

4) All stakeholders didn't have current data to make timely and needed adjustments to

interventions

5) Student could manipulative the situation due to lack of communication between school

and home

6) No universal metric to determine area of need and type of intervention needed to support

student.

After dissecting the SST model and modifying it based on trial and error, I came up with an

easy to use system that I believe addresses the aforesaid areas of concern. I call the system 1st Bell.

1st Bell

I created 1st Bell in 2004 and have continued to make adjustments over the years. The following

is a description of the latest iteration of the system. The following is a description of the typical

implementation time line and associated tasks.

Beginning of the school year

All staff to be trained on 1st Bell model. All staff: teachers, para-educators, and classified staff

are trained to identify students who are at risk. Staff focuses on ABA's: attendance, behavior &

academics. For example: if a teacher notices that a student is struggling with a subject within the first 4

to 6 weeks of the school year, that student should be referred to the 1st Bell team for review. Or if a

custodian notices that a student is skipping class within the first 4 to 6 weeks of school, the student in

question should be referred to the 1st Bell team for review.

The goal here is to identify students early in the school year (first 4 to 6 weeks) who have

attendance, behavioral, and or academic challenges. E threshold for being refereed needs to be

determined by the 1st Bell team at the site, given the population and the needs of the school. I

recommend the following:

1) If a student misses more that 3 days within the first month of school – refer to 1st Bell team

2) If a student has more than 2 behavioral incidents (poor behavior, fighting, etc – refer to 1st

Bell team

3) If a student has failed more than 2 quizzes/tests within the first month of school – refer to 1st

Bell team

1st Bell referral team review

This process is similar to the typical SST process. Teachers, counselors, administrator, parent(s)

can and should participate in the process of looking at student data (attendance records, previous and

current grades, work samples, teacher and paraprofessional observations and parent input. The goal is

to determine the area of student need: attendance, behavior and or academic. Next the team needs to

select the appropriate intervention(s) needed to provide the student with the best opportunity to succeed

Site based Interventions

The interventions need to be selected by the individual school site. This is to ensure buy-in

from the staff, to ensure that the school site only selects interventions that are sustainable (not

dependent on the district) and reflect the needs of the students being served.

All staff trained to identify at risk students

Once the school site has selected the interventions (attendance, behavior & academic) all

stakeholders need to be trained on how to identify students at risk. Be aware that all staff: teachers,

para-educators, secretaries, custodians, cafeteria workers, anyone who encounters students on the

campus need to be trained to identify students at risk. This is one of the strengths of 1st Bell. Very few

students slip thru the cracks when all eyes are trained and focused on the signs that a student is

struggling.

Each site needs to develop an at risk metric, however it is safe to say that three areas are major

areas of focus: attendance, behavior, and academics. The following are a few examples to illustrate the

aforesaid areas of focus.

A custodian notices a group of juniors and seniors cutting class after lunch the fist few weeks of

school. Uncertain of the students names, he/she gets in contact with the assistant principal to report

that the students are going truant after lunch. After meeting with the assistant principal and identifying

the students, a 1st Bell referral is made.

A cafeteria worker notices a group of unruly students who bully other students, throw food all

over the cafeteria, and cause general havoc notices the names of the students when they hand him/her

their lunch cards. After making a note of the names, he/she contacts the 1st Bell coordinator to report

what he/she has witnessed. After reviewing the students cumulative file (attendance, behavior, and

academics) a 1st Bell referral is made.

A para-educator notices that a student with special needs is often absent when ever there is a

test. The pare-educator brings this to the attention of his/her teacher and 1st Bell coordinator. A review

of the students' cumulative folder reveals areas of need. A 1st Bell referral is made.

The examples listed are simplistic but make the point that anyone that notices a student with

some apparent (or not so apparent issue) can in fact be pivotal identifying students at risk and start the

process that will ultimately provide the support and interventions that are needed.

Implementation

Now that the staff has developed site based interventions and trained all staff in identifying

students at risk, we move on to implementation. The first 4 to 6 weeks of the year or semester is

critical. I advise schools to not write discipline referrals at this time. If a student is engaging in offtask

behaviors, a 1st Bell referral is typically more appropriate. Further, this will hold true as it has been my

experience that the students that have problematic behaviors on a consistent basis represent 3 to 5

percent of your student population. So if your school has 1000 students, the number of students with

the most involved problem behaviors will typically number between 30 to 50 students. If your

percentages are significantly higher, you most likely have a systematic issue with poor classroom

management on the part of classroom staff (teachers and para-educators), which will most likely

require training and increased administrative oversight.

Once students are identified and the 1st Bell team has determined the appropriate interventions

and supports needed, a case manager/point person is assigned to check in with the students each

morning prior to the 1st Bell of the day. During this check in period the monitor is required to check the

following:

1) Ask the student how he/she is doing (to determine his/her readiness to learn )

a) Did student get enough sleep

b) Is student hungry – if so send to cafeteria or provide fruit/snacks/etc

c) Is student dressed appropriately – if not provide a school sweat shirt

d) Does student have books and materials – if not provide what is needed

2) Establish reporte with student and show genuine interest. Positive attention and

reinforcement from an adult can go a long way in helping a student to be successful at

school.

After the daily check in has been completed, the student goes about his/her regular day. A few

minutes prior to the end of each period, each teacher reports via email to the 1st Bell list serve and

reports on the daily progress of each student in his/her class who is receiving 1st Bell support. In a

typical class of 30 students, given a school wide participation rate of 3 to 5 percent, the typical number

of students receiving 1st Bell support is usually 1 or 2 kids. Thus sending 2 emails per period doesn't

represent an extensive amount of work. Furthermore, the email typically will look something like this:

FROM: Mr. Jones (1st period – English)

TO: 1st Bell List Serve

SUBJECT: Tom Boy

arrived to class on time today

off task and needed to be redirected two times

has not turned in assignments 1 and 2 (Math book pages 12-13)

That's it. I suggest that the information is clear concise and to the point. The benefit of this

approach is that it doesn't create a burden to the instructors, subsequent teachers can read the emails

and be aware of potential issues without having to talk to other teachers, and at the end of the day

parents and or guardians will have a running account of the students' day.

Program monitoring & evaluation

Once this system has been in place for at least 12 weeks the 1st Bell team can convene to

determine if the interventions have been effective. The members of the team should include all the

instructors that see the student, an administrator, counselor, school psychologist, nurse, parents and or

guardians.

After the team reviews the data created and collected via the list serve, a discussion should be

had to determine the effectiveness of the intervention(s). Honest conversations will be better received

if the team sticks to the data collected via the list serve. Based upon my experience areas where teams

have trouble are:

1) Parent and or guardian has difficulty accepting the fact bore out by the data

2) A few teachers are not implementing the interventions with fidelity

3) Teachers are not dutiful in sending the emails

4) Teachers are not dutiful in reading the emails and making adjustments based on

observations and the data

5) The data suggests that the teacher might be the cause of the students' issues in the class

When these instances occur it is critical that the site administrator take the lead and determine the

causes(s) and solution(s) that are required.

After the 1st Bell team has reviewed the data gather over a 12 week period, the team needs to

determine the following:

1) If the supports and interventions have helped – fade or maintain support

2) If the supports and intervention have not helped – adjust support or consider higher level

of care

Again, the site needs to determine the metrics that will be used to measure program success. If

after a careful review of the data indicates that a higher level of care is required, than the team should

consider a variety of interventions and supports to address the students' needs. Supports and

interventions that might be considered but not limited to:

1) RTI support

2) 504 accommodation plan

3) A referral for special education assessment(s)

4) family counseling

5) A reading intervention program

There are numerous interventions that could and should be considered. Again the key is to careful

consider the data and the needs of the student. Please bear in mind that 1st Bell provides a framework

and systematic approach to the early identification, development and implementation of appropriate

supports and interventions for students at risk, with a focus on attendance, behavior and academics.

Results and Conclusion

I have experienced a level of success implementing the 1st Bell system. In fact during my

tenure at Eastlake High School, one the departments under my supervision (special education)

experienced significant gains in the areas of increased student achievement, higher attendance rates,

and few behavior referrals (2007 to 2009). Most of this information can be verified via the California

Department of Education website [Eastlake High School, Sweetwater Union High School District 2007

to 2009].

Upon careful reflection I have learned that all students (especially those with special needs)

require supports and interventions that are holistic in scope, and that address attendance, behavior and

academic interventions. I believe that I have put together a systems that does just that.