in*source hope article
Post on 05-Apr-2018
216 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 1/8
REPORTS
Spring 2012
Gloria L. WallFebruary16,1947 - January 16, 2012
On January 16, 2012, in Huntington,
Indiana, Gloria L. Wall lost her battle
with cancer, ending the long journey
she traveled with an enviable attitude,
with grace, dignity and a strength
that strengthened all who knew her.
During the twelve years that Gloria
served as an IN*SOURCE RegionalProgram Specialist supporting
families of students with special
needs in the Northeast Indiana area,
she gave denition to what it means
to be a true advocate. With her calm
thoughtfulness, she always focused
on the needs of students while
working collaboratively with school
personnel to resolve issues and
achieve positive results.
At the time of her death, Gloria
was serving in her second three
year term, representing IN*SOURCE,
as a member of the Indiana Commission for
Rehabilitation Services, a responsibility she
fullled with dedication and commitment, further
enhancing her ne reputation with her colleagues.
Gloria was so well respected by her co-workers,
by the families she supported, by the
school and agency personnel with
whom she worked, and by virtually all
who were fortunate enough to have
known her. Her colleagues continue
to comment on what an inspiration
she was and how they miss her, her
thoughtful approach to issues, herinsight and her warm and wonderfu
smile. She was, indeed, a role mode
to so many.
Our thoughts remain with her wonderfu
and supportive family . . . her husband,
Jim; her daughter, Erin; her son,
Ryan, and his wife, Kristy, and
their sons (Gloria’s grandchildren),
Dylan and Alex; her brother, Dan;
and her mother, Wanda.
We are grateful for the opportunity to
have had the opportunity to work with Gloria for
the past twelve years, during which she made an
important difference in the lives of so many. She
will live on in our memory and we will do our best
to honor her as we carry on her work and continue
to be grateful for her presence in our lives.
The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness.
Maya Angelou
A LIFE WELL LIVED
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 2/8
Page 2
From The Desk of the Executive Director. . .This is an interesting, exciting, challenging and a little
scary time in the evolution of our system of public
education. If our readers have not yet heard reference
to “Common Core State Standards (CCSS),” you surely
will. Since 2009, states led by the Council of Chief
State School Ofcers and the National Governors
Association Center for Best Practices have worked to
develop Common Core State Standards for our public
schools. Forty-ve states (including Indiana) and the
District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core
State Standards. The Common Core State Standards
have been developed to address the following ve
areas:
Preparation: The standards prepare students to be
college and career ready upon completion of high
school.
Competition: The standards are internationally
benchmarked to help ensure our students are globally
competitive.Equity: Expectations are consistent for all and not
dependent on a student’s zip code.
Clarity: The standards are focused, coherent, and
clear. Clearer standards help students (and parents
and teachers) understand what is expected of them.
Collaboration: The standards permit unprecedented
opportunities for collaboration across states and
districts. More than ever, educators may:
• Pool resources and expertise
• Create curricular tools
• Develop professional development
• Administer common assessments
Again, Indiana has adopted the CCSS. There is work
still to be done to set those standards in place across
the state, but we are moving down that path.
Indiana is also part of another multi state group…the
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers (PARCC). PARCC is a consortium of 24
states and the District of Columbia working together to
develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English
and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for
college and careers. The PARCC has 5 goals:• Create high quality assessments
• Build a pathway to college and career readiness
. for all students
• Support educators in the classroom
• Develop 21st century, technology-based
assessments
• Advance accountability at all levels
With the last school year, the PARCC launched and
began the design phase of the process. It is expected
to be phased in over the next few years and completed
in the summer of 2015.
Common core standards that reect a broad
consensus agreement around what we believe all our
students should learn and experience without regard
to where they happen to live…preparation that leads to
opportunities for further education and/or meaningfuviable employment…common assessments tha
measure progress and achievement…as ou
students succeed, our nation succeeds…Interesting
challenging, exciting.
What about this is a little bit scary? Well, maybe it is
just me, but I do get concerned when we talk about al
students. I do not in any way disagree with the goa
that all students will be successful and prepared to take
advantage of further education or career opportunities
I believe that that is exactly correct. However, if we
retool our system in ways that are potentially morerigorous, a bit more challenging…in ways that are more
standardized, and a bit less exible, some number o
students will not achieve those standards. If we build
our diploma track on required achievement of common
core standards and some number of students do not
achieve those standards, can those students earn a
diploma? Will we offer a different track that leads to a
different diploma? Will a different diploma have value
or currency? For students who are struggling, will we
be able to resist the temptation to push them onto that
“different” track and will we be too quick to do that?
am not referring to only students enrolled in speciaeducation. Although many special education students
are low performing on standard assessments, they
are not the only low performing students and are
generally not the most prevalent low performing
students. Further, research is showing that specia
education students, on average in most states, have
shown increased levels of performance since 2002
03. I hope we think about and plan for success fo
all students, success that will be recognized and
celebrated. It will be hard work but I cannot think o
anything more important.
Our friend and colleague Gloria was a good and ne
person. She made a difference and we are better fo
having known her. She is missed.
Have a great summer!
Best Wishes,
Richard Burden
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 3/8
Page 3
Hope for the Futureby Jane Fuentes, IN*SOURCE Bilingual Program Specialist
Saturday, April 7th was a very
exciting day for Jane Carroll
and me. We spent the day
in East Chicago conducting
the rst session of volunteer
training with eleven Spanish-
speaking individuals. The
women were from East
Chicago, Hammond and
Highland.
All of the class members
belong to a parent support
group called HOPE (Hispanic Organization of Parents
of Exceptional Children). For the last two years,
I’ve had the privilege of providing trainings at their
meetings.
HOPE is a resilient group of parents who are serious
about learning how to advocate for their children. The
group is led by Ofelia Jimenez, Sonia Reeves and
Maria Maldonado. Ofelia currently sits on the board of
the Down Syndrome Association of Northwest Indiana,
and serves as the area representative for Indiana
Family Voices. She can always count on Sonia and
Maria to promote HOPE, to recruit new members, and
to spearhead the behind-the-scenes labor necessary
to hold the meetings. There are always upwards of
25 attendees at these meetings, all eager to learnand apply something new. Preparing for the meetings
means getting a separate room for all the children,
lining up personnel to provide care and recreation
for them, assigning carry-in dishes, and making sure
someone brings the plates and cups and makes the
coffee. HOPE has been meeting for several years,
and its members are close, so it’s no wonder a HOPE
meeting can seem more like a family reunion. From
the very rst time I was invited to address their group,
the HOPE members made me feel like I was a long-
lost relative.
Fast-forward two years, and HOPE has again stepped
their mission up to a new level. While they truly
appreciate the services IN*SOURCE has provided,
they’ve become aware that we desperately lack
bilingual individuals to assist the Hispanic community.
Through our conversations, they’ve come to the
realization that as Hispanics, they are in the best
position to help other Hispanics. They may not know
all there is to know about Article 7, but they know the
Spanish language, they understand the culture and its
nuances, and they understand the school system.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic
Latino population in Indiana continues to increase
The 2011 Census reported that people of Hispanic
Latino origin make up six percent of the population in
Indiana, with the major concentration being in Lake
and Marion Counties. Those numbers explain why, as
IN*SOURCE’s program specialists, we’ve been busier
than termites in a saw mill in our efforts to get past the
language barrier to assist Spanish-speaking parents
It’s comforting to know that help is on the way.
I wish all of you could meet the members of HOPE
and especially those members of the group tha
are reaching out for the opportunity to partner withus. They are so appreciative of the support and
information IN*SOURCE has provided. I’ve shared
with them various presentations, I’ve attended thei
case conferences, and I’ve advised them over the
phone. From me they’ve learned about their rights
and options under Article 7 and IDEA, they’ve learned
about traversing through the school system and the
special education process. They, in turn, have taught
me that we cannot give up in advocating for all the
children with special needs. Language and culture
may serve to divide us, but our love for the children
who need our help is unconditional and is the bridgeuniting us all – staff and volunteers working to make a
difference.
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 4/8
Page 4
Indiana Department of Education - Updateby Nicole Norvell, Director of Special Education
Indiana Department of Education
Is it really almost
summer? As
we all enjoy the
nice weather thathas been upon
us, as well as
look forward to a
sunny conclusion
to winter, we are
in the time of the
school year where students dream of lazy days
without homework and teachers look towards
rejuvenating from the school year! At the Indiana
Department of Education we also look forward to
summer, as it gives us time to plan, evaluate the
previous year’s activities, as well as take time to
think about how to improve services for students
with disabilities. With this in mind, I wanted to
update you on some new activities for the 2012-
2013 school year from the Ofce of Special
Education!
I am very excited to announce that the Ofce
of Special Education will be funding two new
resource centers to provide technical assistanceto our local school districts. The rst resource
center will support teachers around the use of
the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
This center will allow us to support our special
education teachers in taking these standards
and making them applicable to our students. We
will ask this provider to give extra attention to
those teachers who educate our most severely
cognitively impaired students to ensure they
receive a rigorous academic curriculum that
matches their abilities. The Ofce of SpecialEducation is excited to be designating resources
to help teachers improve the alignment of the
CCSS to the goals within a student’s IEP and
ultimately strengthen the instruction teachers are
delivering daily.
Currently, the IDOE funds six resource centers that
are assigned to local districts that are exhibiting
noncompliance. As this model of providing
technical assistance has been benecial, it has
not allowed the current resource centers to work
across Indiana with those local districts that arestriving to exceed expectations and move towards
what is “best practice”. The second new resource
center will focus on providing technical assistance
to those local districts struggling with compliance
across multiple areas to ensure that all students
in those districts receive a Free and Appropriate
Public Education (FAPE). The development of
this new center will allow our current technical
assistance providers to function from a place of
being proactive, as opposed to reactive, ensuring
that all local districts can receive support in their
efforts.
As we move to the conclusion of the 2011-2012
school year, we are in the process of receiving
feedback from our Indiana parents on how our
local districts are facilitating parent involvement
through the parent survey. We would encourage
all of you to prompt the families you are working
with to complete the survey, as it helps guide the
work of the IDOE as well as local districts. Thepaper surveys for parents are to be distributed to
families prior to April 15th, or families can access
the survey online at http://surveys.wested.org/
s3/inps until the end of May. We look forward to
hearing feedback from Indiana families in order
to continuously improve parent involvement in the
upcoming school year!
Thank you to all of you for your continued hard
work and dedication
to students andfamilies. The Ofce
of Special Education
values our continued
partnership with you
and looks forward
to the continued
success of all
students!
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 5/8
Page 5
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 6/8
Page 6
Welcome New Staff
I am so excited to introduce myself to you as a
new Regional Program Specialist at IN*SOURCE!
I will be serving the wonderful people of Lake
County. I was born and raised in “the region” and
love my area of the state!
My husband, Chad, and I have been married for
14 amazing years! We have two wonderful sons.Damon is 13 and is a 7th grader at Lake Ridge
Middle School. He is intelligent, handsome,
talented and a really great kid. He is in the
percussion section in the school band and also
participates in cross country and track. Chase is
10 and is in 3rd grade at Longfellow Elementary.
He has a wonderful sense of humor! He also
happens to have a diagnosis of moderate Autism
He is in a gen ed classroom and the kids and staf
adore him!
I have worked in the disability eld for the last 8
years. I am a former Service Coordinator for FirsSteps. I have also worked as a Parent Liaison fo
About Special Kids. My passion has always been
educational advocacy and making sure parents
were empowered to help their children receive
the most appropriate services in the schoo
setting. Working at IN*SOURCE has given me
the opportunity to use my knowledge and passion
everyday to help parents like myself.
My goal as a Regional Program Specialist is
to assist parents in understanding the speciaeducation process and helping them establish a
good working relationship with their school team
I strongly believe that when schools and families
work together amazing things can happen!
Toni is assisting families in Lake county.
oni ModglinRegional Program Specialist
Hobart, IN(219) 689-4547
tmodglin@insource.org
I am honored and grateful to introduce myself as anew Regional Program Specialist for IN*SOURCE in
Region 7, serving Adams, Allen, Huntington, Wells,
and Whitley counties. I was born, raised, and currently
live in Fort Wayne, Indiana with my husband, Eric, our
two children, and our four-legged family member, Rex,
the cat. Prior to joining the IN*SOURCE family, I was a
registered veterinary technician in private practice for
six years followed by nearly nine years of veterinary
pharmaceutical inside sales.
Eric and I have been married for 11 years and aremembers of Covenant United Methodist Church where
I teach/help with Sunday school and Vacation Bible
School, and currently sit of the board of our preschool
program. In addition to being active in our church, I
am the parent member of the autism team for a local
Allen County school district. In my spare time, I enjoy
biking, walking, and spending time with my family.
We have two children. Our oldest, Zachary, is a 10
year old boy who is a basketball fanatic and loves to
golf. Zach received a PDD-NOS (a form of autism)
diagnosis nearly six years ago. Our family entered the
world of special needs advocacy well before Zach’smedical diagnosis Shortly after his rst birthday,
noticed developmental delays and sought intervention
through First Steps, Indiana’s early intervention
program. We transitioned into public specia
education preschool where Zach and our family were
blessed with a group of amazing teachers, aides, and
therapists who guided us through the process and
assisted with Zach’s rst IEP in kindergarten. For two
years, he received speech and occupational therapy
to address his ne/gross motor skills and language
Jill TomasRegional Program Specialist
Fort Wayne, IN(260) 619-3268
jthomas@insource.org
Continued on page 7
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 7/8
Page 7
Parent Survey 2011-2012
All parents of Indiana’s 164,000 students receiving
special education services should receive a paper
survey sometime during the second week of April
2012. This survey contains 31 questions designed to
measure parent satisfaction with their experience in
working with education staff at their children’s school
and the special education services their children are
receiving during the current 2011-12 school year.
Parents will receive the survey in a white business-
sized envelope from their children’s school.
Parents with more than one child receiving special
education services should complete one survey per
child. Additional paper surveys are available to parents
from their children’s school. Even though parentswill receive a paper copy of the survey, parents
with Internet access are encouraged to complete
the survey on-line by going to http://surveys.
wested.org/s3/inps/.
During the rst week of April, 2012, each Special
Education Planning District Director in Indiana will
receive a shipment of surveys to be distributed to
parents by mail or in person from school personnel.
Some surveys may also be sent home with the children
receiving special education services. If parents do
not receive a survey by April 16, 2012, they should
complete the survey on-line or request a paper
survey by contacting the person at their children’s
school responsible for overseeing the specia
education services their children receive.
The survey will
take about ve
minutes to complete
and all individual
responses will be
kept condential.
Completed surveys
must be completed
on-line or mailed
by April 30, 2012. Itis important for all
parents to complete
this survey so that
the Indiana Department of Education and Indiana’s
School Districts can improve the quality of specia
education services provided to Hoosier children
and their families. The results of this survey will be
sent by the Indiana Department of Education to the
U.S. Department of Education to fulll federal lega
requirements under Indicator 8 of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
delays. In addition to the special education preschool
setting, he also attended mainstream preschool at
our church to encourage inclusion, social skills, and
appropriate speech with neurotypical peers. Fast
forward ve years and today you’ll nd Zach sitting in
a general education 4th grade classroom with an IEP
where he is ourishing socially and academically and
loves to play kickball with classmates or run laps atrecess.
Lauren, our 4 ½ year old daughter is next in line. She
has attended PDO/preschool at our church for the
past three years and will be in a pre-K class next year
before entering kindergarten in the fall of 2013. Like
her older brother, Lauren loves to golf as well as play
soccer, sing and dance, giggle, and tell jokes. She
is very affectionate, greets you with a smile (majority
of the time), and loves to give hugs which nudges
Zach out of his comfort zone. With her ever-growing
vocabulary and out going personality, Lauren has
proven to be a great mentor for her brother. I have
no doubt this little girl will someday make enormous
contributions to this world in the name of all people
with varied abilities!
As a Regional Program Specialist, I will provide
accurate information to parents and professionals with
regard to the special education process to facilitate
informed decisions. It will be my goal to assist families
and school districts to work together in a positive
productive manner so that appropriate educationa
supports can be implemented to allow students to
achieve beyond measure and make their own unique
contribution to society. I am thrilled to be the newes
member of the IN*SOURCE team and look forwarding
to working with you!
Continued from page 6
7/31/2019 IN*SOURCE HOPE article
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/insource-hope-article 8/8
Updated Resources Available
N O N - P R O F I T O R G .
U . S . P O S T A G E
P A I D
S O U T H B E N D , I N
P E R M I T N O . 4 8 4
S O U R C E R E P O R T S i s p u b l i s h e d t h r e e t i m e s a y e a r b y t h e
i a n a R e s o u r c e C e n t e r f o r F a m i l i e s w i t h S p e c i a l N e e d s , 1 7 0 3
t h I r o n w o o d D r i v e , S o u t h B e n d , I n d i a n a 4 6 6 1 3 . I N * S O U R C E
O R T S i s f u n d e d , i n p a r t , t h r o u g h g r a n t s a n d c o n t r a c t s f r o m U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f E d u c a t i o n a n d t h e I n d i a n a D e p a r t m e n t
E d u c a t i o n . V i e w s e x p r e s s e d d o n o t n e c e s s a r i l y r e e c t t h o s e
h e f u n d i n g s o u r c e s .
1 7 0 3 S o u t h I r o n w o o d D r i v e S o u t h B e n d , I N 4 6 6 1 3 - 3 4 1 4
( 5 7 4 ) 2 3 4 - 7 1 0 1 ( 8 0 0 ) 3 3 2 - 4 4 3 3 ( 5 7 4 ) 2 3 4 - 7 2 7 9 F A X ( 5 7 4 ) 2 3 9 - 7 5 7 5 T D D E - M a i l : i n s o u r c e @ i n s o u r c e . o r g W e b s i t e : w w w . i n s o u r c e . o r g
“College and Post-secondary Services for Persons with Disabilities
in Indiana” is a document that is revised annually by IN*SOURCE
for the Indiana Department of Education. The 2012-2013 edition,
listing colleges and technical schools, contact information and
resources available for students with disabilities, is now available on
the IN*SOURCE website (www.insource.org). The 2012 Summer Camp List, containing brief descriptions of summer camps serving
students with disabilities, is also available on our website.
We encourage all families to take the short timeinvolved to complete the parent survey in order to
provide valued feedback.
top related