special education issues nori cuellar mora, ed.d. esc2 [email protected] associate director of...
TRANSCRIPT
Special Education Issues
Nori Cuellar Mora, Ed.D.ESC2
[email protected] Associate Director of Instructional Services
361-561-8501December 7, 2007
Introductions
What are the top 3 issues at your school concerning
special education?
What are some of the questions you have about Special Education?
Think about these throughout the session and write them down for the end of the session.
Special Education Main Page
Agenda Accountability Systems:
State Performance Plan Indicators Performance Based Monitoring (Disproportionality,
Dropouts, LRE, ISS ) Response to Intervention (Over-identification)
Legal Frameworks (law) SPEARS (data) Final Thoughts
Objectives
Become familiar with the State Performance Plan Indicators as to how they relate to the campus plan
Understand how Response to Intervention (RtI) is a general education issue with special education support as one of those interventions
Think of what you will share at your next staff meeting
Accountability Systems What types of Accountability are we faced
with in schools?
Group Findings:
TEA - Accountability LinksCommissioner's Rules
Overview of SPP: State Performance Plan
Six year plan submitted to OSEP. Evaluates the state’s efforts to implement IDEA Illustrates how the state will continuously improve Annual Performance Report (APR) shows progress
on measurable and rigorous targets and improvement activities
Data Collection
PEIMS: Personal Educational Information Management System
AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress
AEIS: Academic Excellence Indicator System
5 Monitoring Priorities20 Indicators (Performance and Compliance)
1. FAPE in the LRE
2. Disproportionality
3. Child Find
4. Transition
5. General Supervision
Why should general education staff be concerned about the SPP?
Monitoring will be based on district data
Students with disabilities make up a districts’ overall student population
Students with disabilities graduate with the same diploma as their non-disabled peers
Consider:
SO more sped dropout students means higher dropout rate for district!
Consider:
SO if inappropriate referrals are made--- if inappropriate referrals are made---
Child Find numbers create Child Find numbers create OVERidentificationOVERidentification
General education teachers are the General education teachers are the first staff members to indicate if first staff members to indicate if students should be referred to students should be referred to special education,special education,
Baseline Data and Targets We must meet or exceed State Targets for
EACH indicator. GENERAL EDUCATION communication is
the key to improved results. Referrals Key members at ARDs Inclusion State Assessment knowledge
State targets
Keep Your Eye on Data SPEARS:
http://hancock.tea.state.tx.us/tea.spears.web/
a. Child Countb. Instructional Settingc. Disproportionalityd. Exite. Disciplinary Actionf. Extended School Year
Performance Based Monitoring (PBM)
TEA - Performance-Based Monitoring PBM Manual
Child-Centered Process
How do we get from general education to special education?
Reflect on your campus’ process for referring students to special education.
What does that look like?
Write the major steps down.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Background to RTI State Directors of Sp. Ed. expressed concern
about rise in identified students with LD. Led to lack of confidence in discrepancy model as
means of identifying students with LD. IDEA 2004 authorized LEAs to utilize RtI. National Association of State Directors of Sp. Ed.
do not recommend one RtI model.
Background Continued National Institute for Child Health and
Development (NICHD) Studies: Research conclusion--- IQ achievement discrepancies to identify SLD delays treatment to students beyond the time when interventions are most effective.
Early Intervention is Critical. Assume FIRST that problem is with instruction--- not with the child.
Move from
Test and Treat
to
Treat and Test
IDEA 2004: Specific Learning Disabilities
“The LEA shall not be required to take into consideration whether the child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, reading fluency, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning.”
IDEA 2004 Specific Learning Disabilities
“In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local educational agency may use a process which determines if a child responds to scientifically research- based interventions.”
TEA’s RtI Summit Jan. 2006 Purpose:
Background Info Conversations with different populations Provide advisement to the state
What Is Response to Intervention?
A comprehensive, multi-tiered intervention strategy to enable early identification and intervention for students at academic or behavioral risk.
An alternative to the discrepancy model for the identification of students with learning disabilities.
A Standard Protocol Intervention … is scientifically research-based. has a high probability of producing change for
large numbers of students. is designed to be used in a standard manner
across students. is usually delivered in small groups. is often scripted or very structured. can be orchestrated by a problem-solving
team.
Key Characteristics of RtI Universal Screening of academics and behavior
Multiple tiers of increasingly intense interventions
Differentiated curriculum-tiered intervention strategy
Use of scientifically research-based interventions
Continuous monitoring of student performance
Benchmark/Outcome assessment
RtI Teaming and Decision-making
Universal Screening Instructional Grouping Intervention Monitoring student progress Outcome/Benchmark assessment
Equate to a Public Health Model
Different levels of Intervention based on your symptoms or outward signs of stress:
Slight fever? Aspirin and check periodically Broken arm? Intervene quickly Dr. doesn’t keep you at a level longer than
necessary
3-Levels of Support
Secondary Prevention
Specialized Group System For At-Risk Students
Primary Prevention: School/Classroom-wide
Tertiary Prevention: Specialized Individual System for High-Risk Students
RtI is not the ONE way to identify LDDr. Jack M. Fletcher
Teachers tend to refer based on behavior. Reduce reliance on teacher referral through
universal screening for reading and behavior problems.
Teach teachers evidence-based instructional strategies
Reserve Sped Ed for those who “need it.”
Why care about reading? Sp. Ed. Commission: 2/5 children in Sp. Ed.
because they can’t read adequately. 6% of all students in schools are identified
as LD 52% of the Sped population 90% with high incidence disabilities 80-90% of those identified as LD are
impaired in reading.
Data from National Institute of Health If students are not reading at grade
level by the third grade, the odds that they will ever read at grade level are only 1 in 17
By the 4th grade, 2 hours of specialized daily instruction is required to make the same gain that would have resulted from only 30 minute of daily instruction if begun when the student was in kindergarten
A Sense of Urgency A student in the 10th percentile reads
about 60,000 words a year in 5th grade A student at the 50th percentile reads
about 900,000 words in a year in 5th grade
Average students receive about 15 times as much practice in a year
Growth in fluency requires a lot of accurate practice
Sp. Ed. doesn’t close the gap Identification based on failure--- underlying
IQ discrepancy model--- has no scientific basis!
System oriented to procedural compliance---not services and outcomes.
How do you close the gap when student is already 3-5 years behind? (Intervene early!)
School-wide change
Not just ENHANCED pre-referral
services.
You’re closer than you think… Instructional Support DIBELS School Improvement Teams Effective Instruction Progress Monitoring Scientifically research-based
reading program Flexible Grouping Schoolwide screening Benchmark Assessment Student Centered Teams
RtI
Tier I: Core Class Instruction
Tier I comprised of three elements:
Progress monitoring of at-risk students
Ongoing professional development
In-class support and mentoring
Time: 90 minutes or more Assessment: Benchmark
assessments at beginning, middle and end of the academic year
Interventionist: General education teacher
Setting: General education classroom
Tier II: Small Group Intervention Tier II is individual or small group
intervention in addition to the time allotted for core reading instruction.
Tier II includes curriculum, strategies and procedures designed and employed to supplement, enhance and support Tier I.
Tier II: Small Group Intervention Focus: For students identified with
reading difficulties and who have not responded to Tier I efforts
Curriculum: Specialized, scientifically based reading curriculum emphasizing the five critical elements of beginning reading
Grouping: Homogeneous small group instruction 1:5
Time: 25-30 minutes per day in addition to the 90 minutes
Assessment: Weekly progress monitoring on target skills to ensure adequate progress and learning
Interventionist: Research provided Interventionist
Setting: Setting outside of classroom
Tier III: Intensive Intervention Tier III is specifically designed
and customized individual or small group reading instruction that is extended beyond the time allotted for Tier I and Tier II.
Tier III: Intensive Intervention Focus: For students identified with
reading difficulties and who have not responded adequately to Tier I and Tier II.
Curriculum: Individualized and responsive intervention emphasizing the critical elements of reading for students with reading difficulties/disabilities
Grouping: Homogeneous small group instruction
Time: 50 minutes per day in small group in addition to 90 minutes of core reading instruction
Assessment: Weekly progress monitoring on target skills to ensure adequate progress and learning
Interventionist: Research provided interventionist
Setting: Appropriate setting outside of classroom
Essential Components of RTI Seeks to determine what
instructional supports are needed to solve student achievement problems.
Requires that students be exposed to effective instruction before they are referred for special education
Eliminates a “wait to fail” model because at risk students get help promptly within the regular education setting
Changes the belief that something is wrong with the child to something is wrong with the instruction
Multiple tiers of intervention service delivery such as three-tier model
Problem-Solving Method An integrated data
collection/assessment system to inform decisions at each tier
Use of scientific research based interventions
Getting StartedDefine the Problem:
Data to determine IF a problem exists
Data to determine what hypothesis should be made
Data to determine WHY the problem is occurring
Develop A Plan:
What are we going to do about the problem?
What will be done differently? Who will do it? What are the goals of the plan?
Implement the Plan: Who will be charged with
implementing the intervention? What materials will be different; what
methodology will be used? Where will the intervention take place? When will the intervention plan occur? How long will the intervention be
utilized?
Evaluate the Plan: Where were we going? Did we get
there? Did the plan work? Were the goals of the intervention
met? Were the goals of the overall plan
met? Were we successful?
Consensogram
Questions?
Contact Information
Nori Cuellar Mora, Ed.D.Associate Director of Instructional Services
http://sped.esc2.net