StatetoState Information Sharing Community Meeting

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State-to-State Information Sharing Community
Meeting
Californias Plan for Support to Program
Improvement Districts and Schools A Focus on
Special Populations

• Silvia L. DeRuvo

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Program Improvement SupportSchool Assistance
Intervention Teams (SAIT)

• In collaboration with the California
  Comprehensive Center and other Federally Funded
  Content and Technical Assistance and
  Dissemination Centers, CDE has developed training
  for SAIT providers to support schools in creating
  strategic systematic change in order to improve
  outcomes for all students including students with
  disabilities and other special needs.

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Tools for Use with PI Schools

• For all students
• Academic Performance Survey (APS)
• For targeted support for students with special
  needs
• Educational Benefit Site review
• LRE Self-Assessment Site Tool

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Academic Program Survey (APS)

• Tool utilized by schools to determine if they are
  implementing the nine Educational Program
  Components (EPC)s
• (Considered to be crucial to an effective
  academic program)
• Instructional program
• Instructional time
• Principals instructional training
• Sufficiency of credentialed teachers training
• Students academic achievement monitoring
• Ongoing instructional assistance and support
• Teacher collaboration
• Lesson pacing
• Fiscal support

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Academic Program SurveyAreas that Address
Students with Disabilities
1. Instructional Program Students with
disabilities receive instruction in the most
recent State Board of Education adopted core/or
intervention programs in ELA and Math 2.
Instructional Time The master schedule reflects
appropriate, uninterrupted instructional and
intervention time in ELA and Math with
appropriate supports and accommodations for
students with disabilities
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Academic Program Survey Areas That Address
Students with Disabilities
3. School Principals Instructional Leadership
Training Schools principal and vice-principal
are trained on compliance with special education
law, the development and implementation of
standards-based instruction and strategies for
implementation of core curriculum and state
standards tailored to individual student needs,
and the alignment of IEP to the core curriculum.
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Academic Program Survey Areas That Address
Students with Disabilities

• 4. Credentialed Teachers and Teacher
  Professional Development
• All teachers including special education teachers
  receive training in ELA and Math through a State
  Board of Education authorized provider.
• Teachers are provided ongoing professional
  development and training on Special Education
  Law, development and implementation of IEPs that
  ensure access to the core curriculum for students
  with disabilities

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Academic Program Survey Areas That Address
Students with Disabilities
5. Student Achievement Monitoring Curriculum
embedded assessments are utilized for
monitoring the progress of students with
disabilities towards district benchmarks and IEP
goals. Assessment information is used to plan
targeted instruction. 6. On-going
Instructional Assistance and Support for
Teachers Support (coaches/core content experts
who are knowledgeable in special education
techniques) and instructional assistance is
provided to general and special education staff
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Academic Program Survey Areas that Address
Students with Disabilities
7. Monthly Collaboration by Grade Level for
Teachers General education and special education
staff involved in on- going collaboration in
order to plan lesson delivery and supports to
meet needs of all students 8. Lesson Pacing
Schedule Special education staff supports
district/school wide pacing schedules for
students with disabilities by consulting,
designing and or/delivery of differentiated
instruction 9. Fiscal Support School/district
general and categorical funds are used
appropriately to support the special education
program in all core subject areas in the school
plan.
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Key Special Education Issues

• The achievement gap between students with
  disabilities and their peers continues to grow
• Schools enter into Program Improvement often as a
  result of the scores of students with
  disabilities
• Students with disabilities assessed on grade
  level standards, using the same California
  Standards Tests as their peers, but are often not
  taught grade level skills
• If it is assessed, it must be taught!

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Why The Concern About Special Education?
In California 154 districts have been identified
as Program Improvement Districts in 2005 73
(47) of 154 districts identified for PI were
identified because of special education only 65
(42) failed AMO only 9 (6.3) failed
participation rate only 1 (0.7) failed both
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(No Transcript)
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In California, over half the students in grades
K-12 receiving special education services in
2003-04 were children with Specific Learning
Disability (SLD)
Source CASEMIS June 04
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What is Special Education in California?

• Specially designed instruction to meet the needs
  of
• individuals with exceptional needs whose
• educational needs cannot be met with modification
• of the regular instruction program. (CA E.C.
  56031)
• In California, Special Education on a general
• education campus has traditionally been
• provided in
• Special Day Class SDC
• Resource Specialist Program - RSP

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Students withMild to Moderate Disabilities(Tradi
tionally served in Resource Specialist Programs)

• Are assessed by taking the Grade Level California
  Standards Test with or without accommodations
• Receive special education intervention for less
• than the majority of the school day
• Services are provided in the
• general education setting with
• collaborative support
• general education setting with
• supplemental pull-out support
• school-wide intensive intervention program with
  specially designed instruction

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Students withModerate to Severe
Disabilities(Traditionally Served in Special Day
Classes)

• Are assessed by taking the Grade Level California
  Standards Test with accommodations
• Receive special education intervention for the
• majority of the school day
• Services
• are provided within the general education
• classroom or separate setting
• may be part of school-wide intensive
• intervention program which serves as the
• specially designed instruction

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Students withModerate to Severe
Disabilities(Traditionally Served in Special Day
Classes)

• Include the significantly cognitively impaired
  and who take an alternate assessment
• May be included in general education classes
• May receive core instruction in a special
  education setting
• May receive instruction in an alternate
  curriculum based on state standards
• May move between the core and classes with an
  alternate curriculum based on state standards

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What Special Education Has Been in California.
General Education Core Curriculum
RSP Program Remedial Instruction
SDC Classes Alternate Curriculum
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Special Education Has Too Often Been

• Remedial instruction emphasizing lower
  achievement standards
• Separate instructional settings based upon
  handicapping condition label
• Instructional levels based upon norm-referenced
  standardized assessments
• Separate instruction utilizing alternate
  instructional materials
• Program placement determining instructional
  materials and instructional levels

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Special Education in California is Changing to .
. .
The majority of students with disabilities being
Special Classes
integrated into accelerated school-wide
intervention programs
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Special Education An Accelerated Model

• Service delivery options changes
• Not placed in programs based on disability or
  program labels
• Students placed into services NOT a place based
  on curriculum based assessments
• Students have access to school-wide intervention
  program based on assessments
• Students provided access to the general education
  Core curriculum through appropriate services and
  supports.
• Special educators provide services wherever the
  student is receiving instruction
• General educators provide support through
  instructional practices that provide
  differentiated instruction and cooperative
  learning

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RtI Attributes and How It Relates to School-wide
Intervention

• Concept of multiple tiers of increasing intensity
• Implementation of differentiated curriculum
• Instruction delivered by staff other than the
  classroom teacher
• Varied duration, frequency and time of
  interventions
• Categorical and non-categorical placement
  decisions based on student need

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Level of services provided based on student need
Program Improvement (PI) INTERVENTION Models
INTENSIVE
Tier III
Time Program Group Size
INTENSIVE
SBE Adopted Intervention Programs used with
fidelity
Tier II
INTENSIVE
STRATEGIC
CORE SUPPLEMENTAL
Tier I
STRATEGIC
CORE with Differentiated instruction
BENCHMARK
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Making it Happen

• Performance goals need to be
• consistent for all students based upon
• the state standards
• IEP goals written to state standards
• Accommodations provided to scaffold standards
• Instructional strategies and assistive technology
  that support access to the standards
• Student placement determined by level of need
• Students move through school-wide system of
  intervention

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Intervention Based on Level of NEED A New
Direction for Special Education
Intensive
Tier III
Time
Program
Group Size
Intensive
ANCILLARY MATERIALS
Tier II
Transitional Intervention to
(more time)
SUPPORTS CORE TEXT
Strategic
Tier I
CORE TEXT
Benchmark
California Comprehensive Center at WestEd
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ALL STUDENTS BENCHMARK, STRATEGIC, INTENSIVE
STRATEGIC
BENCHMARK
RSP SDC EL EO
INTENSIVE
ALL STUDENTS
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Intervention Terms

• Intensive
• Two or more years below grade level
• Utilizing a state SBE approved intervention
  program that is considered the Core Program
• Additional instructional time required based on
  program model
• Small class size and fidelity of implementation
• Strategic
• One to two years below grade level standards
• Utilize Core grade level curriculum plus
  supplemental materials
• Increased instructional time while utilizing the
  supplemental materials to support the Core grade
  level text
• Benchmark
• Achieving grade level standards, but may require
  additional assistance
• Utilize Core grade level curriculum with
  differentiated strategies

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Scheduling and Instructional Time

• All students participate in the general education
  Core based on curriculum based assessment
  information and curriculum embedded assessments
• Students placed with peers of the same
  chronological age
• Master schedule reflects the inclusion of special
  education students in the Core
• Students assessed at least bi-monthly utilizing
  either curriculum based or curriculum embedded
  assessments aligned with the general education
  Core curriculum

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California Comprehensive Center at WestEd
Master Schedule
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Master Schedule Considerations

• Double block of time for intensive and strategic
  intervention
• Additional teachers for ELA and Math if possible
• Reduction of time from year long classes in
  science, social studies and PE to semester
  courses
• Shifting of special education teachers to
  classroom collaborative co-teaching instead of
  direct instruction
• Reduction of class size in intensive classes by
  adding teachers
• Shared collaboration time built into daily
  schedule

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California Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Self-Assessment and Continuous Improvement
Activities Tool
District level tool is used to examine practices
for students with disabilities in general
education environments.

• Standards-based curriculum, instruction
  assessment
• Professional Development
• Human Resources
• Data systems/data analysis/ongoing monitoring
• Parent and community involvement
• Fiscal operations
• Governance Leadership

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Least Restrictive EnvironmentSelf-Assessment
Tool Process
LRE Self-Assessment Tool available on-line at
http//www.wested.org/cs/we/view/pj/204 LRE
training on the tool available from the LRE
Resources Project. Contact Dona
Meinders dmeinde_at_wested.org
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Standards-Based Instruction Webinar

• The Webinar Covers
• Writing standards-based IEPs
• Implementing standards-based instruction
• Utilizing the standards for instructional
  purposes
• Developing pacing guides to support standard
  based IEP implementation
• http//www.schoolsmovingup.net/cs/wested/view/e/85
  1

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Contact Information

• For Further information contact
• Silvia L. DeRuvo
• WestEd Center for Prevention Early Intervention
• California Comprehensive Center
• 1107 9th Street, 4th Floor
• Sacramento, CA 95814
• [phone]
• Sderuvo_at_wested.org