FEBRUARY/MARCH NEWSLETTER 2016
Updates from Student Support
Emergency Response Protocol (the new Aversive Intervention Plan)
Effective Friday 2/26/16 IOL will be implementing an ERP (emergency response protocol) in the Plan/Services. In order for the IEP to be 100% complete you will need to select “no”.
When to use:
An ERP should only be used for those programs that use an isolation room as part of their program. If you have a student that is in need of regular intervention, please contact Ken Turcotte about this so that an appropriate behavior plan or ERP can be developed for this student. (ERPs should be rare).
We are covered for any potential restraints that might occur due to safety concerns under policy 3246, thus we will not be putting restraints into the ERP.
ESY
Thanks for participating in the survey about ESY. We had a fairly split vote, so we are going to leave ESY alone for this summer. ESY will be offered from June 27-July 28. We will be posting positions, so please be sure to provide us with accurate information about para support needed and whether you are interested in teaching your group of students.
Things you need to know:
1) IEP ESY determination paperwork due by May 4.
2) Staffing needs for your students due by May 4.
3) Letters to families and determination of transportation needs (if family absolutely cannot transport) due to district office by May 4.
4) We will post positions so that we have an actual contract and are able to pick up the actual amount of services we need by May 6 with a closing date of about May 20.
5) Mandatory case manager meeting of all ESY students on June 1st from 8-11 to update all information. You should also be prepared to put a "packet" of materials together for each student you recommend for ESY (that you aren't teaching). We will be doing a hand off during the last half of this meeting. More information to follow.
Thanks!
Transition to New buildings Spring process
So we have been working diligently to develop a more effective process to get information out to everyone and have a record of what the recommendations are for the teams. We are attempting to streamline this so that regardless of staff changes, there is a way to have access to this information. Here is the process that we have outlined thus far. Please be patient, we are trying to find a date that does not conflict with conferences and testing..... (enough said!)
- Step 1: Class lists were shared in a google doc for building teams to record the information.
- Step 2: Leadership (Kari, Skylar, & Cissy) are meeting with MDT groups at each building between Feb 17-Mar 4.
- Step 3: Leadership will meet with MDT groups to share the updated bump-up list with all the known students that are coming their way, along with an update on projected staffing. This will occur between March 14-April 1.
- Step 4: Bump-up meetings will be strategically scheduled so that building teams are able to meet with their respective sending schools. We are working on this schedule and will share this out as soon as we have the date and time frame. This will occur in March and/or April. We already have some building teams that are meeting after school with their receiving schools.
- Step 5: Schedule transition meetings with families and staff in May. We are requiring that the team record the decisions and discussion in the "NOTES" section of IEPonline so that it follows the student. We are providing an outline of what should at least be discussed so that we have an accurate accounting of the information we need going into summer.
- Step 6: Be sure IEP amendments are updated, ACCOMMODATIONS updated, transportation is updated, and materials/equipment have been ordered or a work order is in place prior to the last day of school.
SPELT UPDATES
In March, we are analyzing the data that is available to look for patterns to assist us with making some recommendations. This data will be shared out with all of you at the April 18 staff development day to explore in more depth what you all are doing, what the holes are, and places that we can update to better serve our students with disabilities.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Upcoming opportunities
1) Adaptive PE Work Session for PE/OT/PT staff on March 2 from 2:30-4:30 at Knox
2)Sped Staff PD on April 18 with 2 sessions from 3-4 or 4-5 at Knox
Jennifer Douglas Trainings!
1. I have had numerous requests for help with tech hours, so Suzie and I put together 2 trainings (primary and secondary) for our DLC/LS teachers in regard to using iPads in these settings. Teachers will use PD funds or tech hours for these trainings on the 29th and the 3rd.
2. I have a training this Thursday with Secondary Resource staff regarding data collection and have worked with Wendy Starkey on including some gen ed intervention teachers in this PD. (T&L funds will be used to pay me and staff who don't have PD hours left).
3. I have one more day planned with WA-AIM folks regarding entering final scores into Engrade. I plan to meet on Wednesday, March 23rd all day. (teachers will require full day subs for this day).
4. I am working with Michelle Baxter in T&L to train gen ed and special ed staff on Bridges Intervention modules. I have done 2, and have one at Hansen tonight and one planned in March for all staff who wish to learn more about math intervention. (this one comes from T&L budget).
Assistive Technology Help Sessions
Suzie is making herself available to have an open help session on Assistive Technology forms. Please feel free to bring your IEP or Evaluation for some help on completing the process -OR- just come to ask your questions and get a more hands on view of the process with support from Suzie.
Right Response Recertification trainings
March 4
April 18
Contact Lisa Morrison in Student Support if you need to schedule a recert training.
celebrations and kudos!
- We have a team of staff meeting to look at Adaptive PE in our district. Representative PE teachers, OT, and PT are meeting on March 2 to talk about adaptive PE ideas and strategies to support our student's development in this area and maximize their time in those programs!
- We are no longer disproportional for our ELL students who are being qualified for special education! Nice work to our teams who have been doing a great job prescreening and evaluating students appropriately. In the last 3 years we have gone from 25% of our ELL students also being served in special education to just under 15%. Very proud of all of our building teams!
How are we doing on our DATA!?
We are currently at 5%, which is similar to where we were last year. We really need to step up e-mailing our families after an IEP the link to the survey monkey and see if we can get more parent response back. We are shooting for 30%, which I am not sure we will get to, but if you could send all your families the link, it would be great to get some feedback.
Student count:
We were at 100% for Oct and November; 97% for December; January was 95%; and February is at 95%.
For February, the trends we are noticing are:
- that sometimes we are missing the dates due to parent request for the meeting (be sure to document in contacts and PWN), we can't count them, but it is understandable,
- we have consistently the last 3 months had IEPs that have been held, but the signature pages are not finding their way to our office (PLEASE GET THOSE SENT DOWN WITHIN 5 DAYS OF YOUR MEETING).
- Finally, we have students who have qualified for special education, but the Initial IEP hasn't happened yet (while these don't count against us, if the IEP was completed before the count day, we could get funding for those students that month).
The gist from Julie
Confidentiality in e-mails or other materials
IEP online tips
2) If you open up an IEP, then open up a new evaluation, your IEP will have attached to the old locked Eval. This is a problem and you'll have to delete your IEP and start over. Hopefully, you and your team will plan ahead so that you do this in the right order! :)
3) Signatures should be completed prior to sending it down. If a parent participated over the phone, please not that on the signature page and also in the "alternative participation" section of the contact log.
4) For any assessments that a student is participating in that is not a standard state assessment, you should have a statement explaining why the student is being tested in an alternate format. This includes SBA-Basic, WA-AIM, DAPE, etc. Very important to have more than just "student needs it" or "student took it last year". You should explain in 1-2 sentences why it is appropriate.
5) Remember in SDI, the service provider is almost always the certificated staff member. The 1:1 para should be listed as the concurrent related service. If a para is providing the service for the resource teacher, it is still the resource teacher that is providing the instruction to the para, so it is still the teacher providing the service.
upcoming events
Day of Champions is scheduled for Thursday, May 26that Tumwater HS Stadium. It runs all day. All of our special program DLC and Life Skills students go and participate.
For those of you who are new or have never gone, here are a couple of articles about it from last year. :)