Exceptional Education Newsletter
September 2022
IN THIS ISSUE
- Compliance Corner
- Intensive Support Corner
- Message from the Behavior Analysts
- Assistive Technology Tip of the Month
- Message from Transition Mentor Teachers
- Professional Development Opportunities
- Shout outs
- Previous Issues
COMPLIANCE CORNER
I hope all schools are having a great start to the 2022-23 School Year!
Continue to ensure that all students have a Case Manager assigned. If you have a student in the initial eligibility process, assign the ICC as the case manager until the process has been completed.
Work on obtaining parents' signatures to finalize and ensure that the IEP process is compliant in VA IEP. No services in the current IEP can be provided until the parent has consented. Student services will be based on the last agreed upon IEP. We want to ensure that we are prepared for our DEC 1 Child Count.
Updates:
- Elementary ICCs Meeting- September 20, 2022 1:00-2:30
- Secondary ICCs Meeting- September 22, 2022 1:00-2:30
- Both meetings will be held in the library at Norrell-2120 Fendall Avenue
- New ICCs Meeting Virtual - September 16, 2022 1:30-2:30
- ICC Advisory Committee Meeting Virtual- September 29, 2:30-3:30
The Exceptional Education School Opening Certification Checklist 2022-2023 is due by September 23, 2022. Please upload the signed copy to your school's 2022-23 School Opening Form folder. This folder can be found in your school's G-Drive.
Indicator and Reports Directions:
- September updates to the December 1 Child Count, Indicators 9, 10, 11, and the Out of Compliance Spreadsheet are due on September 23.
- October updates are due on the 28th.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at twhite11@rvaschools.net or call (804)551-2003.
1. Instructional and Compliance Coordinators (ICCs) should indicate "none," followed by the month of submission when there is no new information to report.
2. Revisions to the Out of Compliance Report should be captured monthly under the ICC Comments. All students listed on the spreadsheet should have an update. If there is no update next to each student, the spreadsheet will be deemed non-compliant. For students who require a parental signature ONLY, there must be an indication of how case managers reached out to parents to obtain signatures.
3. As schools hold IEP meetings for English Learners, Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP) teachers should be invited to participate as team members.
INTENSIVE SUPPORT CORNER
Unique To-Do’s…
Beginning of the month,
Complete Unit 21 Pre-test on all Students
Update Student Grade Levels
Middle of the month,
Update K-12 Student Learning Profile (all) and Transition Profile (secondary only)
End of the month,
Complete Unit 21 Post-test on all Students
Strategy of the Month
MESSAGE FROM THE BEHAVIOR ANALYSTS
BCBA Referral Form
RPS Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) have a convenient way for you to request support at your school. The BCBA Referral Form can be used by building level administrators and/or ICCs to request the division BCBAs to provide support in the form of professional development, coaching, and other training opportunities for your school staff. If you are a classroom teacher and have concerns about a student’s behavior or would like to discuss class-wide behavior support for students, please work with your ICC and/or administrator to reach out!
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TIP OF THE MONTH
1) Object Schedule
2) Visually Busy Schedule
3) Example of Icon and Spacing
Visual Schedules for Students with Visual Impairment
A visual schedule is a great low-tech tool that many teachers already have in their “toolbox”. Students with different types of visual impairments (VI) may require a few tweaks or adjustments to the typical visual schedule for greater success.
1. Students with Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) often have difficulty transitioning from the concept of a 3D object to a 2D representation so, for these students, 3D objects can be more effective. Students with VI usually prefer bold colors like red or yellow, so items in these colorways may be even more beneficial!
2. Schedules similar to this example are extremely busy and colorful. Super cute! But a visually busy schedule is likely overwhelming for a student with visual impairment. Most of the time “less is more” for students with visual impairment! Fewer pictures at a time with stark contrast and less complicated pictures will be more effective.
3.Visuals with simplified icons and strong contrast with more spacing around the picture as well as simple pictures in black on a yellow background are often suggested for students with VI. For example, the picture for “lunch” in the busy schedule (2) could be shown with just a lunchbox in a strong outline.
MESSAGE FROM TRANSITION MENTOR TEACHERS
Transition Tip of the Month:
It’s never too early for students to start thinking about their futures. This doesn’t mean heaping pressure onto already over-scheduled kids—just gently lifting their gazes to the horizon from time to time.
Showing students the big picture starting in middle school and continuing through high school will make planning for the future feel like a natural part of growth and development. By opening conversations about career paths at an early age, you may catch kids before they’ve been overly influenced by friends, family or the media, allowing them to consider all possibilities. With time to reflect on what they’re good at and passionate about (and how their likes and dislikes have changed over the years), students will begin to see how to chart their own path toward an end goal, rather than plod through school grade by grade. Career planning can become an exciting element of school—a not-so distant shore to swim toward.
Coming soon!! Transition Mentor Teachers will be meeting with staff from each secondary school to support the transition vision of each individual school.
Services we provide: Supporting case managers with the transition section of the IEP, administering and interpreting transition assessments, IEP review, and much more! Please reach out to us any time!
Mark your calendars! The following partners will be in your schools this year!
DMV will help students obtain state IDs and Real IDs, which are employment requirements.
Huguenot: September 27th
Thomas Jefferson: October 12th
Other schools to be scheduled in the near future
GRTC will provide information sessions and free bus tours around the city.
Huguenot: October 17th (tentative)
Other schools to be scheduled in the near future
Virginia Credit Union will present a financial workshop for students to learn how to save money and develop skills for spending money wisely. Students will even be able to open checking and savings accounts!
Huguenot: October 26th
George Wythe: October 11th (tentative)
Armstrong: November 9th
John Marshall: November 15th
Thomas Jefferson: to be scheduled in the near future
Darlene Slade: Huguenot High, Thomas Jefferson High, River City Middle
Selina Wilson: John Marshall High, Henderson Middle, Richmond Alternative School
Karen Young: George Wythe High, Lucille Brown Middle, Boushall Middle
Rebecca Parks: Armstrong High School, Martin Luther King Middle School, Albert Hill Middle School, Binford Middle School
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
This summer VDOE and PCG hosted live webinar training that provided an overview of how to create an IEP using Virginia IEP. The recording of this two-hour training can be found at this LINK and also within the Resources section of Virginia IEP.
VDOE, in collaboration with Stetson Education, created the Meaningful IEP Meetings Online Modules to increase IEP team members’ understanding of the IEP process, including the basics and components of the IEP, roles and responsibilities of team members and evaluating the IEP process.
VA IEP Training
Section 504
Pre-referral
EDPlan Playbook
VDOE Fall 2022 Cohort Journey into Teaching Academy
This is a yearlong professional development initiative for teachers completing their second year of teaching at the end of the 2021-2022 school year and entering their third year of teaching during the 2022-2023 school year as a provisionally licensed special education teacher. The Academy provides teacher support beyond mentorship in an effort to enhance the retention, as well as the overall performance of provisionally licensed special education teachers. Completed applications and recommendations are due to the VDOE by September 23. See Superintendent's Memo 163-22 for details.
2022 CTE High-Quality Work-Based Learning Guide
The VDOE collaborated with stakeholders to review and revise the CTE High-Quality Work-Based Learning Guide. Technical content revisions and new program content in certain areas was added to provide local school divisions with consistent messaging regarding high-quality work-based learning experiences. The Guide focuses on all 12 types of WBL methods used in Virginia. It includes Virginia regulations and guidelines for the administration of HQWBL and provides training materials for work-based learning teacher-coordinators. See more from VDOE!