EC Newsletter: May 2018
Exceptional Supports for Literacy & Learning
Welcome to the EC Department's Monthly Newsletter!
Do you have ideas for future newsletter topics, teachers/service providers who should be featured, or general feedback? Let us know by emailing ashley1.kogutkiewicz@cms.k12.nc.us.
Our staff is EXCEPTIONAL!
Recipients of the Dr. Jane Rhyne Continuing Education Scholarship
Georgia McCoy
Michelle Babiak
Lynn King
Community House Middle School creates "Office Assistant" position for CMS EC grads
"Recognizing that our mission in CMS is to develop college and career readiness in our graduates, there was a need to offer careers for some of our graduates who might otherwise not have such opportunities" said Community House principal Jamie Brooks, who worked last year to create and approve a new job description for an “Office Assistant” position. The qualifications for this new position allow for graduates from our OCS program to be hired back here in CMS. One such young man is Ryan Neelsen, a 2017 Ardrey Kell graduate with autism. Ryan is now working full-time as an office assistant at his former middle school, Community House. Ryan is a hard working young man who assists the front office and the staff with jobs such as making copies, delivering items to classrooms, data entry, sorting and alphabetizing all while being known as the most friendly member of the CHMS team. The rewards of offering employment to our OCS students is two-fold…the school benefits from the extra help and support while the employee gains invaluable work experience and a true boost to self-esteem. "This is a win-win we would love to see happen across the district!"
Huge shout out to Jamie Brooks and the Community House team for making this happen!
Literacy Resource of the Month
High-Leverage Practices (HLPs) in Special Education
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the CEEDAR Center at the University of Florida have identified 22 High Leverage Practices in Special Education applying to K-12 EC teachers. The practices are categorized into four areas: collaboration, assessment, social-emotional-behavior, and instruction. Practices identified as HLPs met the following requirements: fundamental to effective teaching, used frequently by teacher, cut across instructional content, apply to lots of different age levels, apply to different types of learners, and most importantly, improve student outcomes. The High Leverage Practices website will be adding videos and other resources to their website, and the CMS EC Department will host professional development highlighting HLPs in the fall, 2018. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with these HLPs and reflect on your teaching practices!
Link: HLP PDF http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CEC-HLP-Web.pdf
Link: HLP Resources https://highleveragepractices.org/
Compliance Tip of the Month
The Special Education Student Record Review Protocol is used as a guide for auditing folders for compliance. CMS conducts a yearly audit using this tool, and DPI also uses this tool as part of a compliance review that occurs every 5 years. A review was recently completed by DPI in April 2018. The results were mostly positive. The following areas were areas of growth for our district:
*please note the correction in the "Employment Example" below. The original example sent on May 1 had an error in it.*
ECATS Update
At the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, North Carolina will transition to a statewide documentation platform, Every Child Accountability Tracking and System (ECATS), for Special Education and Electronic Services Documentation processes. Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) will be included in the platform at a later date. In addition, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will introduce revised EC forms and processes as part of the new system. Ongoing training will be provided for all impacted staff on the revised forms, processes, and platform. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/ecats/
EdPlan (EasyIEP) will shut down permanently on June 18 so that student data can be migrated from EdPlan to ECATS. IEP Teams must finalize all active (open) documents and processes on or before June 12, 2018, because any student information that is in draft form will be erased. Procedures are being developed to ensure that schools will have access to all necessary data during the black-out period.
If an IEP Team needs to complete IEP documents during the black-out period, the team will:
· Print the forms from the NC DPI website
· Complete all processes on paper
· Complete the Key IEP Event Data Points form after each meeting (so that the information can be added to the platform)
· Attach any documents to the student record when ECATS opens.
To ensure a smooth opening of schools, it is recommended that schools complete the following before the Black-out period starts:
· Eligibility Determination meetings for open referrals
· Active Extended School Year Eligibility Determination meetings
· All annual reviews, reevaluations, Private School Services Plans (PSSPs), and BIP Progress reviews due by September 15, 2018
· All signature pages, Transfer Student Records, Evaluation Reports, etc. faxed into EasyIEP
· Confirmation that Student EC folders contain copies of all documents
Training for ECATS will be provided to EC staff during the August teacher workdays.
Questions? Contact kim.capuano@cms.k12.nc.us, Compliance Specialist, or nancy.harver@cms.k12.nc.us, Administrative Specialist.
Did you know...
Help Your Students Combat Text Anxiety
Research shows test anxiety can affect anywhere between 10 to 40% of all students. Anxiety impacts a student’s working memory, making it difficult to learn and retain information. Movement, breathing, and creating a calm environment may reduce stress and assist students in being more mentally prepared to take the test.
Learning & Teaching Gateway
Check out the amazing resource hub that the CMS Learning & Teaching Department has created for all grade bands and content areas!
https://cms.instructure.com/courses/198074Want to receive great weekly updates from the CMS Elementary Literacy Team? Fill out this form to be added to their distribution list! http://bit.ly/2yYwOim
One Access
Professional Development Opportunities
Did you know that the EC Department regularly offers in-person, virtual, or blended Professional Development as well as role-specific Support Groups? Click the link below to see upcoming opportunities and join us for one soon!
Upcoming EC Department Events
Staff Round Table #4
Tuesday, May 1st
4:00PM-5:00PM
West Mecklenburg High School
To learn more information about future Round Tables, please click HERE.
Archived Communication
Too many emails and not enough time to read all of them? Take a quick look at our consolidated EC Department Communication Archive to see recent messages that may have come your way from the EC Department and make sure you didn't miss anything important!
Happenings in the broader Special Education Community
Social Media
Important Contacts
Need help but not sure who to ask?
Our teams are here to give you the support you need! Click HERE to see who from the EC Department supports your school.
Don't forget about the EC HelpDesk who can also answer any questions that you may have!
980-343-2724