January Newsletter
Upper Moreland Township School District Special Education
Happy New Year!
January is a great time to make a resolution to increase or keep up your communication with parents. Send a monthly newsletter, make at least 5 phone calls per week or have your student's next writing project focus on creating a class newsletter.
To use Smore (where this newsletter is created) head to SMORE.com. There is a free version or a paid version to choose from. Also, Google docs can be utilized to create and edit newsletters. Consider using Google sheets to create a phone log to track your phone calls.
Whatever you decide, communication between home and school is a proven best practice for increasing student achievement scores. If you have any questions or would like more specific examples, feel free to email me. (mlutz@umtsd.org)
Special Education Updates
IEP Testing Section
In addition, please check to make sure that you have checked Math, Science and ELA as appropriate. During the 2014-2015 testing year, the reading and writing test combined to become the ELA test. Therefore, IEP's should be updated annually to reflect that students will be taking the ELA test.
Medical Assistance
If an IEP student has any of the above related services, please make sure that you get the parent to sign the Medical Assistance page of the IEP (generally the last page). If parents request information about Medical Assistance and how they can apply, please direct them to the PA.Gov website where they can search for Medical Assistance and fill out an online application. Some student disability categories qualify regardless of parent income level (Intellectual Disability and Autism), so pass along the good news!
Schedule Changes
Before agreeing to anything, convene an IEP team meeting to discuss the parent's concerns. In many cases, concerns stem from missed assignments and poor test grades, which are not always a reason for a schedule change.
Next, make sure that all teachers involved get to provide input. Teachers often can offer strategies/additional help to students so that they can remain in their current class.
Finally, make sure that all parties are on board with the decision and draft an IEP with any necessary changes (i.e. Penn data changes, updated goals and SDI's and service level changes). All of the paperwork needs to be done before a scheduling change can occur.
Remember, changes mid-year can be difficult for the student, making it a last resort in ensuring that all students have access to appropriate services.
IEP Team Waiver Procedures
1. Call the parent and let them know that a related service provider will not be present at the meeting. Let them know that the related service provider will contact them via email or phone to provide input.
2. Issue an Invitation to Participate that lists the waived members of the team with the waiver parent signature line.
3. Ask the parent to sign both the invitation and the waiver and return it to school with the child.
4. If the parent does not return the form, make sure to start the IEP meeting by explaining the waiver and asking the parent to sign. (Note: If the parent does not sign the waiver, the meeting stops and it must be rescheduled for when everyone on the team can be present.)
5. Remember, the special education teacher, regular education teacher, LEA and parent can NEVER be waived from attending the meeting.
Reduced Price Museums
The following museums offer admission for an ACCESS Card (Medical Assistance) holder and three family members for $2.00 per person:
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
The African American Museum in Philadelphia
American Swedish Historical Museum
The Barnes Foundation
Betsy Ross House
Chanticleer Garden
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site
The Franklin Institute
Franklin Square- Parx Liberty Carousel
Franklin Square- Philly Mini Golf
Grumplethorpe
Historic Christ Church and Christ Church Burial Ground
Independence Seaport Museam
James A. Michener Art Museum
Liberty 360
Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
National Constitutional Center
National Liberty Museum
National Museum of American Jewish History
Penn Museum
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
Physick House
Please Touch Museum
Powel House
Shofuso Japanese House and Garden
Waynesborough
Woodmere Art Museum
"We are like snowflakes, all different in our own beautiful way." -Unknown
Waiving the Re-Evaluation
1. Is the child continuing to make adequate progress?
2. Have you used specific tests to show the child's growth?
3. Have you consulted with the school psychologist?
If you and the school psychologist are comfortable with issuing a waiver, make sure that you include the following:
- specific tests completed with the child (i.e. Key Math III, Bader)
- specific information about progress that has been made (i.e. John has increased his math level from a 1.2 grade level to a 4.5 grade level during the last 3 academic school years.)
- specific information about the child's disability category and why the child continues to be eligible as a student with special education needs (i.e. John continues to present as an eligible student for special education services. John was initially diagnosed with a specific learning disability in math. John has made slow and steady progress over the past 3 years with learning support services. However, he continues to show a discrepancy between his average intelligence scores and his low average to borderline math achievement scores.)
Testing Survey
Tips and Tricks
Communicating with Students
One of the hallmarks of good teaching is in how you communicate with your students. Danielson's framework focuses on communication in Domain 3a. In order to improve your ability to communicate clearly with your students, check out some of these strategies:
-Post whats students will be learning in your class that day, not what they will be doing.
-Verbalize to students what they will be learning and why it is important.
-Give real life examples of the content you are teacher.
-Anticipate and plan for possible misunderstandings.
-Tell students where the lesson fits in with the big picture, what prior knowledge they will use and when students will need this in the future.
-Use metaphors and analogies to explain content so students can make connections.
-Ask students to re-explain directions and/or concepts.
-When distributing/posting written directions, make sure students are able to read and understand them.
-Ask students to explain what the topic of the lesson is and where it fits into the larger context of what they are learning.
-Speak clearly so that students can understand and hear you.
-When using informal speech, make a clear distinction between "home" language and "school" language.
-Use content specific and rich vocabulary for students to model.
-Model the process to be followed in the task.
-Describe specific strategies students might use. Invite students to interpret them in the context of what they are doing.
-Identify and clearly explain academic vocabulary.
-Use vocabulary that is age/developmentally appropriate.
Contact Me
Email: mlutz@umtsd.org
Location: 2900 Terwood Road, Willow Grove, PA, United States
Phone: (215) 830-1513