Capacity of General Education

This table is a transcription from the Gallery Walk (results of voting are in the left column). Please review for accuracy and clarity.

Use the comment form at the bottom of the page to recommend changes and/or raise questions.

return to the Gallery Walk or to the PPS SpEd Stakeholders' Home Page.

1 dot	Training for teachers in best utilization of Para-educators to support students in accessing core curriculum.
1 dot	Provide collaboration time between Para-educators and general ed. teachers to plan support for students.
6 dots 20 stars	Provide systematic, uninterrupted collaboration time between special education providers (i.e. OT, sped teachers, SLP and general ed staff)
1 dot	Analyze existing professional Development models (i.e. embedded pd and instructional facilitators trainings assure inclusion of all staff/specialists.
	General training in social/emotional or behavioral regulation
	Professional development in disability training
1 dot	Develop appropriate assessments, to use with students, in lieu of PPS K-2 literacy assessments, when deemed appropriate by the IEP team.
	More time for collaboration between sped and gen ed.
1 dot	More updated technology and tech support for all schools (like e-book curriculum)
3 stars	Better training to provide differentiated instruction
1 star	Develop common language around RTI (academic, behavioral, social/emotional)
5 dots 12 stars	Establish a district – wide core set of curricula (academic and behavioral) supports and interventions (tier 1-3) that each school will be accountable for implementing and District office will be accountable for supporting.
4 dots 5 stars	All school teams will be aware of and be able to access a full continuum of services provided by the district in order to best meet student needs.
3 dots 4 stars	Common District wide assessment tools (screening, progress monitoring, benchmaking) to monitor student progress (tier 1-3)
8 dots 8 stars	Ensure a strong, efficient Building Screening Committee in every school (District Standards)
3 dots 1 star	Professional Development training for Gen Ed staff re: 504, Sped Low, accommodations, modifications, “behavior” students, etc…
6 dots 1 star	Monthly meetings (1-hr/month) sped staff w/general ed staff
2 dots 1 star	Shared agreement on entrance and exit criteria for SPED in relation to individual student behaviors.
	Additional support for Gen/SPED staff to meet the needs if individual students in Special Education
1 dot	Providing the time and resources to support General Ed teachers to differentiate and modify instruction
1 dot	Multi-disciplinary team to advise/educate around challenges and needs. (Building based?) (Psychologist/Nurse/General Ed Teachers/Special Ed Teachers/LCSW)
1 star	Collaborative family and educational staff training “Learning the same thing together builds relationships” including access to PPS Learning Campus.
2 dots 1 star	Increase the capacity of all schools to support the needs of all the students in their neighborhood.
16 dots 6 stars	Increase vocational education and opportunities at secondary level.
1 star	All kids assigned a general ed. homeroom
2 dots	Increased time to collaborate within the weekly schedule between gen ed., sped, ELL, etc…
4 dots 10 stars	Collaborative team training opportunities Assessment and data, Instructional interventions, Accommodations, Curriculum modifications, Behavioral supports, IDEA/504, etc… Including implementation supports
2 dots	Shared vision that owns all children
2 dots	Shared understanding Civil & Human Rights
	Develop a culture where courageous risk taking in line with Best Practice, is encouraging and supportive.
	Policies consistent with 1-8 recommendations. Questions asked the same way we do about race and disabilities
	Recourses devoted to planning and support along continuum o services. (Gen Ed B Class Special Schools
	Expand General Ed. Capacity/proficiency to correctly ID student need and serve in appropriate placement (504 - Gen Ed) (Sped – Best Practices)
1 dot	Combined training for SPED and Gen Ed. Addressing issues of UDL and different instruction.
	Impact teacher UDL training at Universities and also credentialing criteria
1 dot	Team teaching with time for collaboration
	ADA equal access
1 dot 9 stars	Time training in collaboration with sped staff. - differentiation - behavior management - data collection - accommodations and modifications
1 dot	Create opportunities for peer observations/
5 dots 2 stars	Equitable allocation of resources – outside & district (Equity vs Equality) - personnel (i.e. Para’s, school psychs, counselors) - community partnerships - materials
1 star	More time for collaboration with SPED – designated time
3 dots 2 stars	Shared global perspective and vision for educating ALL students - collaborative PD - realistic District Mission Statements that truly includes all students - no longer :my kids” your kids
4 dots 6 stars	Reallocate time/schedules to allow greater access for Gen Ed/SPED. Collaboration among teachers and specialists (co-teaching, consultation, push-in)
3 dots	Equity in access to school of choice for all students
3 dots 8 stars	Universal design and baseline of technology for ALL
2 dots	Access clear information to comprehensive supports and resources w/re: SPED students
1 star	Integration if SPED supports, ELL supports to school/district PLC’s
1 star	Ongoing/consistent collaboration between General Ed and SPED staff
	Rapid system of interventions to respond to student needs
1 dot 1 star	Forum to allow/share knowledge w/General Ed. Teachers capabilities of Para-Educators in classroom
	Prioritize RTI
2 dots 2 stars	Providing more training for general Ed teachers regarding special ed. practices, techniques, strategies
1 dot 2 stars	Focus on further development if BSC’s as well as involving General Ed teachers more in this pro-active process – IN ALL BUILDINGS J
1 star	Focus group design that is meaningful and relevant for parents and community Gen Ed and Special Ed
2 dots 7 stars	Reduce class size (weighting of students when push-ins are in order)
1 dot	Intensive tutoring
9 dots 1 star	Collaborative Training Special Ed, Gen Ed. and Para Eds.
1 dot 6 stars	Universal Design for Collaborative Learning/training (PD)
5 dots 1 star	Identify who’s doing it “right” and build on those successes
	Safeguards for continuity and consistency/sustainability

return to the Gallery Walk or to the PPS SpEd Stakeholders' Home Page.

Next: Capacity of Special Ed >

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Comments

Stephanie Hunter says:
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
General Ed home rooms
I see that students receiving special education services having an assigned general ed home room teacher received low priority. I can understand why that might be because there were so many topics too choose from in the gallery walk. I would like to share though why I think that is important from a parent perspective.
- Even if the child spends most of the day in a self-contained classroom the opportunities for "push-in" supports are more readily accessible if you have a grade level general ed home room teacher.
- Since a general ed teacher is required in an IEP it makes sense that the general ed teacher be someone that is part of the child's team vs. grabbing the closest gen ed teacher available at the time or having someone who acts as the district rep and gen ed teacher at the same time.
- Some parents have told me that their child in a self-contained classroom is not pictured in the yearbook. No one would ever do this on purpose and a simple solution is to picture them in the yearbook with their grade instead of their classroom with their home room teacher.
- Again, push-in type supports become more possible because the child has a gen ed classroom they belong to and the peers in their home room can develop relationships with them.
- An argument can be made that self-contained settings are an "immersion" in challenging behaviors and communication challenges no matter how structured because they are isolated. Opportunities to visit the home room in a supported way provide students receiving special education services with a chance to observe what their peers are doing and learn from it.
- Overall, general education teachers are missing out on an opportunity to get to know our kids if they don't know they belong to a certain grade level. My 1st grade teacher in general education and the Kindergarten teacher last year have thanked ME for the opportunity to teach my kid and learn a new skill
- Students at the Pioneer school are at a major disadvantage because they are on an island. I have advocated to the high school redesign team that students at Pioneer need to be at least in close proximity (walking distance) to a comprehensive school to facilitate the gradual transition and also the equity of course offerings and extracurricular activities. Being on an island means you never get to see what the general school population acts like and you lose opportunities to observe and practice that behavior. Pull-outs and isolation to learn social skills does not make any sense to parents.
Thanks for reading :)

Stephanie Hunter
1. Alicia DeLashmutt says:
  January 2nd, 2010 at 7:44 pm
  Gen Ed home rooms
  
  I agree with many of Stephanie's comments. This is a small change that could have a large impact on the school experience of many, if not all students.
  
  Special Education is a Service not a Place. All students should be General Education students with Special Education supports when necessary. This simple shift would help to alleviate much of the 'those kids' and 'our kids' issues within schools. It would help to increase collaboration between General and Special education professionals and it would take the focus off of ‘placement’ and put it back on ‘services’ where it belongs.
  
  Alicia DeLashmutt