Welcome Special Education Liaisons January 17, 2012 Happy New Year!

Overview of our Day: O Welcome/Overview O Question/Answer O Continuum of Supports O School Visits in Feb/March O Student Services Updates O ESL O Teacher Leaders O Action on Inclusion O Wrap Up *Please Note: our next Meeting date has been changed from March 20 th to March 27 th

Diversity in Alberta Schools: A Journey to Inclusion O Diversity in Alberta Schools: A Journey to Inclusion - YouTube Diversity in Alberta Schools: A Journey to Inclusion - YouTube

Question/Answer O Everyone writes something… O On the piece of paper (provided at table), please ask any question(s) or comment(s) you are thinking about… O Our SS team will do our best to answer all questions…if you stump us, then we will find out the answer and share this with you at a later time today…

Continuum of Supports O To assist with our discussion today, please consider our ‘historical context’ and ‘future directions’ that inform our work… O Where have we been (Alberta Context)? O 2007 – Severe Disability Audit O – Setting the Direction Framework O 2010 – Action on Inclusion Focus (AB Context) O Implications for Future? O No more coding O 12 Strategic Directions that impact all aspects of educational practice O Paradigm Shift in how we support students with special needs

Continuum of Supports O Where have we been (CESD Context)? O 2010 – new Superintendent O staff survey/visits and work of ‘Guiding Coalition’ O Resulted in a new Mission and Vision for CESD O Implications for Future: O New “Mission and Vision” drive us to ensure ALL students achieve success and EVERY student is engaged in high quality learning environments O Development of “Quality Learning Environment” (QLE) Framework GOOD NEWS: Excellent ‘Alignment’ between “Action on Inclusion” and future directions in CESD.

Continuum of Supports O In response to our context both in Alberta and CESD – we believe it is time to discuss a ‘framework’ or ‘common language’ so we can effectively plan and discuss ‘Supports for Every Learner in CESD’ O Thus, our Student Services team began developing a ‘Continuum of Supports for Every Learner’ framework O We need your feedback and input before moving any further…

Continuum of Supports You will have seen this concept of ‘pyramid of supports’ before – (Effective Behavior Supports; Inclusive Education Planning Tool)

Continuum of Supports O How does this fit/align with the Quality Learning Environment? O The QLE address ALL classroom environments. We know our classrooms are made up of diverse learners – so we need a framework to discuss ‘universal’, ‘targeted’ and ‘specialized’ supports so ALL learners will have the support, interventions and resources needed to be successful

Continuum of Supports O We would like to share each ‘Continuum of Support’ Pyramid with you … there are five: O Social Participation O Intellectual/Academic/Creative O Physical/Medical O Deaf and Hard of Hearing O Blind and Visually Impaired

Continuum of Supports O ACTIVITY/TASK: O Work in groups of two or three to answer the ‘feedback document’ provided at each table O Be prepared to share with the larger group a couple of ‘common themes/thoughts’ evolving from your discussion O TIME: 30 minutes

Continuum of Supports O HOMEWORK TASK: O Think about one student (or a few if you want) who requires targeted or specialized supports O Fill out the tracking sheet for this student (and others if you so choose) – REFER to the EXEMPLAR provided O Be prepared to provide feedback on this process/task when you come to our next Special Ed Liaison meeting in March

School Visits – Student Services Collaborative Meetings O PURPOSE: To gather current information regarding specialized supports and programming interventions available in each CESD school (focus on grade one to twelve students) during the 2011/2012 school year. This data will assist us in making effective and equitable decisions when planning for 2012/2013 resource allocations.

School Visits – Student Services Collaborative Meetings O ACTIVITY / TASK: O Please take a few minutes to read the ‘Guiding Questions’ document provided… O Make a note of any questions or comments you have on the document O Discuss with your ‘table group’ O Please hand in the ‘document’ to a SS team member when done TIME: minutes

Student Services - Update O EdModo O FASD Modules O Assessments/Consultations - Role Clarification O Read Write Gold 10

ESL O Welcome Patrick Gleason

Teacher Leaders A Discussion

Welcome back! O Pick a candy that best illustrates your level O – High school O – Middle O – Elementary O – K-12

Provincial Context O Action on Inclusion O Learning Coach Model O Wrap-around-services (team) O IEPT O AISI 5 O Research Capacity – deeper focus O Collaboration – across schools and districts O Active, meaningful engagement of community

CESD Context O New Mission and Vision O ALL Learners O QLE O Feedback O Reduce silos, reduce number initiatives, alignment of services O Instructional Leadership O Admin in classrooms

Clarity - Special Education Moving from Moving to Student Services takes on responsibility of Special Education Student Services aligns with other CO services to support EVERY student – focus on Mission/Vision/QLE Special Education Liaisons – coordinate specialized services, support work of IPPs, work with individual students, Level B assessments Learning Support – assist teachers with IEPTs, paperwork, coordination of services and when needed, Level B assessments Learning Support Team – provide and facilitate instructional coaching, co-teaching and/or co- planning Coordinate/facilitate professional development as part of a team Focus on students identified with a special education code – common practice to pull out and provide separate specialized programs Support for ALL students in classrooms – main focus on supporting/working in the classroom environment with targeted and/or specialized support when needed

Clarity around AISI Moving FromMoving To AISI as a separate Learning Services initiative QLE drives district and school focus AISI leaders coordinate/facilitate professional development Teams: Provide and facilitate instructional coaching, co-teaching and/or co- planning Coordinate/facilitate professional development as part of a team AISI leaders engage in research around areas of focus Teams engage and apply research in classrooms Focus on students Deliberate focus on ALL students AISI individual school improvement CESD community improvement

ROLES?

QLE – overarching focus

Coming Together

Process On your own: O Reflection on the sheet provided O On the signal O Partner – find someone with the same color/candy O Reflection/discussion turn and talk

Expectations for Teacher Leaders O When you think about your current role, what is different/same about these expectations? O How do you see accomplishing these expectations in your school? O What support would you need to accomplish these expectations?

Large Group Debrief O 5 or 6 O Thoughts O We record on the PP

Next Steps O Data gathering O Special Ed, ADCOS, AISI

Action on Inclusion: Alberta Education update O Enhancing Inclusive Environments in Alberta Schools- Building Communities of Practice, January 13 What we learned was…

Action on Inclusion: our Schools Homework Review: O Teacher interviews  What does the word “inclusive” mean to you?  What inclusive practices are you using? Best practices?  What are some of the barriers? Activity Four-two-one

Action on Inclusion: Inclusive Educational Planning Tool (IEPT) Update O Our pilot schools  École Steffie Woima School  Penhold School  Hugh Sutherland School O “Walk About” the tool O Q&A

Wrap Up O THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND PARTICIPATION TODAY…. O Please complete the ‘Exit Sheet’ before you leave. O Next Special Education Meeting is: O March 27 th (changed from March 20 th ) O Safe TRAVELS!