COLLEGE AND CAREER READY SUMMIT 2010

Presented by: Vialouphia “Via” Wattree, MPA +30 Assistant Principal –Special Programs Bonnabel Magnet Academy High School Jefferson Parish Public School System Kenner, Louisiana

 Define Inclusion  Educational Laws and Inclusion  Challenges  Successful Strategies  Identify Inclusive Practices for:  Jefferson Parish Public Schools  Bonnabel Magnet Academy  Your LEA or School

 The practice of placing students with special needs in the regular classroom with non- disabled peers and providing specialized services and/or specialized curriculum for them. From: The Classroom Teacher’s Inclusion Handbook by. J. Yanoff, 2007 Two Rationales:  Students with special needs develop better socially if they can attend classes with non-disabled students;  Students who are non- disabled will become more knowledgeable and sensitive when working with children who have disabilities;

 We ALL Belong;  All Children are Accepted;

 Often referred to as Inclusion;  Students with disabilities take classes in a general education setting WITHOUT receiving special support(s).

 Must be made possible by teachers and administrators;  Students should not prove they should be educated with their non- disabled peers;  Earning the right to be included or struggle to maintain your place in the general setting is not the goal;

 Brown v. Board of Education, 1954  Equal Educational Opportunities  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 1975 (1997)  Free, Appropriate Education for all students  Section 504, Rehabilitation Act, 1975  Those with qualified disabilities are not to be discriminated against at school or work  Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990  Extends civil rights to individuals with disabilities  No Child Left Behind, 2001  Alternate Assessments for students with disabilities to meet AYP

Answer the following:  What does Inclusion LOOK like?  What does Inclusion FEEL like?  What does Inclusion SOUND like? (From: The Suns Center PD Binder, 2010)

 Read the “Mrs. Squires” document;  How can we create schools where the Mrs. Squires of the world are everywhere so that students can be accepted? (From: Because We Can Change the World, M. Sapon-Shevin, 2010)

 By the year 2014, 75% of all students with special needs must be included in general education classes for at least 80% of their school day.  On-going, job-embedded professional development for all instructional and administrative personnel will be provided by Inclusive Practices Strategists assigned to each school. · 

 Participating schools must actively participate in JPPSS’s progress toward the 2014 Goal.

 Core Implementation Team  Professional Development: The SUNS Center  Needs Assessments:  Students  Levels (1, 2, or 3)  General Education Teachers  Binders

 Administrator  Paraeducators  Teachers  General Education  Special Education

 Identify opportunities at your school for students with disabilities…

 Team teaching  One teaching, one observing  One teaching, one drifting  Station teaching  Parallel teaching  Alternative teaching

 Teachers share the responsibility of planning and delivering instruction for all students  Teachers deliver instruction at the same time

 Highest level of teacher collaboration  Effective instructional decision making

Teaching Designs and delivers specific instruction to the entire group Observing Observes a single student, a small group of students, or the entire class for specific behaviors

 Minimal collaborative planning  Allows for systematic observation  Clarifies for students that there are two teacher with equal responsibility and authority

 Facilitates special services in the general education class;  Works with the special and general education teachers  Resource for SPED teacher: IEP  Resource for General Education teacher: assist with accommodations and modifications

 Minimal collaborative planning  Allows for systematic observation  Allows for flexibility for the general education teacher to differentiate instruction

 Interpersonal skills;  Define Clear Expectations;  Students’ needs are always FIRST;

Building Administrative Support Providing Professional Development Cultivating Staff Commitment Finding Common Planning Time Creating Balanced Class Rosters

 Building Administrative Support  Providing Professional Development  Cultivating Staff Commitment From: Collaboration for Inclusive Education by: C. Walther-Thomas, et.al  Creating Balanced Classroom Rosters  Finding Common Planning Time

 Use and voic to reduce meeting times.  Visit model schools to observe effective collaborators in action.  Encourage language that emphasizes “our students” rather than “my students/your students”.

 Create professional development school partnerships with universities.  Schedule weekly or monthly early release periods.  Cover classes with “floating” substitutes.  Surf the internet to find collaboration based resources. (Walther-Thomas, et.al. 1999

 Services are delivered by the student’s IEP;  Most disabilities do not affect what a student learns but HOW a student learns;  Inclusion works best when professionals collaborate; if collaboration is not available, the general education teacher is still required to teach all students;

 The success of students is usually determined by the thoughts or feelings of the general education teacher  The number of students with disabilities requiring special education needs is increasing From: The Classroom Teacher’s Inclusion Handbook by J. Yanoff, 2007

 Defined Inclusion  Regulations  Strategies  Challenges  Inclusive Practices: JPPSS and BMAHS  Inclusion for your school site or LEA

 2010 College and Career Ready Summit Committee/LDOE  Dr. Diane Roussel, Superintendent, JPPSS  Jeff Helmstetter, EB Region Assist. Superintendent, JPPSS  Carolyn VanNorman, WB Region Assist. Superintendent, JPPSS  Cheryl Carpenter, Acting Asst. Superintendent-Special Programs, JPPSS  Randi Marziale, WB Region Special Programs Coordinator and Inclusion, JPPSS  Vic Castillo, EB Region Special Programs Coordinator, JPPSS  Dr. Carol Torrey, Special Programs Coordinator, Secondary/APE  Mary Ann Robarts, Inclusive Practices Specialist, JPPSS  John R. Kulakowski, Principal, Bonnabel Magnet Academy HS  Administrators, Teachers, Paraeducators, Students, and Staff: Bonnabel Magnet Academy HS  Dr. Sassy C. Wheeler, Associate Professor, Louisiana State University, College of Education  The SunsCenter