Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Grant Proposal Planning for Technology with Dr. Lysiak By Tamela Anderson Summer 2010

Current Educational Environment Beginning this 2010-2011 school year, Copley High School Special Education department is restructuring its tutoring program. A new Sped. tutoring lab has been created to allow resources to be shared. Each module the Intervention Specialists will work with four to twenty students who have various learning disabilities. The large room has computers along two walls, tables, small wall dividers, bulletin boards, bookshelves, filing cabinets, and chalkboards. This lab contains a TV, DVD, printer, scanner, and SmartBoard. There is a storage room that houses the extra equipment such as head phones, school supplies, and textbooks. THE LAB

Current Educational Environment On a daily basis the Intervention Specialists in the CHS tutoring lab work with up to 75 students with a wide range of mild/moderate learning disabilities including, but not limited to: Autism, Aspberger’s, Dyslexia, Writing, Math, Reading Decoding/Comprehension, and other processing/behavioral difficulties. Often, small groups and individuals work on improving reading, writing and study skills. Keeping these students engaged while working on these weak areas is challenging for educators only implementing traditional forms of teaching. Many of these students read and write below grade level even with accommodations. THE STUDENTS

Current Educational Environment

Instructional Limitations Currently, no individual instruction or independent work on computers for students exists in the CHS lab. Many students need all printed texts read aloud to them. Sometimes the demand is greater than the available Intervention Specialists. It is difficult for Intervention Specialists to adjust their speed of reading or reread as many times as the student needs. IEP goals and objectives requires students to be working on different aspects of reading and writing. Kurzweil Solutions The Kurzweil program allows students to sit at the computer, scan in their classroom materials or locate readings online to work on independently. The Kurzweil program allows students to use headphones and listen to their materials read aloud to them. While listening to the reader’s voice in the Kurzweil program, students can adjust the speed at which it is read to them and repeat as needed. The flexibility built into the Kurzweil program is ideal for meeting variances in IEP goals and objectives.

Technical Limitations With the influx of technology at the high school this upcoming year, it is possible to have very few technical limitations. We currently have scanners, printers, headphones, networked computers with Internet access and an efficient tech department that fixes problems. Possible timing issues on the installations Broken equipment or stolen headphones over time Solutions Continue to place service requests with the tech department Notify tech department of replacement needs

Training Limitations Sped Department budget only designates a limited amount of funds for trainings. Sped Department meetings are only 40 mins. long once a month. Solutions Kurzweil provides free webinars. Request Tech Department offer a class to teachers interested or specifically the Sped Dept. (which I would probably teach) A couple teachers could attend seminars and conferences. (These last two items have a separate budget.) I could teach a 40 min. class on the Kurzweil program in lieu of a Sped. meeting. I am the available resource person to answer any questions on the program throughout the year.

Need Ultimately, the students with learning disabilities need to read and write at grade level. This is accomplished through vocabulary development, decoding practice, independent reading, comprehension improvement, enhanced note taking skills and practice organizing and editing their writing. Many Sped students need a multi-sensory way to access the current curriculum with accommodations and work on their IEP goals at the same time. Other than having the textbooks on tape or the Intervention Specialist read all written materials aloud, the students needing to listen to everything in order to process it are at a disadvantage. Copley has no software to read to a student. Hence, some students never read anything independently. Others need items read to them more than once for comprehension. Similarly with writing, students currently don’t have a program that allows them to walk themselves through the writing process. During the brainstorming portion, some visual learners, need graphic organizers that go up and down; some left to right; others prefer them to look like a spider web. Each individual is different. Some students need to organize things by color. Students also need computer literacy skills. Since many features are similar yet different from traditional Microsoft features, Kurzweil is very learner friendly.

Designed for Struggling Readers & Writers Kurzweil reads to students with learning disabilities. With headphones, this allows students to work independently in a group setting. Promotes fluency with adjustable speeds Highlighting encourages visual learners Comprehension improves with multiple listenings Vocabulary development with dictionary and thesaurus Kurzweil assists in organizing ideas. Students create what works best for them (outlines, graphic organizers) Visual learners can organize with colors. Note taking skills practiced with highlighting Student created notes are printable Kurzweil capitalizes on Universal Design for Learning adaptable features for diversified learner needs Kurzweil assists in every step of the writing process Templates available Multiple views Review list for editing (spelling, punctuation, capitalization) Word prediction Similar Microsoft Word features

Goals of Proposal Special Ed. students utilizing the lab are provided opportunities to work independently on reading and writing IEP goals and objectives. Sped students utilizing the tutoring lab will show documentable improvements in reading decoding skills, reading comprehension skills, writing skills, and independent study skills. The Intervention Specialists will have ample programs to instruct (with existing licenses) up to ten students at one time. With current technology, the Kurzweil programs can be effectively and consistently be used by the trained Intervention Specialists in the lab to enhance student skills.

Technology Proposal Copley High School’s Special Education tutoring lab needs as many copies of Kurzweil as available computers to allow all students to be working simultaneously on various projects. CHS has three Kurzweil 3000 Pro and would like to add another Pro and six Kurzweil 3000 v12 Learning Stations. CHS Sped lab already has computers with web capability, compatible scanners, headphones, a SMARTboard, and printers to use with the Kurzweil software. After researching available technologies, Kurzweil appears to be the most flexible and student-friendly product for working with high school students with learning disabilities on a wide array of skills. Intervention Specialists can instruct multiple students functioning at various grade levels of reading and writing at the same time. Intervention Specialists can work on and monitor progress on IEPs (Individual Education Plans) as well as classroom grades.

Personal Qualifications I have spent the last ten years working with students who have learning disabilities. Daily I help them work on their reading and writing IEP goals and objectives. Credentials: I have an English degree, an Intervention Specialist masters and am currently working on Instructional Technology masters. I am a licensed TEEP Practitioner. I have used Kurzweil 3000 Pro with my Special Education students for the last six years. I have trained the entire Special Education department on using Kurzweil 3000 Pro.

Implementation Timeline School year 2010-2011 Software Arrival – by Sept. 1 Installation in Lab – by Sept. 30 Training Staff – by Oct. 15 Application – Oct. 16 – May 16 Evaluation – Student Progress Reports 2/grading period Surveys May 17 – May 30 Grades

Budget CHS will be updating all technology during the 2010-11 school year. The Technology budget makes purchases of appropriate software/hardware and maintains the equipment. Additional funds could be allocated from the Special Education department and general classroom funds for initial purchase and ongoing upkeep, if necessary. Training expenses could be covered by the professional development funds from either the Technology or the Special Education budget. I would develop the materials with available resources provided by CHS. Webinars are free. Online videos free as well at http://www.kurzweiledu.com/how_to_videos.aspx. Since the Special Education lab has technology within it, the monies for the technology could be shared between the technology department and Special Education's budgets. The general classroom funds would be the last, but alternative, resort.

Evaluation and Assessment The Kurzweil program will be evaluated in multiple ways. First, a survey will be created to gauge the students’ opinions in areas such as motivation, ease of program, and overall self-perception of reading and writing skills. Similarly, the Intervention Specialists will complete a more comprehensive survey. Opinions/perceptions pertaining to the program itself and its affect on student skills will be collected. Classroom teachers will give input and grades for writing samples on tests, projects, homework, and other assignments completed with Kurzweil assistance. Documentation through the administered Basic Reading Inventory or other reading assessments and writing samples will be examined for grade-level improvements and skill mastery every four and one-half weeks on IEP progress reports. Student logs for Kurzweil computer time will be compiled. The Intervention Specialists and I will collect and analyze the data. Suggestions for changes will collectively be discussed and then implemented during the 2011-12 school year. I will gladly serve as the Kurzweil resource person. Evaluations from the Intervention Specialists can informally be collected once a month during implementation.

Continuation and Extension The Kurzweil program licenses will continue to be renewed each subsequent year if there is available documentation supporting its effectiveness in the Special Education tutoring lab. Updates and new software versions will be evaluated based on need and potential benefits. Future program purchases will be considered for approval to be funded by the Technology department’s software/license budget. Additional training needs will be funded through the Special Education department. All hardware purchases come from the Tech budget.