Developing a Professional Learning Community of Inclusive Educators Reform proposal by Khriesenuo Solo, DIET (SCERT), Nagaland

Context and Rationale  The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) (2000), recommended inclusive schools for all without specific reference to pupils with Special Education Needs (SEN)  Learners with special needs should be educated along with other learners in inclusive schools, which are cost effective and have sound pedagogical practices (NCERT, 2000).

Nagaland inclusive school- Pilot project Government Primary School, Lerie chosen as the pilot school- 4 teachers and 4 students Providing instruction that meets the needs of all through Response to Intervention Method (RTI) Establishing Professional Learning Community in the pilot school

Response to Intervention (RTI)  A general educational process of instruction, assessment, and intervention.  Increases student success and decrease the number of students identified with specific learning disabilities in need of special education.  Uses a collaborative approach by school staff for development, implementation, and monitoring.  Involves continuous monitoring of student progress and follow up during the interventions.

Professional Learning Community (PLC)  Will be formed for the pilot school four teachers along with the implementation team.  Pilot teachers meeting in their PLC’s once a week.  Experts from the implementation team will meet these teachers once a month.

Goal The ultimate goal of my reform proposal is to train teachers for inclusive education to obtain better learning outcomes for children.

Objectives  Sensitizing and educating teachers.  To orient and train the teachers on RTI and PLC.  Enabling teachers to adjust instruction to meet children educational needs as a result of screening and progress monitoring.  Identifying children with specific learning disabilities in need of special education.

Sl. no Implementation activity Resources (Funding/ Material) Timeline 1. Joining organizations, meeting with Comm.&Secy,SCERT &School Education. N.A Jan 1st-2nd week 2. Implementation team setupN.AJan 3rd week 3. Meeting with implementation team & pilot teachers Meeting expenditure Jan 4th week 4. Adopt G. P. S Lerie, Kohima (Inclusive school) as the pilot school. N.AFeb 1st week 5. Capacity building: Pre training and post training tests Training funds (SSA/ SCERT) Feb 2nd week 6. Tier 1 testsN.AFeb 3rd week 7. Meeting the 4 teachers along with the implementation team to discuss the case of the 4 students Meeting expenditure Feb 3rd week 8. The 4 teachers are asked to focus on 1 child each. N.AFeb 4 th week 9. Monitoring of students for more intensive instruction and support in Tier II. N.AFeb - March

Sl.noImplementation activityResourcesSl.no 10.PLC meeting once a week- 4 teachersN.A March, April, May 11. Tier II students identified and intervention begins N.A March, April, May st Meeting with parents N.AMarch 13. PLC- Implementation team and 4 pilot teachers once a month Meeting expenditure March, April,May 14. Tier III identification N.AApril 15. Tier III intervention Fee for expertsApril, May nd meeting with parents N.AMay 17. Review and further planning Meeting expenditure May 18. Evaluation of pilot project N.AMay-June 19.Report writing N.AJune

Evaluation Evaluation will be carried out at three levels: 1. Pilot school teachers 2. Student evaluation. 3. Pilot project evaluation Tools:  Journal  Questionnaires  Interviews

Potential benefits  Sensitization and awareness on Inclusive education  Formation of Professional Learning Community (PLC) of inclusive educators.  Support group for parents and community.  Teacher training.  RTI approach eliminates a “wait to fail” situation.