Durham Public Schools Durham Public Schools PEPs Personal Education Plans “A Legal Requirement” Ann Majestic  Tharrington Smith October 13, 2011 Updated by Dr. Carol White August 15, 2013

The Current Law for PEPs Requires school administrative units to identify students at risk of academic failure and not successfully progressing towards grade promotion and graduation no later than the fourth grade. Identification shall occur as early as can reasonably be done and can be based on grades, observations, State assessments, and other factors, including reading on grade level, that impact student performance. No later than the end of the first quarter, or after nine weeks of instructional time with a student, a PEP for academic improvement with focused intervention and performance benchmarks shall be developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure who is not performing at least at grade level.

Focused intervention and accelerated activities should include research-based best practices that meet the needs of students and may include coaching, mentoring, tutoring, summer school, Saturday school, and extended days. Local school administrative units shall provide these activities free of charge to students. Local school administrative units shall also provide transportation free of charge to all students for whom transportation is necessary for participation in these activities. Local school administrative units shall give notice of the personal education plan and a copy of the personal education plan to the student's parent or guardian.

Parents should be included in the implementation and ongoing review of personal education plans. Local school administrative units shall certify that they have complied with this section annually to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall periodically review data on the progress of identified students and report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee. No cause of action for monetary damages shall arise from the failure to provide or implement a personal education plan under this section.

Personal Education Plans All students must have opportunities for success and for receiving assistance in the areas in which they need improvement.

Policy 3240 : PERSONAL EDUCATION PLANS Policy 3240 : PERSONAL EDUCATION PLANS The Durham Public Schools identify students at risk of academic failure based on grades, observations, state assessments, and other factors that impact student performance that teachers and administrators consider appropriate. Students who are at risk of academic failure shall be identified and provided with academic interventions. Legal Reference: G.S. 115C Adopted Effective: June 17, 2010

Policy 3240: PERSONAL EDUCATION PLANS Any student in grades K-11 not promoted shall be provided with a personal education plan (PEP) the following school year. Immediately after (or before) a teacher has had nine weeks of instructional time with a student, a PEP shall be developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure, not performing at grade level. Each PEP should include focused interventions, accelerated activities and performance benchmarks for academic improvement.

Policy 3240: PERSONAL EDUCATION PLANS Schools shall notify parents that a PEP has been developed, provide them with a copy of the PEP, and include them in the implementation and ongoing review of the PEP. The superintendent or designee is authorized to develop procedures to implement this policy.

A PEP must be completed for: Students who were retained the grade level prior to the current grade and who do not have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that addresses the specific area/subject of academic concern. Students who have an Achievement Level of ‘1’ or ‘2’ or failing mark/grade in an academic area at the end of the grade or course. This includes students whose IEP does not address specific area/subject of academic concern.

Students who are at-risk of failing, or have failed a specific subject area on their most recent report card. This includes students whose IEP does not address that specific area/subject of academic struggle. Students identified as being at-risk of retention (a PEP should be developed no later than the end of first semester A PEP must be completed for:

Recommended Process for PEP Development Grade level, content area teachers or other selected personnel will identify students who failed to meet Accountability Standards and/or are at risk. Examine the data and information about the student and thoroughly analyze the strengths and weaknesses. Determine the targeted concern and reason the student needs a PEP

PEP Development Meet with the parent(s) and/or guardians to develop the PEP. Send an invitation to conference letter. Make at least 2 more attempts (letter, or phone call ) and document attempts if no response. If no response, proceed to complete plan of support. Send copy to parent noting the parent as “not present” for the PEP development.

PEP Development All teachers who have the student for the designated areas of weakness must attend the meeting Write intervention plan (PEP) to support the student in the specific area of need Implement intervention plan and monitor for progress

PEP Development Copies maintained by the classroom teacher (some cases, the counselor) in the student’s cumulative folder The PEP must be signed and dated by all parties involved A signed copy must be provided to the parent/guardian Information from teachers on the students in their class reported to the principal for PEP data tracking on PowerSchool.

PEP Development After 4-6 weeks, interventions are reviewed If strategies were successful, teacher(s) continue and evaluate quarterly If strategies were unsuccessful and show little or no acceptable academic growth or improvement the teacher can: – Change, increase and continue interventions with the support of PLC feedback or refer the student to the school’s Student Assistance Program (SAP) Chair.

 Consult with support personnel familiar with behavioral interventions  Start to document and track behavior issues  Complete a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)  Develop a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) based on the FBA  Implement the BIP for a minimum of six weeks  Document intervention results through collected data If the PEP Concern is Behavior

PEP Intervention Plan Must Answer: What are we going to do differently? How often will this occur? Academic Data Observations & Performance Student Work Analysis AFL Data Interventions Based On

PEP Interventions: Must increase intensity by providing intervention in a small group (after school, recess, before school, lunch, electives, enrichment) Provide small group direct instruction using (no more than three students) Learning strategies Grade level concepts Advance organizers and other tools Prerequisite skills

Interventions Skill based mini lessons with resource teacher Guided computer activities (i.e. Study Island, Education City, AOR, etc.) One-on-One drill and practice with teacher Parental tutoring (guided activities) Peer tutoring Review games Strategy instruction Differentiated Instruction

PEP Documentation “Documentation of intervention efforts are a must.” PEP documentation should include strong evidence of intervention efforts. The data and information should support the case of progress being made or the student’s lack of progress and academic growth.

PEP Documentation  Unit /Chapter or Cumulative Tests  CA Data  NC Class, Extend 2, Vocats, or Spanish EOC  Reading records  SRI/SMI/mClass Data  Writing test scores  Project grades  Records of class participation  Exams  Lexile scores  Progress reports  Writing samples  Pop quiz grades  EOG/EOC Scores  Benchmark records  Behavior tracking data  Teacher anecdotal notes from observations  Teacher-made assessments

Monitoring the PEP Teacher review of intervention efforts to determine effectiveness and/or need for intervention(s) continuation or changes’ Effectiveness carefully monitored, documented, and evaluated throughout the year Every grading period, teacher meets with parents to discuss progress and effectiveness of Interventions

Intervention Resources Intervention ideas for Math, Reading and Behavior National multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers training and research findings for teachers, and a database of intervention strategies.

Intervention Resources 2 Academic and behavioral strategies PRIM (Pre-Referral Intervention Manual) State mandated pre-referral intervention activities Free resource for teachers to track reading and math interventions with progress monitoring

PEP Audits PEPs can now be monitored online using the district electronic profile. Identified school- based administrators have been provided rights to access all files in their school. Identified district level administrators are able to view all schools. The link to the ePEP is