1. RCN Fall Leadership Day November 4, 2013

2. Demographics Population decline Poverty High Unemployment rate Crime index 86% higher than Mi. avg. Schools closing / Students relocated Multiple administrative/leadership change ALL STUDENTS ARE AT RISK

3. Saginaw Public Schools Arthur Hill High School Saginaw High School Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy

4. Overview: Foundation of Peer Programming Peer Mentoring Program at SHS General education classes Student sharing of roles and experiences Outcomes Panel Discussion

5. Saginaw High School 750 students Students with autism new to the school 3 rd year of Peer Education Program

6. Individuals with Disabilities Act (2004) Almost 30 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by-- (A) having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general education curriculum in the regular classroom, to the maximum extent possible, in order to--(A) (i) meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible, the challenging expectations that have been established for all children; and(i) (ii) be prepared to lead productive and independent adult lives, to the maximum extent possible;(ii) Rigor Relationships Relevance

7. Erik Carter Research Rigor Relevance Relationships

8. “You can observe a lot by watching.” Yogi Berra What do you currently have going on in your building that brings peers together?

9. Peer Education Program High School Elective 4 th and 6 th hour – 45 students enrolled Partnership between GE/SE RTI approach

10. Struggling Freshman Transition to High School can be challenging SHS data showed that 9 th grade group experienced higher rates of academic failure, disciplinary problems, and truancy than upper grades In 2009 SHS moved to a more inclusive model of including students with disabilities in General Education Classrooms, with a push in model for support as opposed to a pull out

11. Transition Trouble Failure was rampant for incoming freshmen End of the first term approximately 78% of the freshmen had failing grades in core classes Behavioral referrals increased and students were skipping classes

12. How to get Freshman better positioned for Graduation? Research documented the value of P2P support Cross-age peer mentoring contributes to mutual benefit to both peer mentor and mentee

13. Behavioral referrals are down and graduation rates up 75% 31% increase in freshmen core academic success with passing grades 9 th graders are REQUESTING MENTORS Upper classmen are asking how they can become a MENTEE’s 2013 Data

14. A smooth transition… LINKPeer Mentor

15. Peers What’s the connection? Evidence Based Peers help share and shape the vision Peers have greater social knowledge than adults (hidden curriculum) Peers don’t see roadblocks - Possibilitarians

16. Meeting to Recruit Example Questions for Prospective LINKS How well do you already know ______? What interests you most about becoming a peer support? What expectations do you have? Why do you think it takes to be an effective peer support? Are there aspects of the experience you are worried about? What school and community activities are you involved in? What experiences have you had that you feel would make you a good peer support? What questions do you have about becoming a peer support? What do you hope to gain from this experience? Have you ever received support from your classmates? Describe the experience

17. Communication is KEY!

18. School year 2012/13 – Royce moves up to SHS Background 9 th grade student with ASD Limited exposure to General Education Curriculum Segregated classrooms lower grades Moved around multiple times to different classrooms and teachers

19. General Education What does it LOOK like? Culture of the class: Student Learning Behavior Sense of belonging all students

20. Differentiated Instruction Learning about the needs of the student(s) How to support/what’s your role? Role of the LINKS Has it changed the culture of your class?

21. LINK Round Table SHS name for Case Conferences Weekly or Monthly Meetings Problem Solving Focus Never had a meeting without Royce Teaching Support Strategies in the Round Table that will Generalize to GE Environment

22. Using the Board… What’s working? Takes notes Writing equations Students want to work with Royce Runs at lunch Independent at breakfast – lunch - locker

23. Using the Board…. What is Challenging? Is leaving class early Struggling in math How to build more social with after school activities Homecoming?

24. 1 st Round Table - TOP 5 questions LINKS asked…no prompting! 1Tell me my role in class? Who does what? 2What does Royce do after school and on weekends. How can we get him more involved? 3He needs a girlfriend – who’s going to work on that? 4What is he going to do for a job when he graduates? 5How is he suppose to be independent and a High School student, if adults are always helping him in ways he does not need help?

25. LINKISMS Ism: a suffix added to the end of a word to indicate that the word represents a specific belief, practice, system, or philosophy.

26. SHS PANEL