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Center Base vs Cooper Policy

Special Education Center Base vs Cooper Policy

Lawrence Coleman

Concordia University, St. Paul

CI 554, Curriculum and Instruction, MA 573

Professor Michael Foster

August 21, 2013

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Center Base vs Cooper Policy

Special Education Center Base vs Regular Education Cooper Policy

The Special education center based program is made up of three classrooms. They are

self contained, meaning that they have a principal, teacher, and an educational assistant to work

with student who have Emotional Behavioral Disorders (EBD). The teachers are qualified to

provide all the academic instruction a student would need to graduate with an Individual

Education Plan (IEP) driven diploma. The purpose of the program is to provide a process of

transition for students who have had difficulties in the mainstream classes. Their placement in

the class is due to their behavior and the need for assistance in managing their disability. The

center based students coping skills are very deficient and need to be developed in order for them

to successfully integrate back into the mainstream. The programs foundation is worth its weight

in gold, but the implementation of its purpose can somehow become distorted. This can be

credited to the employees who are the front line workers and in charge of implementing the

vision of the program. If they lose sight that the goal of the program is to produce productive

independent adults and not just about a pay check, that is when our youth may be misguided.

This may equate to referrals, multiple interventions, and unnecessary suspensions. It is the

responsibility of the teacher to educate the student to become a productive member of society.

All too often, that goal is not attained due to the teachers lack of attention, commitment, or

inability to meet this goal.

The program has seen both successes as well as areas that need improvement. The
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administration is the driving force behind the achievements of the program. The teachers are the

front line worker and are in charge of interpreting the vision and making it realistic within the

constraints of the classroom. To be successful the teacher must build a support team and include

the educational assistants and general education staff. By gaining support, the center based

program is more likely to be successful. When students work in isolation, thy are not as likely to

find success, due to the fact that the students are not being challenged. For the purpose of this

paper I will compare Cooper High Schools center based program with regular education

programming.

Behavior Policy

Cooper Special Education Center Based:

The Point/Level System is based upon Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS)

intervention system but is modified for the self-contained classroom. It has been modified to

reinforce positive progress for a student according to their Individual Educational Plan (IEP),

goals and objectives. Rewards included but not limited to more mainstream classes, trust of staff,

job references and staff respect and an opportunity to purchase snacks and other items from the

center base store. Fun Fridays are also part of the reward system in that we set up rooms to

reflect the students level. Rooms are set according to levels one, two, and three. In this system

level three gives a students the most privileges. We allowed the students to cast their votes to

figure out what activities they liked the most. Some of the options given to them; were to be able

to use a Play Station, play spades, and/or basketball. All three of these option were considered a

level three priority, which are available for only level three students. Level two students options

were board games, and basketball, but no Play Station. Level one students are not allowed to
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participate in the fun activities, they were given make up work or busy work during the two

hours given on fun Friday. Students are also able to receive Cooper Cash, which is an incentive

gift for students who are seen being positive role models.

Educational assistants and teachers use behavioral sheet to track student behavior to

better assess the progress when pertaining to their individual education plan goals and

objectives.

Center base discipline policy, is the same as general population. It is progressive and it is

strongly linked to the Positive Behavior Intervention System policy (PBIS) that is district wide.

When the students are outside the center base classrooms, they are expected to abide by the

school wide rules

The use of manifestation determination meetings are used when a student is suspended

for an extended period of time, if they are in the special education program. This is an

intervention developed for IEP students who have a diagnose of behavioral disorder and put in

place to review an incident and insure that behavior is due to the students disorder. It also allows

staff an opportunity to reflect on the IEP and adjust it, if necessary to benefit the student.

Cooper Regular Education Policies & Procedures:

Cooper High School believes in progressive discipline and their interventions with students

based on the Positive Behavior Intervention System or (PBIS). Attached to this system is a chart

that goes from tier 1 to tier 3 interventions. When students receive multiple referrals they are

placed in tier 1 and the Dean is in charge of monitoring the student and implementing positive

intervention to prevent future referrals. If the behaviors persist the student moves to tier 2 and is

placed on the Student Assist Team (SAT) radar. Then the Dean is also responsible to develop
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positive intervention to get the student back to tier 1. If that does not work the student moves to

tier 3 at which time the (SAT) team is in control and the conversation is about alternative

schooling and/or placement into special education services. The purpose of this system is to

decrease the number of referrals, suspension, tardies, absences and to increase the number of

students who will graduate. These objectives are drilled into every staff member and they are the

guide, to which, we approach every student. The school acknowledges students in a variety of

different ways; Cooper cash, which every staff has them accessible to hand out if a student is

seen doing a good deed or being a good role model. There is also quarterly all school assembly

to acknowledge honor roll students

Academic Expectations

Center Base program

The program can give out two types of high school diplomas one is focused on Academic

success in which they have passed certain amount of general education classes to meet the

Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) standards to graduate. The second is an IEP

diploma in which a student graduates based on meeting their mental health goals and objectives.

Students are given more flexibility to participate in after school activities and are not held to the

same standards as general education students. When center base student are in a mainstream

class the academic rigor is modified to accommodate the (IEP). Special education students are

not encouraged or required to do any volunteering throughout their high school career.
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Service learning is for regular education and life skill is for special education.

Life Skills Class

The purpose of this class is to prepare center base students with enough tools that they will feel

competent enough to compete in the working world. There are many ways to assist the students

with obtaining the skills to accomplish this goal. I feel that the facilitator of this information

should be responsible to give detail information about multiple topics, as well as provide

multiple opportunities for learning life skills.

The center base life skills teacher should be prepared to teach the students, how to fill out

a job application, resume writing, employee expectations, how to budget money, living expenses,

grocery shopping, how to cook, where to obtain proper ID, how to catch a city bus, and personal

hygiene. These are skills that young adults need to have.

The center base teacher can address these in a variety of ways, he/she could provide job

shadowing opportunities, community service, join a mentoring program, bring in speakers, and

multi media. I also think the teacher ongoing interest assessment test on a regular basis to ensure

that the students are getting exposed to all possible career opportunities.

Unfortunately for my students the life skills coach is disengaged with the students. She is

a firm believer in paper and pencil, the classroom is unproductive. I receive many referrals from

her during this class, the students complain to me constantly and because there thoughts are

roaming during the lesson they do not obtain any skills for the class objective.

Cooper has a service learning coordinator who is responsible for assisting juniors and

seniors with filling out college application, FASFA form, challenging students to take college
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prep classes, and assistance with taking the ACT test. The coordinator also assigns community

service opportunities and facilitates after school clubs and activities.

Cooper provides opportunities for all students to be expose to the outside world, learn

commitment, follow through, as well as an opportunity to establish life-long resources by

connecting students with local business through volunteer engagements.

I believe the programs that are offered to special education students are extremely

valuable. Students who do not learn in a traditional setting should be offered alternative setting

to learn and gain skills that will assist them with independent adults. However, I believe that our

society as a whole, do not have the same expectation for special needs individual. Consequently,

our society is not receiving the wonderful gifts that these individuals have because they have not

been challenged early in life. They have not been given the opportunity to shine as the special

people that they are.