Monthly Special Education Agendas

December
1) December PDE handout: Teachers and Special Education Paraprofessionals:
Working as a Team to Support Students
a. Reviews teacher responsibilities and responsibilities for aides
b. Shares strategies for collaborating and communicating as well as how
to address team conflict
2) Students moving back from being hospitalized
a. Make sure to get recommendations from the hospital and revise the IEP
if needed
b. Perhaps hold a meeting with the parent to discuss changes and how
the team will respond to the transition back (extra breaks? Check-in
with counselor?)
c. Have there been multiple hospitalizations? Do we need to consider
evaluating? Adding a diagnosis if appropriate or changing support type
3) Anxiety in schools
a. Hand out Dahlsgaard article - since it is lengthy, focus attention on
pages 9 through 12 (discussion and conclusion)
b. Make decisions about preventing/structuring the environment to
reduce anxiety but also have a plan to expose the student to their
triggers and learn how to cope/push through
4) ESY dates on your calendar - pay attention to data collection
5) Please finalize documents and send paperwork to DSC within the 10 days. If
docs are incomplete, then email secretary, but try not to hold onto things.
6) Fill out IU referral form when requesting evaluations that cannot be
performed by psychologists or related service providers within the district
(e.g., executive functioning evals, feeding evals)
January
1) January PDE handout: Co-teaching
a. Outlines what co-teaching is and what it is not
b. Reviews elements of effective partnerships
c. Different co-teaching approaches (one teach, one observe, station
teaching, parallel teaching, team teaching)
2) Unlocking an IEP revision - contact Carrie who can do this
3) Contacting both parents in custody issues
a. If both parents have equal educational rights unless revoked by a
judge...they should both be contacted
b. Parents being removed from IEP writer and documents - need legal
docs saying that one or the other has sole educational rights or
communication from parent saying they dont want to be involved
4) Manifestation determination Review the document itself as well as
procedures. Direct them back to the special education manual
a. Interpreting how and when students with ED and Autism can be
disciplined and outlining steps for doing so
b. ID student cannot receive disciplinary action against the law
5) Follow up on anxiety in students from December agenda
a. Provide anxiety goal from pool counsel from our lawyer
6) Short term objectives for PASA and reference alternate standards for goals
a. PASA website has alternate standards
b. PASA 6 criteria and procedures for recommending PASA
c. If teams arent sure about a decision to qualify for PASA, they are
asked to bring the case to Supervisor of Special Ed and Director of
Pupil Services to review the data.
7) SDI at IEP meetings- review this section when the reg. ed. teachers are there
to see if students are accessing the SDI, remove any that are no longer
needed
8) Signature page and invitation must have parent, reg. Ed., spec. Ed. and LEA
(if principal serving as LEA cannot have principal as the title)
9) Appropriate use of instructional aides - pool counsel resource
a. Aides can deliver instruction by themselves (i.e., a certified teacher
doesnt have to be in the room with them). However, the certified
teacher does need to be the one planning the instruction and
reviewing performance data as well as introducing new
content/concepts. Aides can instruct and assess.
10) PBSP embedded in IEP (click box on special considerations page) - if
not need signatures on separate document
February
1) February PDE handout: Supplementary Aids and Services (SAS)
a. Strategies to identify student barriers for classroom practices
b. Questions for teams to consider in choosing SAS
2) Pass out more orange transmittal form reminder to please submit all
paperwork to district office with the transmittal form
3) Review ESY forms and procedures
a. Data and recommendations needed from related service providers
b. See Canvas module for language to use in ESY revision
4) Talk to teachers about communication with bus drivers if there are behavior
concerns relay strategies that work in the classroom, create a chart that is
completed on the bus but linked to reinforcers at school
5) Link for 2017 PSSA accommodations:
http://www.education.pa.gov/Documents/K-12/Assessment%20and
%20Accountability/PSSA/2017%20Accommodations%20Guidelines.pdf
6) Calculating LRE percentage
a. Divide minutes in special education per day by time in regular
education per day. This is especially needed for services that are once
per week, or once per month
7) New referral process for IU consultants
a. Google form that will need to be completed and sent to Supervisor of
Special Education and Director of Pupil Services
b. Once form is submitted, a corresponding email must also be sent with
the data supporting the need for the referral. Must outline
interventions that have been tried and data supporting why the
intervention has been unsuccessful. Interventions must be tried for 4
to 6 weeks before a referral will be considered.
8) IU consultants should be listed as such or say IU behavioral support staff, or
behavioral consultant
a. CANNOT SAY BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST that is a separate certification
that neither have
- Supplementary Aides and Services Pattan booklet
March
1) March PDE handout: Classroom Management
a. Outlines how to identify behaviors, antecedents to behaviors, and
consequences
b. Gives examples of group and individual reinforcers
c. Sample classroom expectations
d. Provides a checklist that can be used to review instructional practices
in your classroom
2) iReady lessons for math should go beyond 45 min per week but not just in
online instruction
a. Student Profile has lessons for them to work on with students
b. Teacher Toolbox gives access to Ready program for lessons and direct
instruction
c. To view the lessons and additional resources:
i. click on report tab
ii. then student report
iii. then student profile
iv. then Select: school, class, student, test and run report
d. The overview tab will show how theyve done on the tests and the
subgroup
e. The specific subgroup tabs will break down their skill set for each
category and provide recommended skills to be taught and lessons.
3) Having communication release at every meeting so that we can get
permission to communicate with outside treating physicians, counselors,
therapists, psychiatrists
a. Helps parents to not be the middle man, but also ensures that what we
are doing in school is accurately communicated to outside
professionals
b. Outside professionals are often making inappropriate school
recommendations which parents then get hung up on
c. If parent refuses to sign, document that youve requested parents to
sign the release and write that on the release and submit with your
paperwork
4) NOREPs If you have to make revisions to the IEP after the meeting, dont
issue the NOREP until you are issuing the IEP they are agreeing to
5) OT/PT costs: consultation
a. Anytime you consult with the OT/PT we get billed so please be
conscious of your time and talking and keep it in line with IEP
expectations.
b. Be mindful of the time you initiate conversations and if the therapist is
initiating, you can respond that you do not have concerns at this time.
This goes for face-to-face chats and emails all billable
communication.
April
1) April PDE handout: Guidelines for Calculating Educational Environment
a. Provides a model for calculating time in special ed. vs. regular ed.
b. Models how to complete the grid
c. Gives examples of educational environments
2) Parent training as a related service in relation to the childs disability
a. Contact someone in special ed. admin team if you feel this applies and
has potential to go into an IEP
b. If the child has a math disability: are there strategies we can
share/model to support?
c. Special ed. and reg. ed. teacher meet with parents, provide instruction
d. Coverage would need to be arranged within building
e. If the child is identified with ED: Similar to above but about behavior
i. meet with the parents and review behavior management plan,
effective strategies, maybe involve the guidance counselor
3) 20 Indicators of a successful Special ed program (handout) these are the 20
indicators that we will be audited on next year draw attention to indicator 8
4) Indicator 8 - Parent survey
a. talk about questions that teachers can ensure were doing (providing
information about procedural safeguards)
b. Survey given randomly but not anonymously parents can rate
teachers based upon each question
c. Helpful for teachers to know what they are being graded on:
Providing special accommodations for meeting attendance (e.g., child
care? Times outside the school day if needed?), Parents feeling like
equal members of the team?
d. Ratings categories are 1 to 5, 1 being strongly agree to 5, strongly
disagree
5) Show SPP data from 14-15 we get this report every year (will share the 15-
16 report when we get it)
a. Look at disproportionality in certain disability categories (ID, OHI) and
what corrective action steps we will need to take/have taken
b. This report shows what we will be audited on
6) Use MAG checklist and get a transition IEP to transition coordinator for review
May
1) PDE handout - The Shared Responsibility of Educational Team Members
a. Talks about roles and responsibilities for all team members such as
gen. ed. teacher, spec. ed. teacher, school psychologist,
administrators, aides, outside agencies, parents, etc.
2) End of year paperwork
a. Submit by May 30th. Email admin team with exceptions: if a student is
remaining on your caseload and the IEP will expire Sept. 28th, may be
ok to hold off on meeting until next year
3) Paperwork Amnesty
a. Whatever you have for whatever reason, send it to district office - NO
QUESTIONS ASKED
4) Alphabet split for administrative assistants
a. Assistant 1 has students A L, assistant 2 has M Z
5) ESY materials
a. Send them to district office before the end of the year.
b. A separate envelope/packet needs to be sent for each child
c. Include a checklist or inventory of materials so we know what to send
back
6) Send us end of year feedback send an email or share a google doc
a. What worked well
b. What didn't work well
c. What are topics for future training
d. What are resources that we should explore
e. Other positives or concerns