UPDATES from the Special Education Office

May 2017

Note from Corinne Rello-Anselmi,

Deputy Chancellor, Division of Specialized Instruction and Student Support
We would like to welcome you to our new quarterly newsletter. Our goal is to provide you with important
information from our Division at a glance, while also highlighting best practices. We will always present
news and policy updates, new resources, upcoming professional development opportunities, and
highlights of compelling practices. Please contact us at InclusiveSchoolLeader@schools.nyc.gov to provide
welcomed feedback and/or to share a best practice. We are looking forward to a collaborative, productive
spring where we all continue to strive for Equity and Excellence for every student in each of our schools.

Two Important Policy Updates:

Testing - As we approach Regents exams, please
remember that it is critical to make thoughtful
decisions about testing accommodations. Testing
accommodations are based on the unique needs of
an individual student. Please note that the
procedures for administering state assessments over
multiple days has been revised.
Ensure that all students with accommodations are
familiar with their accommodations and that they are
aligned to the accommodations the student has
received instructionally throughout the school year.
As a reminder, students are eligible for tests read
including tests of reading comprehension (i.e. the ELA
Regents) if the students disability severely impacts
the students ability to decode print. The same
decision making tool (NYSED Decision-Making Tool
for Tests Read) used for grades 3- 8 can support the
determination for high school students. Please
remember that providing read-aloud
accommodations for students who do not need them
can have a negative impact on the student
performance and is never a substitute for systematic,
explicit, research-based reading interventions and
instruction.
New Resource:
The Special Education Office has developed a new
resource titled Framework for Great Schools: Best
Practices in Special Education to Ensure Equity and
Excellence. This document offers some specific
best practices that are aligned to the Framework
for Great Schools. This document is aligned to the
Quality Review Indicators as well, and can be used
as a reflection tool prior to writing your CEP. It is
completely non-evaluative and is meant to be a
tool to support you in your work.
Reach out to your FSC for training on developing and
implementing testing accommodations.
Questions to consider:
Are the recommended testing accommodations
aligned to instructional accommodations,
including supplementary aids and services that a
student is receiving?
Has an assessment been conducted in order to
identify and/or verify the students most effective
mode of receiving information?
Has the IEP/CSE team used the NYSED Decision-
Making Tool for Tests Read to guide the decision-
making process?
 Important Dates:
School Implementation Teams (SITs) completed their third round of IEP reviews in April and will complete
the last round by June 15th. Please review information gathered during the reviews as well as progress
toward SIT Action Plan goals to begin planning for next year.
January 31st was the deadline for finalizing changes to promotion criteria on students IEPs for the current
school year. Updated guidance about promotion can be found here. (Also see Policy Updates above). As
you complete the annual reviews for this year, review promotion criteria and testing accommodations,
ensuring that we are giving all students every opportunity to achieve success. Make sure that your team is
including all of the information for the student to be successful in the next year.
Elementary Schools - T5 cases have been assigned. Please review schedules in order to accommodate
evaluations and meetings regarding these students. Plan for incoming students according to their program
and service recommendations.
High Schools Please ensure that work based learning and employability profiles are being completed,
particularly for students who are working toward the CDOS credential. TOP (Training Opportunity Program)
gives students the opportunity to gain work experience under supervision of pedagogical staff and
orientations began taking place in January. Your Transition Team Leaders (TTLs) can register here. Begin to
plan for students to participate in TOP in the fall.

Promotion - Promotion Policy Guidelines for all Questions to consider:

students can be found here. Please note the
following shifts:
All students, including students with disabilities,
should almost always be held to standard
promotion criteria, which determines if students
are ready for and have mastered enough content
and skills to be successful in the next grade.
Students are assessed on their progress toward
meeting promotion benchmarks for their grade
through the use of multiple measures. This
includes using criteria specified on students IEPs.
Because all students, including students with
IEPs, now have multiple ways to demonstrate
sufficient progress under schools promotion
benchmarks, the IEP team should carefully
consider whether a student requires modified
promotion criteria.
Are all of the appropriate accommodations,
supports and services provided and effectively
utilized?
Can the student demonstrate progress toward
promotion benchmarks using multiple measures?
How is progress toward benchmarks monitored?
How is the determination of promotion criteria
carefully considered to support success in High
School?
Modified Promotion Criteria should be recommended
for a student in rare cases only. If you suspect that a
student with a disability may require modified
promotion criteria, see the Special Education Office's
Promotion Page for additional information.
Professional Learning Highlights: Upcoming Training and Workshops:
We organized our professional learning this year You can access training materials and resources at
through 5 cycles of learning. In January FSC staff Special Education Resources on the intranet. Included
learned about access through Assistive Technology are resources and training materials on IEP
(AT), Accessible Educational Materials (AEM), and development (Present Level of Performance and
the role of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In Common Core Aligned Goals), specially designed
February the topic was access to LRE through instruction, behavior supports and transition. We are
individualized recommendations, and the role of continually updating and posting additional resources
paraprofessionals in providing supports and fostering so check back regularly. We have posted training on
independence. We are working to ensure that ICT that will support teachers of ICT classes. Please let
paraprofessionals are recommended only in us know at specialeducationPD@schools.nyc.gov if
accordance with the NYSED Guidelines for you want to receive regular updates about upcoming
Determining a Student with a Disability's Need for a professional learning opportunities.
One-to-One Aide.
In March we explored multi-tiered systems of
support in order to support schools in meeting the
needs of all students. In April we learned about
bilingual special education including meeting the
needs of English Learners prior to and after referral.
In May, Special Education Liaisons willreflect on the
progress toward the goals outlined in each schools
SIT Action Plan. We look forward to finishing the year
by reflecting on our progress, understanding impact,
celebrating our accomplishments, and planning for
continued growth and improvement.
We hope that the activities your Special Education
I cannot change the direction of the
Liaison engages in at their monthly meetings can be wind, but I can adjust my sails in order to
shared with the rest of your staff to support IEP reach my destination Ricky Skaggs
development, implementation and instructional
planning to improve outcomes for students with
disabilities. The Inclusive Schools Learning
Collaborative (ISLC) meets monthly to support and
train the Field Support Centers (FSCs) so that they
can best support their Special Education Liaisons.
Additionally, ISLC provides FSC team members the
opportunity to engage in their own professional
learning on a variety of topics that will help all
students achieve academic and social success.
Interesting Facts:
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in May in the
United States since 1949. Information and a toolkit of activities can be found at Mental Health America. The New
York City Department of Education has joined the New York City Mayors Office in promoting access to mental
health services including expanding community schools, initiatives through the School Based Mental Health
Program, and Thrive NYC.
April was Autism Awareness Month. Staff members across D75 programs wore blue on April 3rd and the Office of
Autism provided workshops for school staff and families. Individual schools hosted events throughout New York
City. Examples included the Zumba fundraiser for autism at 31R072 on April 29th, a school-wide sensory carnival
and walk-a-thon at 21K199, t-shirts designed and sold at 26Q041, and 75X176 planning a celebration that
included students, staff and families.

Highlighting Compelling Practices:
PS 15, The Patrick Daly Magnet School of the Arts, is
located in the heart of Red Hook, Brooklyn. PS 15 is
developing an instructional practice by which access
to instructional and assistive technology are
embedded throughout the school day. According to
PS 15 principal Peggy Wyns Madison, We are a work
in progress as we reimagine our schools curriculum
to include technology paired with the arts.
USING TECHNOLOGY HAS GIVEN MY
STUDENTS A VOICE. PS 15 K TEACHER
A fifth grade ICT class uses instructional and assistive
technology to support access to instruction as well as
facilitate student-driven learning. For example, in
class 5-231, teachers Elzoghby and McCarthy
incorporate Brain Pop into a unit of study on the
circulatory system. Using Brain Pop on classroom
iPads, students select a specific component of the
circulatory system to study with a peer. As one
student stated, using technology helps us learn
because we know how to use tablets and computers
and it helps me stay on task. Teachers and students
alike have shared that using technology motivates
students and increases their level of engagement.

Kindergarten teacher, Ms. MacFie, utilizes

technology for a multisensory approach to student
learning and participation. During daily Morning
Meeting, Ms. MacFie pairs an interactive white
board with student iPads to reinforce the lesson. This
also allows students who are not able to
communicate verbally to respond by using an iPad
with speech generating software. Use of this device
enables students in the class who have difficulty PS 15 is an example of how one school utilizes
producing verbal language to be active and technology to support all learners.
spontaneous participants in the lesson.