Action
Plan
2005-2006
K-12th
Grade
Date of
scheduled Curriculum Committee presentation: April 11, 2005
Date of
scheduled first Board reading: April 18, 2005
Name Role
Becky Cherry Emery Secondary School,
Instructional Assistant (11-12)
Leslie Epstein Anna Yates Elementary School,
Special Education Teacher (K-6 RSP)
Marguerite Fortin Anna
Yates Elementary School, Instructional Assistant (K-6 SDC)
Julianne Hoffman Anna
Yates Elementary School, Special Education Teacher (K-6 SDC)
Ruth Hurvitz Emery Unified School District,
Speech and Language Specialist
Mina Hutchins Emery Secondary School, Special
Education Teacher (7-8)
ToniLyn Jones Anna Yates Elementary School,
Instructional Assistant (K-6 RSP)
Shira Miess Emery Secondary School, Special
Education Teacher (11-12)
Parisa Muller Emery Unified School District,
School Psychologist
Veronica Owens Anna
Yates Elementary School, Instructional Aide
Michelle Smith Emery Secondary School,
Instructional Assistant (7-8)
Theory and Research Page 4
Action Plan to Achieve Objectives Page 11
Aggregate
Plan Budget Page
16
Grade
Level and Service Page 19
INTRODUCTION
Within the last six years, special education in Emery Unified School District has changed dramatically. Six years ago, there were just two Resource teachers, one Instructional Aide and a contracted Speech and Language Therapist to serve the needs of all identified students throughout the District. Due to limited resources and staffing, many students were unidentified as being eligible for special services and nineteen (19) students with unique needs were placed in either a neighboring school district or a nonpublic school setting. Today, the Special Education Department has a director, four credentialed special education teachers, six instructional aides, a speech and language specialist and a school psychologist to serve 90 students in Resource Programs (RSP), Special Day Classes (SDC) and Speech and Language settings in grades K-12. In addition, six (6) students are serviced outside of EUSD. In total, EUSD provides special education services to 96 students ages 3-20 years old.
Number of Students
Receiving Special Education Services, 1999-2005
|
Years |
General Education K-12 Population |
Total number of students ages 3 through 22 receiving special education services |
||
|
All Students |
Students receiving special education services |
|||
|
Number |
Number |
Percent of all students |
||
|
1999-00 |
977 |
Info not available |
Info not available |
Info not available |
|
2000-01 |
962 |
87 |
9.57 |
87 |
|
2001-02 |
991 |
83 |
8.63 |
85 |
|
2002-03 |
860 |
96 |
11.16 |
101 |
|
2003-04 |
797 |
102 |
12.8 |
109 |
|
2004-05* |
761* |
94* |
12.3* |
99* |
*Current as of 4/7/05; All
information gathered from CDE DataQuest System and CA SpEd Management
Information System (CASEMIS) reporting.
EUSD provides special education programs in the District serving primarily students with non-severe handicaps. It also utilizes the services of the North Region Special Education Local Plan Area (NR SELPA), school districts within the SELPA (Alameda, Albany, Berkeley and Piedmont), and nonpublic agencies to better serve students with unique needs.
|
Number
of Special Education Students in Emery Unified School District April 2005 |
|
|
School Site |
# of Students Presently Receiving Services |
|
Anna Yates Elementary |
41 |
|
Emery Secondary School |
49 |
|
Other Public School PreK |
4 |
|
Non-Public School Elementary |
3 |
|
Non-Public School High School |
1 |
|
Adult School |
1 |
|
TOTAL |
99 |
Statewide, a typical school district has a special education
population of approximately ten percent (10%) of the total student population. Of the 94 special education
students in grades K-12 receiving services through EUSD, 37 students (39.4%)
are placed in special-day classes, 39 students (41.5%) are served in the
resource specialist program, 3 students (3.2%) are placed in Non-public School
settings, and 40 students (44.4%) receive at least one DIS service, generally
in the area of speech and language development. When a student receives only
one DIS service and is not in the SDC or RSP program, the one DIS service is
calculated as an unduplicated special education student count. The District provides
unduplicated DIS to 13 (14.4%) students. Of the total number of students (99)
receiving services, 4 preschool
students (4.4%) are placed in neighboring district schools (via Intra-SELPA
exchange).
|
Emeryville
Residents Attending Programs Outside
of EUSD, April 2005 |
||
|
District of
Attendance |
# of Students
Attending |
Average Cost per
Student (Education &
Transportation) |
|
Albany |
3 |
$ 20,000 |
|
Alameda |
2 |
$ 24,000 |
|
Adult School |
1 |
$ 17,000 |
When students attend either Intra/Inter- SELPA programs, the district of service bills EUSD for the actual cost of the services provided (special day class and each DIS support service) and the district of service also receives the Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding for the student for the school year.
This plan assesses the current state of the District’s
Special Education program and presents a vision for its future.
Our vision is to cultivate the maximum potential of our students in the least restrictive environment in order that they may participate fully in academic, civic, and social activities with their peers. The development of our students is a collaborative practice between student, special educators, general educators and families.
It is the mission of the Special Education Team to provide
excellence and equity in education for, and increase awareness of the strengths
and needs of people with disabilities. It is our mission to collaborate with
families, teachers, administrators and the community in sharing knowledge and
expertise regarding special education in order to facilitate learning and
increase access to the general education core curriculum for all students. In adhering to the guidelines put forth by
the State and Federal government, we seek to implement regulations in the
intent and spirit of the law in order to meet the needs of all students.
Theory and Research
Under the Federal Law of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), “special education” is defined as specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of individuals ages 3-22 years old with exceptional needs, whose educational needs cannot be met with modification of the regular instruction program, and related services, again at no cost to the parent, that may be needed to assist these individuals to benefit from specially designed instruction.
Students who currently receive special education services through EUSD receive either one or more of the following services: Resource Program (RSP), Special Day Class Program (SDC), Speech and Language Program (SLP), Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), School Based Counseling (SBC) or Transportation (See Appendix A).
Eligibility Criteria for Special Education Programs
When students are referred for a special education assessment, EUSD staff must ensure that all accommodations and/or modifications in the regular education setting have been exhausted before assessing students for special education. Depending on the type of referral for services, students are administered a battery of assessments by a special education teacher, speech therapist and/or a school psychologist. A student found eligible for special education services qualifies under one of thirteen categories (See Appendix B).
The level and type of services provided to a student are determined by the Individualized Education Plan/Program (IEP) team, consisting of the special education teacher, general education teacher, school psychologist, speech therapist, parent, administrator and when appropriate, the student, during the initial IEP meeting.
Program Monitoring and Evaluation
IEP meetings are held annually after the initial meeting. Goals and objectives are created to address the area of need(s) as identified by assessments for the student. Quarterly progress reports of the goals are shared with general education teachers and parents to assess the level of progress towards the goals.
Students are assessed by their special education teacher annually to determine current academic levels. Triennial evaluations are held every 3 years to determine continued eligibility in the special education program.
Analysis of Current Practice
District-wide
CST
Student data from the 2004 STAR testing reflects that the majority of our students in special education in grades 2-11 lacked the literacy and math skills they needed to access the core curriculum at their grade levels in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Only 2.0% of students with special needs scored “Proficient” or better on the California Standards Tests in English Language Arts and 3.0% on the Mathematics Test. One cause for this may be that students did not have adequate access to the core general education curriculum.
|
Spring 2004 STAR Testing Results Total Students with Special Needs Grades 2-11 = 65 |
|||||||||
|
Gr. |
ELA |
|
Math |
||||||
|
FBB |
BB |
B |
P |
|
FBB |
BB |
B |
P |
|
|
2 |
- |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
- |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
- |
3 |
- |
- |
|
- |
2 |
- |
1 |
|
4 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
- |
|
1 |
5 |
1 |
- |
|
5 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
- |
|
1 |
6 |
2 |
- |
|
6 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
4 |
1 |
- |
|
7 |
5 |
3 |
- |
- |
|
3 |
4 |
1 |
- |
|
8 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
3 |
3 |
- |
- |
|
9 |
4 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
10 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
- |
|
4 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
11 |
6 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
3 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
Total Students |
31 |
24 |
7 |
1 |
|
20 |
31 |
8 |
2 |
|
% |
48% |
37% |
11% |
2% |
|
31% |
48% |
12% |
3% |
Reading
Seeing the need to help support students’ limited skills in reading, the Special Education Department implemented a K-12 reading initiative and adopted intensive reading programs. At Anna Yates, Special Education teachers and instructional aides were trained in Reading Revolution, a kinesthetic program utilizing movements to associate with sound-letter recognition. Emery Secondary School Special Education teachers and instructional aides were trained in the SRA REACH Direct Instruction Program, a program that teaches decoding, spelling and comprehension skills. ESS students receive reading instruction for 2-3 periods daily. In both programs, teachers have reported increased reading skills, based on pre-assessments and mid-year assessments to date.
Speech Therapist
The District has one full-time Speech and Language Therapist who provides services to approximately 30 students in grades K-12. The frequency and level of service depends on the individual student’s IEP. On average, the Speech Therapist provides direct services to eligible students twice a week for 30 minutes per session in either group or individual settings. Services are in pull-out and/or special ed/general ed classroom settings and support the individual student’s needs.
Students qualify for speech therapy services primarily, but not limited to the following: breakdown in communication from hearing/auditory processing impairments, poor speech sound production, difficulties with language comprehension and production, memory for verbal information, deviations in voice quality, fluency disorders, disorders of social skill learning, phonological skill impairments, and low incidence disorders such as swallowing disorders, cerebral palsy and cleft palate.
School Psychologist
This year has been the first time that EUSD has had the opportunity to hire a full-time School Psychologist as part of the staff. The main goal for the school psychologist during the 2004-2005 school year has been to assess newly referred students in grades Preschool through Twelfth for eligibility for special education services and provide triennial evaluations for current students to determine continued eligibility and current levels and needs. This goal has been met and the District is in compliance with psychological evaluations to date.
The District School Psychologist has recently begun providing school based coun