Special Education Study
Work Team Minutes

March 22, 2005

Our Goal:

A strategic approach to developing a Special Education Instructional Model for resource and BI services

Enduring Understandings:

A system approach helps to show alignment of program curriculum, assessments, and effective instructional practices
Quality instruction is essential for the success of all students in the system

Essential Questions:

How do Special Education services specifically support Goal one of the strategic plan?
What can we learn by understanding IDEA, exploring effective models, and examining current research?

Outcomes:

• KNOWLEDGE BUILDING-debriefing reading assignment
• Understanding our Work Team TIMELINE
• Continuing our INVESTIGATIONS
• Planning for VISITATIONS - our six topic teams
• Finalizing the first LOOPING OUT process and TRACKING process
• ASSIGNMENTS: Reading and Research

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Agenda Items:

1) Welcome, Review of Outcomes for today's meeting

2)  Inclusion activity: Just Like Me!

3)  LOOPING Share Outs:

• Members were polled to determine if additional loops outs had been done since our last meeting.
• A concern expressed from loop out was, "How will students be identified for special education services?"
• Looping out tracking sheet was updated

4)  KNOWLEDGE BUILDING - Debriefing readings and research:

• With a partner, team members reviewed two articles from their reading, identifying key concerns that would apply to our work.
• Team members used the "Collaborative Learning Cycle" from Data Driven Dialogue (Lipton and Wellman) to study the results of five main ethnic groups on the 4th, 7th, and 10th grade WASL for reading, writing, and math.  This process raised questions as to whether or not we are over identifying students of color for Special Education Services.

5)  INVESTIGATIONS: 

• Team members spent time reading and researching on-line for information regarding the area they were investigating.  Including:  Prevention/early intervention, Curriculum and Assessment, Instructional Strategies, and Professional Learning.

6)  VISITATIONS:

• The visitation schedule was shared.  Team members continued to sign-up for visitations.
• The visitation documents were discussed.  It was agreed that some overarching questions should be sent to principals in advance of the visit, questions needed to be open-ended and not leading, we want the principals and teachers to know that we are seeking information, not evaluating.   It was agreed to have an ad hoc committee continue refining the visitation questions, with a completed document ready by the end of the meeting. 
• The format of the visitation was also discussed.  Some concerns were expressed regarding who should attend the post-observation conference.  It was agreed that the questions for this portion of the visitation would be posed to the principal and any other available team members and they would include:
  • If we had come at a different time of the day, how might we have experienced a different picture?
  • Do any of the visitation team members have additional questions?
  • What else would you and your school team members like to tell us?
•  Team members also requested that a process be detailed as to how to conduct the visit and how to write up the follow-up report.

7)  LOOPING OUT and TRACKING process:

• Members were polled to determine if additional loop outs had been done since our last meeting
• A concern expressed from one loop out was, "How will students be identified for special education services?"
  •  Loop out tracking sheet was updated

8)  ASSIGNMENT:

• Team members were asked to read at least 2 of 4 articles made available by the team leaders, as well as to continue their reading and research for their investigation teams