Special Education Study
Work Team Minutes

May 16, 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:

• Updates and Information:
• LOOP OUT Information
• Update TRACKING of our LOOPING OUT
• External VISITS update
• Knowledge building
• Continue developing THEME/ RESEARCH work
• ASSIGNMENTS : Reading and Research

~ ~ ~     ~ ~ ~     ~ ~ ~

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

2) Inclusion Activity: Meaningful Memories - Teams were invited to choose an M&M, answer a reflective question that corresponds to the color of their M&M and share with their table group.

 3) Updates and information:

• LOOPING OUT information – EMERGING UNDERSTANDINGS
• Members were polled to determine if additional loop outs had been done since our last meeting.
• Several Team members had shared the “Emerging Understandings” document with their representative groups.
• A concern was expressed that the information is not yet reaching all the people that it should.
• There is still concern for the process timeline, recognizing the need to balance implementation requirements yet be thorough and not rush through the process.
• Update TRACKING of our LOOPINGOUT
• External VISITS update
• Two districts were contacted and visits were requested.
• Kentucky has not responded. School was dismissed there on May 17.
• Vancouver indicated a willingness to host visitors in June.
• The work team needs further discussion with regard to making external visitations before the end of this school year or making visitations next year. Visitations can assist with investigating promising practices that align with our district beliefs and directions.

4) Knowledge Building to invite thinking

• Team members read and discussed information from Data Driven Dialogue to build capacity to invite thinking and broaden the pool of understanding. “Listening through the lens of our own worldview diminishes our capacity to understand the perceptions and concerns of others.”

5) Continue developing THEME/RESEARCH work

• Next drafts were presented by the following research teams:
  • Prevention and Early Intervention
  • Identification
  • Instructional Practices
  • Implementation
• A Charrette protocol was used for these presentations to allow other work team members to discuss the proposals and offer feedback to the presenting teams. Team members addressed the following questions as they gathered information:
  • To what extent does this work impact the work my team was doing?
  • If we were to implement a model something like the one presented, what new questions need to be addressed in our emerging model?
• Following presentations, team members continued drafting and revising their work.

6) ASSIGNMENTS: Reading and Research

• Visitation Summaries: In preparation for May 23rd, please come prepared to synthesize your draft with your team.
• Research teams: Bring the next draft of your work--if your team didn't share out yesterday, be prepared to share your current thinking.
• Continue to research and/or find answers to questions raised by team members (e.g. With the new curriculum guides, are current SE supplemental materials still appropriate? Is intelligence testing a requirement in an identification process? )
• Please consider using the telephone to further increase our knowledge base.