Special Education Study
Work Team Minutes

May 23, 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
• Develop VISITATIONS summaries
• Develop specifics for INTERIM REPORT
• ASSIGNMENTS : Refine the work on the INTERIM REPORT

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

2) Updates and information:

• LOOPING OUT information – EMERGING UNDERSTANDINGS
• Members were polled to determine if additional loop outs had been done since our last meeting.
• Turn out for voluntary Loop Out meetings is still very low.
• The elementary principals seem most concerned about how to meet student needs with limited resources. They would also like to be sure that training is available for principals in addition to general ed and special ed staff.
• Secondary principals seem to have more concerns with identification of students and defining modifications in terms of transcripts and report cards.
• Update TRACKING of our LOOPINGOUT
• External VISITS update

3) Develop VISITATIONSsummary

• Study team members reviewed the visitation reports in thematic teams and looked carefully for themes that applied to most or all of the schools visited. Each team then created several statements to summarize the practice or condition that was shared. Rough drafts of these statements were shared for feedback from other thematic team members. Final statements for the summary of the internal visitations were given to Chris Bailey for the leadership team to edit and revise into a final report.

4) Develop specifics for INTERIM REPORT

• Team members were in agreement that the scope of our work has been larger than we have been able to accomplish in the time allotted and that we are not ready to produce a final draft or recommendations.
• It was suggested that we produce an Interim Report describing what we have learned so far from our research, and what next steps we will likely need to take in order to produce some final recommendations.
• Team members spent the majority of the day summarizing their research findings and next steps for the Interim Report.
• Each team presented information and received feedback from others to revise their work for a second draft.
• Team members agreed that a multi-tiered intervention plan for prevention/early intervention is a recommendation we could all make.

5) ASSIGNMENTS: Refine the work on the INTERIM REPORT

• Teams were asked to meet again and further revise/develop their research report and to send it to Chris Bailey by June 1 st so that the drafts could be assembled into one coherent document.
• Each team was asked to prepare 3-4 major points from their research to present to the Directors on May 27 th. Along with a question they would like the Directors to discuss.
• The Study Team will all meet with the Directors on May 27 th to share the Guiding Principles, and major points from their research.