ARRA LAUSD Charter School Special Education Project

1. It Takes A Village: Working with Stakeholders and Building Charter Networks to Serve Students With Disabilities ARRA LAUSD Charter SchoolSpecial Education Project Presentation for California Charter Schools Conference February 28, 2012 Dr. Alice Parker, Project Director Dr. Ginger Adams Simon, Quality Control Manager

2. Five Project Objectives 1. Conduct a Needs Assessment of Special Education Services Across Charters 2. Evaluate current system for data analysis at student level aligned to special education requirements 3. Train for pre-identification intervention/Response to Intervention (RtI) and data-informed instruction.   4. Provide a Continuum of service options for students with disabilities, including Autism and support for behavior and/or emotional needs 5. Build capacity for additional Extended School Year (ESY) programs

3. Engaged with 31 schools in the LAUSD SELPA through site visits, interviews and focus groups • 320 classrooms observed in 24 site visits • 82 educators trained in observation protocols • 182 educators involved in focus groups or interviews • Sent survey to all LAUSD Charter School Leaders for distribution to staff – 600 returned Needs Assessment Process

4. Schools and CMOs who Participated

5. Eighty-five Percent of Students in the Charter School Project Pool are in the Regular Classroom 80% or More of the Time

6. Students aged 15 or older in the Charter Project Schools are more likely to have Transition related Language in their IEPs

7. Students aged 15 or older in the Charter Project Schools are more likely to have Transition related Language in their IEPs

8. Findings and Recommendations Organized Thematically • Leadership, Culture and Systems • Teaching and Learning • Data Management • Resources and Support for Learning Communities

9. Summary of Needs for Leadership, Culture and Systems • Improve communication systems and collaboration for the provision of services for SWDs between Charters and LAUSD • Improve communications regarding placement procedures • Improve training and support to enable more schools to handle moderately to severely disabled students. • Continue collaboration efforts in the planning for the new SELPA.

10. Summary of Needs for Leadership, Culture and Systems, continued… • Strengthen organizational leadership skills for communicating vision and values related to special education. • Provide access to networks and help with community outreach and fundraising strategies for charter leaders who have more limited resources and community support. • Strengthen the knowledge base of Charter leaders on research-based service delivery and RtI options.

11. Summary of Needs for Teaching and Learning • Strengthen skills of general educators and special educators in differentiated instruction and teaching to different learning modalities. • Strengthen skills of general educators and special educators in how to create rigorous lessons. • Seek ways to include Speech and Language services in-house or if contracted out to more closely align those services to best practices for school personnel as defined by ASHA/CSHA.

12. Summary of Needs for Teaching and Learning, continued… • Strengthen skills of general educators, special educators, and administrators in how to deal with severe emotional/behavior issues. • Implement more intentional, strategic, full-inclusion models • Strengthen skills of SLPs in classroom-based assessment, curriculum-relevant intervention strategies, social-pragmatic language support, and single-sound intervention models.

13. Summary of Needs for Support and Resources For Learning Communities • Break down isolation between special educators and general educators. • Break down isolation between the charters themselves and between charters and the district. • Strengthen skills and systems for consistent, deep-level, data-driven practice. • Strengthen skills and systems to provide high-quality Co-Teaching and Collaboration between special ed. and general ed. Staff. • Provide access and training in use of assistive and other technologies

14. Summary of Needs for Data Management and Systems • Strengthen communications about available training and resources for Welligent system. • Streamline data entry procedures and create greater efficiencies. • Create networks of users for trouble-shooting and support.

15. Summary of Needs for Data Management and Systems • Strengthen communications about available training and resources for Welligent system. • Streamline data entry procedures and create greater efficiencies. • Create networks of users for trouble-shooting and support.

16. Stakeholders: A Necessary Component for Moving Forward

17. Charter School Leaders, CEOs, CAOs, founders and principals • Special Education Leaders • Teachers • Parents • LAUSD office of Innovation • LAUSD Special Educators • CCSA Special Education Leadership Who Were our Stakeholders? 

18. Guided needs assessment process • Assisted in gaining access to school campuses • Reviewed findings and recommendations • Prioritized recommendations • Approved action plans and implementation strategies • Formed task forces to help with implementation and get the work done What Did They Do? 

19. Their ownership and buy-in made the process a positive one rather than a compliance task. • New bridges were able to be built with the district in this context. • They became partners with a common goal with other charter educators, formerly their competitors. • Their energy and leadership during implementation were essential to the success of the project. Why Were They Important? 

20. Instructional and Leadership Coaching • 14 coaches hired and worked with 17 schools on • behavior, inclusive instructional models to serve • students with disabilities, co-teaching, and leadership • Two-day RtI training for multiple schools What We Achieved Together 

21. Charters Taking the LeadSummit • 855 total attendees over two days representing: •  Over 130 charter schools • 67% teachers • 7% paraprofessionals • 23% administrators or other district or county roles • 2% parents What We Achieved continued… 

22. Charters Taking the LeadSummit continued… • 30 Workshops over two days • Nationally recognized, high quality keynote presenters • 6 strands- Autism, Behavior, Instruction (Tiered Strategies), Leadership, Co-Teaching, Parent Education • 12 Charter Showcases What We Achieved continued… 

23. Charters Taking the LeadEvaluations: • received 2,443 evaluations for sessions • 84% reported that “the Knowledge/skills learned in <a given> session will be useful to my work” • of 28 sessions 80-100% reported as high quality and would be used in classrooms • 70% of evaluations were completed by teachers • 47% had taught 3 years or less • 22% were first year teachers What We Achieved continued… 

24. Technology Rich Classroom Awards and Training • 128 teachers awarded equipment and trained to use it • 61 School sites • 38 Awards for Viewsonic Projectors • 16 Awards for Promethean Boards • 3 Awards for iPod touches • 74 Awards for iPads What We Achieved continued… 

25. Infinitec • Assistive Technology and UDL Training provided to 1000+ educators • 200 Schools • 60 trainings • 112 requests for continued or new training in 2011-2012 What We Achieved continued… 

26. Brokers of Expertise (www.myboe.org) • Online communities of charter educators formed • Local training and summit training • New resources and tools being shared • All summit power points and videos shared What We Achieved continued… 

27. Data Management • Analysis conducted • Welligent Users Guide Developed and Distributed • End Users group formed on BoE for on-going support • End Users training provided 8/29 and 8/30/2011 What We Achieved continued… 

28. Extended School Year • 6 schools participated • 20 classes offered • 230 students participated • Manual developed and provided to schools to assist in starting their own ESY programs • Administrative oversight and support provided to all sites What We Achieved continued… 

29. Dr. Kaye Ragland, Director of Inclusion and Special Education, PUC Schools • Dr. Myranda Marsh, Executive Director, James Jordan Middle School Our Panelists 

30. Questions?