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Asking the Hard Question

Asking the Hard Question. Michael Termini, PsyD President Cooke Center for Learning and Development. Cooke Center . Founded by parents with the support of the Archdiocese of NY in 1987. We provide inclusive educational programs for 150 preschoolers (full)

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Asking the Hard Question

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  1. Asking the Hard Question Michael Termini, PsyD President Cooke Center for Learning and Development

  2. Cooke Center • Founded by parents with the support of the Archdiocese of NY in 1987. • We provide inclusive educational programs for • 150 preschoolers (full) • 95 elementary students (full to partial inclusion) • 150 elementary students (full with resource) • 93 high school students (community inclusion) • Consultation and training to teachers in 30 Catholic Schools and 3 Charter schools (ranging from 15 to 60 days of support per year) • Applied Research and workshops

  3. What we will do together • Identify some of the hard questions • Examine sample tools that you might adapt for your use • Hear from the experience of Cooke and each other in hope that you might leave reenergized for the task you face. • Circle names on the participants lists!

  4. Let’s start with the Word

  5. Why are you here? • There are kids in our classrooms that we are not reaching. • A child who touched my heart applied for admission. • Children are being denied a Catholic education and we want to do something. • My child, my brother, my cousin,… • I am not sure, but something pulled at me. • We are doing some great things but want to do more.

  6. Educational Platforms • We each have a platform comprised of various planks. • Instructional practice • Teacher role • Discipline • Assessment • Purpose of education • Reason for being a teacher • Your reason for being here is part of your platform.

  7. We Have Two Platforms Explicit Implicit

  8. Mission Statements • Represent a Schools Platform • In most schools there is an implicit and an explicit mission statement.

  9. Mission Statements • The three questions • What do you do? • For whom? • How? • Consider both the explicit and implicit responses when discussing mission • Consider the extent to which mission and individual platforms correspond

  10. Inclusion: A Definition “Inclusive education means that all students in a school, regardless of their strengths or needs in any area, become part of the school community.” NCEA

  11. Who is already there?

  12. What are you now? • Informal Inclusion Services • Developing Inclusion Services • Responsive Inclusion Services • Mission Now O X • Practice Now O X • Hope for Future O X

  13. A Change to Mission • Requires support from both the top and the bottom. • Administrative support is a critical element of inclusive schools. • Teachers, who must implement the change, must be primary decisions makers in the process.

  14. There is no silver bullet • Some basics to keep in mind • Broad input brings buy in • Mistakes will happen and mid-point corrections will be needed. • Administrators, teachers, lunch ladies, and janitors must understand their role in bringing about inclusion. • Changes will be needed both in policy and practice

  15. Change: Admissions • Who will you admit? • What information will be used to decide?

  16. Step Back • Who you will admit depends on the forms and levels of support appropriate to your mission and resources. • Accommodations and Modifications • What changes will you make? Medical v Environmental Model

  17. Remember this parable….

  18. Accommodations and Modifications Accommodations Services or support that help a student fully access the subject matter and instruction and help him to demonstrate what he knows. Accommodations do not lower academic standards. Modifications Curriculum change when a student either is taught something different from the rest of the class or is taught the same information but at a different level of complexity. 20

  19. What you can change determines • The type of students you can serve • The number of students with differences you can serve • The pace at which you become inclusive

  20. Accommodations and Modifications Using the continuum in the handout---what changes have you or could you make given your mission and the students you have or would accept?

  21. Accommodations and Modifications • Providing curricular accommodations and modifications can raise a myriad of questions • Some relate to laws and regulations • Some arise from mission and philosophy • None are without the potential for causing significant debate Which of the sample questions would be crucial issues for your school?

  22. Inclusion need not be all or nothing • Inclusion in not a single model that fits all students or that works in all schools. • The amount of time and the contexts in which a student has inclusive opportunities can vary widely in response to the needs of the student. • Which of the scenarios might be appropriate for the students you serve or hope to serve?

  23. Thanks for the warning! • Parents often experience a significant discrepancy between the promise and the reality of inclusion! • What will you do? • Who will do? • What happens if……? • To what extent does the parents understanding correlate to the faculty’s understanding?

  24. Thanks for the warning! • HIPPAS, FERPAS, and other exotic beasts. • There are very strong laws and regulations about special education information. • Get some good advice on what to share, how to store files, what goes out when you transmit records.

  25. Physical Constraints What physical constraints have you or would you face in your school in providing accommodations or modifications? Access for students with limited mobility Are classrooms large enough for small groups? Where will the speech therapist work?

  26. Social Skills, Faux Pas, & Discipline • Students with learning disabilities, language delays, etc. often have some social skill deficit. • Benevolence of Belonging? • Are you punishing behavior that is a product of the disability?

  27. Health and Safety • Sensory issues and clanging fire alarms? • How will the fire department know where the wheel chair bound students are? • Where is the medication stored?

  28. Resources • It is important to determine what resources are available to serve the child, to support your staff, and to cover expenses • In your school • In your district • In your school

  29. How do you pay the bill? • Who might not otherwise be enrolled? • Differentiated tuition rates? • A sign language interpreter or mobility paraprofessional might be covered? • Advocate, advocate, advocate!

  30. Some Additional Resources • Accommodations and Recommendations Checklist • Readiness for Inclusion School Rating Scale

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