ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act Finding ways to help every child - PDF document

2/15/16 ¡ #SPEDAhead ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act Finding ways to help every child succeed is not just your priority, it is a national “call to action” with passage of legislation December 10, 2015 #SPEDAhead 1 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ • President of Stetson & Associates, Inc. • Executive Director and sponsor for the Inclusive Schools Network • Conducted research and national training and technical assistance for the US Department of Education • Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Houston ESC #SPEDAhead #SPEDAhead 2 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ #SPEDAhead #SPEDAhead #SPEDAhead 3 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ What does it mean? “Providing to all students, including those with significant disabilities, equitable opportunities to receive effective educational services , with the needed supplementary aids and support services, in age appropriate classrooms in their neighborhood schools, in order to prepare students for productive lives as full members of society.” The National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion ¡ HuffingtonPost.com ¡ An Inclusive Lens Brown vs. Board of Education 1954 Segregated schools are inherently unequal and therefore, unconstitutional. Segregation is still a concern Over 60 years after Brown vs. BOE, students with behavior challenges or disabilities and children of color are overrepresented in special classrooms, disconnected pods and other segregated settings. 4 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ An Inclusive Lens IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) 1975 Guaranteed a Free and Appropriate Education in the Least Restrictive Environment An Inclusive Lens Unsettling Data Even with a 20 year focus on inclusionary practices, there has been … ¡ Limited Impact for Children with Disabilities After 9 years, only an 11.6% increase in students educated >80% of the day in gen ed classroom. Meanwhile … Over the same time period, % of students served in segregated settings increased slightly. ¡ 5 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Inequitable Opportunities for Children of Color • Disproportion in special ed programs • More exclusionary discipline • Less opportunities to learn #SPEDAhead Three topics for this webinar … ¡ Changes … In Our Attitudes … In the Classroom … In Leadership & Systems #SPEDAhead 6 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Changes In Awareness & Attitudes • Understand our notions of differences in cultures • Build cultural proficiency • Heighten awareness about the teaching environment • Better attitude between teacher and student “The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.” ~Nelson Mandela, 1993 ¡ Consider our own thinking and the thoughts of educators we work with. #SPEDAhead 7 ¡

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2/15/16 ¡ Cultural Proficiency: Allows individuals to interact effectively with people who are different from them. But what professional development on this topic is in your school or district? More diversity in our classrooms: culture, language, socio-economic and learning styles Not Enough Time for Professional Development 9 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ A Guide to Cultural Proficiency #SPEDAhead Six Stages of Cultural Proficiency 6. Proficiency 5. Competence 4. Pre-Competence 3. Blindness 2. Incapacity 1. Destructiveness #SPEDAhead 10 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Six Stages of Cultural Proficiency 6. Proficiency 5. Competence 4. Pre-Competence 3. Blindness 2. Incapacity 1. Destructiveness #SPEDAhead 1. Destructiveness Speak disparagingly of the culture #SPEDAhead 2. Incapacity Elevating the superiority of your own cultural values and beliefs #SPEDAhead 11 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ 3. Cultural Blindness Acting as if differences in cultures don’t even exist #SPEDAhead Stages of Cultural Proficiency Defined Proficiency Competence Pre-Competence 4. Pre-Competence Competence Interacting with other cultural groups in ways that recognize and value their differences, motivates you to assess and adapt your behavior. Proficiency Honoring differences among cultures, viewing diversity as a benefit; interacting knowledgeably and respectfully among a variety of cultural groups. 12 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Leadership Question: What am I doing? White Privilege Introduced during 2015 Special Agents of Change webinar series White Privilege “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.” - Peggy McIntosh, (1989) 13 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Backpack An essay by: Peggy McIntosh ¡ #SPEDAhead What is White Privilege? Unconscious, unplanned advantages for individuals who are white over those of color in every aspect of our society 14 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ No Shortcuts Allowed We must do the work to move to the next level of fidelity and make real changes in our classrooms. #SPEDAhead Changes In the Classroom • Create conditions for learning • Differentiated instruction #SPEDAhead Create Conditions for Learning “Teachers (all educators) possess the power to create conditions that can help students learn a great deal – or keep them from learning much at all. Teaching is the intentional act of creating those conditions … ” -Parker Palmer 15 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Differentiated Instruction Are we really doing it well? • Scaffolds and accommodations • Culturally-rich curriculum • Project based learning • Collaborative learning • Positive behavior supports Refer to Your Handout Components of Culturally Responsive Classroom 16 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Refer to Your Handout Principles and Applications for Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher 17 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Characteristics of the Culturally Responsive Classroom Building Positive Authentic Behavioral Relationships Supports Student Higher Responsibility Scaffolding Expectations for Learning and Process of Students Skills Building Authentic Relationships #SPEDAhead 18 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Refer to Your Handout Who Am I? Building Authentic Relationships #SPEDAhead Refer to Your Handout Student Interest Surveys 19 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Student Interest Surveys Help you understand and appreciate each student’s interests, challenges and needs Refer to Your Handout Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms 20 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom Invite community members to speak to the class Ask students to write about family traditions Attend community events that are important to students Post photos of students around the room Provide for levels of movement and conversation Refer to Your Handout Building Authentic Relationships 21 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Practical tools make teachers feel more competent and confident Higher Expectations of Students #SPEDAhead Biased Expectations for Students of Color? Teachers believe that children of color are less likely than their white peers to achieve a college degree. 22 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Have a Conversation with Yourself Am I giving off subtle messages in the Are my Do my biases way I teach? expectations of interfere with the my students quality of my biased? interactions? Communicate Higher Expectations Scaffolds and Instructional Accommodations #SPEDAhead 23 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Scaffolds Make it easier to achieve learning objectives at grade level or beyond Learning Objective Timer Task Lists Word Banks Graphic Organizers Refer to Your Handout Types of Scaffolds 24 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Refer to Your Handout If a Student Has Difficulty, Try This 25 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Rethinking Scaffolds and Accommodations If it didn’t work before, it probably won’t work now. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein 26 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Student Responsibility for Learning #SPEDAhead Student Process Skills Questions to Ask What Are we What process skills teaching, process skills does each monitoring, and proficiency is student have? reinforcing required? process skills? 27 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Positive Behavioral Supports #SPEDAhead 28 ¡

2/15/16 ¡ Cradle to Prison Pipeline Black males – 1:3 chance of going to prison Latino males – 1:6 chance of going to prison Texas spends 2.3x per prisoner as per student - Study from Stand for Children-TX Network 2005 “ … overrepresentation of Black (or minority) children in special education is a civil rights violation and a major culprit in the school to prison pipeline, with low teacher expectations yielding low quality instruction , which in turn leads to low quality education .” From 2012 Position Paper #SPEDAhead 29 ¡