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Asking the Hard Question

Michael Termini, PsyDPresident

Cooke Center for Learning and Development

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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

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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!

Let’s start with the Word

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.

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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.

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We Have Two PlatformsExplicit

Implicit

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Mission Statements

Represent a Schools Platform

In most schools there is an implicit and an explicit mission statement.

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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

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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

Who is already there?

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

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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.

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

Change: Admissions Who will you admit?

What information will be used to decide?

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

Remember this parable….

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Accommodations and ModificationsAccommodations 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.

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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

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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?

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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?

Accommodations and Modifications

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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?

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?

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.

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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?

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?

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?

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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

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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!

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Some Additional Resources Accommodations and Recommendations Checklist

Readiness for Inclusion School Rating Scale

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