Inclusion Task Force:
Year One Report
May 20, 2015
About the Task Force
 Mission - To guide the planning, evaluation, refinement and
expansion of inclusive practices in the North Penn School District
 Initiated in December 2014
 Group encompassing teachers, administrators, parents, assistants,
students
 Five teams





Data Analysis
Best Practices
Program Evaluation
Inclusive School Culture
Professional Development
 Steering Committee
 Guided by a Three-Year Plan
What have we accomplished to date?
Best Practices
 Created a common definition of inclusion for North Penn
”Inclusion is an educational philosophy which provides
access and belonging to all students within their school
community. Based on individual needs students will receive
accommodations and modifications in the general education
classroom to enable them to reach their full potential while
maintaining the integrity of the curriculum.”
Best Practices –
Models and Practices to Support Inclusion
 Created document highlighting the following models:
 Co-Teaching
 Six models




Push-in support
Inclusion Facilitator Role
Curriculum Specialist Role
Differentiated Instruction
 Resource to be posted on Inclusion SharePoint for all
staff
Best Practices – Recommendations
 Provide common planning time for co-teachers.
 Special education teachers should work with no more than 2 classroom
teachers during the day in order to successfully plan and implement
lessons and modifications.
 Review schedules of special education teachers to ensure IEP
development and meetings do not interfere with teaching
responsibilities.
 Investigate the possibility of a curriculum specialist for inclusion to assist
with in-service and training, and support teachers with accommodations
and modifications.
 Create a resource map for each building and update as changes occur.
 Communicate regularly. Designate a point person in each building to
discuss plans monthly.
 Provide additional professional development.
Best Practices –
Administrative Training
 A number of training sessions for administrators occurred throughout the year
 District Admin Meetings
 Joint Principal and Special Ed Supervisor Meetings
 Topics








Vision for Special Education (August 2014)
Co-Teaching (August 2014)
Implementing Inclusion: Implications for School Leaders (September 2014)
Review of Special Education, Co-Teaching and Inclusion Data (November 2014)
Follow-Up – Book Discussion (November 2014)
Task Force Updates and Data Analysis (March 2015)
Facilitated Self-Assessment Data Review (May 2015)
Vision into Action – What You Need to Think About (May 2015)




Resource Mapping
Co-Teaching
Accommodations and Modifications
Leading Change
 Administrative PLCs on Inclusion to be held this summer
Best Practices – PD
Recommendations
 Differentiated instruction training provided with specific
examples
 Training on IEP implementation for all staff
 Co-teaching – training for new pairs and create video library of
effective co-teaching practices
 Training on how to choose appropriate key concepts for
students requiring modifications
 Professional development on supporting social needs of
students with disabilities
 Training on how to grade students receiving modifications
 Parent training (more information from Inclusive School
Culture report)
 Resource Directory (Inclusion SharePoint to be developed)
Professional Development
 Initial role versus evolving role
 Team members paired up with a curriculum areas
 Professional Development team members will work with
curriculum department to embed accommodations and
modifications into existing professional development
 Will provide support with assessment development and
universal design
 This includes Students with Disabilities, Gifted Students
and English Language Learners
Professional Development - Goals
 Staff will be able to differentiate between an
accommodation and modification, and when it’s
appropriate to use each
 Staff will be able to develop effective
accommodations and modifications that are
individualized according to students’ needs
Professional Development –
Looking Ahead
 Expand the Inclusion PD Leadership Committee to include
at least one teacher representative from each building
 Work with each building’s principal and special education
supervisor to provide short monthly PD sessions on
differentiated instruction and inclusionary practices during
monthly faculty meetings
 Develop a long-range plan on how to address
recommendations from Best Practices committee
Program Evaluation
 Developed a document of all current special education
programs in the district, descriptions and profile of
students served – in process of finalization
 Least Restrictive Environment Facilitated SelfAssessment
 Adapted from the California LRE Initiative
 Conducted in every elementary building in April
 Will be conducted in every secondary building in June
Program Evaluation - FSA
 FSA rates buildings on eight factors related to successful inclusive
practices.








School Culture and Climate
Vision and Leadership
Collaboration
Instruction
Access
Parent/Student Involvement
Structures
Professional Development
 Each category contained seven questions rated on a 4, 3, 2, 1 scale.
 Small groups, led by facilitators trained on the FSA, discussed and
arrived at consensus.
 Top three priorities were identified for each building.
 Priorities to be included with School Goals
Inclusive School Culture
 The committee met in January as a whole group to discuss guiding
questions around the following:
 Cultivating parent partnerships
 Understanding inclusion
 Making the IEP process more easily understandable and less
intimidating
 Self-determination for students with disabilities – how they can become
more actively involved in their education
 Keeping inclusion visible in the community
 Subsequently, small groups have prioritized work around the
following:
 Identifying elements that are intimidating or confusing
 Identifying barriers to parent participation and/or engagement in the IEP
process
 Articulating impediments to smooth annual transitions, from grade to
grade and level to level
Inclusive School Culture –
Recommendations
 Professional development
 Explore and adopt best practices/guiding principles with regard to
leading productive IEP meetings
 Develop solid and meaningful measurable goals and clear methods of
communicating progress to parents
 Ensure understanding among educators at all levels -- programs,
expectations, case management, etc.
 Improve communication
 Solicit meaningful parent input for the IEP (through forms/templates)
 Provide present levels data prior to meetings
 Develop a continuum of mechanisms to facilitate smooth annual
transitions through structured meetings or informal communication.
Inclusive School Culture –
Recommendations
 Share information
 Create North Penn Special Education Parent Portal on district website






Interactive
Parent forum
Inclusion resources
Family friendly forms
Explanation of the IEP process
Community resources
 Build Trust
 Establish consistency in processes and the allocation of resources across
buildings and levels
 Partner with North Penn Parent Special Education Council
 Work Together
 District-wide and community celebration of Inclusive Schools Week
December, 2015
Inclusive School Culture Inclusive Schools Week




Advancing an international dialogue on the importance of building
inclusive schools/communities, where all students can access full
educational opportunities.
Creates awareness to benefits and challenges faced by inclusive
schools.
Joins school community in a common purpose.
Reflection on where we are and where we are going.
Data Analysis
GOALS:
 Provide an overall summary of the data.
 Note trends and patterns.
 What inferences and explanations can we draw from
these data sets?
 What additional data might we explore to verify our
explanations? Or deepen our understanding?
 What additional steps are needed?
Data Analysis LRE Data – 2012-2015
450
Data Analysis Special Ed Referrals – 2010-2015
400
34
32
44
56
29
350
43
32
300
34
28
38
27
250
19
13
20
29
18
34
23
200
23
High
20
Middle
Elementary
342
150
100
333
306
280
222
17
14
233
212
13
16
257
193
12
5
234
84
22
11
18
109
50
16
99
68
64
0
School
Parent
2010-2011
Total
School
Parent
2011-2012
Total
School
Parent
2012-2013
Total
School
Parent
2013-2014
Total
School
Parent
2014-2015
Total
Data Analysis
 No consistent referral rate pattern
 Rates of LRE have increased, particularly at the elementary level
 Elementary Reading and Math Achievement for all students, as well
as IEP subgroup, has declined over time
Data Analysis –
Elementary Teacher Survey
Data Analysis –
Elementary Teacher Survey
54%
51%
Data Analysis –
Elementary Teacher Survey
Data Analysis –
Overall Impressions
 Weaker correlation between inclusion and achievement at elementary
Why?
 Stronger correlation between inclusion and achievement at high school
 About half of elementary teachers who teach self- contained LA or Math do not
use grade level materials for instruction
 Elementary SE teachers have positive perceptions about inclusion
 Overall Elementary PSSA scores have dropped
 More significant decline for IEP subgroup
 Need to shift the focus from moving students into regular ed to what happens in
regular ed…”Beyond access”
Other Accomplishments/Projects…
 Video on Best Practices in North Penn developed and
shared with elementary
 Will be shared with secondary schools in June
 Data from facilitated self-assessments to be
incorporated into School Goals Plans
 Montgomery County Down Syndrome Interest Group
Partnership
 Planning for Inclusive Schools Week/Cinemability Event
Summer Goals
 Finalize the vision for special education based upon input from multiple
constituents
 Special Education Website Development – resources for families, North Penn
information, important forms, guides to the IEP process, etc.
 Development of special education SharePoint Resource Library for staff –
exchange of curricular resources, best practices, etc.
 Building data teams incorporate Inclusion and Special Education data into their
School Goals Plans
 Plan for Montgomery County Down Syndrome Interest Group Partnership event
on August 24-25
 Professional Development Team works in conjunction with Curriculum
Supervisors to embed inclusive practices into PD for 2015-2016
 Includes Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners, Advanced and Gifted
Learners
 Plan and implement Professional Learning Communities for administrators on
Leading Inclusive Schools
Year Two Goals
 Communicate the vision for special education and inclusion
as well as the work accomplished by the Task Force in Year
One to North Penn staff and families
 Continue data analysis related to inclusive practices
 Investigate possible root causes further
 Analyze student demographic information related to
disability, socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, giftedness
 Analyze the role of the special educator as it currently exists
and the impact this may have on student growth and
achievement. Make recommendations moving forward.
 Development of a Parent Resource Guide – Demystifying
the IEP Process
Year Two Goals (continued)
 Development of mini Professional Development sessions on inclusion
 Professional Development – working with curriculum department on
accommodations and modifications for students with disabilities, English
Language Learners, and Gifted/Advanced Learners
 Develop measures of effectiveness – how will we know if inclusion is working??
 Develop a multi-year action plan for successful inclusion of our advanced and
gifted learners with special consideration to…




Flexible grouping
Cluster grouping
Acceleration
Refinement of gifted screening process
 Implement activities for Inclusive Schools Week (December 7 – 11)
 Hold a red carpet event in conjunction with PEAC on Cinemability Documentary
to bring awareness to the North Penn community
Change is a process,
not an event.
PREPARING FOR
CHANGE
 Determine what
needs to change
 Ensure there is
support from upper
management (there
is)
 Create the need for
change
 Manage and
understand doubts
and concerns
BEHAVIORS MOVE
TOWARDS
DESIRED RESULT




Communicate often
Dispel rumors
Empower action
Involve people in the
process
SUPPORT THE CHANGE
SO IT DOES NOT GET
LOST
 Anchor the change
into the culture
 Develop ways to
sustain the change
 Provide support and
training
 Celebrate success!
WHERE ARE YOU ALONG THIS
CONTINUUM???
Source: Kurt Lewin
By the end of 2016-2017…
 Increased achievement of students with disabilities and other subgroups of
students
 All learning support students included to the maximum extent possible and
pulled only for time-bound, research-based interventions
 Students with significant disabilities meaningfully included in subjects as
identified by their IEPs
 Decrease in one-teach/one-assist co-teaching models and increase in more
collaborative models
 Effective professional development implemented related to inclusion
 Supportive structures in place for staff implementing inclusion
(professional development, scheduling, time, resources)
 Strengthened parent partnerships
THE WORK IS NEVER DONE!