District BPIE
Indicator Rating Tally Sheet
District: Pinellas
District Contact: Lisa Grant, ESE Director
Date Completed: 7-24-14
FIN Facilitator(s): Mike Muldoon, Aliya Killion, Vicki Barnitt, Jodi O’Meara
Participants:
Lisa Grant, Robert Poth, Carol Dondero, Terry Ryan, Lisa Tocler, Mark Hunt, Deborah Scurr, Jody Becker, Carolyn Schafer,
Paula Nelson, Andrew Wiener, Megan Marshall, Karen Buckles, Judy Owen, Paula Keyser, Cynthia Rekart, Sandra Dyer,
Mary Beth Varner, Eileen Leili
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BPIE DISTRICT INDICATOR Tally Sheet
Leadership and Decision-Making
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
1. District analyzes data to identify barriers and initiate improvement
steps that increase the number of students with low- and highincidence disabilities in general education and natural contexts in
every school.
PB
2. District data reflects that in each school there is alignment to the
natural proportion of SWDs in the district.
NY
3. District provides SWDs with the same school choice options as
students without disabilities to ensure all SWDs receive educational
services in their neighborhood school or school of choice.
NY
4. District data reflect that SWDs, ages 3–5, receive special education and
related services in the regular early childhood program or
kindergarten, with peers without disabilities.
5. District-level administrators allocate special education units and
resources to all schools and grade levels, based on student need and
flexible models of service delivery, to facilitate best practices for
inclusive education in every school.
Partially
PA
PB
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
Fully
Looking at LEA profile…trend shows no growth in LRE/
ind. 5a; Have data but need to use it systematically,
including kids with more significant disabilities. Need to
focus more on secondary level. As a system we’re still
beginning.
Some schools are doing this, but not all. Still have
center and cluster schools; students with EBD
sometimes affect the data on ratios.
Some students are placed in clusters and some schools
have more supports than others. District does not have
policies that permit choice for all SWDs. Perspective
that all SC units are special diploma. Schools make
decisions for how their students are served.
Blended PreK in place; TATs program has data that
shows Pinellas is leading the state in PreK inclusion. We
examine data very closely to make decisions about
kindergarten placements. Still some SC in K. Charter
schools are not implementing PreK inclusion. Have full
time ASD PreK classes.
District clusters SWDs to identify supports needed.
Secondary level, CT or SF do not have enough staff;
training not adequate for deliv. models. Charter schools
don’t have flexible options (schools make their own
decisions). Challenge is balancing resources; need to
build a system at the district level to respond to
individual student needs.
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Leadership and Decision-Making
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
6. District has key personnel with expertise in inclusive best practices for
all SWDs who oversee, coordinate, monitor and provide technical
assistance (TA) for the implementation of best practices for inclusive
education at the district and school levels.
NY
7. District has key personnel with expertise in the MTSS and positive
behavior intervention plans (PBIP) who provide ongoing professional
development (PD) and TA to schools to ensure that students who need
them receive multi-tiered behavior supports in general education
classrooms and natural contexts.
8. District data reflect that SWDs who have behavior support needs are
not excluded from the general education classroom at a higher rate
than their peers without disabilities.
9. District transportation policies and schedules indicate all SWDs arrive
and leave schools and district facilities at the same time, in the same
place and on the same buses as students without disabilities, unless
otherwise stated in the student’s IEP.
Partially
PM
NY
PA
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
Fully
Don’t have anyone at the district with expertise. Need
to build capacity. Some people have knowledge, but we
need to replenish the “brain trust” – we have lot of
people with knowledge to build on. But we don’t
oversee or monitor with consistency. Need to start by
looking at school based personnel to build capacity.
Sometimes principals don’t make time for teachers to
collaborate and have discussion.
Not targeting students for supports in gen. ed.,
sometimes it’s about moving them into more restrictive
environments. Gen. ed. Teachers are left out of the
loop and don’t have training or a voice in the decision.
Lack of collaboration between gen. ed. and ESE. Have
good systems of MTSS and have trained leadership
teams. Have TNT teams to educate staff in schools to
keep them in the LRE. Need to expand this. We could
use more resources in place (especially for Tier 1 level
supports).
Data show disproportionality in Black EBD. In school
suspension has higher risk compared to gen.
population. Have some plans in place, but impact not
felt yet.
EBD Centers run one hour less than other schools. They
have a shortened school day. Some schools spend more
time on the bus due to busing to cluster schools. Some
schools have busses that stop at other places to drop
off students. State policy prohibits some students
w/out disabilities to receive transportation on the same
schedule as their siblings…(loss of instructional time of
students without dis. From same family)
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Leadership and Decision-Making
Implementation
Status
Indicator
Not Yet
10. District uses decision-making guidelines to ensure schools transition all
SWDs from grade to grade, school to school and district to district to
maintain placement in the least restrictive environment.
Partially
Fully
Lacking district guidelines or technical assistance –
schools have a process, but no district written process.
Some processes in place for SW significant disabilities,
but not those with mild disabilities. Elementary schools
are doing this, but not across the district.
HR uses questions for support staff and school
administrators are asked in interview about SWDs and
all other diversity issues (cultural) to best meet the
needs of all students. Protocols aren’t in place for the
administrator doing the hiring. May not include bus and
cafeteria.
PB
11. All district departments and schools use job interview questions to
appraise an applicant’s knowledge and beliefs pertaining to diversity
and best practices for inclusive education, as applicable to the
position.
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
PB
Instruction and Student Achievement
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
12. District data reflect that SWDs receive most, if not all, of their
education and related services in age- and grade-appropriate general
education classes, regardless of the type or severity of their
disability.
13. District and school leaders receive ongoing and current information
and professional development about best practices for inclusive
education for all SWDs.
Partially
PB
PB
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
Fully
LEA Profile data; Not seeing as much with our low
incidence disabilities. Could do a better job of getting
them out for electives, PE, etc. Large proportion of
students in center schools. Scheduling is an issue. Not
enough progress for full inclusion (sometimes just for
reading). Need to know how to do it for a greater
impact.
Completed a 3 day institute with administrators in
attendance. Many sessions were on inclusive
practices…will repeat again next year. District plan
includes goals for this.
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Instruction and Student Achievement
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
14. District provides job-embedded, collaborative PD and TA to all
schools to integrate IEP goals and objectives and the general
education standards in general education classes and natural
contexts.
15. District provides ongoing PD and TA to all school leaders on the
implementation of a flexible scheduling process and collaborative
teaching service delivery models to provide instruction and support
to all SWDs in general education contexts, regardless of the type or
severity of their disability.
16. District provides PD and TA to schools in the use of a variety of tools
to gather and analyze data and evaluate the effectiveness of
instructional and behavioral interventions for all SWDs in general
education and natural contexts.
17. District provides ongoing, job-embedded, collaborative PD and TA to
school-based personnel to implement best practices for inclusive
education, including instruction and assessment for all SWDs based
on the Florida Standards.
18. District facilitates and supports access to AT, including augmentative
and alternative communication (AAC) devices, as determined by the
assessed need of SWDs for meaningful learning, participation and
communication in general education and natural contexts.
Partially
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
Fully
PLCs are in place in some schools, students with IEPs
are discussed. District conducted LLC meetings with all
schools on the new standards. Center schools should be
included in these conversations. Need to begin with
administrators.
Scheduling TA was provided by FIN in the past, but not
currently place. School leaders do not have a published
schedule of PD or TA on this process.
PB
NY
PB
PB
F
Do this but not for all SWDs in gen. ed. This happens
more in situations where we are looking for a more
restrictive environment. District provides tools and
processes via MTSS. Doing a good job with general
walk- throughs of teacher classrooms.
Have not embraced ESE in the process of training and
TA to focus on FL Standards. Some job embedded is
occurring in some cases, e.g., LLCs, PLCs, SIM
structures, etc.
Some parents express that they don’t have enough
information. But district supports access and
information for parents with a team decision approach.
Difficult to keep up with the changing technology, but
are providing access. H/H, dropout, and sec. have some
unique situations. Sometimes devices are not used for
meaningful learning…need follow up to make sure they
are using them effectively (ongoing support). We have
a GREAT team, but may not be enough to meet the
needs of such a large district.
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Instruction and Student Achievement
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
19. District provides job-embedded, collaborative PD and TA on the use
and integration of AT (including AAC) to special and general
education teachers, instructional support personnel and family
members at all schools.
20. District has data that reflect an increasing number of students with
low-incidence disabilities and/or receiving instruction through the
access points are educated in general education classes, with
supplementary aids, services and curricular modifications as
stipulated in student IEPs.
21. District data reflect that SWDs receive supplemental supports and
services in order to participate in all school and district
extracurricular activities.
22. District provides support and resources to schools to facilitate the
development of positive, interdependent relationships among all
students with and without disabilities in instructional and noninstructional general education and natural contexts.
Partially
PM
NY
PM
PM
23. District data reflect that all SWDs are given equal consideration for
recognition through honors, awards and other designations offered
by schools.
PA
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
Fully
See comments above. Not enough resources to go
around. Schools are working with the LATS team;
training is available for schools from FDLRS. Some
educators don’t know what is out there for their
students. Need to make sure all the info. gets out to
ALL parents.
Students are not receiving modifications on curric.
standards in gen. ed. Need more collaboration
between ESE and gen. ed. teachers. State policy
barriers prevent this from happening….course codes,
teacher certification requirements, etc.
SWDs are included across many varied levels of
extracurricular activities – safety patrol, etc. School
admin. need more awareness on this (e.g., including
them in less obvious activities like cheerleading).
Some schools have had training on peer supports for
low-incidence dis. MS peer program was supported at
the district level. Ongoing yet processes are not well
defined. FDLRS parent services provides DWD training
to parents across the district.
Parent shared that SWDs are not always included in the
same ceremony but get recognition – not happening in
all schools. We don’t have any data on this per
individual schools. Our high schools do provide
graduation and ceremonies in a standard way. Elem.
Level has character education with monthly
recognitions for all students and parents attend. Think
this is happening, just don’t have any data to reflect it.
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Communication and Collaboration
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
24. District provides all district and school personnel with information
and resources pertaining to the use of person first language in all
written and verbal communications.
25. District documents, forms, program materials and other
communication that refer to SWDs reflect the use of person first
language.
26. District provides information to families about research-based,
inclusive educational practices and ways they can support their
child’s learning, independence and participation at home, at school
and in the community.
Partially
Fully
Personnel still use label-driven language because they
have never been aware of PFL. There is no resource
from the district that goes out to all – happening in
some ways- e.g., FDLRS supports PFL in training. Our
teachers are referred to by the label of kids they teach.
Mission statement does not reflect PFL.
NY
NY
FDLRS (transition conference), parent advocate, ESE
advisory board membership – all provide information
on inclusive education. One parent shared that she had
not received anything. Don’t have enough resources to
support printing for all the information. Some families
don’t have access to internet. Some parents don’t get
information about the full continuum of services. Need
to do more PR (e.g., Facebook). Not systemic or
consistent. Mostly available for those who know to ask.
Facilitated IEP training has been offered. Not sure how
much it’s implemented.
PM
27. District provides resources to all district and school staff that include
strategies for effective family communication and collaboration to
increase learning and achievement for all SWDs in inclusive
classrooms and natural contexts.
28. District uses a variety of processes and tools to involve family
members of students with and without disabilities in district wide
decision-making and planning processes, including initiatives related
to inclusive practices.
29. District disseminates information to all families in the same manner
and at the same time.
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
PB
PB
F
Use survey to gather parent information; parents are
on ESE advisory and provide guidance (but may need so
improvement on how advisory is used). Parents are
part of calendar committee. Dr. Greco has
opportunities to get parent input across the district;
school board offers time for parents to speak.
Sometimes delays for families who do not speak
English. Translation programs have reduced this. Still
some parents that don’t get info. due to electronic
formats.
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Communication and Collaboration
Indicator
Implementation
Status
Not Yet
30. District has partnerships with colleges, universities and career and
technical schools to provide inclusive, postsecondary educational
and career opportunities for students with a significant cognitive
disability, ages 18–21, to enroll in programs with adults without
disabilities.
Partially
Data Sources/ Supporting Evidence
Fully
PM
Extended transition programs: Project Stingray; PTEC;
Have a good variety of programs, but aren’t reaching
everybody based on LEA Profile data.
Priority Indicators Selected: Indicators 6, 13, 15, 17, 26
Additional Comments/Notes:
IDEAS FROM THE GROUP REGARDING SUPPORTING SYSTEMIC CHANGE:
1. Include ESE teachers in the LLC’s membership
2. Focus on school leadership:
 School leadership is key to so many of these!! Leaders need to know the
benefits of inclusion so they can lead best practices. (Team leaders and
school leaders)
 Best Practices for Inclusion and Collaborative teaching models for school
leaders- want leaders to walk the walk and talk the talk
 Systems of support- on-going, job embedded PD
 Create system of values, not compliance.
3. Support and PD for general education teachers is needed across the county rather
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than school-based pockets of good things happening. ALL teachers to include support staff, school employees such as cafeteria employees,
general education and ESE teachers.
4. Family involvement and communication between district and families need to continue to be a focus. Besides the ESE parent advisory, other
parent to parent pieces pulling in FDLRS and other projects to support these efforts. Simple efforts such as providing parents and others
with the FIN handout on “What is Inclusion?” at the time of eligibility would be significant. (Indicator 6)
5. Interest in possibly adding job interview questions (Indicator #11)
6. Will increase collaboration between FIN and FDLRS for planning, implementation, and support
7. Will schedule BPIE team to come back together a couple times a year to discuss progress, revisit plan, etc.
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