North Allegheny School District Special Education Program Review 2019

North Allegheny School District Special Education Program Review October 2019 Preparing all students for success in a changing world

What is the Purpose? The purpose of the review is to review program data, policies, procedures, teaching strategies, etc. to be able to make recommendations for improvement.

Committee Director of Student Services: Coordinators of Gifted and Special Education: Ms. Cynthia McKenzie Dr. Joseph Sciullo Ms. Patricia Tkacik Administrators: Dr. Marc Thornton Dr. Jason Harding Dr. Angela McEwen Special Education Leadership Team: PBSS: Mr. Matt Hreha Ms. Stephanie Saikaly Ms. Kelly O Leary Master Teachers: Ms. Amy Caloiero; Speech/Language Mr. Shawn Connors; High School Ms. Christa Klein; Middle School Mr. Scott Oldham; Elementary School Ms. Jamie Grace, High School Transition Coordinator: Ms. Rianna Liebenguth Psychologists: Mr. Matt Mascari Dr. Sarah Switalski Dr. John DeMann Social Worker: (on a rotation) Ms. Jackie Bishop Ms. Rachel Tengowski Ms. Amber Friend Ms. Bethany Crowley

Data Review Data on Student Performance, Special Education Identification, Placement, and Staffing a. State and Local Assessments b. Graduation/Dropout Rates c. Staffing Patterns d. Special Ed Programs by School e. Demographics for all schools i. Enrollment ii. Grades iii.School type iv.Percent Special Ed. v. Percent ELL vi.Percent Econ. Dis. vii.Percent Race f. Discipline g. Attendance

Data Review Documents related to NASD Infrastructure, Strategic Planning, Guidance on policies and procedures, professional development offerings, parent feedback and concerns a. Budget documents b. Policy guidance c. PD Course offerings d. Organizational chart e. Special Ed/Comprehensive Plan f. IEP for a randomly selected rep. sample of students w/ disabilities

Data Review Survey a. School Staff b. Students c. Survey of Parents Administered by Hanover Research October 15 - November 8

Data Review Interviews with focus groups (pending survey results) a. District Leaders b. Staff at randomly selected sample of schools c. Students d. Parents Observations of school environments and classrooms Research and Practice Literature (Hanover) Findings Recommendations

Data Review In the data review, the committee is asked to review what data we have, sometimes compared to other districts and note things that they notice and wonder about. These noticings/wonderings are then compiled to look for themes. Themes are then looked into deeper. Ex. Special Ed. Enrollment data for NASD led to a review of comparator districts across the state.

What if. .we understand that the barrier is with the design of instruction and not the student then how will that change what we presume about our most complex learners? Something to consider . Viewing students through the lens of a disability label may increase the likelihood of misjudging capabilities and barring some students from opportunities to learn what other students their age are learning (Jorgensen, McSheehan & Sonnenmeier, 2007) This is Presuming Competence 9

educational decisions ought to be based on assumptions, which if incorrect will have the least dangerous effect we should assume that poor performance is due to instructional inadequacy rather than to student deficits Anne Donnellan Ph.D University of San Diego This is the Least Dangerous Assumption 10

Current Progress During Program Review committee reviewed the following data points for a period of three years: Special Education enrollment PASA/PSSA (District rate = 78.2%) Keystone results (District rate = 90%) Dropout rates Attendance Discipline BSE ODR Data the month of September, the Special Education

Current Progress Further, the group reviewed existing board policy and offered suggestions for processes that need to be created or revised for consistent and efficient operations. 103 (Nondiscrimination, Students w/ Disabilities) 113 (Special Education) 212 (Reporting Student Progress)

Current Noticings As a result of this review, we are happy to report that there were no significant findings. did find was that the academic performance of students with disabilities on state assessments is low as compared to their peers. The team will next begin to review programs (internal and external) to consider recommendations for enhancements. What we

Next Steps Establish Look-fors for program visits Complete program visits Quality Classroom guidelines (AS/LSS) Quality Indicators of ES Services/Programs (ES) Look at best practices Hanover Hattie PaTTAN

Look Fors MTSS Effective Instruction Universal Design for Learning Formative Assessment Standards Aligned

Communication Plan We will communicate updates with the School Board, District Administration, Teachers/Paraprofessionals, Chapter 14 Group, PNG Leadership throughout the process.

Communication Plan The Special Education Plan will be displayed for public comment Early Spring.

Communication Plan An executive summary of the Program Review and the Special Education Plan will be presented to the Board in April, 2020.

Communication Plan A full report of the Program Review will be available after it is presented to the Board of School Directors.

Recommendations The Program Review Committee will suggest recommendations of ways to improve the District s Special Education Program.

Recommendations The Special Education Department will take these recommendations and develop a multi year action plan to be able to implement each recommendation in an organized fashion.