The North Shore School District outlined priorities for the district’s special education program during a Board of Education meeting on Thursday, May 8.
In a presentation to the Board of Ed, Christopher Marino, director of special education; Joe Kistinger, assistant director of special education in secondary programs; and Amy McKee, assistant director of special education for elementary programs, reviewed the district’s Special Education Department and gave recommendations on how to improve outreach and the curriculum.
“We fleshed out and developed a comprehensive plan based on feedback we received from an internal audit and internal review at the end of last year,” Marino said.
In the presentation, the administrators said the district should focus on areas like professional development, such as creating measurable annual goals for students in special education programs and evaluating the district’s crisis prevention, intervention and evaluation processes.
The administrators also said staff members have started participating in professional development initiatives related to writing measurable goals, using data about student performance on tests and activities across multiple areas, including academics, study skills, speech and language, and physical and social-emotional development.
Earlier in the school year, a committee comprised of administrators, special education teachers and psychologists created student profiles to provide clearer information for parents and teachers when determining which special education program a student should enter if needed.
North Shore School District offers a range of special education programs, from smaller “resource room programs,” to a “15:1:1” program, which creates a ratio of 15 students to one teacher and is designed for students who are working toward grade-level expectations, but need additional time or support to reach their greatest potential.
In creating student profiles, the district created one-page documents outlining what each program offers, using less jargon to help parents better understand whether their child would be a good fit in that program.
The district also identified barriers to student success, including text-heavy materials, or materials that are the same for everyone, and potentially lengthy instruction periods often delivered only verbally.
In a survey across the Special Education Department, around 60% of respondents said the administration should better support grade-level and program planning time, and around 40.5% of department members wanted to see more professional development in behavior and reading intervention.
In the same survey, department staff also appreciated strong collaboration and supportive leadership.
After hearing staff feedback and evaluating the department throughout the year, the special education administrators recommended more professional development in monitoring a student’s progress and said the department would update its website to provide more information about specific disability-based resources.
The next North Shore Board of Education meeting will be on Thursday, May 22, when the board will certify the results of the May 20 budget vote and trustee election.
