C OLLABORATIVE S TRATEGIES I NITIATIVE PRESENTED BY: Dr. Leisa Justus Dr. Robin Morthel Dawn Bradley Vicky Hulsey CREATED BY: Melinda Hirschmann, WWMS Stacey Faircloth, MJHS

WHAT IS INCLUSION? ”Inclusion is the word used to describe the right of all students to shared access to the general curriculum.” A belief that all children...  are included for all or part of the day in the general education setting with their needs being met.  will be treated equally.  are in classrooms or environments designed for success.  will improve academic, behavior, and social skills with appropriate supports. 2 Inclusion: How to Make It Work: Strategies for Success ati - Appelbaum Training Institute, 2000

WHY INCLUSION? Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act Protect from discrimination based on disability Applied to all public settings, but most educators did not know it was required for schools Education for All Handicapped Children Act Free and Appropriate Public Education Students allowed to attend their local schools but often in separate classrooms Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Least Restrictive Environment Response to Intervention Inclusion First consideration for placement should be the general ed setting Not a legally mandated term but used by educational stakeholders in response to legal mandates

WILSON COUNTY’S COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES INITIATIVE (CSI) What is inclusion in WCS? Inclusive classrooms benefit from collaborative instruction: general ed and special ed teachers or special ed assistants working together for student growth. What is our goal for WCS? The mission of CSI is to ensure that opportunities for every student’s growth are available in the general education setting. Through a cooperative effort of teachers, students, administrators and parents, 80% of the students will be educated in the general education setting a minimum of 80% of the school day per RTI 2 guidelines.

CLASS SETTINGS General Education Inclusion Intervention/Learning Labs CDC

WCS is moving toward more Co-Teaching… Co-Teaching is a collaboration between general and special education teachers. All teaching and learning responsibilities are shared: Instructional delivery Evaluation and reflection Lesson planning Test scores IEP and parent meetings Classroom Management Grading Parent Contact

Villa, Thousand, and Nevin (2004) identified six benefits of co-teaching: 1. Students develop better attitudes about themselves, academic improvement, and social skills. 2. Teacher-student ratio is decreased, leading to better teaching and learning conditions. 3. Teachers are able to use research-proven teaching strategies effectively. 4. A greater sense of community is fostered in the classroom. 5. Co-teachers report professional growth, personal support, and enhanced motivation. 6. Increased job satisfaction can be experienced because needs for survival, power, freedom or choice, a sense of belonging, and fun are met (p.xv). rienced because needs for survival, power, freedom or choice, a sense of belonging, and fun are met (p. xv). RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Students with disabilities show increased scores with criterion- referenced and norm-referenced tests in reading and math when they received instruction in inclusive, co- taught classrooms (Emery, 2009). Salend and Duhaney (1999) found that students without disabilities have a positive view of inclusion and believe it benefits with an increased acceptance, understanding and tolerance of individual differences, greater awareness and sensitivity to the needs of others, greater opportunities to have friendships with students with disabilities, and an improved ability to deal with disability in their own lives. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Co-teaching is a viable option for students with disabilities to be successful in general education classrooms (Murawski, 2008). Inclusion increases teacher collaboration and expertise (Dieker, 2003).

INCLUSION MODELS AND TARGET SKILLS SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS Co-teaching : one general ed and one special ed teacher for WCS tested classes/courses Collaboration: one general ed teacher and an educational assistant who collaborate with a special ed teacher Consultation: service providers consult with general ed teacher to ensure needs are met EXAMPLES OF TARGETED SKILLS  Note-Taking  Guided Writing  Reading  Communication  Social Skills  Academic Behavior  Organization  Guided Notes  Mini Lessons

STATION TEACHING Students rotate in small groups through station activities. Grouping is done purposefully and flexibly. discussiondemonstrationassessmentwritingskill reviewcomputer

PARALLEL TEACHING Each teacher has her own group – flexible grouping according to teacher and student needs. They are typically teaching the same content but in two different formats: for example, response to text and paragraph construction. Inquiry-based option Hands-on activity Project-based option Literature connection Direct instruction Skill-based instruction

LEAD/SUPPORT One teacher teaches the lesson and the other teacher monitors student understanding as a support. This model is used less frequently and both teachers alternate both roles. Content delivery Bellringer Learning strategies Note taking skills Observation data Graphic support

TEAM TEACHING Both teachers are teaching, taking turns or sharing tasks during each lesson. One teacher may be lecturing while the other models real-time note taking on the board. Or, for another example, teachers model accountable talk. With planning and open collaboration, this has high potential for engagement and student learning.

ALL INCLUSION MODELS PROMOTE: Collaborative planning for learning style differences: Auditory Learners – lectures, recordings Visual Learners – charts, tables, graphics, pictures, color, demonstrations, examples Tactile/Kinesthetic – hands-on activities, movement, manipulatives Collaborative planning for instructional options: Multiple means of presentation – louder, bigger, graphics, videos, audio, visuals, repeat, repeat, repeat Multiple means of action and expression-choices, feedback, individual or group activity multiple means of engagement-checklists, rubrics, rewards, discussions

BUT WHAT ABOUT MY STUDENTS WITHOUT DISABILITIES? WON’T THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES SLOW DOWN THE PACE OF MY STUDENTS?

BENEFIT TO STUDENTS WITHOUT DISABILITIES Greater appreciation of individual strengths and diversity Deeper commitments to the importance of inclusion and social justice Improved understanding of and attitudes toward disability Enhanced self-esteem Stronger advocacy and support skills Emerging friendships (Carter et al., 2011; Copeland et al., 2004)

AND EVEN BETTER NEWS….. Non-disabled, but non-stellar students who had the opportunity to function in a peer support role for a classmate with disabilities showed grade improvements of 1 to 2 grade levels. A-B Students continued to be A-B students C-D-F students became B-C students

MOVING UPSTREAM: A STORY OF PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

In a small town, a group of fishermen gathered down at the river. Not long after they got there, a child came floating down the rapids calling for help. One of the group on the shore quickly dived in and pulled the child out.

Minutes later another child came, then another, and then many more children were coming down the river. Soon everyone was diving in and dragging children to the shore, then jumping back in to save as many as they could.

In the midst of all this frenzy, one of the group was seen walking away. Her colleagues were irate. How could she leave when there were so many children to save? After long hours, to everyone’s relief, the flow of children stopped, and the group could finally catch their breath. At that moment, their colleague came back. They turned on her and angrily shouted: “HOW COULD YOU WALK OFF WHEN WE NEEDED EVERYONE HERE TO SAVE THE CHILDREN?”

She replied, “It occurred to me that someone ought to go upstream and find out why so many kids were falling into the river. What I found is that the old wooden bridge had several planks missing, and when some children tried to jump over the gap, they couldn't make it and fell through into the river. So I got someone to fix the bridge.”

Inclusion and co-teaching are here to help close the gap and fix the bridge.

WHO OWNS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF INCLUSION? 24 EVERYONE

BIBLIOGRAPHY Carter, E.W., Asmus, J., & Moss, C.K. (2008). Fostering Friendships: Supporting relationships among youth with and without developmental disabilities. The Prevention Researcher, 20(2), Carter, E.W., Cushing, L.S., & Kennedy, C.H. (2008). Promoting rigor, relevance, and relationships through peer support interventions. TASH Connections, March/April 2008, Copeland, S. R., Hughes, C., Carter, E. W., Guth, C., Presley, J., Williams, C.R., & Fowler, S.E., (2004). Increasing access to general education: Perspectives of participants in a high school peer support program. Remedial and Special Education, 26, Dieker, L., & Murawski, W. (2003). Co-teaching at the secondary level: Unique issues, current trends, and suggestions for success. High School Journal, 86(4), Emery, L. (2009). Academic achievement of middle school students with specific learning disabilities in inclusive cotaught classes (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ERIC database. ( ED515182) Murawski, W. (2008). Five keys to co-teaching in inclusive classrooms. School Administrator 65(8), 29. Salend, S. J., & Duhaney, L. M. (1999), The Impact of Inclusion on Students With and Without Disabilities and Their Educators, Remedial and Special Education, Volume 20, pages Villa, R., Thousand, J., & Nevin, A. (2004). A guide to co-teaching: Practical tips for facilitating student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.