Kari Radzik Summer SPE 644

Who are we?  Randall Consolidated is a grade K-8 school that is located in southwestern Kenosha County, in Twin Lakes, WI.  Randall prides itself on educational success, while providing a safe and positive learning environment.

Who are our students?  Randall School has 623 students in all.  Students are predominantly (98%) white.  Students come from middle-class families.  21% of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.  There are about 75 special education students.  Student gender statistics:  Male: 54%  Female: 46%

Who makes up our staff?  Randall’s regular education teaching staff consists of 30 people.  Student to teacher ratio: 21:1  Key staff to note within our school:  30 Regular Education teachers  Four Special Education teachers  8 Special Education Aides  One educational and one behavioral psychologist  One math specialist  One reading specialist  Two speech and language therapists  One occupational therapist

Profile Strengths Graduation/Dropout  Being a K-8 school, we are not required to report graduating or dropout rates, however:  All students have passed into high school in the last three years  There have been no dropouts at our K-8 school in the past three years  It would be interesting to follow up with our students who filter into the high school to see what our rates would be after their four year high school career.

Profile Strengths Assessment  Our school district met the state’s Annual Measurement Objectives (AMO) targets for students with disabilities in both math and reading.  All grade levels but 3 rd and 4 th had a 100% participation rate for students with disabilities on regular or alternate statewide assessments.  Both grades 3 and 4 have severely disabled students and were unable to participate.

Profile Strengths Preschool Outcomes  Our school had 100% outcomes with preschool students when dealing with the following:  Positive social-emotional skills  Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills  Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs  Essentially if a preschooler came in and functioned below age expectations finished at or surpassed those expectations by the year’s end.

Profile Weaknesses Assessment Outcomes  After reviewing my school’s profile it has become apparent that we need to work on helping our students in reading and math, especially those that are disabled.  Only ONE grade level passed with proficient scores according to target numbers in math.  NONE of the grade levels passed with proficient scores according to target numbers in reading.

Profile Weaknesses Educational Environment  School age students with disabilities fell just below the target numbers that are served inside the regular class 80% or more of the day.  Preschool age students with IEPs fell terribly short when attending a regular early childhood program and receiving the majority of special education and related services.

Profile Weaknesses Parent Involvement  Our school fell about 20% short of the target regarding parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.

Recommendations  Modify homework and notes for struggling students  Organize lunch and after-school times to meet with students who are struggling or would like additional help with work  Allow students to retake tests to increase grade on same content and to allow learning from previous mistakes  Incorporate a study hall with more than one teacher so students can get the necessary help when needed

Recommendations  Incorporate Reading Plus program (web-based reading intervention program) into the ELA block, so that students can work on overall comprehension, reading skills, and build literacy awareness skills before levels get below at-risk numbers.  Student takes an initial test that places them in the correct reading level  Keeps track of progress or decline in performance  Points out the exact problem that a student is having (i.e. finding main idea, understanding context clues, etc.)

Recommendations  Any students falling below the 25% mark of all students within that grade level will be required to attend/receive the following:  Mandatory study hall  Study-skill classes  Will receive frequent progress reports that need to be signed by parent/guardian

Recommendations  Any students falling slightly below grade level benchmarks will receive small group help with either math or reading during the first 30 minutes of their class every day  This instruction will include a special education aide, a reading/math specialist, and a regular education teacher  Students will work in small groups with core concepts that they are struggling on  Students will be frequently tested on tasks that are instructed to ensure the students are benefitting from the extra lessons. If students are not responding well to instruction, the educator must make a solid effort in changing the lesson so all students retain and learn the information.

Recommendations  Parents MUST be kept in the loop and be considered part of the team that will help struggling students.  Parents should be contacted if the student receives a failing grade on a quiz, a D or F grade on a test, and if they have more than three homework assignments.  Parents of disabled students should be contacted at least once a month to touch base and go over any concerns or recommendations.

Sources  es/DistrictProfile.aspx es/DistrictProfile.aspx   intervention-program intervention-program  Yell, Mitchell. The Law and Special Education. Pearson Education p