MA DESE Career Vocational Technical Education Institute

1. MA DESECareer Vocational Technical Education Institute • October 10-11, 2012 • Sheraton, Framingham • Robin Ahigian • Silvia DeRuvo • George Dowaliby

2. Opening & Welcome • Madeline Levine, Director, Office of Tiered Systems of Support • Lisa Sandler, Asst. State Director, Office for Career/Vocational Technical Education • Ramona Foster, Office for Career/Vocational Technical Education • Linda Tarmy, Office of Special Education Policy and Planning • Holly-Anne Neal, Office of Special Education Policy and Planning

3. Participating Districts • Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical H. S. • Bristol County Agricultural High School • Franklin County Technical School • Lynn Vocational Technical Institute • McCann - Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District • North Shore Regional Vocational School District • Pathfinder Regional Vocational School • Westfield Vocational Technical High School • Worcester Technical High School

4. Introductions • Introduce yourself and the members of your team • What challenges led you to participate in the institute?

5. Goals of the Institute: Increased career/vocational technical education opportunities for students with disabilities contributing to improved results for all students through: • Effective collaborative practices • Inclusive practices that ensure access to the same opportunities and curriculum as non-disabled students • A culture of high expectations, shared responsibility and accountability for all students

6. Working Together to Improve Results for Students with Disabilities The overall theme for the Institute is effective collaboration and coordination of special education services with academic and vocational technical instruction to improve post secondary outcomes through access for students with disabilities

7. Working Together Defining Collaboration Concepts Collaboration is a style for direct interaction between at least two coequal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work TOWARD A COMMON GOAL. (Friend & Cook, 2009)

8. Developing Collaborative Norms • To know one’s intentions and choose congruent behaviors • To set aside unproductive patterns of listening, responding and inquiring • To know when to self-assert and when to integrate • To know and support the group’s purposes, topics, processes and development

9. Seven Norms of Collaboration • Pausing to allow time for thought • Paraphrasing to ensure deep listening • Putting inquiry at the center • Probing to clarify • Place ideas on the table • Paying attention to self and others • Presuming positive intentions

10. Norms of Collaboration Activity • Complete: • Norms Inventory: Rating Perceptions of Myself • What did the inventory reveal to you about your own collaborative behaviors?

11. Agenda for Kick-Off Institute • Day 1: Special Education Directors and Team Members • Overview of Institute: purpose and goals • Topics Review • Instructional Supports for Students with Disabilities • Day 2: Superintendent-Directors; Special Education Directors with Team Members • Tom Hehir: A Study of Students with Disabilities in CVTE in MA • Needs Assessment Review • Action Planning Process for Project Development

12. Ground Rules X • Cell phones…off • Start on time—end on time • Be a good listener • Be an active participant • Stay focused -- multi-tasking interferes with focus. • Think about what you want to learn from others AND • What you can contribute to the learning of others • Be fully “present” and maximize your ability to use this precious professional development time for YOU! • What’s said here, stays here.

13. People First Language …students first and foremost Say… Child with autism A person who has Uses a wheelchair Student with a disability instead of SPED student Instead of … Autistic child Afflicted or suffers from Confined to a wheelchair Disabled or handicapped

14. Overview of the Institute • Overview of institute goals • Institute syllabus • Logistics and communication

15. Goals of the Institute • To provide school administrators and leaders with the opportunity to assess district needs and develop an action plan to address improved performance and post secondary outcomes for students with disabilities • To foster collaboration between general education (academic and vocational) leaders/administrators and special education leaders

16. Structure of Institute • Schedule • Six Days: Face-to-Face Sessions • Kick-Off: October 10-11, 2012 • Four additional one-day sessions • Nov. 29, Feb. 7, April 4, May 16 • Virtual meetings: two Webinars • January 10, 2013 • March date TBD • Individualized virtual coaching as needed • Local Systems Change Project • Graduate credit-Framingham State University

17. Syllabus • Intended outcomes • Topics/curriculum • Structure • Institute experience • Assignments & Requirements • Attendance and Participation • Outside Project • Project Mini grants • Professional Development Credit • Graduate Credit • Grading

18. Logistics and Communication • Institute Sessions- • All sessions will be held at the Sheraton Framingham from 9am to 4 pm • Materials and meals provided at no cost • Participants will cover own travel costs • Questions? Contact Julie Colton- jcolton@wested.org • Wiki information- • http://votechinstitute.wikispaces.com/ • At the Wiki sites: • Documents from trainings • Readings • Resources • Questions? Contact Tanner Petry- tpetry@wested.org • Co-directors – • Robin Ahigian – rahigia@wested.org • Silvia DeRuvo- sderuvo@wested.org

19. Break

20. Data Review • Discuss with your team: • Why do you think the achievement gap in MCAS scores in reading and math continues to persist for students with disabilities at your school? • Why do graduation rates differ between the general education and special education student populations? • What does the data tell you about differences in placement rates for students 6 month after graduation?

21. Current Practices- Alignment with Institute Goals • As a team review your current practices and how these are aligned to the institute goals in the following areas: • Collaboration practices that support coordination of services between special education, general education and career/technical education programs • Inclusive practices that support access for students with disabilities • A culture of high expectations, shared responsibility and accountability for students with disabilities

22. Topics Identified Through the Pre-Institute Self-Assessment • Team Activity: • Identify current practice in each of these areas • Prioritize and rank these topic areas based on team’s response • Use sticky dots to rank priorities for institute development • Use blank poster to identify other topic areas not addressed

23. Lunch

24. Reading Reviews Activity: Choose a Corner • Identify the article you would prefer to discuss and move to the discussion area for that article • Eliminating Ableism in Education • Review of Special Education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Discuss the following questions: • In what ways do you agree or disagree with the points made in the article? • What implications does this information have on current practice in CVTE environments? • What additional questions arose as a result of this reading?

25. Instructional Supports for Students with Disabilities- Frame of Reference Defining Students with Disabilities Finish the sentence frame: Students with disabilities are students who:________________________ ___________________________________

26. Instructional Supports for Students with Disabilities- Expectations Make a Difference Come to a consensus within your group: • How many of the 13 federal disability definitions have the terms “intellectual disability” as a defining characteristic?

27. Instructional Supports for Students with Disabilities- Think-Pair-Share: Reflection • Reflect on what you learned from this activity- • How did it change your expectations for students with disabilities? • Share with your table group partners

28. National Categorical Incidence

29. While intellectual disabilities do NOT preclude a student from learning, the vast majority of students with disabilities have average cognitive abilities Therefore: Cognitive abilities will not impede the majority of students with disabilities from mastering the grade level content

30. Instructional Supports for Students with Disabilities- Mild to Moderate Student Profiles • Specific Learning Disability • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

31. Specific Learning Disability • A neurological disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes affecting the ability to understand or use language affecting: • Listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling or math calculations • The disability interferes with the individual’s ability to: • Store information • Process information • Produce information

32. SLD- Characteristics • Unexpected underachievement • Lack of motivation • Difficulty generalizing information • Faulty information processing • Insufficient problem solving strategies • Immature social skills • Disorganization

33. Students with Learning Disabilities Struggle.. • These students struggles are not related to cognitive ability… is it due to a lack of motivation, or a result of “Fear, Anxiety and Tension?” Experience a few moments in their shoes… • Auditory processing difficulties • Visual perception difficulties • Reading comprehension difficulties • Decoding difficulties

34. SLD- Academic Interventions • Intensive instructional interventions should focus on word study and the development of conceptual math skills • Instructional across grade levels should focus on strategy instruction to support organization, memory and writing weaknesses • All content provided in an accessible manner • Electronic text readers • Audio books • Visual technology • Graphic organizers

35. SLD- Behavioral Interventions • Consistent classroom structures and routines • Clear expectations and visual supports • Direct instruction with frequent repetition • Implementation of accommodations • Social skills instruction • Positive and proactive behavior supports

36. Break

37. Recognizing ADHD: Primary Symptoms and Common Impairments • Primary symptoms • Inattention • Hyperactivity • Impulsivity • To be diagnosed with ADHD • Symptoms must be present in at least two settings • Must be clear evidence of interference with developmentally appropriate social, academic, or occupational therapy • Connors Scale utilized for assessment most often

38. Types of ADHD

39. The Nerve Cell and Neurotransmitters

40. What Are Executive Functions? The term executive functions refers to an individual’s self directed actions that are used to help that person regulate his or her behavior, that is, actions a person performs that help him or her exert more self-control and better reach his or her goals. Executive functions represent the internalization of behavior that helps us anticipate changes in the environment and events that lie ahead in time. It provides a sense of readiness, the ability to inhibit habitual responses, delaying gratification, and adjusting ones actions to changing conditions. It is, in some ways, a cognitive process that serves as a kind of supervisor or scheduler that helps one select a strategy to integrate information from different sources (Lougy, et. al., 2009).

41. Activity- Jig Saw • Read the section of Why does the adolescent with ADHD struggle with Executive Function Skills? assigned to you. • Discuss in your group: Why is it important to understand the role Executive Function Dysfunction when working with students with ADHD?

42. ADHD- Academic Interventions • Consistent classroom structures and routines • Instruction that is relevant and meaningful • Strategy instruction to support organization and memory weaknesses • Engaging cooperative instruction • Chunking of content and tasks • Implementation of accommodations

43. ADHD- Behavioral Interventions • Consistent routines and expectations • Explicit instruction and reinforcement of expectations • Reinforcement of appropriate behaviors • Review behavioral expectations explicitly • Reward direction- not perfection • Maintain a “perky pace”

44. Instructional Supports for Students with Disabilities- Moderate to Severe Student Profiles • Intellectual Disabilities • Emotionally Disturbance • Autism Spectrum Disorder

45. Autism Spectrum Disorder • Developmental disability affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interactions that can range from mild to severe • Often characterized by: • Engagement in repetitive activities • Stereotypical movements • Resistance to environmental change • Unusual response to sensory experiences

46. Core Deficits of ASD • Difficulty with • identifying global concepts and elements of tasks • Processing auditory information- understanding, retaining and retrieving • Generalizing skills • Sequencing information or steps in a task • Transitioning between different activities • Time concepts and time management • Atypical and/or uneven academic, social, or emotional development

47. ASD-Behavioral Issues • Studentswith ASD exhibit immature and developmentally inappropriate behaviors that cannot be attributed to cognitive skills • Behavior results from frustration and anxiety due to difficulties with communication, sensory regulation, and social interactions. • Aggressive acting out behaviors usually result from heightened levels of anxiety due to unexpected changes in routines, schedules or an inability to transition to a non-preferred activity

48. Video: Teaching Students with Autism • As you watch- list the instructional strategies identified by the teacher. • Discuss with your team: • How do you see these classroom interventions being implemented in the CVTE setting?

49. ASD-Academic Interventions • Consistent classroom structures and routines • Clear expectations communicated visually • Use of visual technology • Breaks from sensory stimulus • Use of visual agenda, timer for transitions • Keep communication simple and free of idioms and figures of speech

50. WestEd CPEI ASD- Behavioral Interventions • Consistent classroom structures and routines • Clear expectations for behavior • Preferred activities when tasks are completed • Recognize when behavior signals show signs of distress and anxiety • Provide opportunities away from overwhelming stimulus • Provide social stories to relieve anxiety related to new situations