From Drowning… To Treading Water… To Dog Paddling

1. From Drowning… To Treading Water… To Dog Paddling Kenosha Unified School District Disproportionality Improvement Practices 2008 DPI Summer Institute Joe Kucak jkucak@kusd.edu Melissa Werner mwerner@kusd.edu

2. Big Picture • KUSD identified for being disproportionate • African American males CD • African American males EBD • Consensus Building • Infrastructure Building • Implementation

3. Consensus Building • Examined current district initiatives connected to Disproportionality • District Strategic Plan • District mission • Beliefs, Parameters and Objectives • 7 Strategies

4. KUSD Strategy 5 We will develop and implement plans to model, reinforce and recognize responsible, respectful, and ethical behavior by everyone.

5. KUSD Strategy 6 We will celebrate and embrace the rich cultural diversity of the student body and community in order to achieve our mission and objectives.

6. KUSD Strategy 7 We will work effectively with our disengaged students and those who are impacted negatively by social influences, which are interfering with learning in order to improve attendance, achievement and the graduation rate.

7. 2. Infrastructure Building • Administrators can often be sensitive about sharing building data • Data analyzed – district-wide and individual buildings • Special Education Referrals • Suspensions • Expulsions • In School Suspensions • Out of School Suspensions • Data analyzed by race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and economic level

8. KUSD Strategy 5 • Core Values • Deep level student behavioral analysis • See Special Education Referral data • Disproportionality Plan Goal #2, 3 & 4

9. KUSD Strategy 6 • Cultural Competency • 5 year plan • Awareness • Deepen awareness • Knowledge • Application • Further application • All district employees receive training • Disproportionality Plan Goal #1

10. KUSD Strategy 7 • Increase attendance achievement, and graduation rate • Bridging Special Education and Regular Education by developing interventions • Response to Intervention (RtI) • Involvement by all educators • Involvement by all departments

11. Professional Development is Key • RtI • 3 years of professional development • Student Intervention Teams (SIT) • Building level teams • Regular Education teachers • Special Education teachers • Student Service personnel • Administration • Student progress monitoring

12. 3. Implementation • “Work in progress” • Keep refining and changing • From invitational to more formalized expectation • District level driven • See funding form • 9th Grade Academy at Bradford High School • Interventions before, during, and after school

13. Three Years of Practice • Introduce RtI • Develop a common language • Develop an Intervention Model • Workgroups • Summer • See Elementary Reading • Tiered Interventions • See SIT forms • Broke down departmental • walls • Ed. Accountability, Instr. Services, Prof. Development, Regular Education, Special Education, • Title I, Student Services

14. Practical Tools for Graphing Student Progress Monitoring • See handouts • Making an Excel graph • Graphing WKCE data

15. It truly takes ALL… • Community Conversations that Build Working Relationships • Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) • Juvenile Justice • NAACP • LULAC • Presented district data to these groups

16. This was a very natural process. We have been open in dealing with problems…and working on solutions by building bridges and sharing deep level information. Please look at our district website kusd.edu and feel free to contact Joe or Melissa. • Joe Kucak jkucak@kusd.edu and • Melissa Werner mwerner@kusd.edu Questions?