Communities of Practice

1. Communities of Practice Frank Boswell, Frank.Boswell@oesc.state.ok.us Sharon Isbell visusie1@yahoo.com

2. IEP Development for Transition Age Students • INHERENT DIFFERENCES (I THINK THE RULES CHANGED!) • IEP moves beyond content instruction to attainment of “after school” opportunities • Instructional Environments extended beyond the school building • Implementers of the IEP go beyond school personnel only, i.e. business owners, agency personnel, community program staff, etc.

3. Transition as defined in regulations requires schools to work beyond their boundaries to assure students’ success in their intended post-school outcomes • Schools are required to assure students have the competencies for work, for post-secondary education, for community living, and all the various possibilities within each! • And, that students and parents are connected to the agencies and service delivery providers who will support post school outcomes!

4. Do these requirements present challenges to IEP development in Oklahoma? • Are there other school staff who have information to help in transition planning? Other service providers? Community partners? Business partners? • Are there service providers who work with your students? Do they have information about your students that you don’t have but that could be helpful?

5. Have you ever been in a situation when the student’s intended post-school outcome is to work in a field totally unfamiliar to you, and the IEP includes a field-based experience to increase the students potential for a successful post-school outcome? • Have you had students who will require certain public funded social support services when they leave school for which you are unaware of the eligibility requirements?

6. What are communities of practice? • Definition: The concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. It refers as well to the stable group that is formed from such regular interactions.

7. What is the practical value of a Community of Practice? As we talk about Communities of Practice, we ask you to consider……. “Could a Community approach help address some of the persistent problems in transition?” “When you imagine what ‘could be’ in transition.. might Community connections make it more likely?

8. How can we work and learn as a Community? A way of working • Involving those who do shared work • Involving those that share issues • Always asking “who isn’t here?”

9. A way of learning • Create new knowledge grounded in ‘doing the work’ a. Those that ‘do the work’ have important insights to share • Involving those who can advocate for and make change. a. Principals b. Superintendents c. Parents d. Students

10. The policy to Practice gap. • We have ‘islands’ of effective practice, but effective practice is often not well distributed. • Policies are often not understood in the field • Sometimes effective practices do not transfer across organizations • Practices often do not transfer across sites within the same organization

11. Oklahoma and Communities of Practice Oklahoma Transition Counsel Regional Transition Teams Local Transition Teams Web Accessibility

12. Where does Oklahoma stand on Communities of Practice? • Oklahoma Transition Counsel We in Oklahoma are lucky because we have leaders from the different agencies that believe we must work together from top to bottom, and bottom to top. The Oklahoma Transition Counsel is composed of over 18 agencies. These agencies are not only giving of their time, but of their money to promote collaboration between agencies to better serve the students.

14. Department of Rehabilitative Services • Can help with transition planning focused on employment. • Provide Work Study, OJT type training as well as various other resources to assist children with disabilities with employment goals.

15. Department of Human Services: Developmental Disabilities Services Division • Provide services to individuals aged 3 and older who have a primary diagnosis of developmental disability (IQ 70 or lower) • Supports available include Community Waivers, In-Home Support Waivers, Family Support Assistance Payments and Guardianship Assistance

16. Oklahoma Training and Information Center • Statewide parent training and information center serving parents of children with disabilities. • Community IEP partner training and matching: this help parents understand the IEP process and learn to advocate for their child • Developing Transition Partners to assist parents and students with development of a successful transition plan.

17. Oklahoma Family Network • Oklahoma’s non-profit parent to parent mentorship and resource network empowering families who are raising children with special health care or disability needs.

18. One-Stops • Currently have Disability Program Navigators to assist in locating resources • Provide employment-related services including resume writing, job search workshops, interviewing workshops, job market outlook and possibly post-high school training resources.

19. Tech Now • Tech Now is a High School-High Tech program usually (but not always) offered after school that allows students to learn how to use technology while encouraging these students to explore various careers and begin to plan for employment after high school

20. Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council • The Mission of the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council is to facilitate consumer education and empowerment, to assure services are of high quality, and lead to employment of individuals with disabilities in the State of Oklahoma. • They serve in an advisory capacity to the Department of Rehabilitation Services

21. Oklahoma ABLE Tech • Oklahoma’s Assistive Technology Project • Can help with finding appropriate assistive technology to match the student’s needs • Loan out assistive technology to allow students and schools to try before they buy • Have assistive technology demonstration labs • Provide referrals to assistive technology financing options • Operate Oklahoma Equipment Connection

22. The University of Oklahoma Zarrow Center for Learning Enrichment • Provide training and assistance on Transition Related Topics throughout the state • Offer Free Self Determination Assessments on their web-site • Resources on many transition related issues.

23. Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse • Operate the Oklahoma Systems of Care which help provide wraparound services that incorporate the family and the community in to provide assistance and support to persons with mental health disabilities. • Many other services to assist children who need mental health services and their families.

24. OU Health Sciences Center, Child Study Center • Provide evaluation, treatment and services for children with special needs who have a wide range of developmental disabilities, and environmental and behavioral issues. • An essential partner when doing transition planning for students with health care support needs.

25. Regional Transition Teams The regional team concept was introduced in May of 2006. The reasoning behind this model was to allow regional teams to come together to discuss like issues. From this discussion it was hoped brainstorming, crying, laughing, sharing of knowledge, etc. would assist each team with solving their problems. (A community of practice)

26. Education Agencies involved • Oklahoma State Department of Education Special Education Services • Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education • Student Disability Services (OSU represented on Transition Council) • Special Education Teachers, Directors and numerous parents also actively involved

27. From those beginnings several teams have grown from regional teams to local teams. If your team is made up of several small schools, your community of practice may remain the regional team. Of course as you brainstorm , discuss your needs, and dreams members needed on the team will become aware to you. Remember always be asking “who isn’t there?”

28. Who should make up the regional and local transition teams? • Administrators • Special Education Teachers • Parents • Representatives of state agencies from your community (DRS, DD, Career Tech, etc.) • Local businessmen and women • City leaders (Chamber of Commerce members, mayor, etc.)

30. Regional Team Successes • Monthly support meetings • Discussion of the intent of the law • How to use Indicator 13 effectively • Regional trainings for special education/regular education teachers • Career days • School and community work programs • Identifying assessment tools needed for transition • Developing and implementing annual plans

31. Web accessibility 1. State web for trainings, procedures, etc. www.sde.state.ok.us 2. Oklahoma presentation power points on Career Tech web www.okcareertech.org 3. Assessment tools on Zarrow web site www.ou.edu/zarrow

32. 4. National presentations/national help tools www.nsttac.org www.ncset.org www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ osers/index.html www.dropoutprevention.org www.ideapartnership.org

33. Year-Round Communication Network www.sharedwork.org This web site is used to …. • Announce new products developed • Announce training events • Disseminate the results of state pilot projects • Share promising practices • Encourage local to local sharing

34. Seek input from the field on matters of shared interest that are being discussed by one or more of the Community of practice partners • Advise the development of the key national, state, regional, and local meetings • Other opportunities that become evident as we communicate more routinely

35. Why are Communities of Value? • Provide the support that individuals need • Respect the ‘expertise ‘ that individuals bring • Recognize the differences in the settings where people do their work • Seek commonality within differing viewpoints

36. Unite individuals in action • Focus on ‘learning’ • Use ‘learning’ to transform practice

37. So……………………………………………. • Work together • Set up regional, school, building meetings • Share headaches • Don’t be afraid to ask questions ( you are not the only one that does not know the answer0 • Get over feeling you have to do everything yourself • Get people involved that can make change • Split large teams into smaller teams as needed

38. Each of us has come across many areas in which we could say, “It won’t do any good because______. I have tried it all and none of it worked. We need to get over the “I” part of this statement. We have enough to do without adding one more thing “I” need to do. By sharing your expertise and learning from others you might have less stress and can replace “I’ with a smile and “We”. We have the same amount of work to do so we have to decide to either be alone and wonder or share and learn.

39. The IDEA Partnership’s Community of Practice contact information • Joanne Cashman, joanne.cashman@nasdse.org • Debra Grabill, debra.grabill@valley.net • Tina Greco, TGreco@ed.state.nh.us • Joan Kester, joakester@state.pa.us • Ellen Romett, eromett@pattan.net • Linda Maitrejean, lindam@cesa11.k12.wi.us • Steve Gilles, Steve.Gilles@dpi.state.wi.us