Special Education High School

1. Special EducationHigh School John Kaseta – Special Education Leader

2. Overview of Special EducationDepartment • 4 Special Education Teachers • 6 Para-professionals/Para-educators • General Responsibilities – • Operation of individual classrooms • Planning and Placement Team meetings • Conduct individual educational evaluations • Contacting classroom teachers • Individual Educational Program (IEP) • Helping students take PSAT and SAT’s

3. Overview of Special Education Department • Currently serving 74 exceptional students in the high school setting • 33 - Specific Learning Disability • 23 – Other Health Impaired – (ADD/ADHD) • 10 – Emotional Disability • 1 – Multi-Handicapped • 1 – Autism • 1 – Traumatic Brain Injured • 5 – Intellectual Disability

4. Special Education Curriculum • Based upon the individual needs of the student. • Individual goals and objectives are aligned with course standards. • Courses include: • Math – Transitional Math, Consumer Math, Math Foundations, and Basic Math • English – Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior and Senior English (writing and reading skills)

5. Special Education CurriculumAdditional Topics • Individualized Transitional Programs • Vocational skills • application forms • letters of application • resume construction • vocational interest surveys • interviewing skills.

6. Special Education CurriculumAdditional Topics • Community Participation Skills • Identification of organizations in the community (Lions, Rotary, etc.) • Voting, basic rights and responsibilities as citizens. • Independent Living Skills – (banking, renting an apartment, budgeting, health and safety, and insurance).

7. Connections with Students • Continuous meetings or contact with regular education teachers to discuss students progress and provide alternative strategies so students can reach their maximum potential. • Involvement in the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process – Special Education teachers have been included in specific departments: Math (Kaseta, Malin) and English (Kennedy, Jette) meetings = working on identification and unwrapping of standards, determining the big idea (what do students know and what do we want them to be able to do), Powering the Standards (sequential steps needed to master the standard),

8. Connections with Students • Emphasis on raising students scores and having students see the relevance of what they learn in class and its direct connection to the real world. • Example: Math = Standard – Measurement, Unwrapping the Standard – volume and area, Big Idea – calculating area, Powering the Standards (specific steps or sequence needed to master standard). Direct connection between calculating area to purchasing a rug to cover your living room at local carpet center.

9. Connections with Students • Example: English = Standard – Reading Comprehension and Response to Literature – students requested to response to proposal that GPS systems be installed on cell phones, letting parent know to location of son or daughter. Are you for or against this?