Interview with a Special Education Administrator Trina Kelsey EDU-723 Teaching and Learning in Inclusion Settings June 3, 2012

2 University of New England

Interview Nora Kennett, the District Administrator of Student Services, met another UNE student and me to discuss inclusion within our district. She was able to answer our questions thoroughly and concisely. She was pleasantly surprised that she was asked to speak about the current state of inclusion, because although it is going well overall, there is room for growth and professional development in this area.

Inclusion came into widespread practice in the province of British Columbia, when it was mandated by the government in the late 1980s. The ideal was that the school system should reflect the community in which we live and promote acceptance and friendship with those with unique needs (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). The result was a complex philosophy of creating a community by respectfully streaming students with their peers up to grade ten, when the complexities of the high school graduate program do not provide the best integrated program for all involved. For those with moderate disabilities, the students move between programs depending on student needs and programming goals all the way to graduation. With the new ideology came a heavy financial burden to the system for supports (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). Response to Intervention (RTI) has been slowly introduced over the past two years and is in the very early stages in our district. At first it was looked at as a model for behavioural intervention, but as familiarity increases there will be a movement towards learning and differentiation (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). The province of British Columbia is shifting to a model of personalized learning which puts the learning at the centre and empowers teachers to provide each student with an education tailored to his or her specific learning needs, interests and aptitudes (British Columbia Education Leadership

*Based on the laws of British Columbia, Canada

Interview Council, 2011). RTI fits into this model as a means of providing support to those who are struggling both behaviourally and academically. The impact of the RTI model has not been felt yet, as there are ongoing delays with implementation due to the strike action that has been taking place this year (BC teachers have been through several stages of job action this year including a walk out and it is still unsettled). The conversations have been started, but they are not formal and RTI has not been integrated into the current system. Currently, there is not widespread understanding of the intervention and referral process amongst staff (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). Overall, teachers

reteach concepts that are problematic, but when difficulties arise with a student they often feel that it is the responsibility of the Learning Resource department to fix the problem. At this point names are sent to the School Based Team (administrators, counsellors, First Nations support, Learning Resource) for a discussion of intervention strategies to be implemented in the classroom, before a formal referral to the Learning Resource department takes place. The strategies are tried in the classroom for a period of time, but it can still result in frustration if there is a significant learning concern. During the intervention period, a member of the School Based Team pulls the cumulative file to see if there is a past history of problems. We also phone the home to see if there is an issue there and to see if the parent can shed light on the difficulties in case it is an environmental concern (grief, divorce, illness etc.). If the problem cannot be explained at that point, the students name will likely be placed on a list to have a WIAT (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test) done by the Learning Resource Teacher. Our district has a program called Strong Start, which is housed in a number of elementary schools. The intention of the program is to provide the opportunity for the parent

*Based on the laws of British Columbia, Canada

Interview to connect with their child with the support of an Early Childhood Educator as the instructor. The program is aimed at children from infancy, up to five years old. This pre-emptive strategy, although well intentioned, doesnt always attract the target audience, because it is done by

self-referral (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). Often the parents who chose to enrol already have a nurturing relationship with their child. As the students are enrolled in kindergarten a screening process takes place. Students are monitored closely as kindergarten begins and referrals for Speech Language Pathology, Physiotherapy, and Occupational Therapy are sent as soon as a concern arises, so that intervention can happen with the student and appropriate assessments take place as soon as possible. In addition, there is an itinerant Literacy Intervention program that targets primary age student for six to eight week sessions to bring skills up to grade level as soon as there is a concern (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). Our district does not keep any formal data on the effect of early interventions within the system. The strengths that have been noted are anecdotal. The early screening and interventions brings about an awareness of weaknesses and strengths in students and allows the assessment process to begin earlier than if it didnt exist (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). With the documentation of disabilities comes funding that can be used to hire Learning Resource teachers and Certified Education Assistants to work with the impacted students. The information from the testing also brings about an awareness of a students learning style and strategies that may be beneficial when teaching a student. This allows the teacher to modify the method of presentation to meet the needs of the students in a

*Based on the laws of British Columbia, Canada

Interview class and focus the attention on the area of need (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). In elementary and middle schools, the Learning Resource teacher is non-enrolling and works in classrooms as a team teacher. It is helpful that difficulties being experienced in the

classroom can be observed and addressed by a second person. The information is then brought back to the School Based Team meeting to be discussed and referrals are sent to the appropriate service areas. The team teaching model is done in an informal manner based on the need of inclusion students in the schools (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). At the high schools, the Learning Resource Teachers are fully enrolling and therefore have little opportunity to stay in another classroom for any period of time. To address this void, Certified Education Assistants are sent to support students with special needs in an inclusion setting (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18, 2012). Next year at our school, a nonenrolling block is being added to the schedule as an acknowledgment that collaboration is necessary to provide the best inclusion experience to all students. Our district has many practices that are positive and headed in the right direction. The administrative staff works hard to provide the system with the expertise that is needed. Collaborative meeting days for Special Education staff are planned, funded and implemented to share methods, information and approaches to teaching in an inclusion setting. The information is then taken back to each school and shared with the other staff to strengthen the programs that are already running. The hours for special education support are no longer distributed by category alone and are based on the level of support needed for the low incidence students, which is a better model than we had previously (N. Kennett, personal communication, May 18,

*Based on the laws of British Columbia, Canada

Interview 2012). Although the Ministry of Education recognizes only six students in our district as receiving full funding, fifty-six students are receiving full day service, through a combination of grouping and an adjustment of funding priorities. As with any developing program there is room for growth, but overall we are moving in a positive direction to provide the best service for our students.

*Based on the laws of British Columbia, Canada

Interview References

BC Ministry of Education. (2009). Individual education planning for students with special needs: A resource guide for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/iepssn.pdf BC Ministry of Education. (2011). Supporting students with learning disabilities: A guide for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/learning_disabilities_guide.pdf British Columbia Education Leadership Council. (2011). The vision for the future. Retrieved from http://bcelc.ca/ Cohen, L.G., & Spenciner, L.J. (2009). Teaching students with mild and moderate disabilities: Research-based practices. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

*Based on the laws of British Columbia, Canada