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Act 117: “Every Child A Learner”. Presented by: Vermont Department of Education Vermont School Boards Association. Workshop Goals. Review goals and activities of Act 117
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Act 117: “Every Child A Learner” Presented by: Vermont Department of Education Vermont School Boards Association
Workshop Goals • Review goals and activities of Act 117 • Define school board’s role in overseeing the creation and monitoring of an effective education support system for all learners
What Is Act 117? • Passed in the spring of 2000 • Strengthen capacity of education system to meet the educational needs of all Vermont students
Act 117 Goals • Increase capacity of general education • Improve consistency of implementation of special education • Promote cost containment and effectiveness
2002 Report to Legislature • Status report on early outcomes and activities to implement Act 117 www.state.vt.us/educ/
History of ESS • 1990 Act 230 • 1996 Act 157 • 1997 Act 60 • 2000 Act 117
Increased Flexibility in Use of Special Education • Students with IEPs only • Core Staff • IEPs • Section 504 Accommodation Plans • EST Plans • Students without any plans under certain conditions
Supervision Educational Support Curriculum Leadership Instruction Evaluation Student Learning jkljlk Climate Standards Accountability Staff Development Action Plan Educational Support
Why Students Aren’t Succeeding • Think tank approach • What can we do about it • Do we have data to support?
Why Students Aren’t Succeeding • What does Child Count data tell us? • Incidence rate • Most common disability categories • Age/grade when identified • Gender differences • Profile or evaluations
One School’s Story • Obstacles to student success • We can change this • We might be able to change this • We probably cannot change this
One School’s Story • Contributors to student success • Characteristic causes student success • Characteristic is teachable • Characteristic can be developed or compensated for
One School’s Story • Critical next steps • What we can and can’t control • Prioritize student needs • What currently exists to meet the needs • Is it working
One School’s Story • Critical next steps • Identify matches and gaps • Prioritize unmet needs • Put into Action Plan
Keys to Ed. Support System • Comprehensive system • School board policy • Clear system for discipline • Supports students to meet standards • Ongoing assessment and evaluation
Keys to Ed. Support System • Training to increase general education capacity • Collaboration with community • Described annually to parents • Includes Educational Support Team
Keys to the Ed. Support Team • Meets regularly • Members from variety of positions • Method to refer to team • Keeps a record of actions • Develops individual plans
Keys to the Ed. Support Team • Assures follow-up • Provides for transitions • Reviews, revises, ends plan
Keys to the Ed. Support Team • Timely referral to special education • Looks for patterns • Informs Action Plan • Information to ESS
Supervision Educational Support Curriculum Leadership Instruction Evaluation Student Learning jkljlk Climate Standards Accountability Staff Development Action Plan Educational Support
Keys to Ed. Support Team Plan • Clarifies who/what/when/how • Includes follow-up on effectiveness • Provides for transitions
Keys to Ed. Support Team Plan • Reviewed, revised, or ended • Shared with parents and appropriate staff • Part of student file/record
Guiding Principle What would you want to have happen if this were your child?
Role of the School Board • Work with administrators to define goals for educational support systems • Establish accountability systems • Direct creation of time lines • Monitor progress through benchmarks
Role of the School Board • Understand and use student data • Receive periodic Action Plan reports • Recognize and support staff efforts to improve student achievement and success
Role of the School Board • Ask right questions – provide informed oversight • Direct reallocation of funds when data supports it • Look for ESS funds from Medicaid IEP, EPSDT, Act 60 Poverty, Title I, BEST, others
Role of the School Board • Support efforts by allowing and encouraging reallocation of funds to programs that match needs, priorities, and that are effective • Adopt key policies (ESS, professional development, assessment, action plan, evaluation, curriculum….)
Act 117 Resources & Power Point Slides www.vtvsba.org