Special Education

The purpose of Special Education programs is to provide a free and appropriate public education that meets the needs of Special Education-eligible students as indicated on their Individualized Education Plan, and to assist each child in achieving to the fullest measure of his/her potential in the Least Restrictive Environment appropriate. Students are eligible for special education when a significant discrepancy exists between the cognitive ability and achievement, and they have a learning or other disability impeding their ability to reach potential.

Objectives:

• Students with special needs have equal access to the curriculum provided for all students.
• The special services received by each special-needs student support his or her participation in the regular program.
• The lessons and assignments received by the students with special needs are as rigorous and challenging for their diagnosed level as those received by all students.
• Student work will show that students are experiencing success in learning the skills and concepts of the curriculum, and it will be evident that they feel successful as learners in each curricular area.

The regular classroom teachers and those providing special services (school psychologist, school nurse, speech and language clinician, Resources Specialist teachers, Special Day Class teacher) meet regularly to plan and implement each student's program of instruction. Yulupa has one Special Education teacher with two instructional paraprofessionals.

Reading and Math Support Programs

The District provides several programs to assist students in the mastery of reading and math. Most non-Special Education programs for struggling students are funded at least in part by federal Title 1 funds. Title 1 provides school districts funding to offer additional help to students who are experiencing difficulty mastering State standards in reading or math. Students who qualify for Special Education services, either the Resource Specialist Program (RSP) or Special Day Class (SDC), do not typically receive Title 1 services since they are getting more intensive services per their Individualized Education Plan. Services for English Language Learners who also qualify for other programs such as Title 1 are coordinated to meet student needs with a minimum of time out of the regular classroom.

Supported Reading Block (1st-3rd): Specially-trained reading support paraprofessionals assist each first, second, and third-grade class during the Supported Reading Block to reduce the adult-to-child ratio even further, offering small-group support for the worksession portion of our Reading/Language Arts instructional segment. Teachers direct the work of the paraprofessionals to maximize student reading fluency and comprehension.

Title 1 Reading Intensive: All first through sixth grade Title 1-eligible students receive extra help in reading from a speciallytrained Title 1 paraprofessional within their regular classroom, as a "pull-out" for specialized instruction, or with a combination of approaches. Services are delivered to students in small groups, or occasionally, individually. Instruction is designed to assist students in sound/letter recognition, phonics, sounding out words, memorization of sight words, increasing reading vocabulary, reading for comprehension, reading fluency, and reading for a purpose. In addition, students may receive assistance with other class work that carries heavy reading requirements. The Title 1 paraprofessionals work with students to take class work in manageable "chunks" so that students can demonstrate mastery and feel success. At Strawberry, due to the high reading level of the Social Studies and Science materials, Title 1 support assists students with strategies designed to ensure access to the reading content of these areas. Title 1 support is given in writing and spelling on an as-needed basis.

Eligibility: Students are eligible for after-school and during-school Title 1 programs when they are achieving below grade-level standards (on class work, projects, tests, curriculum-based measures, etc.) and when their teachers recommend it. Kindergarten, first, and second grade students are eligible when they have not mastered 75% of the critical standards and skills for their grade level, when they perform below grade level on district assessments, and when their teachers recommend the support. Third through sixth-grade students are eligible for Title 1 when they meet two of the following eligibility criteria and their teachers' recommendation:

• CAT 6 Reading/Math: 39th percentile or below (for 3rd grade)
• CA Standards Tests in English Language Arts/Math: Below or Far Below Basic
• District Assessment in Reading/Math: Achieving below grade level standards
• Class performance or Parent Request

Each child is assessed throughout the year with classroom, district, and state assessments. Students remain eligible for program services until they demonstrate mastery of grade-level standards. We refer students who meet eligibility criteria each year for three years to our Student Study Team to determine if a learning disability or other problem exists that impedes success.

Summer School: The district offers K-6 summer reading and math camps to assist students achieving below grade level on district standards and those in danger of school failure and/or retention. Program services are similar to those offered in the After-School Program. This year, as last, we held summer school later in the summer to offer students a break after the end of the school year and to minimize the time between the end of summer and the beginning of the new year. In addition, in summer 2005 we began offering a pre-kindergarten readiness program for students who, based on screening results, could benefit from the program to offer them the best start possible.

Student Support Teams and Personnel

Student Study Team: The purpose of the Student Study Team (SST) is to investigate concerns about individual students and to develop strategies to assist students, teachers, and parents in helping the student become successful in school. The SST can be comprised of many people including the student's parents, current (and sometimes former) classroom teacher, resource specialist, district psychologist, school nurse, principal, and Title 1 paraprofessional.

District Psychologist (106 days per year): The district psychologist provides psycho-educational services to children addressing social, emotional, and educational needs in the school setting. She is a member of the Special Education Team. She sees students referred by a Student Study Team and those who require initial or triennial psychoeducational special education assessments. Her assessments are comprehensive and in addition to individual psychological assessments given one-to-one, include observation, interviews and review of records. She provides teachers with suggested ways to help assist students within the regular classroom.

Speech-Language Clinician (.8 FTE): The Speech-Language Clinician identifies, assesses, and works to remediate articulation, language delay and fluency problems of eligible students. The classroom teacher, parent or other staff refers children to the clinician. Articulation disorders deal with the absence or distortion of speech sounds. Parents should note there are age-appropriate standards for articulation development. Language delays are varied but include difficulty with verb tenses, plurals, pronouns and vocabulary. Fluency disorders are the repetition of words or whole phrases (stuttering). The clinician works in our school district four days per week, alternating between school sites.

School Nurse (.5 FTE): The school nurse assesses, diagnoses and makes health referrals for vision, hearing, andother physical problems that may interfere with a child's educational success. The nurse also works with students referredby the Student Study Team and Special Education-identified children to make sure there are not other physical limitations that are keeping them from learning to potential. The nurse supervises the office administration in handling children who are ill or injured, and when contagious illnesses are found at school. She evaluates sick children to be sure they are not seriously ill. She also teaches human development lessons at Strawberry. The nurse works at each school site the equivalent of one day per week.

School Counselor (.4 FTE) Both schools enjoy the support of a school counselor one day per week. The counselor assists students in small groups or individually with issues that distract them from learning such as grief, making friends, dealing with their parents' divorce, etc. so that they can be successful learners.