Committee on Special Education …

Working for Paterson's Special Needs

The Committee on Special Education has been working to improve services to the students of the Paterson Public Schools. C.O.S.E. has made available much needed and effective professional development to all of the members of the Paterson Education Association. The workshops held to date have been, Special Education Today, Rules and Regulations; Developing Relevant Individual Educational Plans; and Co-Teaching for an Effective Inclusive Classroom. On February 28 COSE will present a workshop on Team Building and April 14, AUTISM: Applying Useful Techniques and Instructional Strategies to Maximize Learning.

All of the COSE workshops have received excellent feedback and have satisfied members who continue to come back to take advantage of the opportunities N.J.E.A. and P.E.A. provide. Most of the workshops have been presented to sell-out crowds. "We will continue to provide professional development to our colleagues in areas relevant to their daily job responsibilities since the district does not" stated a release from the Committee. "Our members deserve to have the best opportunities presented to them."

One of the workshops held this year was "Special Education Today: Rules and Regulations", perhaps the most popular COSE workshop, and one that the district has not provided to the teachers in the system. It is because of the outrageous omission of professional development for the staff in special education, that Paterson's' Expanded Local Professional Development Committee (P.E.L.P.D.C.) extended an invitation to Dr. Carcamo to designate a representative to sit on the P.E.L.P.D.C. As is the norm, there has been no response to this invitation for inclusion into the district's and the state's mandate to provide professional development.

With the department under constant scrutiny of the state because it has never corrected the violations of the past 17 years, it is incredible that the administration refuses to meet or discuss these issues with the Association.

Despite this, The Committee on Special Education moves on and grows. A C.O.S.E. Concerns and Questions Information Form has been established and distributed to every P.E.A. building representative. Additionally, the Committee has also asked that every school have a Special Education Representative to assist us with the reporting of concerns.

In the future, COSE hopes to provide small group round table discussions and reviews of the special education code and changes and how that impacts upon the classroom to be held at the offices of the P.E.A Look for the announcements and join in on the discussion!

Staff members who would like to provide information, have questions, or would like to become a member of the committee should contact COSE at the P.E.A. offices or at cosepea@yahoo.com.

Committee on Special Education (COSE) Report:

90 Minute Literacy Blocks and Students with Disabilities

COSE has received numerous concerns regarding the provision of special education instruction in literacy relative to the 90 minute literacy block requirements. Here is some helpful information taken from the New Jersey Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs documents entitled "New Jersey Reading First, Intensive Early Literacy, and Office of Special Education Programs' Guidance on Provision of Services for Students with Disabilities" and "TA Guidance from Eastern Region Reading First to New Jersey on Provision of Services to Classified Students":

Students with disabilities must have access to the Reading First of the district selected comprehensive reading program, materials and assessments, as well as the supplementary services provided to other students (e.g. tutoring).

The goal of Reading First is to have all students reading at grade level by at least third grade through using proven approaches grounded in SBRR (scientifically-based reading research), the timely use of valid/reliable assessments and immediate intensive interventions. If for some reason the IEP does not include these strategies the IEP trumps Reading First.

Students with disabilities, regardless of their placement, must be provided a minimum of 90 minutes of uninterrupted literacy instruction unless their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) require an adjustment to time due to difficulties in sustaining attention or other difficulties that arise form their disability.

Some students with disabilities may, in fact, require more instructional time than that provided for students without disabilities in order to benefit from instruction and make progress in reading proficiency. In these instances, alternative means for providing at least equivalent literacy instructional time during the day should be included in their IEPs.

When the IEP specifies "in-class" support instruction for reading/literacy, it is assumed that the in-class support teacher will be present during the entire 90 minute block of instruction. In instances when the "in-class" support teacher is not needed during the entire block of instruction, the IEP must specify the amount of time the in-class support is needed.

Students with disabilities must have access to a variety of instructional and assessment strategies and adaptations in order to benefit from Reading First instruction and demonstrate progress in reading proficiency.

When administering standardized, diagnostic, progress monitoring or cumulative assessments to students with disabilities, the individual's responsible for administering these assessments should be knowledgeable of the students' disabilities and testing accommodations included in students' IEPs.

Students with disabilities may require more frequent individual assessment of student performance, within the context of classroom reading activities, than the recommended 6 to 10 weeks by New Jersey Reading First, to determine the responsiveness of students with disabilities to instruction and to make needed changes in instructional practice.

No single reading approach will be effective for all students with disabilities

For students with disabilities who are not responsive to intensive instruction in Reading First programs, even with the use of adaptations, consideration should be made to provide additional and/or alternative reading instruction.

Teachers of students with disabilities must have access to all manuals and instructional materials used in general education classrooms for Reading First Programs in addition to specialized supplementary materials and supplies.

Computers and a variety of reading/authoring software must be available to enable students with disabilities to use technology for learning.

Special education teachers must be included in district training on Reading First. If higher education training/classes are provided to district staff, special education teachers must have access to these classes.

Special education teachers must be involved in support activities provided by the Reading Coordinator and Reading Coaches.

To review these documents in their entirety, please go to:

http://www.state.nj.us/education/njpep/pd/iel/worddocs/StudentDisabilitiesGuidance.doc

and

http://www.state.nj.us/education/njpep/pd/iel/worddocs/guidance_provision_services_classifiedstudents_11_04.doc

Any staff member who has concerns regarding the provision of special education instruction within the 90 minute literacy blocks should complete a "COSE Concern Form." The form can be found on the P.E.A. website at http://www.patersonea.org/ Please submit it to COSE in care of the Paterson Education Association.