Teaching in and Leading for

Inclusive Classrooms

Report to the School Board

Jean Anthony,
Executive Director for Special Education

Eric McDowell,
Principal at Odle Middle School
A story to set the stage:
http://youtu.be/9J5UqYRxY48


Instructional Initiatives 100% Means
ALL
AMO Data from Lake Hills & Highland
Reading Enrolled
Reading % Meeting
Standard
Reading Annual
Target
Difference From
Target
Lake Hills ALL 236 64.4 61.8 2.6
Lake Hills Sp Ed 32 28.1 35.9 -7.8
Highland ALL 494 74.5 69.3 5.2
Highland Sp Ed 100 44.0 57.3 -13.3
Stevenson ALL 162 74.7 55.9 18.8
Stevenson Sp Ed N < required
Lake Hills & Stevenson Elementary
Schools
Both schools identified need for less fragmentation of student
learning experiences (high numbers in Title I & ELL)
SITs from both schools shadowed students & realized that students
with IEPs experienced the most fragmentation & least access to core
instruction & content
They began joint work (School Improvement Teams partner to share
knowledge, success, resources)
Highland Middle School (feeder school) begins to partner
Neither school focused on SpEd in School Improvement Plan



School Improvement Teams (SIT)
Statement of Purpose
We, the Lake Hills School Improvement Team, will analyze data and
resources to identify areas of strength and growth to maximize student
learning. We will use this information to monitor and adjust our
sustainable plan to further develop an enriched learning environment for
our students, staff, and family community.
100% Means ALL
LRE in Bellevue
50
46
41
40 40
35
29
30
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
P
e
r
c
e
n
t

i
n

G
e
n
e
r
a
l

E
d
u
c
a
t
i
o
n

Bellevue School District Special Education
Changes in Least Restrictive Environment
80-100%
40-79%
0-39%
Time in General
Education

Direct Instruction
School Improvement Teams
Monthly review of progress on
identified SIP initiatives
continued to find:
De-fragmenting the learning
experiences for ELL students was
improving.
De-fragmenting the learning
experiences for students in SpEd
was not.
The Teams felt stuck

Thinking Differently
A sub-group of the SIT formed to
focus on Special Education:

Understand the need to work
differently

Identify new learning (professional
development)

See new possibilities
The Answers in the Room
Through research, reading and
reflection:
Teams identified new possibilities:
Location (in class vs. pull out)
Co-teaching
Adapting core curriculum
Hiring dually certified teachers (gen ed.-
special ed.)
Re-energized their efforts
Began laying plans
Shared the news
Invited middle schools to learn alongside

Goals of the Project
To assist Lake Hills & Stevenson
to redesign the delivery of
special education for improved
results for students

To build teacher and leader
capacity

To define support needed from
central office leaders
Seeing Inclusion in Action February 13,
2014
Site Visit to Odyssey Elementary
School in the Mukilteo School
District
Fully inclusive classrooms
10 years of experience

Stevenson and Lake Hills Principals
3 general & special education
teachers from each building plus
school psychologist & dean
Selecting an Inclusion Model April 23,
2014
Working with one grade level at
each building, para-educators,
teachers, administrators and
central office leaders will:
Begin to get to know each other
Review the Seamless Teaching
Toolkit together
Decide on a co-teaching model
that works for their building
Review the potential benefits of
inclusion teaching teams

The Logistics of Inclusion May 28, 2014
Building teams, along with
central office leaders, will:
Continue getting to know each
other
Jointly develop goals and
parameters
Learn about roles and
responsibilities (administrator,
teacher, para-educator, central
office leader)
Begin developing a parent/family
communication plan to support
inclusion
The Inclusive Classroom June 24, 2014
Working in building teams, para-
educators, teachers,
administrators and central office
leaders will:
Continue building relationships
Review and develop rules and
routines they will use in the
inclusive classroom
Develop a building plan to support
inclusive teaching
Finalize parent/family
communication plan

Data-based Decision Making June 24,
2014
Building teams and central office
leaders will:
Continue building relationships
Review student IEPs
Use IEP data to create student
intervention groups for the
inclusive classroom
Create a process for on-going data
review
Launching Inclusion August 27, 2014
Working in building teams, para-
educators, teachers,
administrators and central office
leaders will:
Continue developing relationships
Understand that learning to co-
teach is a developmental process
Go over any issues that have
developed before Fall 2014 launch
On-going Support School Year 2014/15
Building teams will meet
monthly to:
Share good news!
Reflect on current strengths and
weaknesses
Problem solve

Building leaders will meet
quarterly (or more often if
needed) with central office
leaders to get support for
leading for inclusion
Timeline and Future Plans
Timeline School Year 2014/15
Launch inclusive classrooms in
one grade level each at
Stevenson and Lake Hills Fall
Monitor progress
On-going training and support



Future Plans
Begin initial training for inclusion
at other elementary schools and
middle schools (2014/15)
Expand to other grade levels at
both Stevenson and Lake Hills
(2015/16)
Launch inclusion at other
elementary schools and in 6
th

grade at middle schools
(2015/16)

And finally