The Board’s Special Education Committee met on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at 5 pm. This was our last meeting of the school year. You can see the agenda and materials here (Spanish) and the video of the meeting here.
WHAT THE COMMITTEE LEARNED:
Human Resources/Personnel Commission:
- The biggest sources for recruiting staff come from local university partners (66%), private universities (14%), and then out-of-state (12%).
- In the career ladder program in the last 3 years, we have matriculated at least 137 graduates.
- The District Intern program is tuition-free and currently has about 270 participants.
- In the teacher residency program, teachers receive 12-18 months of training, working alongside a mentor teacher.
- Teachers receive stipends, scholarships, and other aid that can total over $60,000 to offset tuition and living expenses.
- 14 Special Education classroom teacher positions have been posted for filling – 59 positions have already been filled.
- 600 hours are needed for Special Education trainees to become assistants.
Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCEIS):
- CCEIS seeks to address disproportionality in African-American/black students who are found eligible for Special Education services.
- The program is mandated by the federal government through the Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA).
- Significantly disproportionate is based on race/ethnicity, specific disability categories, continuum placement, and types of disciplinary actions.
- At the schools that CCEIS supports, out-of-school suspensions have decreased by 3%, and all student disciplinary referrals have decreased by 39%.
- There has also been a 13% increase in promising scholars K-2 Dibels and a 2% increase in promising scholars ELA iReady data.
- Staff shared that starting in the Fall, they will be tracking more of the cohort data under this program.