The Board’s Special Education Committee, met on Wednesday, March 1 at 5pm.
Since World Down Syndrome Awareness is in March and Autism Awareness is in April, the Division of Special Education provided an overview of the services and supports offered to students and their families.
We learned that:
- 1 in 700 babies are born with down syndrome annually in the United States.
- In LAUSD, there are over 16,000 students identified with down syndrome.
- It was emphasized that clarification will be provided by the Division of Special Education to families on the subject of BII’s and how students receive one and to what extend services are provided.
- LAUSD continues to provide staff development and supports through MyPLN.
At the last committee meeting, staff provided an overview on how inclusion works at the elementary school level. This time, the teams provided an overview on how inclusion works at the high school and career and transition centers. The Voices of the Field section of our agenda, highlighted school staff from South Gate High School and Widney Career and Transition Center.
For South Gate High School, we learned that:
- Schools need to look at the data (suspension level, what will guide teachers, what is the goal for educators and observational data) and create an action plan in order for inclusion to work at your school site.
- Some of the successes is that students are given an opportunity to learn at high levels regardless of their disability.
- Students in inclusion classes have maintained grades at or above their non-disabled peers.
For Widney Career & Transition Center, we learned that:
- Career and Transition Centers are for students ages 18-22.
- The goal is to be able to provide community integration via work experiences, independent living skills instruction and community-based instruction.
- There are five components for the transition instructional focus they are: independent living skills, social/communication skills, employment preparation, vocational training and community-based instruction.
- The school has tours to show what courses are offered for students.
- There was a request for District staff to work on data in order to capture the % of students that receive a competitive job after completing their education at a CTC.
To view the agenda/materials and access the livestream link, visit:
https://achieve.lausd.net/cms/lib/CA01000043/Centricity/Domain/1057/03-01-23SpEdAgenda.pdf
The next meeting will be the last meeting of the school year and it will be on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 5 p.m.