Influence on Student Achievement/School Improvement

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Ronald W. Keener II. 7-8-12 MEL 600 Module 5 Personal Case Study Scenario: In my school, struggling readers participate in the Read 180 program. This program contains a 90 minute block of time for students to enhance reading skills. It has shown success with some special needs students as well. The county is now leaning towards a full scale implementation of the Read 180 program with all special education students across the board. Obviously this decision requires system thinking since it has a direct impact on curriculum, scheduling, IEP fidelity, and staffing. 1. Review the scenario of a possible change in practice. Everyone in the education game for any length of time is aware that programs come and go. Certain methodologies or programs will be in favor a certain number of years only to be replaced by a very different or even contradictory method the following year. Trying the Read 180 program with an expanded group or segment of the special needs population seems reasonable, but the impact of that decision will have to be looked at to see the effect it will have on all system components. 2. List all the system components that would be impacted by the change • Special Education students • Teachers • Schedules • Parents 3. Analyze the impact on each component in the system • Special Education students: Special Education students are not all alike. They require Individualized Education Plans for a reason. While some students may thrive in the Read 180 program, others will have trouble following multi-step directions, keeping up pace, and working in a whole group setting. Prescribing one program, that is not small group or one-on-one for all special education students may increase frustration levels with some students. • Teachers: Special Education teachers and general educators will be impacted by a change to the current practice. If all special education students are now fully implemented in the Read 180 program, it will change how resources and staff positions are allocated. Teachers will need to be trained on the program, made aware of why the change is occurring, and what the desired outcomes are for special needs students. Teachers should be able to provide feedback to administration at the school and county level to make transition easier. • Schedules: This is mostly a headache for administrators trying to draft a whole school schedule. However, scheduling of special education students and staff members affects IEP fidelity and support for students in all class subjects. If teachers are utilized only for math, reading, and language arts, content classes such as science and social studies can be left out. Behavioral goals and learning strategies classes can also be hindered by lack of support. • Parents: Some may be on board with having their child in the program. Others may fight the change for their own individual reasons related to their perspective, their child, and the current school situation. Parents of special education students will need to be consulted about the details of the change. 4. Determine the course of action that will have the least overall impact on the entire system components Before implementing Read 180 with the entire special needs population in the county, it would make sense to implement it to some degree in a few pilot schools first. Mandating that the change must occur immediately and with all special education students regardless of ability or circumstance does not make sense. Why not try to increase the special education population participating in the program in 2 or 3 county schools? Teachers and parents can work together to determine if students will benefit from the program or are better served in another way. Data should be collected at these pilot schools and changes should be made where needed to further improve the program and the results achieved. If the program is unsuccessful with special needs students after this increased implementation, then another alternative should be considered and full scale implementation should not take place. 5. Mitigate the effects of the change A. Who would you involve in the discussions; in the decision making? B. How would you communicate? C. With whom? D. How would you proceed? As Superintendent I would ask for feedback from the Special Education Director, the Curriculum and Instruction Department, Principals in the district, Special Education teachers and Read 180 teachers. An initial survey of teachers could help define attitudes about the Read 180 program among teacher, how they feel implementation could benefit students, and what concerns they have with expanding the program to the special needs population. Principals should be consulted on what impact they foresee happening within their own school. Pilot schools should be chosen with the best initial scenario for implementation and administration support and commitment. Principals should have staff members at each school responsible for data collection to judge effectiveness of the program` expansion. A review of the overall data from each pilot school should be analyzed at the end of the first school year to see what is working and what is not. Further implementation or expansion will depend on what the data shows on student achievement and how well implementation is working for schools and staff alike.