Georgetown Spring 2011 PAC Meeting Schedule
Georgetown Special Ed Parents Advisory Council 2011 – 2nd Tuesdays of the month
At the Penn Brook Library, 68 Elm Street
7-8:30pm unless otherwise noted - Also see www.georgetownpac.blogspot.com
April 12, 2011 – An IEP for My Child – 6:30-8:30pm – Penn Brook Library, 68 Elm St., Georgetown, MA. This is a Federation for Children with Special Needs presentation, sponsored by the Georgetown SEPAC and presented by Advocate Michelle Amato, ATR-BC, CDP. Wondering about how to write the best possible IEP for your child? This workshop takes parents step-by-step through the development of the IEP. Learn ways to write and express your vision for your child and what your concerns are. Be sure your IEP services will build on your child’s strengths and individual learning style, while also specifying the instructional modifications and accommodations your child needs to make academic progress. Clarify measurable goals, objectives, benchmarks, and assessments. Bring your child’s IEP and ask your specific questions! The agenda for the evening includes the following:
- IEP & the General Curriculum, - Filling out each section of the IEP
- Accountability for progress, - Progress reporting
Questions? Please check www.georgetownsepac.blogspot.com or call Pam Lundquist 978-352-5407.
Check the website below for notes from two presentations by Michele Amato, “Special Education and IEPs: The Essentials,” and “Writing Guide for the IEP,”
http://www.carrollschool.org/news/2010dec-feb/1-11ieppresent.html
May 17, 2011 – 7-9pm, Penn Brook Library - Dr. Troy Carr, Psychologist - Role of a School Psychologist – Meet Dr. Carr and learn how his services can benefit our children with social/emotional and psychological needs in Georgetown. Dr. Carr will speak to us about the data that drives many educational decisions, the importance of selecting the right assessment tools, and what kinds of tests give us the best information under which conditions about our children’s educational needs.
Also find out about our new Special Education social-emotional program and services at the Georgetown High School.
June 14, 2011 – Our Final Meeting & Staff Appreciation
- Philosophy/Vision for Special Education Programs
- Staff Awards
- Program Development:
Where we have been, Where we are, Where we are going
- Parent introductions/questions, Parent Ideas for PAC
September 13, 2011 – Welcome to the PAC: An Informal Meet & Greet
o Introductions – staff and parents
- Philosophy/Vision for Special Education Programs
o Differentiated instruction, Early intervention, The referral process
o All children will learn/access the curriculum
o Program Development: Where we have been, Where we are (include parent advisory committees), Where we are going, Teacher Deveopment
o Communication between parents and schools Pre-website/post-website
- DESE Program Review & Results, Parent introductions/questions
- Parent Ideas for PAC: How can we help you? Ideas for speakers/workshops?
- Handouts: PAC brochure, staff directory, online directory, program brochure
October 11, 2011 - Autism Speaks: What do we need to know about Autism Spectrum Disorder? How can we help and understand our children with special needs on the spectrum?
November 15, 2011 - (because of Election Day), 2011 - Basic Rights in Special Education Workshop for Parents – presented by Sue Terzakis , an FCSN trained Special Education Advocate with the Andover Educational Advocacy Group. Learn about the Special Education laws, the process of how Special Education laws play out in your school, understand your rights so that you can effectively collaborate with your professional partners and become a more effective advocate for your child. Topics presented will include laws such as IDEA 2004, No Child Left Behind, Massachusetts Special Education Law, Section 504 and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); General Education supports; and Steps in the IEP process. Please join us at the Penn Brook Library, 6:30-8:30pm
December 13, 2011 – Financial Planning for Special Needs Families
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Please join us on April 12, 2011 for An IEP for My Child
April 12, 2011 – An IEP for My Child – 6:30-8:30pm – Penn Brook Library, 68 Elm St., Georgetown, MA. This is a Federation for Children with Special Needs presentation, sponsored by the Georgetown SEPAC and presented by Advocate Michelle Amato, ATR-BC, CDP. Wondering about how to write the best possible IEP for your child? This workshop takes parents step-by-step through the development of the IEP. Learn ways to write and express your vision for your child and what your concerns are. Be sure your IEP services will build on your child’s strengths and individual learning style, while also specifying the instructional modifications and accommodations your child needs to make academic progress. Clarify measurable goals, objectives, benchmarks, and assessments. Bring your child’s IEP and ask your specific questions! The agenda for the evening includes the following:
- IEP & the General Curriculum, - Filling out each section of the IEP
- Accountability for progress, - Progress reporting
- IEP & the General Curriculum, - Filling out each section of the IEP
- Accountability for progress, - Progress reporting
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Discover the Curriculum and Instruction Link from the GPS Website!
Discover the Curriculum and Instruction Link from the GPS Website!
Wondering where the Georgetown School District is with curriculum development? Looking for good information to consider for or incorporate into your child’s IEP, such as the latest learning standards and grade-appropriate assessment tools? Just want to keep up with what your child is learning in class right now?
Check out the Curriculum at GPS website, created by Dr. Kristan Rodriguez, Georgetown’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Just go to the Georgetown School District website, click on offices (up top), Curriculum and Instruction, click again, and you are there. Explore the newest curriculum and grade-specific subject-matter that your children are learning about, plus the latest research on effective instruction in a just a few moments. Or, you can just click on this site: http://sites.google.com/site/curriculumatgps/home
Useful topic pages & links include:
Grade Specific Standards, Pre-K-12
Data Home – click for New K-12 Assessment Map & AYP/MCAS Overview
Assessment tools for Staff
Everyday Math
Middle School Math – Strands related to lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes
Parent Resources – Grade level parent guides and MS/HS programs of study
Instructional Technology Plan
Staff Web Pages
DESE Presentation on Alignment Process
New MA ELA & Math Frameworks PPT Presentations
Curriculum Committees
Professional Development
English Language Learners
Kristan’s Blog – 199+ topics, including Georgetown’s Bullying Prevention Curriculum, homework, eliminating early reading failure, Response to Intervention (RTI), technology survey results, grade specific standards and curriculums, the best way to study and remember, Writing IEPs Aligned with the New Standards,
The last page, Kristan’s Blog, is definitely worthy of becoming both a teacher and a parent’s handy guide to best practices in education! Do take time to scroll through the blog, there’s plenty of great information to help our children experience success in school! See one sample blog entry below:
Writing IEPs Aligned with the New Standards
posted Jan 19, 2011 8:16 AM by Kristan Rodriguez
In this Education Week article, Christina Samuels reports on how some districts are linking Individualized Education Programs to the new Common Core state standards so students with disabilities are moving toward the same outcomes as their regular-education classmates. Here are the steps the California education department has developed to help teachers write grade-level, standards-based goals, geared to a hypothetical fourth grader who has trouble with reading comprehension and written language skills:
- Use the student’s current level of performance. Test results show that this student will do best if teachers concentrate on reading comprehension and writing strategies with an emphasis on organization and focus.
- Choose the standard. In this case, “Identify structural patterns found in informational text (e.g., compare and contrast, cause and effect, sequential or chronological order, proposition, and support) to strengthen comprehension.”
- “Unpack” the standard. The teacher breaks it down: identify compare-and-contrast patterns, identify cause-and-effect patterns, identify the author’s proposition.
- Analyze the subskills. The teacher decides to focus on “list the statements that support the author’s proposition.”
- Develop the goal. By the end of the school year, the student will read grade-level passages and support the author’s proposition with a minimum of six correct statements from each text passage on regularly scheduled, curriculum-based reading comprehension tests.
- Write the short-term objectives and benchmarks. By the middle of the school year, the student will identify the author’s proposition from the text correctly in four out of five attempts, as measured by classroom discussion, daily reading journal entries, and work samples.
- Monitor the goal. At regular reporting periods, monitor and report progress on goals and short-term objectives and benchmarks.
“Special Educators Look to Align IEPs to Common-Core Standards” by Christina Samuels in Education Week, Jan. 12, 2011 (Vol. 30, #15, p. 8-9)
Wondering where the Georgetown School District is with curriculum development? Looking for good information to consider for or incorporate into your child’s IEP, such as the latest learning standards and grade-appropriate assessment tools? Just want to keep up with what your child is learning in class right now?
Check out the Curriculum at GPS website, created by Dr. Kristan Rodriguez, Georgetown’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Just go to the Georgetown School District website, click on offices (up top), Curriculum and Instruction, click again, and you are there. Explore the newest curriculum and grade-specific subject-matter that your children are learning about, plus the latest research on effective instruction in a just a few moments. Or, you can just click on this site: http://sites.google.com/site/curriculumatgps/home
Useful topic pages & links include:
Grade Specific Standards, Pre-K-12
Data Home – click for New K-12 Assessment Map & AYP/MCAS Overview
Assessment tools for Staff
Everyday Math
Middle School Math – Strands related to lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes
Parent Resources – Grade level parent guides and MS/HS programs of study
Instructional Technology Plan
Staff Web Pages
DESE Presentation on Alignment Process
New MA ELA & Math Frameworks PPT Presentations
Curriculum Committees
Professional Development
English Language Learners
Kristan’s Blog – 199+ topics, including Georgetown’s Bullying Prevention Curriculum, homework, eliminating early reading failure, Response to Intervention (RTI), technology survey results, grade specific standards and curriculums, the best way to study and remember, Writing IEPs Aligned with the New Standards,
The last page, Kristan’s Blog, is definitely worthy of becoming both a teacher and a parent’s handy guide to best practices in education! Do take time to scroll through the blog, there’s plenty of great information to help our children experience success in school! See one sample blog entry below:
Writing IEPs Aligned with the New Standards
posted Jan 19, 2011 8:16 AM by Kristan Rodriguez
In this Education Week article, Christina Samuels reports on how some districts are linking Individualized Education Programs to the new Common Core state standards so students with disabilities are moving toward the same outcomes as their regular-education classmates. Here are the steps the California education department has developed to help teachers write grade-level, standards-based goals, geared to a hypothetical fourth grader who has trouble with reading comprehension and written language skills:
- Use the student’s current level of performance. Test results show that this student will do best if teachers concentrate on reading comprehension and writing strategies with an emphasis on organization and focus.
- Choose the standard. In this case, “Identify structural patterns found in informational text (e.g., compare and contrast, cause and effect, sequential or chronological order, proposition, and support) to strengthen comprehension.”
- “Unpack” the standard. The teacher breaks it down: identify compare-and-contrast patterns, identify cause-and-effect patterns, identify the author’s proposition.
- Analyze the subskills. The teacher decides to focus on “list the statements that support the author’s proposition.”
- Develop the goal. By the end of the school year, the student will read grade-level passages and support the author’s proposition with a minimum of six correct statements from each text passage on regularly scheduled, curriculum-based reading comprehension tests.
- Write the short-term objectives and benchmarks. By the middle of the school year, the student will identify the author’s proposition from the text correctly in four out of five attempts, as measured by classroom discussion, daily reading journal entries, and work samples.
- Monitor the goal. At regular reporting periods, monitor and report progress on goals and short-term objectives and benchmarks.
“Special Educators Look to Align IEPs to Common-Core Standards” by Christina Samuels in Education Week, Jan. 12, 2011 (Vol. 30, #15, p. 8-9)
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Be the first to see the Georgetown School District's new Special Education Website!
The Georgetown School District's new Special Education website has just gone live today! It is not yet connected to our school site, but will be soon. It is a work in progress, with more information coming soon on it! If you have any ideas or suggestions to contribute regarding what you would like to see on it, please either contact David Dempsey at 978-352-5790 x525 or call me at 978-352-5407 - Pam Lundquist, Georgetown SEPAC Chair
Please find the website at https://sites.google.com/site/gpsspecialeducation/
Please find the website at https://sites.google.com/site/gpsspecialeducation/
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Meeting Minutes, Role of An Advocate, 3/8/11
Georgetown SEPAC - Special Education Parent Advisory Council
Georgetown SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) Meeting
Welcome to the Georgetown PAC: Please join us on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - The Role of an Advocate – Presented by Sue Terzakis, an FCSN trained Special Education Advocate with the Andover Educational Advocacy Group. Sue’s areas of concentration include Dyslexia/language based LD's, Autism, ADHD, Anxiety Disorders and Early Intervention/turning age 3.
Learn the answers to the following questions:
· When should a parent seek the help of an advocate?
· What sort of services does an advocate perform?
· What sort of issues might a child have that would warrant the support of an advocate?
Bring your own questions to this interactive discussion-based Georgetown SEPAC meeting. Topics covered will include parents’ rights, special education processes, testing and the evaluation process, IEP development, and building positive, constructive relationships between parents and schools.
Do you have specific questions about your child’s IEP? Bring your IEP documents to inquire about statements regarding vision, measurable annual goals, current performance levels, benchmarks/objectives, service delivery, etc.
Sue Terzakis can be reached at 978-975-2537 or at sterzakis@verizon.net.
Meeting Minutes, March 8, 2011 -
In attendance: Parents + School Personnel: Carol Jacobs, Superintendent
Agenda Discussion Topics:
Advocacy Consultation:
- Includes IEP & 504 Review/Consultation, Team Meeting Representation, Parent Coaching, Evaluation Review, Case Development, DOE Mediation.
- IEP Check Ups – Making sure your child’s IEP is effective & appropriate.
- Team Meeting Help – Attending team meetings or preparing parents with an agenda/plan.
- Resources & Articles
Key points discussed:
• It’s important to understand how critical the quality of your child’s IEP is to the services they will receive. The vision statement and parent concerns are vital drivers of the IEP. Appropriate measurable annual goals, current performance levels, and benchmarks/objectives are the keys to ensuring academic progress; they will determine the nature of the services required by the IEP.
• An advocate can help identify what a particular child needs to make academic progress.
• An advocate can help identify the most appropriate tests for your child and what the results signify, which services have proven helpful for students with the issues indicated by test scores.
• An advocate can recommend particular testers and providers of evaluation services.
• An advocate should know the different special education services/programs, understand the differences between literacy/reading/writing programs, and how well qualified special education personnel need to be to deliver them.
• An advocate can reduce the emotional intensity of the IEP meeting, when parents know that an expert, working the child’s behalf, is directing the plan for services.
• Just like you wouldn’t expect yourself to know all about the medical choices your child’s nurse practitioner would make, it’s extremely difficult and time consuming to educate yourself to understand exactly how to create or build the best educational service plan for your child.
• We always try to cooperate with the school, because the school is an integral partner to the plan to help your child succeed academically.
• If you want your child tested to qualify for special education services, begin with the school, because the school cannot put your child on an IEP without doing their own testing. If you disagree with the school’s test results, then you might want to consider testing privately.
• After you present the school with private testing results, the school has 10 days to meet with the IEP or special education team. The school only needs to consider the report. Then together with the team, you figure out and come to a consensus on the best option for effective intervention.
• The methodology/delivery of instruction piece is critical to your child’s success. The service delivery grid defines the way in which curriculum is delivered or taught, which often should be, at the very least, multisensory.
• There are many ways to monitor academic progress, determining which are appropriate and necessary for your child is not always simple. In addition to the standard 3 year evaluation cycle that schools are required to follow for IEP students, there is teacher feedback, regular informal testing, regular formal testing, testing related to the 5 areas of reading (fluency, phonics, phoneme awareness, reading comprehension, and vocabulary), and so forth.
• How do you know whether your child needs an IEP or a 504 plan? A 504 plan is for children with disabilities that do not impact their ability to access the general curriculum; it is a legal document that outlines a plan of instructional services, or accommodations for students in the general education setting. Accommodations do not alter or lower the academic standards; they change the method of delivery of the general education curriculum to your child. Students with ADHD often have a 504 plan. Not all children with disabilities are entitled to services under IDEA, Only children who are "eligible" under the specified disability categories, whose disabilities adversely impact their ability to access the general education curriculum, will qualify for an IEP Plan. An IEP Plan will allow for necessary modifications, in addition to accommodations. Modifications are changes in course content, teaching strategies, standards, test presentation, location, timing, scheduling, expectations, student responses, environmental structuring, and/or other attributes which provide access for a student with a disability to participate in a course/standard/test, which DO fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectations of the course/standard/test
• The proposed Special Education website was discussed. SEPAC members agreed that they would like to see a listing of assistive technologies the school has access to, such as Kidspiration software. So that will be added to the site, which is scheduled to be online within the month.
RESOURCES
http://www.fcsn.org/
The Federation for Children with Special Needs, Boston, MA
A parent’s guide to special education
http://www.spedchildmass.com
Listings of workshops & resources in greater Massachusetts
http://www.landmarkoutreach.org/
Landmark School - Outreach program for language based learning disabilities
http://www.wrightslaw.com
A website where parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities.
http://www.massadvocates.org
Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC)
Voice for children who face significant barriers to equal educational and life opportunities.
HOMEWORK ASSISTANCE
http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home
A text-to-speech plug-in device for the computer. Will speak the text of the document so the writer can hear back what he has written.
http://www.mywebspiration.com
A visual thinking tool that helps capture ideas and organize information.
Helps with poor organizational and sequencing skills in the writing process.
ARTICLES
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
Wrights Law - Special education law articles and blog
http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org
Autism Treatment Center - Articles on Autism
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2009/07/the_special_education_ruling.html
CASE LAW - U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school districts can be held responsible for reimbursing parents for unilateral placement in a private school even though the school did not first provide special services for the student.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105797012
CASE LAW - Forest Grove case
Georgetown SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) Meeting
Welcome to the Georgetown PAC: Please join us on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - The Role of an Advocate – Presented by Sue Terzakis, an FCSN trained Special Education Advocate with the Andover Educational Advocacy Group. Sue’s areas of concentration include Dyslexia/language based LD's, Autism, ADHD, Anxiety Disorders and Early Intervention/turning age 3.
Learn the answers to the following questions:
· When should a parent seek the help of an advocate?
· What sort of services does an advocate perform?
· What sort of issues might a child have that would warrant the support of an advocate?
Bring your own questions to this interactive discussion-based Georgetown SEPAC meeting. Topics covered will include parents’ rights, special education processes, testing and the evaluation process, IEP development, and building positive, constructive relationships between parents and schools.
Do you have specific questions about your child’s IEP? Bring your IEP documents to inquire about statements regarding vision, measurable annual goals, current performance levels, benchmarks/objectives, service delivery, etc.
Sue Terzakis can be reached at 978-975-2537 or at sterzakis@verizon.net.
Meeting Minutes, March 8, 2011 -
In attendance: Parents + School Personnel: Carol Jacobs, Superintendent
Agenda Discussion Topics:
Advocacy Consultation:
- Includes IEP & 504 Review/Consultation, Team Meeting Representation, Parent Coaching, Evaluation Review, Case Development, DOE Mediation.
- IEP Check Ups – Making sure your child’s IEP is effective & appropriate.
- Team Meeting Help – Attending team meetings or preparing parents with an agenda/plan.
- Resources & Articles
Key points discussed:
• It’s important to understand how critical the quality of your child’s IEP is to the services they will receive. The vision statement and parent concerns are vital drivers of the IEP. Appropriate measurable annual goals, current performance levels, and benchmarks/objectives are the keys to ensuring academic progress; they will determine the nature of the services required by the IEP.
• An advocate can help identify what a particular child needs to make academic progress.
• An advocate can help identify the most appropriate tests for your child and what the results signify, which services have proven helpful for students with the issues indicated by test scores.
• An advocate can recommend particular testers and providers of evaluation services.
• An advocate should know the different special education services/programs, understand the differences between literacy/reading/writing programs, and how well qualified special education personnel need to be to deliver them.
• An advocate can reduce the emotional intensity of the IEP meeting, when parents know that an expert, working the child’s behalf, is directing the plan for services.
• Just like you wouldn’t expect yourself to know all about the medical choices your child’s nurse practitioner would make, it’s extremely difficult and time consuming to educate yourself to understand exactly how to create or build the best educational service plan for your child.
• We always try to cooperate with the school, because the school is an integral partner to the plan to help your child succeed academically.
• If you want your child tested to qualify for special education services, begin with the school, because the school cannot put your child on an IEP without doing their own testing. If you disagree with the school’s test results, then you might want to consider testing privately.
• After you present the school with private testing results, the school has 10 days to meet with the IEP or special education team. The school only needs to consider the report. Then together with the team, you figure out and come to a consensus on the best option for effective intervention.
• The methodology/delivery of instruction piece is critical to your child’s success. The service delivery grid defines the way in which curriculum is delivered or taught, which often should be, at the very least, multisensory.
• There are many ways to monitor academic progress, determining which are appropriate and necessary for your child is not always simple. In addition to the standard 3 year evaluation cycle that schools are required to follow for IEP students, there is teacher feedback, regular informal testing, regular formal testing, testing related to the 5 areas of reading (fluency, phonics, phoneme awareness, reading comprehension, and vocabulary), and so forth.
• How do you know whether your child needs an IEP or a 504 plan? A 504 plan is for children with disabilities that do not impact their ability to access the general curriculum; it is a legal document that outlines a plan of instructional services, or accommodations for students in the general education setting. Accommodations do not alter or lower the academic standards; they change the method of delivery of the general education curriculum to your child. Students with ADHD often have a 504 plan. Not all children with disabilities are entitled to services under IDEA, Only children who are "eligible" under the specified disability categories, whose disabilities adversely impact their ability to access the general education curriculum, will qualify for an IEP Plan. An IEP Plan will allow for necessary modifications, in addition to accommodations. Modifications are changes in course content, teaching strategies, standards, test presentation, location, timing, scheduling, expectations, student responses, environmental structuring, and/or other attributes which provide access for a student with a disability to participate in a course/standard/test, which DO fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectations of the course/standard/test
• The proposed Special Education website was discussed. SEPAC members agreed that they would like to see a listing of assistive technologies the school has access to, such as Kidspiration software. So that will be added to the site, which is scheduled to be online within the month.
RESOURCES
http://www.fcsn.org/
The Federation for Children with Special Needs, Boston, MA
A parent’s guide to special education
http://www.spedchildmass.com
Listings of workshops & resources in greater Massachusetts
http://www.landmarkoutreach.org/
Landmark School - Outreach program for language based learning disabilities
http://www.wrightslaw.com
A website where parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities.
http://www.massadvocates.org
Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC)
Voice for children who face significant barriers to equal educational and life opportunities.
HOMEWORK ASSISTANCE
http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home
A text-to-speech plug-in device for the computer. Will speak the text of the document so the writer can hear back what he has written.
http://www.mywebspiration.com
A visual thinking tool that helps capture ideas and organize information.
Helps with poor organizational and sequencing skills in the writing process.
ARTICLES
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
Wrights Law - Special education law articles and blog
http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org
Autism Treatment Center - Articles on Autism
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2009/07/the_special_education_ruling.html
CASE LAW - U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school districts can be held responsible for reimbursing parents for unilateral placement in a private school even though the school did not first provide special services for the student.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105797012
CASE LAW - Forest Grove case
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