Special Education Plan
Goals of the BP Special Education Department
Committee on Preschool Special Education
Committee on Special Education
- Related Services
- Consultant Teacher Services
- Consultant Teacher with Resource Room
- Resource Room
- Integrated Co-Teaching Classes (optional)
- Special Classes within the district
Mission Statement
The Broadalbin-Perth Central School District is committed to providing a quality education for all students, including those with disabilities. The Special Education Department offers a continuum of services that afford students access to the general education curriculum in accordance with their own individual capabilities. In this way, special education is indicative of a standards driven system aimed at promoting high levels of student achievement in all areas, within the least restrictive environment. Programs are designed so students may receive the highest quality of services within the general education setting, among age appropriate peers, to the greatest degree possible.
Goals of the B-P Special Education Department
- To cultivate positive working relationships with parents and members of the school community throughout the entire multi-tiered intervention and special education process.
- To provide a continuum of services that address academic, social, emotional, physical and management needs in order for all students to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum.
- To provide services utilizing an inclusive model within the general education setting that enables all students to benefit from the general education class instruction and achieve their highest potential.
- To provide resources, support and opportunities for teachers to design and provide specially designed instruction and assessments to provide students with disabilities with access to participate and progress in the general education curriculum.
- To develop interpersonal skills and increase capacity to think critically, solve problems effectively and apply the skills to “real-life” situations. To foster self-advocacy skills in students and involvement in the development of their own educational goals and plans.
- To develop, within special education students, essential skills and competencies for students to be college and career ready in order to be successful in postsecondary experiences.
NYSED Special Education
Blueprint for Improved Results for Students with Disabilities: Guiding Principles
While there are many components or key principles that are important for students with disabilities and their families, this Blueprint focuses on seven core principles and practices supported by research for all students with disabilities. Improving results for students with disabilities requires a renewed focus on these core principles.
- Students engage in self-advocacy and are involved in determining their own educational goals and plan.
- Parents, and other family members, are engaged as meaningful partners in the special education process and the education of their child.
- Teachers design, provide, and assess the effectiveness of specially designed instruction to provide students with disabilities with access to participate and progress in the general education curriculum.
- Teachers provide research-based instructional teaching and learning strategies and supports for students with disabilities.
- Schools provide multi-tiered systems of behavioral and academic support.
- Schools provide high quality inclusive programs and activities.
- Schools provide appropriate instruction for students with disabilities in career development and opportunities to participate in work-based learning.
This Blueprint will be used by the State to develop State policy and guidance and for schools to review their policies and practices to support students with disabilities.
Committee on Preschool Special Education
Committees on Special Education
The Broadalbin-Perth Central School District Board of Education appoints a Committee on Special Education (CSE) and a Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) on an annual basis. The Committees are comprised of a chairperson, school psychologist, the child’s general education teacher, the child’s special education teacher, the child’s parent or person in parental relation, school physician (when requested), related service providers and parent member, when regulations require. The committees are responsible for initiating formal evaluations and implementing recommendations for each referred student according to specified guidelines and time frames.
Preschool Children with Disabilities
The Broadalbin-Perth Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) coordinates referrals and evaluations for children between the ages of three and five years old. Children may be referred if there are concerns regarding development in any of the following areas:
- Cognitive Development: How a child learns, retains information and generalizes skills to new learning situations.
- Language Development (Communication): How a child uses or understands language.
- Physical Development: How a child demonstrates use of fine and gross motor skills in daily activities.
- Social-Emotional Development: How a child relates to peers and adults and perceives him/herself.
- Adaptive Development: How a child is able to complete daily living activities such as dressing, grooming, eating, toileting etc.
Committee membership for CPSE includes the chairperson, general education teacher, parent member, child’s parent or person in parental relation, county representative, agency evaluators and/or special education service providers.
If a child demonstrates a significant weakness in any one or more of the areas, he/she may be eligible to receive intervention to improve skills in the developmental area.
Committee on Special Education
The Broadalbin-Perth Central School District provides a wide range of preventative services for the purpose of utilizing all general education supports prior to initiating a referral to the Committee on Special Education. At the building level, Instructional Support Teams consisting of various school personnel, typically the principal, school psychologist, general education teacher, special education teacher and school social worker, meet on a regular basis to assess, plan and monitor the needs of identified at-risk students. Related service providers are also invited to attend the Instructional Support Team Meetings to provide input into planned intervention strategies. In this way, all available and appropriate services can be provided in order to address the specific needs of students within the general education setting to the greatest degree possible. Implementation of “Response To Intervention” mandates are required as of July, 2012. When provided with appropriate instruction, if the student does not adequately achieve grade level standards in reading and math and is not making sufficient progress toward meeting those standards through the district’s Response to Intervention Program, a referral to special education is submitted; RTI does not prevent a referral to the CSE.
CSE Membership
The Committee on Special Education is comprised of the student’s parent or person in parental relation, chairperson, general education teacher, special education teacher, school psychologist, related service providers and parent member, when requested by the student’s parent. Together, the Committee determines eligibility and the types of supports and services the student will receive if he/she is identified as having a disability. When identified, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed in accordance with Part 200 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The IEP/ student program and services are reviewed on an annual basis.
CSE Referral Process
A referral to the Committee on Special Education (CSE) is initiated after all the available general education supports and services have been exhausted. A referral may be made by a student’s parent or person in parental relationship, a student who is over eighteen years of age, and designated members of the school district. Staff, outside agencies and physicians may direct a request for referral to a district designee for consideration.
Once a referral is made to the CSE, formal evaluations and assessments are conducted to obtain a student profile for the purpose of ascertaining the extent to which special education services may be necessary. All Response to Intervention data is collected.
If the CSE determines that a student qualifies for special education services, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed in accordance with Part 200 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education and includes the following components:
- Classification of the disability
- Present levels of performance and individual needs in academic, physical and social areas of development
- Measurable annual goals and related objectives, if appropriate
- Post-secondary goals and plans, if appropriate
- Special education program and related services
- Least restrictive environment
- How the disability affects student’s progress in the general education setting
- Extent of participation in the general education setting
- Specialized equipment and adaptive devices
- Alternative testing procedures
- Coordinated set of transition activities, if appropriate
In-District Services
The following special education programs and services are available to students within the Broadalbin-Perth Central School District for the current school year:
Declassification Support Services
These services are provided to students who are ready to transition to full-time general education programs. Upon recommending that a student be declassified, the CSE shall identify any declassification support services including the projected date of initiation of such services and the duration of these services.
Related Services
Developmental, corrective and other supportive services.
Certified providers offer a range of services to students with disabilities. Such services include, but are not limited to the following:
- Medical/ Nursing Services
- Occupational Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Speech/ Language Services
- Counseling/ Social Work Services
- Specialized Reading Instruction
The district employs the following specialists to provide the above listed services:
- Four (4) Nurses
- One (1) Occupational Therapist
- One (1) Physical Therapist
- Two (2) Speech and Language Pathologists
- Five (5) School Social Workers
- Two (2) School Psychologists
Consultant Teacher Services
Direct CT services mean specially designed instruction provided to an individual student with a disability or to a group of students with disabilities by a certified special education teacher to aid the student to benefit from the general class instruction. CT services are provided to adapt, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible student, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to support the student to be successfully participate and progress in the general curriculum during regular instruction, so that her or she can meet the educational standards that apply to all students.
These services may be provided directly or indirectly to students attending general education classes. Direct consultant teacher services consist of individualized or group instruction provided by a special education teacher in order for students with disabilities to benefit from the general education program to the greatest extent possible. Direct services MUST be provided in the general education classroom. Indirect consultant teacher services are provided to general education teachers by special education teachers to assist with accommodations and modifications to their instructional methods and techniques in order to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities. Indirect services may be provided to students via team meetings, parent contact and curriculum modifications and accommodations. Each student with a disability requiring consultant teacher services shall receive direct and/or indirect services consistent with their IEP for a minimum of two hours each week.
Consultant Teacher with Resource Room
In addition to the services provided by the consultant teacher listed above, consultant services with resource room, allow special education teachers to provide individualized or small group (5:1) instruction to students with disabilities. The purpose of this service is to meet the needs of students who benefit from two types of services, but who do not need two hours per week of Consultant Teacher and three hours per week of Resource Room.
Resource Room
To provide specialized supplementary small group instruction. This supplementary instruction is provided in addition to the general education or special education classroom instruction that the student receives. It is not provided in place of the student’s regular instruction. This service may be provided in a separate location or in the general education classroom, provided that the resource room teacher provides supplemental instruction. This service may be provided by a certified special education teacher or a certified reading teacher if the students are grouped for reading needs. Minimum is three hours per week/ Maximum is 50% of the school day.
Integrated Co-Teaching Classes (optional)
The inclusion classroom model provides special education services to students within a general education, integrated classroom setting. By providing services in this way, pull-out services for special education students are reduced. The responsibility for planning, delivering and evaluating instruction for all students is shared by the general education and special education teachers. This is the only continuum option that is not mandated to be available to all students with disabilities. The maximum number of students on the class roster for integrated co-teaching is twelve (12). The number of non-disabled students should be more than or equal to the number of students with disabilities. This is the only option that is not mandated to be available to students with disabilities.
Special Classes Within the District
These classes are composed of students whose special education needs cannot be met in the general education setting. Size and composition of such classes are based on the similarity of students’ disabilities or individual needs (management, academic, physical, social and emotional). Students participating in any of the below listed special class programs are mainstreamed for academic instruction or special area instruction to the greatest degree possible.
Special Class (Grades 6-8)
This class provides specialized instruction to middle school students whose levels of academic achievement are significantly below grade level. Functional daily living skills are taught to prepare the students to be independent and contributing members of the community. This program is designed to be a prerequisite for the program in the high school. Students in this class primarily take the NYS Alternate Assessment.
Special Class (Grades 9-12)
This class provides specialized instruction to students whose levels of academic achievement are significantly below grade level. Program services prepare students to be contributing members of the community and productive members of the workforce. Strong emphasis is placed on transition planning and school-to-work experiences. Students in this class primarily take the NYS Alternate Assessment.
Primary Instruction Class (15:1 Grades K-12)
The purpose of this service is to provide primary instruction that is specially designed to meet the needs of a group of students in a classroom separate from their non-disabled peers. Students who receive primary instruction for ELA and/or math are mainstreamed for the remainder of the day.
Transition Services
A coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability that are focused on facilitating the student’s movement from school to post-school activities, including, but not limited to, post-secondary education, vocational education, adult services, independent living or community participation.
Transitional Support Services
These services are specified on a student’s individualized education program, provided to a regular or special education teacher to aid in the provision of appropriate services to a student with a disability transitioning to a general education program or to a program or service in a less restrictive environment.
Home Tutoring Service
This service is provided to classified students who are unable to attend an educational program for a specific reason (medical, emotional, behavioral). Home tutoring is also provided in the interim to students for whom the Committee on Special Education is seeking an out-of-district placement. Tutoring services are customized to assist with future placement in the least restrictive environment. Tutoring is provided for one hour for elementary school-age students and two hours for secondary students.
Out-of-District Services
Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery (HFM) BOCES
Contracted services are provided through HFM BOCES for students whose needs dictate programs and/or services not currently available in-district as follows:
- Educational Life Skills Program (12:1+3)
- Academic/ Behavior Skills Program (8:1:1)
- Encompass Learning Program (12:1+3)
- Therapeutic Support Program (6:1:2)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Program (6:1:2)
Students with disabilities often need support beyond the classroom instruction. HFM BOCES staff may be utilized to provide the following, if appropriate:
- Vision/Hearing Services as a related service provided by a certified teacher of the visually or hearing impaired
- Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapy Services
- Behavioral Support Services, Counseling, Social Work Services and Psychological Services
- Work-Study Placements which includes job shadowing, tours, job exploration and full work-study programs.
Private Placements
Based upon need, students may be placed in day treatment programs or residential placements. Placements are made to provide students with the support and services that cannot be addressed in a less restrictive environment.
Methods of Evaluation
The evaluation of the progress of students with disabilities as well as the evaluation of special education programs and services includes but is not limited to the following information:
- Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and objectives.
- Results of standardized tests and other assessment instruments as indicated on the IEP.
- Reports submitted by special education teachers, general education teachers, the school psychologist and/ or related service providers.
- Information obtained from Pupil Data (PD) Reports.
- Information obtained from the New York State School Report Card.
- Percentage of students with disabilities who participate in occupational education programs and workforce preparation programs.
- Drop out rates of students with disabilities.
- Percentage of students with disabilities who graduate with Certificates, Local or Regents Diplomas.
Space Allocation
The Broadalbin-Perth Central School District is committed to providing equally appropriate space to all students, including those with disabilities.
The allocation of space for the above specified special education services and programs is done with consideration of appropriate square footage, windows, ventilation, heat and light in relation to the size of the group being educated within the limitations of the available facilities. In addition, allocation of space is done so that students have equal access to opportunities available to the general population and are within the mainstream of the building’s activities to the greatest extent as possible.