Running Project Part 1 C.

Hall 1

School District and Setting

The school district I work in is part of a small city of nine square miles in southwest New

Jersey. According to the United States Census Bureau, the population is 77,344 (2010 statistics).

From this population, 2,500 students are currently in our district. Due to the overall

socioeconomic status of our city, we have been granted 100% funding for breakfast, lunch, and

snack by the state. The current percentage of special education students that have been identified

within our district is 6%. School statistics state that the ethnic makeup of the charter network is

59% Hispanic, 40% African American, and 1% Asian. They are also 100% human beings

according to my personal observation.

Currently, I teach computer technology class within the K-4 elementary school program,

and every student in the school has my class. This means I adhere to IEPs, 504 plans, BIPs, and

school policies regarding each student. The curriculum that I created is equipped to teach all of

the various learners I encounter. My current job duties mandate my interacting with parents in

the morning as well as in the afternoon during student drop-off and pick up. I am responsible for

typing, career education, social skills, coding, engineering, and digital awareness. I also

collaborate with teachers to provide any additional curriculum assistance or sites that may be

helpful to the students. In addition to those duties, I took it upon myself to shadow the Child

Study Team to better understand the special education expectations at every grade level and the

transition process we currently have in place.

The Quality Indicators of Exemplary Transition Program Needs Assessment Summary

The QI-2 summary for the Camden Charter School Network (CCSN) showed a wide

array of results throughout the 7 domains. This summary will identify at least two areas of
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strengths and two areas that need improvement in each domain. The seven domains will be

ranked from the one that needs the least improvement to the one that necessitates the most.

Transition Assessment Domain 3.67 Scores = ( )

The purpose behind transition assessments is to identify the student’s strengths, preferences, and

interest. The challenges with transition assessment results are how to share them with students,

families, and staff in a meaningful way (3). This amounts to another challenge because student

postsecondary goals are based on these transition assessment results (3).

On a positive note, a wide variety of formal and informal transition assessments are available to

use with students (4). A summary of performance with recommendations for meeting

postsecondary goals is developed when the student exits high school (4).

Interagency Collaboration and Community Services Domain 3.60 Scores = ( )

The school district is proactive in collaborating with outside agencies and community

services. However, we are very weak at documenting that the students’ needs are being met.

The intended purpose of interagency agreements is to identify roles and responsibilities in

exchanging information. (2). They are also designed to determine the anticipated service needs of

students moving from the school into the community (4). Even though the latter is ranked a four,

the transition coordinator foresees a problem because our district career coach recently resigned.

However, a strength of our district is that we maintain strong school-business partnerships to

support career development activities (4). Referrals to outside agencies are completed prior to

students exiting school (4). We have a robust job agency program for science and educational

internships. We also promote college tours and career fairs. In addition to this, there are guidance

counselors that provide individual assistance to each student in transitioning into life after high

school.
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Transition-Focused Curriculum and Instruction Domain 3.29 Scores = ( )

This domain focuses on what curriculum and instruction is in place to accommodate our disabled

population. A challenge in our district is that our middle school and high school basically do not

teach independent living, social, or interpersonal skills, because the district has not been

introduced to a population in need of those services (1 & 3). Two positives in this domain are

that accommodations are identified and implemented in the general curriculum (4).

Effective instructional methods like universal design are implemented to teach content (4).

Transition Planning Domain 3.13 Scores = ( )

Transition planning is a student-centered process that requires a series of actionable goals.

CCSN is finding it difficult during annual IEP meetings to address both academic and

transitional needs when creating goals (2). Another challenge for the district is the approaches

that are deployed during the transitional planning to identify outcomes supporting student and

family cultures (2). In contrast to this, CCSN is successful with postsecondary goals that are

based upon student strengths, interests, and preferences (4). Progress toward a student’s

postsecondary goals is reviewed on a regular basis as well (4).

Systems Level Infastructure Domain 3.13 Scores = ( )

In this area we had two extremes; we were either exceling or in need of reforms.

An area that may require additional attention is that comprehensive data systems are not being

utilized to evaluate secondary programs and transition services (2). Another is that professional

development related to transition is not regularly provided to school personnel involved in

transition (2).
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The district is sucessful in creating procedures that are in place to facilitate the inclusion of

special education students into general education classes, programs, activities, and extra-

curricular events (4). An additional positive is that the school district maintains at least one

person responsible for coordinating transition services and working with outside agencies (4).

Student Involvement Domain 2.86 Scores = ( )

This domain focuses on the proportion in which we focus on the skills of self-determination

and student involvement for our students with disabilities. In looking at this, it was discovered that

students lack the opportunity to lead their IEP meeting (1). The district is also not providing enough

evidence-based curriculum and/or strategies to teach students how to lead their transition planning

(3).

Family Involvement Domain 2.67 Scores = ( )

Family involvement refers to the participation and collaboration family members have

during the transition planning. When I reached this portion of the survey, the transition

coordinator sighed. This is because the district is in need of improvement with pre-planning

activities prior to the transition meeting so families can add their input (1). We also lack in the

area of engaging family members to take on an active role during the transition process (2). Two

areas we showed improvement in are putting supports in place to involve family members in

transition planning meetings (4) and accommodating family members (including extended family

and guardians) to regularly participate in transition planning and IEP meetings (3).

Running Project Continued (Student Involvement)

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Based on the QI-2 survey, the interview with the child study team, and the transition

coordinator, it appears that the student involvement domain could benefit from a revamping. This

domain is the one in most dire need of support, because our goal is to provide a student-centered

transition process. In order to achieve this goal, it is imperative that we increase student

involvement. In the survey, it was clear that CCSN is lacking in providing students with the

opportunity to express the self-determination they are being taught. We are creating a culture of

passive students who could benefit from leading their IEP meetings, advocating for

modifications and accommodations, and above all expressing their future plans and goals so we

can assist them properly. After giving the QI-2 survey to the transition coordinator, she provided

the information to the child study team and asked if we could collaborate on increasing student

and family involvement. We all agreed that incremental change would be best. From this point,

we decided to set goals that we could work on throughout the year. We are commencing with

locating evidence based research to increase student led IEP and transition planning meetings. In

the two areas of IEP and transition planning our mission is to bolster student involvement.