Special Education High School

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Special EducationHigh School

• John Kaseta Special Education Leader

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Overview of Special EducationDepartment

• 4 Special Education Teachers
• 6 Para-professionals/Para-educators
• General Responsibilities
• Operation of individual classrooms
• Planning and Placement Team meetings
• Conduct individual educational evaluations
• Contacting classroom teachers
• Individual Educational Program (IEP)
• Helping students take PSAT and SATs

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Overview of Special Education Department

• Currently serving 74 exceptional students in the
  high school setting
• 33 - Specific Learning Disability
• 23 Other Health Impaired (ADD/ADHD)
• 10 Emotional Disability
• 1 Multi-Handicapped
• 1 Autism
• 1 Traumatic Brain Injured
• 5 Intellectual Disability

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Special Education Curriculum

• Based upon the individual needs of the student.
• Individual goals and objectives are aligned with
  course standards.
• Courses include
• Math Transitional Math, Consumer Math, Math
  Foundations, and Basic Math
• English Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior and Senior
  English (writing and reading skills)

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Special Education CurriculumAdditional Topics

• Individualized Transitional Programs
• Vocational skills
• application forms
• letters of application
• resume construction
• vocational interest surveys
• interviewing skills.

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Special Education CurriculumAdditional Topics

• Community Participation Skills
• Identification of organizations in the community
  (Lions, Rotary, etc.)
• Voting, basic rights and responsibilities as
  citizens.
• Independent Living Skills (banking, renting an
  apartment, budgeting, health and safety, and
  insurance).

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Connections with Students

• Continuous meetings or contact with regular
  education teachers to discuss students progress
  and provide alternative strategies so students
  can reach their maximum potential.
• Involvement in the Professional Learning
  Community (PLC) process Special Education
  teachers have been included in specific
  departments Math (Kaseta, Malin) and English
  (Kennedy, Jette) meetings working on
  identification and unwrapping of standards,
  determining the big idea (what do students know
  and what do we want them to be able to do),
  Powering the Standards (sequential steps needed
  to master the standard),

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Connections with Students

• Emphasis on raising students scores and having
  students see the relevance of what they learn in
  class and its direct connection to the real
  world.
• Example Math Standard Measurement,
  Unwrapping the Standard volume and area, Big
  Idea calculating area, Powering the Standards
  (specific steps or sequence needed to master
  standard). Direct connection between calculating
  area to purchasing a rug to cover your living
  room at local carpet center.

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Connections with Students

• Example English Standard Reading
  Comprehension and Response to Literature
  students requested to response to proposal that
  GPS systems be installed on cell phones, letting
  parent know to location of son or daughter. Are
  you for or against this?