Special Education Services at Lyman Moore:

*a philosophical overview and practical guide*

(we help your child work the magic!)

PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW:

Lyman Moore provides special education services in many ways to many students. Our approach may be different from other school districts or from the approach used in your child's elementary school.

In general, we use a co-teach model when special education is needed which means that the special education teacher usually (but not always) is in the same classroom with the regular education teacher helping students. This permits the special education teacher to work with more than the one identified student who has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) and also allows that student to participate in the regular classroom with peers. This is intentionally different than a "pull out" approach which pulls out students with special education needs from the classroom and into a resource room for a specific content class or more.

However, at Lyman Moore we realize that sometimes, being out of the classroom and working on remedial work or a different level of work, such as in reading or math may be exactly what is needed (or is required in the IEP) and so we do provide this "specialized instruction" with special educators, too, when needed. Our school's philosophy is that with "differentiation" teachers can reach every student, whether highly advanced or below grade level.

"Differentiation" means altering instruction for students based on individual learning styles and abilities, making the material more involved or less intense at that grade level, more in-depth going more thoroughly into an aspect of the content, or less in-depth but instead a more specific or itemized. The concept here is that with effective "differentiation," many students with special education needs can remain in a regular education classroom along with all other levels of students including advanced students, but with the material or teaching approach tailored ("differentiated") to the individual learning style and ability. You can imagine that this differentiation is a cornerstone of educational philosophy and that its challenges, its "best practices" and research methods are often what is explored on teacher development workshops.

HOW SPECIAL EDUCATION WORKS:

In the eighth grade, each house has a special education teacher and an ed tech who work primarily with students in that grade.

• The 8th grade special educator this year is Kevin Martin and the Ed Tech is Sarah Burton.
• Our Special Educator is the person whose job is to make all the 'iep' meetings happen. All the key people who know and work with a student who needs supports or services are part of that student's "team."  Parents are a key part of this Team: You know your child the best!
• The Lyman Moore special education Team Leader is Roberta Lucas.  Ms. Lucas participates in the iep meetings and oversees that the student's iep goals match the student need.  She is also our school's excellent resource for special education professional development, such as staff training about disabilities, the special education law and specialized services. 
• If your child has already been identified with special education needs and has a Individual Education Plan (an IEP), then the grade level special educator will contact you about the meeting date and time.
• If your child has NOT been "identified," that is, has not been officially evaluated and then determined to qualify for special education services and if your child has a learning disability or physical or emotional impairment, then our school counselor or Teaching Strategist can explain how the Response To Intervention process (RTI) works.  This is a data-collection and intervention process where the team may propose specific accommodations to address your concerns and track how well those accommodations work to help your child.
• How the iep meeting works: The whole team comes together including teachers, parents, the student (if parents so desire), other specialists or consultants who the parent or school feels may contribute to a productive plan or who work with the student. The team determines a plan for services, including: modifications or accommodations in the regular classroom or curriculum; or services in a different classroom setting; altering the level of the curriculum; any other services the child may need. This plan is then distributed to all team members and mailed home. It is called the IEP (Individual Education Plan) and is a legal document.
• Then this plan, this IEP, is re-visited periodically with the House teachers, the special educator and the Team Leader, the parents, the school counselor or social worker and anyone else involved in the student's middle school life to be sure it best suits the student's changing needs and addresses the student's disability to promote a successful learning experience in school.
• A clear process for referral, evaluation procedures, appeals and complaints is outlined as required by federal law for all public schools, in a written Parent Rights information sheet, which is provided at all iep meetings or ahead of time in the mail. In addition, our Special Education Administrator at our Portland's Central Office, Bonnie Violette oversees the legal and procedural special ed guidelines to safeguard the process.