Rosa Parks Elementary

School Access and Inclusion Policy

IB Standards

Culture 2.1: The school implements and reviews an inclusion policy that meets IB guidelines. (0301-02-0100)

Culture 2.2: The school identifies in its inclusion policy all of its legal requirements and outlines the school's structures and processes for compliance. (0301-02-0200)

Culture 2.3: The school describes in its inclusion policy the rights and responsibilities of all members of the school community and clearly states the school's vision for implementing inclusive programmes. (0301-02-0300)

Philosophy

At Rosa Parks Elementary, we believe that all students should have access to an education that is equitable, inclusive, and adaptable to their individual learning styles and needs. As a staff, we share the responsibility of meeting the needs of our students by co-planning during our Collaborative Learning Team meetings as well as co-teaching with general education teachers and resource teachers. We strive to provide differentiated and multi-modal instruction that provides students the least restrictive environment. We apply strategies and support systems that address the individual needs and varied learning styles of students, including those identified as gifted, students receiving special education support, multi-language learners, and those with special medical needs.

Differentiation:

At Rosa Parks Elementary, all students receive instruction that allows them to succeed based on their individual learning needs and styles. Differentiation is the process of identifying, for each learner, the most effective strategies for achieving success at school. Differentiating occurs across content, process, product, and learning environment.

Differentiation of content involves providing students with choices in order to add depth to learning and providing students with additional resources that match their levels of understanding. Differentiation of content can include:

· pre-assessments

· ‘hands on’ activities

· texts or novels at more than one reading level

· ongoing collaboration with general education teachers and resource teachers

· presenting information through both whole-to-part and part-to-whole

· a variety of reading-buddy arrangements to support and challenge students

· re-teaching students who need further learning experiences to develop mastery

· alternative activities to challenge students who already demonstrate mastery

· use of a wide variety of media such as texts, computer programs, tape recordings and videos

· use of Bloom’s Taxonomy to encourage thinking about content at different levels.

Differentiation of process involves providing students with tasks at differing levels of difficulty or based on their interests, offering different amounts of teacher and student support for a task, giving choices about how students express their understanding, varying the learning process depending upon how students learn.

Differentiating process can include:

· providing accommodations that are consistently and effectively implemented

· developing interest centers

· developing personal agendas

· offering varying levels of support

· varying the length of time a student may take to complete a task

· providing access to a variety of materials that target different learning preferences and readiness

· developing activities that target auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners

· establishing areas/stations for inquiry-based, independent activities

· using flexible grouping to group and regroup students

· tiered lessons

· using of pre-assessments

· formative assessments to discover students’ strengths and areas on which to focus targeted instruction

· open-ended learning experiences

· extension and enrichment activities

· choice menus

· online reading/math programs designed to address students’ needs

· Opportunities for content mastery through remediation and reassessment

The differentiation of product involves providing challenge, variety, and choice. , Students are given options about how to express required learning. Differentiation of product can include:

· allowing students to help design products around learning intentions/goals

· encouraging students to express what they have learned in varied ways

· allowing for varied working arrangements with group work

· providing or encourage the use of varied types of resources in preparing products

· providing product assignments at varying degrees of difficulty to match student readiness

· using a wide variety of assessments to monitor student progress

· using a continuum - - simple to complex - less independent to more independent

Differentiation of the learning environment involves considering the look and feel of the classroom, providing a safe and positive environment for learning, allowing for individual work preferences, managing the learning space. Differentiation of the learning environment can include:

· developing places in the room to work with reduced distractions as well as places that invite student collaboration

· providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures and home settings

· providing appropriate accommodations

· setting out clear guidelines for independent work that matches individual needs

· developing routines that allow students to get questions answered when teachers are working with small groups

· varying the places where learning occurs – for example the lab, at their seats, on the floor, or outside

· using alternative flexible seating

Collaboration and Co-teaching:

Teachers at Rosa Parks Elementary co-plan and co-teach to meet the needs of all students. Teachers in each grade level meet and collaborate with our special education, reading, and English as a second language teachers to best meet the needs of all students. Our staff has received training on the different co-teaching practices.

Inclusion:

Our school supports an inclusion model, as determined by the IEP team. The special education staff collaborates with classroom teachers to help provide accommodations and/or modifications in the classroom to facilitate participation in the general and PYP curriculum. Learning is scaffolded to make new information accessible for all learners.

Pull-out:

Based on some students’ needs, a pull-out model of special education services may be implemented, in which students focus on specific goals in a small group or one-on-one setting. Services are aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning as well as grade level Units of Inquiry. Gifted services, ESOL services and speech services are be typically delivered through the pull-out model. Other special education services can be delivered to students using the pull-out model.

Self-Contained:

At Rosa Parks Elementary, some of our students with autism are in a self-contained setting and some are served in the general education setting. The students who participate in the general education setting attend regular education classes (with an autism teacher assistant if necessary) and/or go to encore classes and lunch with the students in their assigned general education class. Those who are in a self-contained classroom participate in inquiry-based learning as appropriate to their needs.

Support for students through the Intervention Team and special education services

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) outlines rights and regulations for students with disabilities in the United States who require special education. Under the IDEA, all children with disabilities are entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least-Restrictive Environment (LRE), and some are entitled to Early Intervention (EI) and Extended School Year (ESY). The law specifies how schools determine the provision or denial of services, as well as steps for mediation, if needed.

We use the Response to Intervention model as the starting point to identify and serve students who need additional academic or behavioral support to make satisfactory progress towards meeting grade level expectations. The first step of the Response to Intervention model is to meet as a team to discuss how classroom interventions are implemented and discuss the data that is collected weekly to determine student progress. If a student does not show growth after several intervention strategies have been implemented and data collected, the student can be referred for a special needs' evaluation. An evaluation always includes cognitive and academic testing. Testing for speech, behavior, and physical/motor skills are also conducted if determined to be appropriate. Students who qualify for special education services receive support from the school special education resource staff who collaborate and teach with our classroom teachers.

Students’ academic deficits are addressed with research-based interventions in reading and math using an inclusion model and/or pull-out model based upon individual student needs. The IEP team convenes annually, unless requested at a different time by the parent or teacher, to assess student progress and create new goals as needed. The IEP team consists of all required personnel and parents in the students’ educational process. Partnerships with parents are vital. Our school recognizes that parents hold critical information and play a key role in their children’s success.

Support for Multi-Language Learners

Rosa Parks Elementary students are identified to receive English as a Second Language(ESOL) services via the county-wide home language survey. If parents indicate that another language is spoken in the home, the student’s English language proficiency is evaluated. After testing, students receive a score leveled 1-6. Level 1 is considered minimal English language proficiency and level 6 is proficient in English. Based on their proficiency level and their grade level, students are serviced in different ways to meet their language needs. Some students receive daily pull-out language instruction from a certified ESOL teacher with supplemental instruction from their classroom teacher who has been trained in sheltered instruction. Other students receive daily push-in instruction in which the ESOL teacher and the general education teacher co-teach to instruct. The ESOL and special education team work cohesively to address the needs of students who are dually identified

Support for Students Identified as Gifted

Gifted children are defined by the state of Virginia as “those students in public elementary, middle, and secondary schools beginning with Kindergarten through twelfth grade who demonstrate high levels of accomplishment or who show the potential for higher levels of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment. Their aptitudes and potential for accomplishment are so outstanding that they require special programs to meet their educational needs.” At Rosa Parks Elementary, our Gifted population includes students with disabilities (twice exceptional) and students who are also Multi-Language Learners. The Gifted Education Program at Rosa Parks Elementary embraces the philosophy of constructivist, inquiry-based learning. Students participating in the SIGNET (K-5) programs receive a combination of differentiated classroom services and direct services with a Gifted education resource teacher. Instruction is based on the four areas on which students are assessed: critical and creative thinking and interactive and independent learning. The curriculum model ties in conceptually to the Primary Years Programme Units of Inquiry, and/or enriches and extends the PYP Units of Inquiry. A Differentiated Services Plan (DSP) is created to meet the needs of each student’s specific academic and educational needs in a collaborative process between the classroom teacher, Gifted Education teacher, and the student’s parents.

For more information about PWCS Gifted services PWCS Gifted Education

Access to Policy and Complaint Procedures

This policy is accessible to the school community by a physical copy of the policy being available in the front office of Rosa Parks Elementary School. The information is posted on the Rosa Parks Elementary School Website under the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program tab on the site. This documentation is also available in multiple languages on our website..

Revised, May 2023