Burlington Township �School District
Special Education Strategic Plan
2020-2025
CST MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the BTSD Special Education department is to…support students by providing services through a multidisciplinary approach…..in the least restrictive environment.
BTSD Special Education Core Values
BTSD Special Education Core Values
What are your core values of a CST team?
Special Education Strategic Plan Process
This Special Education Strategic Plan is the result of over 50 hours of coordinated school community effort. The Strategic Plan implementation was comprised of representatives from all stakeholder groups, including parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, and certificated staff. Strategic plan members participated in 10 sessions that spanned over 15 months; investing over 30-40 hours of teamwork. During each session, members discussed the current status of district programs; including current strengths and weaknesses, researched exemplary programs, reviewed parent survey data, and designed a plan for improving support for all classified students.
Special Education Strategic Plan Process….
The BTSD Special Education Department held Parent/Guardian Community Input Sessions on the following dates:
Parent/Guardian Input Session Responses
What do you feel are the strengths of the Burlington Township School District’s Special Education Department?
The staff and overall communications were highlighted as strengths with comments including “Your staff is the biggest strength by far! The people we have in our district are INCREDIBLE and I can’t express my gratitude for each of them that I’ve worked with!” and “The willingness to listen to the parents’ concerns. Taking the time out to communicate with the parents to have the best for the child”.
Parents also emphasized that the programming, including our Preschool Program, as well as the many supports to help students succeed in the least restrictive environment are seen as strengths.
What do you feel are the opportunities for improvement for the BTSD's Special Education Department?
Parents suggested that they would like to be sure that students are in the appropriate placement with teachers working with students in the ways all stakeholders agreed to, that the discipline policy be modified for students whose behaviors are a manifestation of their disability, helping parents with home strategies including outside resources thereby providing better support for students with special needs and their families, and also making sure that classroom and 1:1 aides and teachers articulate on a daily basis about their students. A respondent also stated that they would like to see more teacher interventions with struggling students so parents wouldn’t have to contact the school themselves for help.
A parent also suggested more Q & A sessions including one across all grade levels.
Parent/Guardian Input Session Responses �(Cont.)
What suggestions would you have for us to help all parents/guardians understand the IEP development process?
Almost all respondents uniformly expressed a desire for information sessions, at least annually, explaining what the IEP is, how it is developed and how the parents are integral in the development process. It was suggested that some parents themselves may have learning disabilities and may struggle with processing all of the information about their children, and that should be addressed by providing the material in an understandable way. It was also stated that continuous interaction between parents and district stakeholders was very important.
Reflecting on your IEP Development Meeting experiences, what suggestions do you have to help us make the best use of our time to work together to accomplish a collaborative plan?
Many respondents expressed very positive feelings about the IEP Meetings. Suggestions that were provided include letting parents know they are part of the IEP team and that their recommendations are valued, that all stakeholders should genuinely listen to each other and parent honesty is important, that testing results and suggested placement information be provided in advance of the meeting, and that all staff who is directly involved with a student’s learning be a part of the meeting.
One respondent suggested developing a checklist or guide to the parent prior to the meeting so they’ll know what to expect at the meeting.
ROAD MAP TO SUCCESS
Points of Pride
Special Education Percentages by Building
Burlington Township High School Grades 9-12 (May 2020) 13.5% | Fountain Woods School Grades 3-5 (May 2020) 14.8% |
Burlington Township Middle School Grades 6-8 (May 2020) 12.7% | B. Bernice Young School Grades PK3-2 (May 2020) 16.3% |
GOALS
AND
INDICATORS
Goal #1:
Expand individual academic programming
GOAL # 1:
Expand individual academic programming
GOAL # 1:
Expand individual academic programming
GOAL # 1:
Expand individual academic programming
GOAL # 1:
Expand individual academic programming
Goal #2:
Focus on providing supportive environments �and procedures to promote academic success
Goal #2:
Focus on providing supportive environments and procedures to promote academic success
Goal #2:
Focus on providing supportive �Environments and procedures to promote �academic success
education evaluation referrals for students in areas of possible �over-identification.
Goal #2:
Focus on providing supportive environments and procedures to promote academic success
Goal #2:
Focus on providing supportive �Environments and procedures to promote �academic success
Goal #3:
Providing a cohesive support system for stakeholders
Goal #3:
Providing a cohesive support system for stakeholders
Goal #3:
Providing a cohesive support system for stakeholders
Goal #3:
Providing a cohesive support system for stakeholders
Goal #3:
Providing a cohesive support system for stakeholders
GOAL # 4
Ensuring stakeholder support to �promote student success
GOAL # 4
Ensuring stakeholder support to �promote student success�
GOAL # 4
Ensuring stakeholder support to �promote student success �
GOAL # 4
Ensuring stakeholder support to �promote student success �
GOAL # 4
Ensuring stakeholder support to �promote student success �
Goal #5:
Promote student growth focusing on development of self-advocacy skills
GOAL # 5
Promote student growth focusing � on development of self-advocacy skills�
GOAL # 5
Promote student growth focusing � on development of self-advocacy skills
GOAL # 5
Promote student growth focusing � on development of self-advocacy skills
GOALS AND INDICATORS
Summarized
Goal 1: Expand individual academic �programming | Goal 2: Continuation of providing supportive environments and procedures to �promote academic �success | Goal 3: Develop a cohesive identification plan for students with supports throughout �the process | Goal 4: Promote individual student success by educating families �and community | Goal 5: Promote student growth focusing on self advocacy skills |
Create an academic scope and sequence that aligns skills with the general education settings. Continue to refine instructional practices that reflect Universal Design for Learning. Collaborate with administrators and teachers the shared vision of quality instruction and programs that promote greater access to general education classes and nondisabled peers. Implement a quarterly accountability update that will allow for an objective review of the effectiveness of the Strategic Plan based on specific success criteria and metrics. Prioritize the scheduling of students with diverse needs first to promote inclusion. | Continue to provide general education teachers with resources and training that focuses on instructional best practices through collaboration with building/district administrators and special education teachers and coaches that focus on increasing the staff’s pedagogical knowledge of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge. Implement target activities to support appropriate special education evaluation referrals for students in areas of possible over-identification. Reconfigure a consistent district wide response to intervention system that embeds behavioral and academic support into core instruction for Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports. Expand building to building vertical articulation procedures to provide a smooth transition and improve the overall student experience. | The Burlington Township CST team will provide teachers and administrators with extensive academic and behavioral support opportunities consisting of a comprehensive list of research-based resources that are designed to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention environments for all core subject areas. Expand specialized training for support staff (aides, bus drivers, office staff and other non-certified personnel) that focuses on emotional and behavioral issues to ensure student safety. Ensure that IEP’s remain compliant and individualized for each student. Revise the current process for requesting transportation services for both in and out of district special education students. | Expand informational opportunities to families regarding pertinent special education information, focusing on workshops that support building knowledge and skills necessary to support academic and behavioral achievement at home. Infuse Social Emotional Learning lessons across instructional areas Develop a parental procedural brochure that outlines the IEP process and frequently asked questions pertaining to special education. Continue to refine the Special Education Department website to include updated and relevant information that will serve as a resource center for all district stakeholders. | Promote a shared vision for all stakeholders that focuses on the understanding of personalized learning and its foundational elements which includes student driven decision making, teacher facilitation, risk-taking, and deeper learning. Promote a growth mindset approach, through subsequent professional development opportunities in conjunction with the guidance department to promote learning, that focuses on the belief that all students have the opportunity to grow in all school areas. Refine the SLE procedures and practices to allow for more access to county organizations, job sampling opportunities for students, and information to parents/guardians that include a program handbook that specifically outlines the roles, rules and responsibilities of each party. |
Acknowledgements
I would like to personally thank the parents/guardians, administrators and staff of the Burlington Township School District. The input that they honestly provided, was the driving force behind any upcoming systemic change. This Special Education Strategic Plan has been the result of many hours of reviewing data, past practices and procedures. It also consisted of and meeting and talking with the parents and guardians of the district that were able to participate either in person, or through completing informative questionnaires. Christopher R. Giannotti